Raw Diet

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Replies

  • kristn__
    kristn__ Posts: 31 Member
    Phrick wrote: »
    The way I look at weight loss is this: It is my time to be (re)training myself on how to eat for the rest of my life. How to cook tasty and healthy food, how to choose appropriate portions. How to eat to satisfaction rather than to "full." How to survive holiday parties, temptations, office doughnuts. How to eat out at a restaurant, or as a guest in someone's home. It's my time to learn how my body reacts to certain foods, to learn my personal patterns of gain/loss (for example, high sodium meals pack on water weight but it comes off fast; and, I like a lot of women, gain several pounds in the week leading up to my period, etc). I get this time to figure out what exercises I like and which ones I despise, and to teach myself when to worry about weight gains and when to NOT PANIC. All this in preparation for the rest of my life, so that when I reached my goal, I had a firm foundation under me. I don't intend to do this again. I have yo-yo'd for close to half of my adult life, and I'm done. This time is the time I get it right, this is the time I learn all the things I just mentioned, this is the time I get my head around it and understand what goes on with my body.

    So. Raw diet? Cleanse? These are yo-yo, fad-diet, RUN AWAY words. It's not something you can sustain for life. It won't teach you much about the things I mentioned above. So I know you feel kind of anxious to get the weight off, and you want it off as fast as possible, but really unless you want to be back here in 3 months, or 6, or a year or two years posting an "I'm back, starting over" post, you're going to be MUCH better served by taking the doable, sensible, realistic approach and learning some things instead of falling for yet another gimmick.

    ^^ This! Exactly this.
  • azulvioleta6
    azulvioleta6 Posts: 4,195 Member
    Raw CAN be healthy--it depends on exactly what you are doing. The "cleanse" part gives me pause. What exactly are you eating?

    There are several big challenges with raw:

    1. Getting enough protein can be a difficult.
    2. It involves an enormous amount of preparation. I grow a lot of my own food, can/freeze and cook most things from scratch, but I still look at my friends who eat raw and my reaction to the amount of time they spend on food preparation is NOPE NOPE NOPE.
    3. It is really hard to maintain a raw diet if you have to do any traveling. There are some amazing raw restaurants out there, but they aren't exactly on every street corner.
    4. Everyone that I know who has done a raw diet immediately gains back a ton of weight as soon as they quit eating raw. I have a friend who did a raw diet for 5 years. As soon as she quit, she gained back 40 pounds in the blink of an eye.
  • fishshark
    fishshark Posts: 1,886 Member
    Why? It's not going to work, and you know it's not healthy. (That sounds just like "stupid", sorry, imo.) Why not do something healthy that is also going to work, and start now?

    Eating raw can be healthy but it takes an insane amount of time and money to hit your macros. I have many healthy friends who have been raw 5+ years. They do eat cooked quinoa for protein here and there. How do YOU know what will or won't work or what is healthy for someone else's life.
  • fishshark
    fishshark Posts: 1,886 Member
    Phrick wrote: »
    The way I look at weight loss is this: It is my time to be (re)training myself on how to eat for the rest of my life. How to cook tasty and healthy food, how to choose appropriate portions. How to eat to satisfaction rather than to "full." How to survive holiday parties, temptations, office doughnuts. How to eat out at a restaurant, or as a guest in someone's home. It's my time to learn how my body reacts to certain foods, to learn my personal patterns of gain/loss (for example, high sodium meals pack on water weight but it comes off fast; and, I like a lot of women, gain several pounds in the week leading up to my period, etc). I get this time to figure out what exercises I like and which ones I despise, and to teach myself when to worry about weight gains and when to NOT PANIC. All this in preparation for the rest of my life, so that when I reached my goal, I had a firm foundation under me. I don't intend to do this again. I have yo-yo'd for close to half of my adult life, and I'm done. This time is the time I get it right, this is the time I learn all the things I just mentioned, this is the time I get my head around it and understand what goes on with my body.

    So. Raw diet? Cleanse? These are yo-yo, fad-diet, RUN AWAY words. It's not something you can sustain for life. It won't teach you much about the things I mentioned above. So I know you feel kind of anxious to get the weight off, and you want it off as fast as possible, but really unless you want to be back here in 3 months, or 6, or a year or two years posting an "I'm back, starting over" post, you're going to be MUCH better served by taking the doable, sensible, realistic approach and learning some things instead of falling for yet another gimmick.

    my best friend has been raw for 5 years.. wouldn't consider that a fad or a yo yo diet. and he plans on sustaining it for the rest of his life. His dr monitors his health and nutrient intake and he's healthy and not deficient in any vitamin.. oh he is also a pro athlete... but you know.. yo yo fad diet that isn't healthy.
  • VykkDraygoVPR
    VykkDraygoVPR Posts: 465 Member
    fishshark wrote: »
    Phrick wrote: »
    The way I look at weight loss is this: It is my time to be (re)training myself on how to eat for the rest of my life. How to cook tasty and healthy food, how to choose appropriate portions. How to eat to satisfaction rather than to "full." How to survive holiday parties, temptations, office doughnuts. How to eat out at a restaurant, or as a guest in someone's home. It's my time to learn how my body reacts to certain foods, to learn my personal patterns of gain/loss (for example, high sodium meals pack on water weight but it comes off fast; and, I like a lot of women, gain several pounds in the week leading up to my period, etc). I get this time to figure out what exercises I like and which ones I despise, and to teach myself when to worry about weight gains and when to NOT PANIC. All this in preparation for the rest of my life, so that when I reached my goal, I had a firm foundation under me. I don't intend to do this again. I have yo-yo'd for close to half of my adult life, and I'm done. This time is the time I get it right, this is the time I learn all the things I just mentioned, this is the time I get my head around it and understand what goes on with my body.

    So. Raw diet? Cleanse? These are yo-yo, fad-diet, RUN AWAY words. It's not something you can sustain for life. It won't teach you much about the things I mentioned above. So I know you feel kind of anxious to get the weight off, and you want it off as fast as possible, but really unless you want to be back here in 3 months, or 6, or a year or two years posting an "I'm back, starting over" post, you're going to be MUCH better served by taking the doable, sensible, realistic approach and learning some things instead of falling for yet another gimmick.

    my best friend has been raw for 5 years.. wouldn't consider that a fad or a yo yo diet. and he plans on sustaining it for the rest of his life. His dr monitors his health and nutrient intake and he's healthy and not deficient in any vitamin.. oh he is also a pro athlete... but you know.. yo yo fad diet that isn't healthy.

    Atkins works. Would you not consider it a fad?

    All raw foods is unnecessary. It's part of the "eating clean" fad. You can do it, but it's pretty pointless (and ridiculously expensive). But whatever floats your boat, ya know. As long as you hit your goals, and you're healthy and satisfied.
  • kiramommy08
    kiramommy08 Posts: 44 Member
    I think that if u go on a raw diet it helps u gain more displine to eat healthy no matter what. And why in the world would someone lose the weight. Get off the diet and eat all the weight back. Their is no way i would let that happen. Losing weight is hard enough givong up the foods u love. I have a hard time with portions. Well atleast with bread and potatoes all the rest of that stuff i can give up cold turkey. Its all about will power. I get down to my goal weight there is no way im coming back up. Everybody is different
  • kiramommy08
    kiramommy08 Posts: 44 Member
    Exactly
    fishshark wrote: »
    Why? It's not going to work, and you know it's not healthy. (That sounds just like "stupid", sorry, imo.) Why not do something healthy that is also going to work, and start now?

    Eating raw can be healthy but it takes an insane amount of time and money to hit your macros. I have many healthy friends who have been raw 5+ years. They do eat cooked quinoa for protein here and there. How do YOU know what will or won't work or what is healthy for someone else's life.

  • kiramommy08
    kiramommy08 Posts: 44 Member
    I made it my final because i have no idea what i would look like at that weight. Plus i thought it was a realistic goal being that i started from 245. I had no idea how long it wouldve taken me to lose that much weight. I xould lose more if i ever got to 180. But i also dont wanna end up looking like a tall broom stick.
    VeryKatie wrote: »
    I think I would miss cooked meat and fish and warm food in the winter. I dunno. It's up to you, people do it and feel good on it, so really it has to do whether you like it or not. It always reminds me that one of the most important historical reasons for humans living longer was because we learned to cook our food. But I DO know that's because they would eat raw meat and die from food poisoning. I'm guessing you are not doing that.

    Um.. may I ask a question? I'm the same height as you so I was wondering if 180 lb is your final goal or an intermediate one?

    Congrats on your weight loss, it's really impressive.

  • azulvioleta6
    azulvioleta6 Posts: 4,195 Member
    I think that if u go on a raw diet it helps u gain more displine to eat healthy no matter what. And why in the world would someone lose the weight. Get off the diet and eat all the weight back. Their is no way i would let that happen. Losing weight is hard enough givong up the foods u love. I have a hard time with portions. Well atleast with bread and potatoes all the rest of that stuff i can give up cold turkey. Its all about will power. I get down to my goal weight there is no way im coming back up. Everybody is different

    Why would you give up the foods you love?

    A more reasonable approach might be to eat a reasonable amount of all of the things you love, in the context of a balanced diet.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    SLLRunner wrote: »
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    SLLRunner wrote: »
    Why? It's not going to work, and you know it's not healthy. (That sounds just like "stupid", sorry, imo.) Why not do something healthy that is also going to work, and start now?

    Whoa whoa whoa! Eating raw isn't healthy?! Somehow I think veggies, legumes, fruit and nuts are all incredibly healthy.

    Raw legumes aren't healthy at all.

    Plus, how would you chew them?

    People eating raw sprout legumes, which makes them chewable.

    Oh! So, there are actually some that you can chew, and it's not like people are buying the lentil in bulk and trying to eat them that way?

    That's good news.

    Yup, if you soak lentils overnight they are soft enough to chew. (May actually take less time to become chewable; I always just soak overnight.) Then you go through the sprouting procedure, which takes a few days. I like sprouted lentils in salads. Lentils are super easy and can be done in jars rather than the special sprouting trays. While I've often sprouted in the winter as I'm unable to garden, I can't imagine doing enough sprouting to get enough protein.
  • jennifer_417
    jennifer_417 Posts: 12,344 Member
    Why not?
    Well, for one thing, it's unpleasant. Why make the process any harder than it has to be?
    For another, it's unsustainable. One really good thing about losing weight slow and steady, by a simple calorie deficit, it that it helps you to develop the habits you will need to keep the weight off once you lose it.
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    fishshark wrote: »
    Phrick wrote: »
    The way I look at weight loss is this: It is my time to be (re)training myself on how to eat for the rest of my life. How to cook tasty and healthy food, how to choose appropriate portions. How to eat to satisfaction rather than to "full." How to survive holiday parties, temptations, office doughnuts. How to eat out at a restaurant, or as a guest in someone's home. It's my time to learn how my body reacts to certain foods, to learn my personal patterns of gain/loss (for example, high sodium meals pack on water weight but it comes off fast; and, I like a lot of women, gain several pounds in the week leading up to my period, etc). I get this time to figure out what exercises I like and which ones I despise, and to teach myself when to worry about weight gains and when to NOT PANIC. All this in preparation for the rest of my life, so that when I reached my goal, I had a firm foundation under me. I don't intend to do this again. I have yo-yo'd for close to half of my adult life, and I'm done. This time is the time I get it right, this is the time I learn all the things I just mentioned, this is the time I get my head around it and understand what goes on with my body.

    So. Raw diet? Cleanse? These are yo-yo, fad-diet, RUN AWAY words. It's not something you can sustain for life. It won't teach you much about the things I mentioned above. So I know you feel kind of anxious to get the weight off, and you want it off as fast as possible, but really unless you want to be back here in 3 months, or 6, or a year or two years posting an "I'm back, starting over" post, you're going to be MUCH better served by taking the doable, sensible, realistic approach and learning some things instead of falling for yet another gimmick.

    my best friend has been raw for 5 years.. wouldn't consider that a fad or a yo yo diet. and he plans on sustaining it for the rest of his life. His dr monitors his health and nutrient intake and he's healthy and not deficient in any vitamin.. oh he is also a pro athlete... but you know.. yo yo fad diet that isn't healthy.

    Atkins works. Would you not consider it a fad?

    All raw foods is unnecessary. It's part of the "eating clean" fad. You can do it, but it's pretty pointless (and ridiculously expensive). But whatever floats your boat, ya know. As long as you hit your goals, and you're healthy and satisfied.
    This suggests you consider atkins a fad. That's a long long long lasting fad!

    IIFYM is more like a fad than low carb.
  • VykkDraygoVPR
    VykkDraygoVPR Posts: 465 Member
    fishshark wrote: »
    Phrick wrote: »
    The way I look at weight loss is this: It is my time to be (re)training myself on how to eat for the rest of my life. How to cook tasty and healthy food, how to choose appropriate portions. How to eat to satisfaction rather than to "full." How to survive holiday parties, temptations, office doughnuts. How to eat out at a restaurant, or as a guest in someone's home. It's my time to learn how my body reacts to certain foods, to learn my personal patterns of gain/loss (for example, high sodium meals pack on water weight but it comes off fast; and, I like a lot of women, gain several pounds in the week leading up to my period, etc). I get this time to figure out what exercises I like and which ones I despise, and to teach myself when to worry about weight gains and when to NOT PANIC. All this in preparation for the rest of my life, so that when I reached my goal, I had a firm foundation under me. I don't intend to do this again. I have yo-yo'd for close to half of my adult life, and I'm done. This time is the time I get it right, this is the time I learn all the things I just mentioned, this is the time I get my head around it and understand what goes on with my body.

    So. Raw diet? Cleanse? These are yo-yo, fad-diet, RUN AWAY words. It's not something you can sustain for life. It won't teach you much about the things I mentioned above. So I know you feel kind of anxious to get the weight off, and you want it off as fast as possible, but really unless you want to be back here in 3 months, or 6, or a year or two years posting an "I'm back, starting over" post, you're going to be MUCH better served by taking the doable, sensible, realistic approach and learning some things instead of falling for yet another gimmick.

    my best friend has been raw for 5 years.. wouldn't consider that a fad or a yo yo diet. and he plans on sustaining it for the rest of his life. His dr monitors his health and nutrient intake and he's healthy and not deficient in any vitamin.. oh he is also a pro athlete... but you know.. yo yo fad diet that isn't healthy.

    Atkins works. Would you not consider it a fad?

    All raw foods is unnecessary. It's part of the "eating clean" fad. You can do it, but it's pretty pointless (and ridiculously expensive). But whatever floats your boat, ya know. As long as you hit your goals, and you're healthy and satisfied.
    This suggests you consider atkins a fad. That's a long long long lasting fad!

    IIFYM is more like a fad than low carb.
    It doesn't suggest it, I outright said it. xD

    Atkins was a fad. It's waned. There are still people that adhere to it, but I think that most people just do low carb in general, rather than the Atkins diet itself. I dunno if you remember, but years ago, you couldn't go to a book store without seeing it everywhere. Now you see things like South Beach, etc. Now, when I go on Facebook, all I see is people talking about eating "clean," and raw this, raw that.

    Being a fad doesn't mean it's ineffective. It's just like every other fad diet. People adopt it because it's popular, rather than any benefit the diet actually presents (if any).


    I don't do IIFYM. I just eat what I want, and let it fall where it will. So, for example, my goal is to not eat like a pig. I hit my goal on an astoundingly regular basis. ;)
  • prettysoul1908
    prettysoul1908 Posts: 200 Member
    Im 5'6. My starting weight was 245.6lbs. Today is weigh in day so not sure where im at but my last weigh in i was at 205lbs. ive recently started a raw diet cleanse duration; 10 days. Today is day 4. Anyone else tried this before? how was it? Success stories? Im thinking of trying to stay on it til i reach my goal weight of 180. Is that too drastic? I know their are alot of people that will be like its not healthy, i trully understand just wanna know sense im obviously "obese" why not try and get the last few off and work on maintaining...

    I did a raw/vegan diet once and was constantly sick because I wasn't getting enough nutrients.

    If you're going to adopt this lifestyle do a LOT of research on how to adequately get nutrition. I have a few friends who eat this way and they love it but you have to do your research
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,011 Member
    I think that if u go on a raw diet it helps u gain more displine to eat healthy no matter what. And why in the world would someone lose the weight. Get off the diet and eat all the weight back. Their is no way i would let that happen. Losing weight is hard enough givong up the foods u love. I have a hard time with portions. Well atleast with bread and potatoes all the rest of that stuff i can give up cold turkey. Its all about will power. I get down to my goal weight there is no way im coming back up. Everybody is different

    OP, as to the bolded, the majority of people who lose weight end up gaining it back. While it might not be logical, it happens all the time. What the previous comments are telling you is that many people intend to just switch over to eating moderately once they hit goal but don't manage to.

    You don't have to give up any food, just plug your stats into MFP, choose your weekly goal, and eat the calories it gives you. If you think raw food has some health benefits for you, then by all means include them or focus on them. But learning to eat the foods you love moderately so you can maintain a healthy weight is an important skill you will benefit from for your whole life. Good luck!
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
    Phrick wrote: »
    norasatqa wrote: »
    Think again about your life and eat clean well :)

    FIFY ;) Thanks for the compliment upthread. I think it is important to note that "eat clean" is a hotly debated concept. Who defines what is "clean" and what is not? The terminology is much too subjective and quite honestly it often serves to complicate things for people to the point of giving up. You might say one food is "clean" and someone else would argue "no it's not" and then persons 3-981 chime in with their versions of what it means, and it can get very muddled and overwhelming. It's a smarter and frankly much easier thing to start simply: eat smaller portions of food you like. It pretty quickly follows that you learn that a smaller portion of Food X just isn't satisfying, or leaves you hungry, and the learning process begins.

    That had been my downfall so many times before - trying to sort all the advice and figure out what I was doing BEFORE doing anything. Finally I understand that just STARTING SOMEWHERE is the key. It actually isn't necessary to get everything perfect from day 1! It was kind of a mind-blowing realization if I'm honest... I have a tendency to get hung up on doing everything "right." But there is so much out there that I would freeze and falter and question and waffle and fail.

    It was actually in therapy for something completely unrelated to weight that I came to the discovery that there's no "perfect for everyone," an that if you never start, you never achieve. If, however, you just START, and make mistakes, and keep an open mind to learning as you go, that's where you find success.

    Oh my gosh, so much this.

    I don't know why people feel the need to start the most extreme, restrictive way of doing things - rather than just implementing small changes and seeing success build along the way.
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
    I think that if u go on a raw diet it helps u gain more displine to eat healthy no matter what. And why in the world would someone lose the weight. Get off the diet and eat all the weight back. Their is no way i would let that happen. Losing weight is hard enough givong up the foods u love. I have a hard time with portions. Well atleast with bread and potatoes all the rest of that stuff i can give up cold turkey. Its all about will power. I get down to my goal weight there is no way im coming back up. Everybody is different

    OP if you have trouble with portion control and giving up foods you love, I'm not sure why you would try to implement one of the most restrictive diets out there in order to lose the last 30 or so pounds. How did you lose the weight you've lost already? Why not just keep with that approach? Why the sense of urgency now?
  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,343 Member
    This suggests you consider atkins a fad. That's a long long long lasting fad!

    IIFYM is more like a fad than low carb.

    If you truly believe the bolded above, your understanding of IIFYM is severely lacking.
  • MsTeaLady
    MsTeaLady Posts: 11 Member
    edited December 2015
    There is no solid evidence that suggests that a raw diet is healthier than a simple diet of mostly fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and meats.
  • rachelpauline93
    rachelpauline93 Posts: 40 Member
    I ate raw for a few months and for me it was unmanageable. I did lose weight, but I put it right back on as soon as I started eating normally, plus some. Eating a lot of raw foods is probably good, but make sure you're getting enough calories. It's hard on a raw food diet to get even the minimum amount of calories. I also felt sick a lot.
  • Protranser
    Protranser Posts: 517 Member
    If you are still on the fence, why not just try your way to see how it goes? If it starts feeling unsustainable, then go back to what worked for you to drop from your starting weight to current weight
  • kiramommy08
    kiramommy08 Posts: 44 Member
    Well guess i will have to prove all the (non believers) wrong. Im very determined about this. And ur experiences or ur friends' experiences have nothing to do with my journey and how i will get to my destination and how i will maintain. Glad i made this post. Reading some of these responses motivates ALOT!
  • gothchiq
    gothchiq Posts: 4,590 Member
    cooking makes it possible for your body to access some of the nutrients in the food. Leaving everything raw is nutritionally unsound. I would not do it.
This discussion has been closed.