Is raw till 4 high carb vegan healthy?

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MagicDance396
MagicDance396 Posts: 13 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hi I'm 18 years old, and around 300 pounds. I have been trying to find a lifestyle I can maintain healthily. I came across the raw till4 high carb vegan lifestyle and it looks amazing. But is it healthy? I don't want to do any more damage to my body than I already have
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Replies

  • AliceDark
    AliceDark Posts: 3,886 Member
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    "Healthy" is such a vague term that it's really meaningless without context.

    Raw Till 4 is certainly extreme, unbalanced and expensive, and it doesn't guarantee weight loss. Is it really going to be sustainable for you?
  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,950 Member
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    Sure it's healthy.

    Healthy for you? That might be something different.

    Fad diets are tehkewlest and all, but it's generally a better idea to just actually reduce intake, figure that out, and make your daily diet something dialed in and controlled for life.

    Particularly at your age and size. Good luck, I'd avoid that diet though, but really. How do you know if it is or is not right for you until you try it for 6 months?
  • skullshank
    skullshank Posts: 4,323 Member
    edited February 2015
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    for ME, maintaining IIFYM has been the best way.

    you dont need high carb vegan till 4 (whatever that means) to lose weight and be healthy.

    calculate your TDEE here http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/

    then eat 75-80% of that.

    you dont have to eliminate anything from your diet unless medically advised by a qualified doctor.

    you can exercise if you'd like.

    be patient...rome wasnt built in a day.
    be consistent.
    this process is not linear, and you will see ups and downs that are perfectly normal.
    weigh everything you eat and track accurately.

    read these:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1346163-change-your-mindset

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819925-the-basics-don-t-complicate-it

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1235566-so-you-re-new-here?hl=so+you're+new+here

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/872212-you-re-probably-eating-more-than-you-think


    edited to add: just read part of the raw til4 thing. holy crap. also, slightly misleading (unless i missed something), in that, if you eat more than your body burns, you will gain. doesnt matter if it's raw bananas or cooked vegan soy boca chickpea pizza. calories in/calories out.
  • GiveMeCoffee
    GiveMeCoffee Posts: 3,556 Member
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    How about just trying to use MFP.
    Log your food accurately and honestly keeping a reasonable calorie deficit
    Be consistent / Be patient
    Don't try an overly restrictive diet that is going to make this difficult, just keep it simple
  • herbertwest7734
    herbertwest7734 Posts: 52 Member
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    It is very healthy and a great way to get used to increasing your intake of whole raw foods. Not to mention by doing raw till 4 you can go home and have whatever you would like for dinner in the short term and then slowly transition to being vegan from there if it feels right to you instead of just going vegan cold turkey. Many people have a hard time just switching over cold turkey and it makes them want to give in to cravings and quit before they can reap the benefits. Esp if you have not properly researched how to make sure you get nutrients your body needs. (The cravings go away btw) Try watching forks over knives also.
  • Hornsby
    Hornsby Posts: 10,322 Member
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    MagicDance396 wrote: »
    Hi I'm 18 years old, and around 300 pounds. I have been trying to find a lifestyle I can maintain healthily. I came across the raw till4 high carb vegan lifestyle and it looks amazing. But is it healthy? I don't want to do any more damage to my body than I already have

    Why not just follow the guided set up from MFP and follow that? No need to try something this restrictive.

    Losing weight doesn't have to be rocket science.
  • MagicDance396
    MagicDance396 Posts: 13 Member
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    I have in fact tried calorie deficit. I've tried low carb. I've tried small portions. I've tried nutrisystem. I've tried a lot. I've been trying to lose weight since I was nine. I've been on so many diets and "lifestyle" changes. And I always lose weight, but I always fail and gain it back because I binge. I figured vegan would be good for me because it doesn't restrict as much of how much you eat.
  • AliceDark
    AliceDark Posts: 3,886 Member
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    MagicDance396 wrote: »
    I have in fact tried calorie deficit. I've tried low carb. I've tried small portions. I've tried nutrisystem. I've tried a lot. I've been trying to lose weight since I was nine. I've been on so many diets and "lifestyle" changes. And I always lose weight, but I always fail and gain it back because I binge. I figured vegan would be good for me because it doesn't restrict as much of how much you eat.
    Oh, sweetie, I just looked at your profile. I'm vegetarian now and have been vegan in the past, and neither of those eating plans have made me lose weight. You say you don't want to crash diet anymore, which is a good place to start. When you see "crash" diet, though, think "extreme" diet. Anything that is extreme or restrictive typically leads people to eventually binge or at least give up and splurge.

    Vegan diets are highly restrictive, and Raw Til 4 is insanely restrictive. If it's a huge change for you, we can predict with a high degree of accuracy that you will eventually gain whatever you've lost back. (The one circumstance where it might not end like this is if you're already a vegan eating a high volume of raw foods. If it's not a huge change, it might be sustainable in the long term. I don't know if that's the case for you.)

    Literally the only thing you need to do to lose weight is eat a little less than you burn, for a long period of time. That's it. You can eat exactly what you do now, just less of it. If you can keep that up for long enough, you'll lose weight. It's the "long period of time" part that trips people up. They cut down calories in an extreme way, but only for a short time (because nobody can keep that up for long).

    Try this...tell MFP you want to lose 2 pounds per week. Then follow that number for 4-6 weeks. Get a food scale and start weighing solids to make sure you're hitting your goal as closely as possible. Compared to what you'd spend on Raw Til 4, food scales are CHEAP. Mine was about $15 from Amazon.
  • skullshank
    skullshank Posts: 4,323 Member
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    MagicDance396 wrote: »
    I have in fact tried calorie deficit. I've tried low carb. I've tried small portions. I've tried nutrisystem. I've tried a lot. I've been trying to lose weight since I was nine. I've been on so many diets and "lifestyle" changes. And I always lose weight, but I always fail and gain it back because I binge. I figured vegan would be good for me because it doesn't restrict as much of how much you eat.

    there are a lot of calorie-dense raw and vegan foods that could very easily take you beyond your allotted calorie goal.

    while bananas and avocados and nuts may be raw and vegan, you can still gain weight eating them if you are eating more than you are burning.

    losing weight isnt so much about what you eat, but how much.

    i feel that this next endeavor of yours is just complicating things. if you lost weight with calorie deficit, you know it works. sometimes you just need to flex that will power and stick to moderation.
  • GiveMeCoffee
    GiveMeCoffee Posts: 3,556 Member
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    MagicDance396 wrote: »
    I have in fact tried calorie deficit. I've tried low carb. I've tried small portions. I've tried nutrisystem. I've tried a lot. I've been trying to lose weight since I was nine. I've been on so many diets and "lifestyle" changes. And I always lose weight, but I always fail and gain it back because I binge. I figured vegan would be good for me because it doesn't restrict as much of how much you eat.

    I understand, I was there, except I yo yo dieted longer than you've been alive. I started on MFP over 2 years ago at 285 lbs, I was desperate to lose the weight, thought I knew how to do it. No, I knew how to diet, I didn't know how to be successful with weight loss. I thought you had to be miserable, that I had to drop my calories real low, cut out foods, etc. None of that was true.

    To be successful I had to be brutally honest with myself
    I had to log everything, use a food scale this helped me to learn real portion sizes, and this went with the brutally honest part.
    I had to be consistent, I had to show up every day and to give my best effort on that given day.
    I had to learn and be open to advice from those around me, and take what they said to research, ask more questions and research some more.
    If I thought about making a change, I asked myself "Is this a change I can do forever?" If it was great, probably a good change... if the answer was no, then I had to rethink why I wanted to make that change.
    I found activities I loved that took some time.
    I also learned that the more restrictive I made my diet or plan, the more I wanted to quit, so I learned to keep it simple.

    I've lost 125 lbs and have kept it off for almost a year now.
  • herbertwest7734
    herbertwest7734 Posts: 52 Member
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    Well said AliceDark. I was just concentrating on the whether or not it is healthy.
  • KHaverstick
    KHaverstick Posts: 308 Member
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    I don't know anything about the plan you mentioned, so I can't comment on its healthiness. For me, though, it wouldn't be sustainable. Do you see yourself being a vegan for ever? I think that's a question you will need to answer. If not, maybe try a different approach. Also, unless you eat in a calorie deficit, no diet plan is going to result in weight loss. That's why so many are suggesting eating a deficit, because ultimately that's what counts. And if you can do that in a way that allows you to eat foods you enjoy, everyone wins.

    For me, the most sustainable plan has been the following:

    1. Track what I eat.
    2. Don't be overly restrictive (i.e. no low carb, low fat, cutting out food groups, etc). Too many restrictions leads me to burnout.
    3. Eat things I enjoy while staying within the bounds of a reasonable calorie deficit.
    4. Eat enough fat and protein. A little fat goes a long way toward feeling satisfied, and for me, finding a plan that allows me to NOT be hungry all the time is one of the keys to success.
    5. Exercise. For me, it doesn't even have to be much. 20 minutes here & there is about all I can squeeze in, between being a full-time working professional with two small children. But that's enough for me to see progress. I have a much more difficult time if I don't do any exercise.
  • Jolinia
    Jolinia Posts: 846 Member
    edited February 2015
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    My experience was around four months. I found I had appetite issues toward the end and smoothies are a no go for me, they make me ravenous and give me a crash, even when I put seeds and nuts in for fat and protein. However, I was healthy and active (as far as I knew, I didn't go get bloodwork or anything). It was expensive and I had to use Cronometer to micromanage my nutrients because I was stubborn and refused to take anything except B12. I also go lots of sunshine for vitamin D.

    This is one of those things that I don't see how it will hurt to try it and see how you feel on it if you are healthy.
  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,950 Member
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    OP, you'll need to just learn how to maintain a caloric deficit to find long lasting success.

    Essentially, you need to completely re-learn how to eat, or you'll be embarking on a 40-50 year journey of ill health, yo-yoing weight, and generally poor quality of life.

    You have a choice though, so what will you choose?
  • yogicarl
    yogicarl Posts: 1,260 Member
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    As a vegan who eats around 40:60 raw to cooked, I would say that a vegan diet is not restrictive at all but you do have to do a bit of research to make sure you are getting the right nutrition daily, which is no more difficult than an omnivorous diet really but you just find yourself trying different vegetables, beans and pulses, nuts and grains you might not have thought of before. Its a great adventure though.
    As skullshank said above, "while bananas and avocados and nuts may be raw and vegan, you can still gain weight eating them if you are eating more than you are burning.". That is true though they are all good sources of carbs, healthy fats and nutrition within a slight calorie deficit if you are aiming to lose weight.
    Whether you decide to try going vegan for a time, or not, the key for me was to add a lot of leafy greens and things like celery etc that will fill you up without adding significant calories - that and a big helping of patience and perseverance.
    - Calculate your calorie needs with a sensible deficit with the MFP engine and set your target to lose a little weight each week and you will get there.
  • melimomTARDIS
    melimomTARDIS Posts: 1,941 Member
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    if binge eating is your problem (like it is mine) you gotta work on that first. Freelea is super cute, so I see why women want to start up on her plan, but she excersizes a ton. Its not just the banana smoothies that give her that figure.
  • Laurend224
    Laurend224 Posts: 1,748 Member
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    melimomTARDIS wrote: »
    if binge eating is your problem (like it is mine) you gotta work on that first. Freelea is super cute, so I see why women want to start up on her plan, but she excersizes a ton. Its not just the banana smoothies that give her that figure.


    Or the Datorade... =) I doubt you would 'damage' your body attempting HCRV or raw til four, but, like others said, OP is it something you will be able to maintain over the long term?
    I gained weight when I transitioned to a vegan diet..... I also gained weight when I did Freelee's 30 bananas a day. You still have to moderate your caloric intake NO MATTER what eating plan you choose.


  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
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    It is healthy -- just as healthy as anything else.
    It is more complicated than it needs to be.
    The best thing you can do for yourself (whatever plan you are eating) is to log in the diary everyday.

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