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Craving Fats, lots of food, and Tired...help?!

AziahAziah Raw Newbie

I have been RAW for 30 days now. I was doing great in the beginning now some things are changing:

The first is I am craving fats all the time. In particular, avocados. I have been eating 1/2-1 avocado a day. I also have been craving nut-based cheese spreads (but not craving nuts, I am actually repulsed by them which is odd for me). I don’t feel satisfied until I eat something like this. The result of this is I am not losing any more weight (I need to lose 20 more lbs).

The second is this diet is supposed to make you feel fuller longer so you require less food. I find I am hungry and picking ALL DAY.

The third is I am not feeling very energetic. Actually, I sleep 10 hours a nite still (always have) and carry around a slight exhaustion all day. Then around 3-4pm I can’t keep my eyes open. I am drop-dead exhausted. The odd thing is this happens like clock-work every day. If I get a cat-nap (rare) then I am wide awake afterwards and can stay up until past midnight.

The other thing is I have trouble actually getting to sleep each nite. I lay in bed and it takes me a long time to actually fall asleep. Again, that is odd for me.

What is going on? Is this a late-detox? What about the cravings? Should i go with them or force more fruits and veggies?

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Comments

  • KhaasLadkiKhaasLadki Raw Newbie

    I’m not completely raw, but when I started eating at least 80% raw (about a month or so ago) I was very tired the first week or so, until I started having a big ol’ green smoothie for breakfast. They really energize me in the mornings and they help me to feel up to taking a brisk walk every night after dinner. I find that if I exert myself physically for at least 30 minutes every day, I go to sleep faster and sleep a LOT better. And the harder or longer the exertion, the better I sleep.

    Although I am not trying to lose weight (actually the opposite is true), I do understand the fat cravings! I eat nuts like crazy – even though I know it’s not the best thing for me. I’m actually trying to eat more avocados instead of nuts, which should be better, but I haven’t figured out why I want so much fat (at least it’s good fats now, as opposed to my SAD days)!

    Usually when I crave the fats, I make a smoothie with alot of greens (I’m going through a smoothie phase because I have TMJ) and then after I eat that (or towards the end of it) I eat some almonds or pumpkin seeds, and I find that I don’t feel like I need as many of them.

    I didn’t know I was supposed to feel fuller longer on this diet?! lol. I pretty much just graze all day on fruits/veggies/nuts. Walk through the kitchen, grab an almond. Walk back through, grab a grape. lol. I haven’t gained any weight yet, so apparently it’s keeping my metabolism up or something! lol.

    Hope you start feeling better soon!

  • sweetpeasweetpea Raw Newbie

    First of all Aziah, 30 days is just the beginning. I was totally exhausted the first 3 months after going raw as the body detoxed. Smoothies are very filling, you might want to try something there. A good salad with the kind of fats you describe is pretty normal and fine. Also, weight loss takes time, green smoothies will help without the fat but in the beginning of going raw, you might crave fatty foods. Hope this helps and well done for going all raw. I’m sure others here will share some good insights. Best of luck

     

  • eat a lot more fruit for a lot more energy and less cravings

    to lose weight , eat less than you burn

    to gain weight , eat more than you burn

    the above simple equation holds as true for raw foods as it does for cooked…it is the only diet ‘secret’ you need know

    you can lose weight by eating hamburgers as long as you keep true to the above….of course THAT example is not so healthy 8-)

    feeling fuller for longer is not an inherant benefit of raw eating….eating more food will keep you fuller for longer….raw, whole food is more bulky than dehydrated, dense , calorie-rich raw/cooked food….however, if you eat simple, healthy raw foods you will never achieve that ‘deadweight’ fullness that can be achieved with cooked and some raw gourmet foods

    your body craves simple sugars….feed these needs with the simple sugars found in fruits

  • ZoeZoe Raw Newbie

    The eating less thing happens when you have dissolved most or all of the muciod plaque in your gut, and therefore much more nutrients get through. I ate like a horse for my first 2 years 100% raw, and now in year 3, I eat very little. It just takes time…and slowly upping the percentage of raw helps the whole process happen faster, but you know, go as fast as the slowest part of yourself ;)

    Oh, a green smoothie a couple of times a day is a great filler upper, especially if you add a tablespoon of raw oil to it.

  • AziahAziah Raw Newbie

    Got it ;0) Thanks everyone! I wish I could skip this honeymoon phase and jump right to the 3 year mark – lol!

  • angie207angie207 Raw Master

    I read recently that avocados have something in them that actually helps the body burn/lose fat. And yes, 30 days is very early in the process, so the detox is not late at all. Drinking lots of green juices can help detox go more smoothly without so many symptoms, and it’s even better if combined with warm water enemas or colonics. Sometimes I eat lots of fruit & not so much nuts/fats, but most of the time my body wants lots of nuts, avocados, and oil! If your body needs something and you don’t feed it what it needs, it may go into “starvation mode” and store more fat, slow down metabolism, etc. There are times I have eaten several avocados in a day, or 2 – 3 per day for a while, and other times, like now, I want nuts, but I haven’t eaten an avocado for days.

    As for weight loss, a lot of people think that you have to lose weight to be healthy, but really, if you focus on optimal overall health of the whole body/system, the body weight will eventually regulate itself to what is healthiest for you – Good luck! It’s a journey and a process to see what’s best for you, and I find that what is best for me changes all the time. When I go with the changes, life works :)

  • wow you say you need to lose 20 more pounds? If that is you in the picture you don’t look overweight at all.

  • eating to feel full is part of the cooked food paradigm

    when stripped of all the extraneous reasons, be it social, emotional etc, there is only one reason we eat….for energy….

    as we fuel our cars to get from a-b, so we fuel our bodies to get from dawn to dusk

    even an extremely sedantary lifestyle for a woman will need 1500 calories a day….undercut this by a lot your body thinks starvation…..undercut less drastically and your body will look to stored fat and protein to break down as energy, a process that in itself uses a lot of energy

    it is true that once you are clean you are better able to absorb nutrients and over time this can leave you ‘feeling’ satisfied on less…..but remember that fuel has to come from somewhere…...

    using vegetable juice to detox has been around for ages and is something that a lot of people can comfortably do for an extended period of time….you can’t live like that though….even though you are getting and assimilating nutrients better through a cleaner, more efficient system…...

    this is why the latest trend ‘juice FEASTING’ allows for a much more sustainable time period…because by day the amount of calories consumed meets daily needs…..it’s about the calories…even this is not sustainable for too long as it requires the removal of all dietary fibre

    many long term raw foodists fail because they get used to eating too little…...eventually your body will seek the fuel from anywhere….

    aziah…if i were you i would count my blessings that you are experiencing this hunger…..follow the signs and get your fill of fruit…...if you , like me were attracted to RAW because of it’s simplicity and a sense that this is how nature had planned it for us….then take it in the form that nature packaged it…..eat fruit

  • AziahAziah Raw Newbie

    I always wondered what “juice feasting” was about…

    As for my reasoning for raw, it wasn’t weight, but I aint gonna lie. I do have a secondary motive! lol! My primary motive is health and I am just hoping that my weight will balance by being healthy. I just questioned how healthy it is to eat a lot of fats like nut cheese and avocados. But I will stick with the green smoothies. I like them and drink them…they usually only fill me for about 1.5-2 hours though then I am craving fats.

    For the person that commented on my picture, thanks I appreciate the compliment, but my weight lies below the waist (which I rarely post pics of). I am “blessed” with a “pear shape” ;0)

  • southernloversouthernlover Raw Newbie

    This will sound stupid to most, but I no longer believe in ‘calories’, per se. The reason being is because sooo many raw foodists don’t eat all that much, yet they maintain their weight, and visa versa. It all has to do with the nutrients and your bodies absorbing power. The more clean you are, the easier you can get rid of them through elimination and just using them up. Also, 30 days is not a long time. Some people detox for years. You have to remember that you have spent your whole life eating this other stuff, it will take time. If you want an avocado, have one. Your body is craving the fat for a reason. Just don’t eat a TON of them, and you’ll be fine. You will go through stages, and by the way, 1 avocado a day is not very much anyway. :)

  • nycgrrlnycgrrl Raw Newbie

    i am about 30 days raw too. (90%) and I too am feeling tired all of a sudden. For the last few days i am just DRAGGING. i am drinking my green smoothies and just bought E3 live, so hopefully that will help.

  • southenlover….

    don’t confuse nutrients and calories….it’s a classic mistake

    whether you like it or not, your body (with or without ‘nutrients’ as in vits and mins) burns calories every day….try 1500 for starters….this is a resting figure…add more for exercise….whether you believe in calories or not, your body is gonna burn stuff to get that fuel…...undercutting this figure will lead to a defecit

    the human body is an amazing machine…..unlike a car, when it’s fuel runs out, it will continue on as far as possible right up to the point that something ‘gives’

    you’re right though…people survive on very little…but you can survive or you can thrive

    apply the same logic that you do with your nutrients….give your body what it needs…satisfy it’s need for simple sugars…..don’t undercut your fuel

    i’m gonna shut up now….. 8-)

  • southernloversouthernlover Raw Newbie

    Oh, I’m not confused. I just know that people are brainwashed into thinking they need ‘this many’ calories, when that’s just not so. Everyone’s body is different. I can eat 5 avocados in a day, and not gain any weight, or I can eat 1400 calories of fruit and veggies with a little fat, and gain weight. That’s what I’m saying. If you eat 1500 calories of shit, your body is going to have a hard time losing weight regardless. :) And, by the way, I’m advocating eating more, not necessarily less to lose weight. So, there’s no ‘undercutting’ fuel.

  • MarichiesaMarichiesa Raw Newbie

    I agree with your take on things southernlover. My experience is very similar to yours. The more healthy fats( avo, hemp, olive oil etc.. ) I ingest the better my metabolism works. Just fruit and I blow up. Its also worth noting that the human body is engineered to survive. So it will adapt to a relatively low calorie diet and not lose weight interpreting less food as ‘store store store.’

  • you’re right…if you eat 5 avocados a day you won’t gain weight…at 1500 calories aday that would be 100 % of your intake as fat….healthy ???

    at 300 calories a go you could eat this and still lose weight…try making that 10 avocados….and see where you’re at….

    everybodys body is different….true….but human physiology is the same….how far we are away from our true selves in terms of nutrition etc is a defining factor…however, as one and all become cleaner and closer to nature the fundamental characteristics pertaining to our digestion, assimilation and daily needs for vitamins, minerals and fuel become the same

    i’m not pro-science by any means but this may or may not be fact….i believe it 100% only because i have experienced it

    if you eat more calories than you burn you will gain weight

    if you eat less you will lose weight

    and that 1 pound of weight is equivalent to 3500 calories

    and if you eat 1500 calories of shit while burning 2500 calories a day…hard or not…you will lose weight….i know people who have done those weight watchers point system diets…they work, regardless of the type of foods you eat…those points are carefully calculated against your bmr so that if followed correctly you will always burn more than you eat…it’s very simple

    let me put a question to you

    i’m assuming that you are moderately (whatever that means) active…now, say you decided you wanted to run a marathon next year and to accomplish this you were gonna start running 7 miles a day…..

    would you just start and continue training without making any changes to your diet ?....would you just continue to assert that your bodies cleanliness and better ability to absorb nutrients is sufficient to ‘power’ you through this extra activity?

    i would assume, no (though anythings possible)..to fuel this extra activity you would need to consume more fuel…simple….failure to do this, would result in what runners call ‘hitting the wall’ and cyclists call ‘bonkin’....this is when all your carb reserves run down and your body switches to try and metabolise fat for energy…the physical results can be disastrous, much like dehydrating

    it’s not about brainwashing…..there is much to dispute in conventional nutritional science, but we must hold onto some of the babies as the bathwater drains away…..

  • angie207angie207 Raw Master

    For the record, there are many people who eat much less than 1500 calories per day and thrive. A woman named Barbara Moore walked across the USA (at age 56) – San Francisco to New York – the same way she had done many times walking in the Alps in Switzerland: eating only “grasses, weeds, and water from melted snow” in Switzerland. On her cross-country trip in the USA, she took a banana and a jar of celery juice with her to supplement her wild grasses and weeds. She walked across the country in 46 days. “She also completed a walk across England (some one thousand miles), maintaining a five to six mile per hour pace for sixteen to eighteen hours a day.” That sounds a little better than surviving ;) No offense intended to those who think we need a lot of calories; I just want to share information & joy :) The information and quotes are from “The Wheatgrass Book” by Ann Wigmore, and Barbara Moore’s walk took place in the late seventies or early eighties.

  • southernloversouthernlover Raw Newbie

    Hehe…you got your calories burned/eaten thing backwards. (But I know what you meant.) I wasn’t saying that I can eat ‘only’ 5 avocados in a day and not gain weight. I’m talking 5 avos, 5 mangos, 5 cups of spinach, 3 bananas, 2 pounds of strawberries, and a whole watermelon…AND sit on my butt all day. Explanation? We were not built to worry about this calories crap. Once our bodies are clean, after eating raw, we no longer need to be concerned with all this. Eat what your body needs. It does take a while to get that in tuned with your body, but it will eventually happen. Your body may physically need to eat only fat for 3 days, and you will be fine. Where as on another three days, you might only eat fruit, or nothing at all. (Fasting is extrememly good for you also.) Anyway, the excess working out thing is true…most of the time. I can go bike riding 50 miles and only eat 2 oranges afterwards, and my body wants no more. The reason this happens occasionally is because while exercising, your body cleanses. If it is getting rid of toxic mess, then sometimes your body will reject food, in order to use all it’s energy for cleansing. Most of the time, though, it is true that one must eat more. Thanks for the conversation :)

  • yes angie, these ‘feats’ are possible….short term…the human organism will always strive to survive….but long term strategies need just that…strategy

    and yes southernlover, we weren’t built to worry about this calories crap, but after x amount of years working contrary to our natural instincts our abilities to recognise the bodies messages are severely skewed

    calorie counting is only necessary initially because we need to know just how much raw food 1500 – 2000 calories looks like

    the traditional SAD diet packs huge amounts of calories into very dense small packages…as a result, over time our stomachs shrink and lose their natural elasticity

    we are also told to measure satisfaction by a full belly

    this causes many problems as raw foods per calorie are full of water, fibre etc….and as such are a lot more bulky….that full stomach happens quickly and this (according to the cooked food paradigm) is time to stop….then they wonder why they are hungry a little while later

    what happens is the full belly of fruit or salad gets dealt with very quickly but fuel requirements haven’t yet been met….so the body craves more foods….desperate to stop these cravings the new raw foodist reaches for the heavier foods, the fats…these are much closer to cooked in terms of caloric density….a stomach full of cashews will keep you satisfied for longer as fuel needs are met

    fat doesn’t make for the most efficient solution

    so the solution is to regain our ability to eat sufficiently…after a while our stomachs regain their natural elasticity….those little bonobo monkeys eat bananas like they’re nothing….one after another, after another, after…....they were lucky enough never to lose the ability to trust their body/brain signals

    we CAN re-learn this….after which point calorie counting is unnecessary

    eat as we find in nature….sweet, juicy fruit, one tree at a time (mono)

    it’s interesting to note that when one mono meals the body / brain signal indicating when to stop eating starts functioning properly

    hasta la pasta

    elliot

  • oh, and i didn’t confuse my calories burnt equation

    you must be seeing things….delusion bought on by hunger, due to insufficient calories probably

    8-) 8-)

    and from what you said above, you are definately eating enough…..try changing 4 of the 5 avos to fruit and you won’t be sitting on you butt very often

    adios

  • southernloversouthernlover Raw Newbie

    Wow, I did read that wrong, like three times. My mistake. AND I DON’T EAT THAT EVERYDAY, duh. I was making a point. I eat mainly fruit, and plenty of calories. I don’t sit on my butt from lack of energy, I do it because I am lazy as hell. Thank you very much. lol.

  • nah…..you were right….i went back an edited my posts

    just playin’ wid’ya

    peace

  • is that like the ‘point’ you were making with the diet coke ‘curveball’ ??? 8-)

  • pianissimapianissima Raw Newbie

    hey elbo—i get your slant (calories) but i think you are wrong.

    here’s mine (cellular health): telling someone to eat more fruit when they are feeling horrible detox systems is the worst idea possible. going from a horrible diet to a raw one overnight is way too much cleansing for your body anyway, feeding that “unclean” body sweet fruits (which are REALLY cleansing) is asking for trouble. you need to take things gradually.

    i fear el-bo may be the broken record of 8-1-1 while i am going to be the broken record of “get a colonic!” seriously, if you are feeling mucky eating only the best foods possible, it could be that your cells are releasing muck and there’s nowhere for it to go. and you are just SWIMMING in a pool of your own toxic waste. either add some cooked foods in, OR some heavy foods (that’s why you are craving fat!), OR get a colonic.

    also, upping the greens is a good band-aid.

  • AziahAziah Raw Newbie

    ok my head is swimming. colonic?! I don’t even know anyone who does that…nor do I think I would want to do that. it just doesn’t seem natural flushing the system out that way (not to mention it just sounds disgusting…no offense pianissima. to each their own and i appreciate the suggestion. I just don’t think that is for me) – kwim?!

    i guess I will just stick with what my body is craving for now and see how that goes. I have no intention of ever going back to cooked foods. ever. so i guess it will all get flushed out eventually…

  • angie207angie207 Raw Master

    All this talk about calories got me curious, so I decided to see how many calories I’ve been eating. I know I’ve been eating a lot of nuts and fruit the last few days, but I didn’t know calories: 2633 so far today, and I’ll probably eat more before I go to bed, and yesterday’s total was 3,088 caories, with a little more than half of those calories coming from fat. I’ve been high-raw for 3 years next month, and I’ve watched myself cycle through all kinds of patterns. I’m not doing anything wrong, and I know my body is in need of all kinds of nourishment after my being so sick and in the hospital a week and a half ago. I went to the doc today for a follow-up appt. after being in the hospital, and the weight I had lost over the last four weeks is back on now :) I’ll probably be craving a day of green juice feasting sometime soon, but my body has been starving, so I’m giving it what it needs. I’m also not so surprised now at how much money I end up spending on food :)

  • geniusrawmodel23geniusrawmodel23 Raw Newbie

    I think as far as calories, raw foodists don’t need to worry about that. If you eat when you’re hungry, and get plenty of fruits and veggies, there is no problem. Obviously if you eat too many nuts and dried fruits you will gain weight. And overeating anything will make you fat, end of story, raw or not. So I think that keeping your food intake mostly produce and moderate amounts of other stuff, calories don’t even begin to be a problem.

  • ANGIE

    half your calories from fat is waaaay high….good fats or not….fats swimming round your body , all gloopy…..fat is fat….avocado oils are better than cooked sunflower oil, but in those quantities are very bad….

    try this

    cooked or raw, excessive fats in the bloodstream cause increased demand for insulin..this causes excessive drain on the pancreas leading to fatigue and chronically elevated blood sugars…this leads to various lipid (fat) metabolic disorders…hyper/hypo glycemia, candida, diabetes…..these are often confused as ‘blood-sugar metabolic disorders’

    cooked or raw, increased fat in the bloodstream requires an increased epinephrine (adrenaline) response in order to drive the pancreas to produce insulin….this leads to adrenal exhaustion which is the precursor for many conditions in the body

    cooked or raw, increased fat in the bloodstream reduces the oxygen-carrying capacity of red blood cells,predisposing us to cancer…a lowered blood oxygen level also adversely affects all cellular function, including muscle and brain-cell function

    cooked a raw, higher than healthy levels of fat in the bloodstream force fat to ‘precipitate out’ and adhere to arterial walls, also known as artheriosclerosis

    this is just a summarized excerpt from a chapter on fat in the 80/10/10 book

    this is a direct quote

    “raw fats are without question far better for us than cooked fats – especially when they come from whole plants as opposed to extracted oils or cooked animal products.but do not let anyone mis-lead you: the habitual consumption of fatty foods is not a healthful practice”

    dr. doug graham .... the 80/10/10 diet

    make of this what you will….

    i will point out that if you continue to eat over 3000 calories a day, you will keep on gaining weight, unless you up-scale your exercise levels to suit…..if you can cut out most of your fat you may reach equilibrium

    i wish you well in your continuing recovery

    SUPERKAT92

    getting too many calories is rarely a problem with raw….getting sufficient is where the problem lies

    if you agree that fat should be kept low then more calories in produce have to be eaten…..hard to day when the mechanism for hunger has been distorted from many years of eating fatty, calorie- dense cooked foods

  • PIANISSIMA

    the body heals , the body detoxes…..food doesn’t

    ever wonder why the strongest method of detoxing is through water fasting….the body does everything for you, you just have to stop eating

    the minute you eat food, whether hamburger, head of lettuce or mango, your body stops detoxing/housecleaning and starts digesting

    the reason fruit gets labelled as cleansing is that it is SO easily and quickly digested and assimilated that the body can very quickly return to detoxing…..

    and let’s remember that detoxing is a good thing

    to slow the process you can eat smaller but more frequent meals when detox becomes uncomfortable

    and with regards to enema….well, for extreme cases of constipation they can prove helpful, but if you do them often, your body begins to rely on them like a crutch…..people who regular use colonics/enemas suffer problems as the muscles involved in expelling waste naturally aren’t allowed to do their job

    enemas are a very un-natural process…..if you eat enough dietary fibre you won’t ever need them

  • Hello,

    I dont buy into this 80/10/10, but i did up untill recently, Ive been raw for the last 6 months and started out eating 80/10/10 with very little greens and hardly any added fats, and i lost a stone and a half very quickly, and lost half my hair, and also i was eating non stop all day and craving sugar all the time. Then i started to add dark greens in salads and smoothies and that helped alot, But more recently i have added fats also and upped my greens even more the fats i consume are avocado and sprouted hemp seeds, my percentage of fats now are around 20% sometimes up to 30% and i have dropped the sweet fruit out all together some days, and always try to limit it down and go for the non sweet fruits like tomatos, cucumber e.t.c . It has suprised me how much better i feel eating this way, and also i feel much stronger and i have started to put some weight/muscle back on again which is really good for me.

    I think eating fruits all day raises you metabolism to high and also dosent give your body the right fuel it needs and also the sugar in fruits can be a problem for a lot of people and will make you crave sugary things all day. When i was eating 80/10/10 i was eating all day and eating a LARGE amount of calories and lossing weight. Eating this way now with lots of greens and added fats and very low on the sweet fruits, i am putting on weight and eating only a third or half as many calories.

    I really wish i did this to begin with, but there you go…..

    Take care, Paulie.

  • angie207angie207 Raw Master

    El-bo, Thanks for the quotes from the book :) I may not eat that many every day, but I DO eat a lot of nuts, oils & fats (I also eat a ton of fruit – I just eat a lot!), and I am well aware of what my body wants by now, as that has been my intention for the last 3 years – to take in exactly what my body wants (I just gravitated toward raw as part of that process/goal). Interesting about “elevated blood sugar levels” because I have type 1 diabetes, and when I eat what my body wants, my insulin needs are about 66% LOWER than when I was not eating this way, and limiting fats, etc. – I also recently had diabetic ketoacidosis, which is caused by the body burning fat for energy because there is not enough insulin to use the carbs that are in the system. (That was my fault, due to something weird with my body, some misunderstandings and lack of info.) Anyway, when I was hospitalized, I was about 25 pounds underweight, some of which was due to dehydration, but also from my fat being burned up. Also, Gabriel Cousens talks about different Ayurvedic types and how different people need different amounts of protein, fat, etc. and some people do better with more nuts, avocados, etc. than others who need more watery veggies, etc. The other thing that’s interesting to note, is that my blood sugar levels were super-high for 8 months before I was sick enough to be hospitalized, because I was doing so many good things for my body.

    paulie – Eating high raw has definitely made my metabolism faster – before, when I was overweight, I lost weight for a while, but only when I stuck to 1,800 calories per day or less. Now I would estimate I eat an average of around 2,500 or more each day, though I don’t have to count – I just eat what and when my body wants and I stay pretty balanced.

    el-bo, Thanks again for the information; I may have to see what other options I could make work, if the way I’m eating really stresses out my adrenals & pancreas? They don’t need any more stress!

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