Hello low fat raw community,
my name is Oliver and I'm new to this forum. I've been playing around with this diet for about three months now, maybe a little more, and my intention is to stick with it, but I may need some help. Hoping I can get some tips while helping others who may have the same issues as me.
So, as I said, I've been eating low fat raw vegan for three months now, maybe a little more, mostly dates, bananas, pears, apples, kale, spinach, lettuce, carrots, beets and raw peas, usually a little above 3000 calories a day. I drink water as much as i can, always have, and get enough sleep.I have that in check, i believe, but i have not been getting the ideal results I may have liked, probably for obvious reasons, or maybe just because I havn't been at it long enough or consistently enough. See, I have absolutely no energy. I wake up in the morning, drink two to four cups of water, do some pushups, then i dont feel like moving for the rest of the day. Maybe I'm getting to bed late? usually around 12 to 2, but I can't change that, I have night classes.
I used to be a powerhouse, waking early to walk four miles to ashtanga yoga, running back home, swimming for a half hour to an hour, boxing in high intensity intervals, hiking the mountain, biking, then finishing the day with a walk and some strength training; burpees, pushups, chinups, squats, crunches, etc. And this is when I was avoiding carbs. I'm not saying that it was better, but I did manage to do all that and I was major ripped, I would climb the side of buildings like spiderman and I would run through the forest feeling like a jungle cat. It was quite amazing.
Now, I do three sets of 50 pushups throughout the day, and the rest of the time I'm sitting on my ass in class or in front of the computer, incapable of even considering going for a jog, or even a walk. It's freezing here, in Montreal, and the pools are loaded with chlorine which make my eczema, which is usually minor, swell up into massive irritation.
I have no drive, no motivation, I have a skinny body that looks disproportionate, with strange fat around the butt and legs. Is my dilemma an obvious one? Are there any insights out there? It feels pretty depressing right now, I'm sure I'll get out of it, I've been through worse, but I have less and less interest in movement as the years go by, and less and less pride in my body, which i believe to be a natural sign of health in humans.
Much love, I'm happy my account was finally accepted. I hope my problems will help others and aid in the process of shining more light on this diet, which makes so much sense for the body and the earth.
Replies
@Oliver,
I concur with Chris here that you log your calories into cronometer.com for a few days just to make sure you are reaching your 3000 cal goal and or your fats are in control.
Now the typical foods you mentioned are more raw vegetarian verse raw fruitarian. For optimum results on this diet, think like our monkey cousins....raw fruitarian and leafy lettuce greens.
Our diet is simple, focus on getting enough calories of whole raw fruits and lettuce greens and about a handful of nuts a day, and eat about 1/2 to two heads of lettuce a day.
30BaD FADs: Benefits of Lettuce Greens - 30 Bananas a Day!
However, lettuce greens should not be confused with the cruciferous veggies like kale and spinach as these are high oxalate foods, are full of undigestible fibers, and some of these veggies are also high in sulfurous compounds. Some of the root veggies like the carrots you mentioned may be too high in oxalates for some people. Sometimes skin eruptions like eczema are not because of chlorine and or water, rather, eating foods that are high in oxlates and or glutens and grains.
30BaD FADs: Oxalate Health Impact - 30 Bananas a Day!
Make sure you stay hydrated throughout the day and drink 2-4 quarts of water a day. Dehydration can lead to fatigue.
And, yes, again I concur with Chris here that at least try to get into bed by midnight and ate least lie down horizontal and rest your body even if you are not falling asleep right away.
For more tips and tricks....
Aloha to 30BaD's Welcome Wagon! - 30 Bananas a Day!
Welcome and good luck.
Peace, PK
Oh and welcome aboard! :)
Thank you!
I can online agree on what you say :)
Hi Oliver,
The first thing I'd suggest is to log everything you eat in cronometer.com or something similar. It's a bit of a pain at first, but once you enter in some recipes, i.e. meals you typically have, entering them is a snap! It will help you keep track of your calories and also the breakdown, so let;'s say you eat mostly greens and fruit all day and then at night you crave something more heavy, so you have a meal with lots of nuts or avocado or something, you may find that your fat% goes higher than you might think. When my fat% is high I feel quite sluggish.
Also, that "other thing" that is unchangeable is a big deal. Sleep before midnight is pretty crucial to your health, go without it a while and bad things happen. I operated for about 2.5 years (night school) on 2-3 hours sleep per night and it was pretty bad. If you can get a nap in the evening prior to class, I'd suggest doing that in the short term, it's not ideal, but it's better than nothing. Also, at least you are not in that schedule forever.
You may actually need to up your calories for better energy levels. I notice that you are getting over full. Well your stomach will get used to that believe it or not, but in the meantime, you might try taking more smoothies. I can eat far more bananas and dates in a smoothie than I can just gnawing on them! I rarely feel overfull from smoothies either, but when I have really had a massive meal of them, it's not been anything like overfull on solid food. It sounds like you are probably getting good hydration in so that's good, I'd shoot for 3+ liters a day. You could try datoraide for a great way to get a lot of calories with minimal bulk.
Yeah really, if you are under 10% fat and getting enough calories in, at some point you should start feeling really energized! When I went raw, it wasn't strictly 80/10/10, I hadn't even heard of it then, I went through a period of feeling crummy for a week or two followed by feeling so out of this world, it seemed illegal, like Scrooge in Christmas Carol. A lot of people say that sort of thing is from detox, maybe it was and maybe that's what you are going through. But yeah try to get in more calories if you can, you want to get to where you are feeling lots of energy, the movement will take care of itself once you get there. You will want to move!
If you can do something low impact for now, maybe bundle up get a good book on your iPod and take a 30 minute walk everyday, even just walk around in a mall or something, that may well help also. If you were that active for a long time and now you are quite inactive you may really be feeling your lower levels of endorphins also. It's ironic that we need energy to exercise and we need exercise to get our energy levels up! Hang in there though, I suspect better times are just around the corner! :)
Forgot to mention, this also stretches my stomach, which can hurt, or just feels uncomfortable, and looks downright awkward. love