I am considering the raw food diet (goggle Rawfoodtalk if you want to see), Do you think a person will get all the nutrients in this diet?
I really dont know if I can permanently stop all proteins?
I am now at my heaviest and dont know what to do! i really have a problem with portion control and night time eatting!....
ANY HELP WILL BE GRATEFUL!

I think a raw food diet would be extremely difficult to manage for your life, it would be a huge commitment and a difficult lifestyle change. Restaurants, potlucks, lunch with friends, making sure you get the right nutrients...

It might be a good idea to start with small changes you can manage instead of jumping headlong into a lifestyle that the most serious and devoted find challenging.

I read a little bit on that forum, those folks are...intense.

Two sample menus:

Breakfast: A couple of glasses of fresh OJ
Snack: a few cups of grapes...or a couple of pears...or whatever
Lunch: 5 small avocados
Snack: 3 or 4 apples....a couple of peaches.....or whatever
Dinner: A small Papaya

*****

4-5am: grapefruit
6-7am: melons or raisens
8-9am/10-11am: dry fruit
12-1pm: banana
2-3pm: apples
4-5pm: different... maybe avacado, cucumber, tomato, etc... w/suppliment
6-7pm: blueberries
8-9pm: strawberries


I know each individual has to find what is right for them, but this menu does not look particularly balanced or healthy. The menus are fairly boring (fruit! nuts! vegetables!) and it looks very very difficult.

Yikes. Last night I was reading a fascinating book on women in treatment for eating disordersand these look like the meal lists they made for themselves when they were still actively "restricting" (in treatment they don't use the word "diet").

I think its great to ADD raw foods in to your diet, but it can't possibly be the healthiest way to eat 100% of the time.

I've seen some really creative recipes using raw foods (pureed nuts as a base) and also some using a dehydrator instead of cooking... some seem to find it incredibly benificial but some have gotten really ill by only eating raw.

You might try it for a week and see how you feel?

What is making you consider this diet? If it is to solve the problems you listed (portion control, nighttime eating), you may want to reconsider.

Glory is right, those folks are intense. It truly is a lifestyle change in many senses of the word. Many people choose this diet for moral reasons over health (although health is verrrry important to them). I have seen raw foodies in person and I can tell you that it is possible to "get your nutrients" (not one of them has a protein difficiency).... but it takes a wealth of knowledge and a lot of creativity as well as a real commitment. I began my journey yearning for a change and to this day I hold the raw food diet as my inspiration for that change. I am not raw. I have had a very raw diet since I began, but in no way am I afraid of my stove I love experimenting with recipes. I love how eating an abundance of "raw" things makes me feel. I think it has downfalls, as Inconcievable noted, but I think that falls on the person, not the way of living itself. I absolutely believe that embarking on a lifestyle change like this should be for the right reasons. Perhaps start by incorperating as much raw stuff where you can, as Glory and Inconceivable suggested and don't worry about being "all raw all the time". It's an almost impossible standard to start with.

Also, there is a section devoted to raw foods in the Alternachicks forum. There are some good discussions in there- you should check it out!

Snowbunny, I hear your desperation.

I certainly don't have this all figured out, I'm still at my wits end if I think about it all too much (hence, haven't posted in a week--I decided I was thinking too much...).

But...

My first probably 30 pounds or so were from a few basic rules I made for myself:

*No eating in the car--well, except coffee, but no froo-froo coffee. And water is fine.

*Put everything on a plate or in a bowl--and no, the bags fast food comes in don't count! When I would buy a typical fast food meal and put it on a plate... well, I quickly found out that those meals don't fit on a plate! It's shocking, really.

*Pack lunch whenever possible--100 percent compliance here might not be possible, but buying cafeteria food is the exception for me now, not the norm.

*Measure everything in servings. Even if I decide to have two servings of something, I still measure each serving.

*Keep the most dangerous foods out of the house, period--exception being leftovers, which get frozen immediately. So if I want it, I go get one serving. Ice cream? I get in the car, go to the gas station, and buy a Dove bar--Or go to the gourmet ice cream place on the good side of the tracks. Yeah, it's like 500 calories, but that's not going to make a difference for a big girl like me if it happens occassionally--but the 2000 calories from the PACK of Dove bars will...

I did these one at a time, in roughly the above order. It took months, but it wasn't really hard to do one thing at a time. Now I'm working on "No 'Found' Food" and dealing with social situations/holidays.

Good luck, snowbunny. I hear ya'. It's hard.

Thanks everyone!

I think I will take the suggestion of just combining the raw food with my current plan! I guess that makes sense! It is just getting harder as time goes by to stay on track!

I have an Adventist friend who is on a vegan and mostly raw diet. They were both having health problems and they look better now than ten years ago. Here is one of the cookbooks she uses:

http://www.adventistbookcenter.com/D...sku=0943685419

Snowbunny. Firstly (((hugs))) you sound a little frazzled. Glory said what I was going to. For me, this is all about a lifestyle I can live with forever. Raw foods would be difficult when out, for me boring and not very satisfying. Some people may do well but I can't believe the majority of people who try raw foodism stick with it. Just my $.02. I would say stick around here for support whatever you decide.

Snowbunny, you say you are having a problem with portion control and nighttime eating. My suggestion would be to pick one of these and work on it. Maybe get some measuring cups and spoons to help figure out portions, eat from smaller plates. For nighttime eating you could do a no eating after 7 rule, or only veggies after 7 or whatever works for you. There are lots of suggestions for each of these two issues on this site and others if you choose to work on the issues you've identified.

In the end, you have to find something you are comfortable with. I think I agree with almost everyone here who thinks a radical lifestyle change isn't it. Even though everyone says it, it is true; diets generally don't work, but true lifestyle changes do. I like your idea of adding the raw foods you are thinking of, it moves you in a direction you want to go, without completely disrupting your life. If you still want to change up what you are eating, you might also make other less extreme steps, maybe try a lacto-ovo vegetarian diet for a week or so and see how that goes, and see if that is a sustainable lifestyle for you.

Good luck, and hang in there.

Anne

Thanks everyone.
I will stick around. I think I will work on my portion control and night time eating like someone suggested before I make such a drastic change. (or if I wish to) for now I will stick with a Med. type diet.

I know how the night eating thing feels. RESIST THE URGE. Go for a walk or something, if you keep yourself busy, you won't want to eat as much.

As for the whole raw foods thing, my mom has tried it, and I was right along with her, It is HARD and really, I don't think you body gets enough of what it needs unless you keep a constant, analytical watch on what you eat. What could help though, is if you stuck to raw fruits and veggies after dinner.

hi ladies, just wnated to put my 2 cents in about raw food.

during summer i went all out with that diet. i was a regular on rawfoodtalk.com. it is very difficult to maintain that lifestyle.
at my best was only 80% raw. i spent hundreds on a juicer, dehydrators, etc and in the end was not able to maintain it. that being said i also
wanted to add that your really do feel healthier when you eat as much raw un-processed food as possible. i learned a lot about nutrition from that site.
the diet can be a lot more inventive that just fruit thats for sure.
if your interested in throwing a few different type of meals into your
plan, trying the cookbook advertized on that site by allissa cohen.

re pm eating. i drink a pack of metamucil with lots and lots of water.
it gives you the feeling of being full.