Raw Food Weight Loss

For most people, raw food weight loss is very swift. There are often raw food weight loss stories from people who lose lots of weight in the first couple of weeks!

However, this is mostly water weight. When we lose vast amounts in a week or so, it is certain that the weight we are losing is water and not fat. Of course whether it is excess water or excess fat it all needs to go, so losing some water weight is a good thing

The body retains water in an attempt to dilute its toxic load. So whenever you feel really thirsty during a meal or soon after a meal, it is likely that the meal you just consumed contained a much higher toxic load than the body was able to deal with, so it needed lots of water to dilute the poison.

So when you lose a lot of weight early on in a raw food diet, it is because the body no longer needs to hold onto this water as the toxic load is now much less.

So losing water weight is a great sign of detoxification. Provided you don't return to eating the toxic foods that caused the retention in the first place, there is no reason for that weight to be regained.

So, for many new to a raw food diet, they will see some water weight loss initially and a lot of puffiness will disappear, resulting in a much leaner and more sculpted appearance.

Although, if you've just come from a low carb diet plan which caused you to lose a lot of water weight, and now you eat a load of high water content raw foods - you might GAIN some water weight. So this loss/gain of water weight is something that you shouldn't pay much attention to. In fact, it's always a good idea to stay off the scale as it is a pretty useless measure of success.

From Fat to Fabulous: The Smart Girl's Guide To Raw Food Diet Weight Loss 98% of all diets fail - these are not good odds. Yet the moment we have excess fat on us, the dieting industry is the first place we turn. If you're like me, you've probably spent years on one diet or the other. And yet you DON'T have your ideal body. It's time for a radical shift in the paradigm about weight loss and for a true understanding of what makes us fat in the first place - hint: top of the list is DIETING! Click here to find out more about From Fat To Fabulous: The Smart Girl's Guide To Raw Food Diet Weight Loss

Raw Food Weight Loss: Calories In, Calories Out?

If you compare any weight loss plan out there, they all depend on calorie restriction for their success. However, this is also the reason for their failure. How many people do you know who regularly diet, who also consistently have the kind of body they want to have? Probably NONE!

Everyone I have ever known who relied on calorie restriction for weight loss (including myself), lost weight, gained it back, lost it again, gained it again, lost it again, ad infinitim.

Even some of the fitness trainers I have worked with in the past, who were competing in fitness model competitions, gained 30 or more pounds in the off season and then cut cut cut again with ruthless dieting and exercise for the next competition.

The celebrities and models who rely on calorie restriction to keep thin for their careers, often end up bingeing on everything in sight and gaining 50 or more pounds while they're pregnant. And then the dieting starts again. Does this sound appealing to you?

Didn't think so.

Calorie restriction is the WORST idea, ever!

For more about calories, see my article A Calorie Restriction Diet = The Worst Idea Ever!

And by the way, not all calories are created equal, either.

In The China Study: The Most Comprehensive Study of Nutrition Ever Conducted it was found that people in China consume more calories than Americans, yet they are thinner. Their diets are much higher in carbohydrates and much lower in fat. So even though their diets are higher in calories, the result is very different.

This also makes a lot of sense, as of course an extra 3500 calories of watermelon (98% water) is going to digest very differently and look very different on the body than an extra 3500 calories of hamburger.

Raw Food Weight Loss: WHAT you eat is much more important than how much!

An excess of fat calories in the diet will be far more easily stored as fat on your body than an excess of carbohydrate calories. And when I'm talking about carbohydrates I am not talking about baked goods (which are far higher in FAT than carbs), I am referring to fruit and vegetables.

If you had to overeat on fruit (or even rice!), your body would be far more likely to burn off the excess calories as heat. However, if you overeat on fat, then it is the simplest and most energy efficient thing for the body to simply store them.

Raw Food Weight Loss: For every 100 calories of excess fat, 97 calories are effortlessly stored.

It only costs the body 3 calories in order to complete the deed. However, for every 100 calories of excess carbohydrates, it would cost the body 35 calories in order to convert it to fat to be stored, so it is often more energy efficient to simply burn off the excess.

Raw Food Weight Loss: Cut the fat and maximize the carbs for great results!

When you want the best weight loss results as well as the best health results cut your overall calories from fat to less than 10%.

When you are basing your diet around fresh fruits and vegetables and keeping it low fat, you will automatically then be eating high carb. This results in the best levels of satiation as every cell in our bodies runs on glucose - from carbs! Everything else has to get converted to this anyway.

So by eating a plant based diet of whole foods (even if some of these are cooked), and cutting out the fat you will be maximizing your raw food weight loss success.

Raw Food weight loss is best achieved through a low fat raw diet

This is because low fat raw foods are so satisfying and filling.

If you eat exclusively raw fruits and vegetables you get so much more bang for your buck, and you can put hunger and deprivation behind you, while achieving your ideal body fat percentage.

If you eat 2500 or 3000 calories of low fat raw vegan food (more for men!), you're going to KNOW about it. You're going to be so full and satisfied and free from cravings that you'll never look back. However, 2500 calories of cooked, fatty foods could be one meal, and not even such a big one!

Including lots of greens in a raw diet also helps enormously, as it bulks up your smoothies and soups as well as increasing your overall nutrition. Try to aim for at least one pound of raw greens daily, if you can manage two pounds then even better! (I know this can be very hard - so try a green soup!)

Raw Food Weight Loss Plan - An example of what to eat for best results!

This is an example of a raw food weight loss plan for maximum effectiveness. I have included two examples, one for if you are 100% raw, and one for if you are mostly raw but still prefer to eat some cooked foods.

Breakfast: Fruit, either whole or in a fruit salad OR a fruit smoothie OR a green smoothie (fruit blended up with spinach or lettuce or celery). You could also have two liters of fresh squeezed orange juice or a watermelon smoothie (half a watermelon blended and strained for a delicious watermelon juice).

Lunch: Fruit, lots of it! Try 10 bananas blended with dates and some carob powder for a delicious chocolate shake.

Snacks: Fresh Fruit

Dinner 100% RAW: If you are very hungry then start off with some more fruit, followed by a large Salad or a Blended Salad or Soup. If not very hungry then skip the fruit and just have the large salad or the blended salad or soup. For dressings, blend up things like tomatoes, sundried tomatoes, capsicums and fresh herbs. If you want a tangy/sweet dressing then add a couple of dates. You can also blend some fruit with vegetables for a dressing, such as mango, celery and tomato or orange, capsicum and tomato.

OR

Dinner: High Raw: Large Salad, blended salad or soup served with steamed vegetables, steamed sweet potato or any healthy soup recipes such as steamed broccoli and mushrooms blended up with raw spinach and some spices for a delicious green soup. You can also serve raw dressings with cooked vegetables or potatoes or throw some quinoa into your salad. Try this delicious raw Tomato Curry to serve as a sauce/dressing with your cooked veggies or potato!

Omit the salt and use fresh herbs or mustard (no salt) for flavoring.

Here's to your ideal body!

Related Articles

A Calorie Restriction Diet = The Worst Idea Ever!
Exercise and Fat Loss
From Fat To Fabulous: The Smart Girl's Guide To Raw Food Diet Weight Loss

Return from RAW FOOD WEIGHT LOSS to the Raw Food Diet - Loving-It-Raw Home Page