Can anyone advise me? I have been 100% raw for a fortnight tomorrow and have only lost 3lbs! My starting weight was nearly 19 stone. I feel very disheartened, although I feel healthier and have more energy. Has ANYONE had this experience. Everywhere I read on the Web, people have had dramatic weight loss, and I am wondering whether to perservere?
Would appreciate any comments. :
Raw Gardener

I have some ideas.

1) Are you hungry in the morning? If not, then wait until you are truly hungry or noon, whichever is earlier, to eat. If you are hungry in the morning, then listen to your body and eat - maybe a fruit smoothie. The same is true all day, eat only when hungry.

2) Are you grazing all day? Some new raw foodists make the mistake of grazing all day. Our body needs time to digest the previous meal or snack. Try to wait a minimum of 2 hours between meals/snacks.

3) Are you overdoing it on nuts? Try to limit yourself to one or 2 handful of nuts a day and 1 avocado a day. If you are already eating less than this, don't increase it. Presoaking nuts usually improves the digestion of them. I think the black, ripe, squishy avocados are easier to digest also.

4) Are you getting any exercise? 10 minutes of jumping on a mini-trampoline or 30 minutes of walking 5 days out of 7 should help.

5) Eat more of the simpler raw foods and save the gourmet raw foods for an occasional treat.

Karen Knowler has an article on weight loss here http://karenknowler.typepad.com/living_in_the_raw/2007/04/reader_question.html.

Other than that, I would suggest buying Angela Stokes book "How to go Raw for Weight Loss", that should help tremendously.

Good luck and keep at it, it works!

Many thanks for reply. I am hungry pretty much ALL the time actually, and especially so first thing in the morning and last things at night. I will take on board what you said about the nuts, and I am going to make sure I only have a handful a day.
Raw Gardener

I can totally relate. Raw food is so much lighter than cooked food and that lighter feeling can make us feel so-o-o hungry at first!

Have you found something that fills you up at breakfast yet? Some people do fruit smoothies with some young coconut meat and milk in it, some do green smoothies with an avocado in it, and I have heard some people eat huge salads for breakfast. Maybe eat a raw bar last thing at night for a satisfying treat. Or at first, I would have a banana dipped in raw cocoa nibs for my dessert every night. It was very satisfying at the time.

You might need a couple handfuls of presoaked nuts everyday at first and an avocado. But try to fill yourself up at each meal or snack so you will be able to wait at least 2 hours before the next meal or snack.

Good luck and let us know how you are doing! Remember that high raw is perfectly acceptable at first and also sprouted grains can be helpful to fill you up. There are even raw oat groats that you can soak in hot water overnight for raw oatmeal in the morning.

I feel the same way in the mornings. What I found helps is to start right off by drinking a few cups of fresh warm water with at least half a lemon squeezed into it. I set my kitchen timer for 15min, then I have my fiber (psyllium and/or flax meal), wait another 15-20min, and then have some solid food. I find it really puts my hunger at ease and paces my eating why speeds up my digestion. I hope this helps.

Hi everyone,
I just want to say thank you for all the tips and advice. My weight dramatically started to come off after I stopped having an cocao/caffiene. I was still having some green tea which has a trace. Literally 5lbs came off straight away and exactly one month since I started 100% raw I have lost 1stone 1lb. I am losing at a rate of 3lbs a week now, and feel fantastic!
Love and blessings
Raw gardener