Raw Food and Weight Loss
You might want to sit down, I am going on a rant.
I have noticed lately that there are a lot of websites popping up promising weight loss with the “new raw food diet.” Honestly, this saddens me. Raw food for me is not just about weight loss, it is about health gain. It is about learning how to make better choices about the food we eat. It is about how our choices nourish our bodies. If we make good choices, we can have better health, bad choices can lead us to chronic disease, low energy, weight gain and poor health.
I abhor the word diet. The minute you say, “I need to lose weight”, you diminish yourself. You say, I am not what I should be. Personally, I do not have a skinny person’s genetics. But I am healthy. I exercise daily. Whether it be a 5 mile walk, or a power yoga vinyasa. But do I look like Kate Moss? No.
Now here is where it gets interesting. I was having breakfast with a new friend last week. Someone who knew about my raw food business before they met me. When we met, I am guessing that I did not fit her “image” of what a raw food person should look like. Halfway through our meal, she looked at me and said, “If you are into raw food, why aren’t you skinny?”
Honestly, I didn’t quite know what to say. I am not skinny. Nor am I obese. I would describe myself as curvy and athletic. Skinny? No.
Unfortunately, this brought up a ton of issues for me. I have had times in my life when I gained weight. And truthfully, I have lost weight by eating raw. I still fluctuate. Even though this friend told me that I had a “beautiful face and great skin”, I drove home fighting all of the past insecurities that I have had for years, feeling like I must look awful.
If you are a woman, you know what I am talking about. Society tells us that we are supposed to look like the fashion models on the cover of magazines. It’s interesting that those models don’t look like their pictures in real life. I have watched people starve themselves to fit a certain type. Is that healthy? No. You are still robbing your body of the essential nutrients it needs to be healthy. And if weight is your only concern, you are not going to be making good choices for your body.
At this meeting it was also suggested that I do a weight loss series on my blog. Take pictures of myself, post them and then show people how you can get skinny on raw food. Because, believe me, you can get skinny on raw food. Eat fruit, veggies and nothing else. You will get skinny. I actually considered it. For about 5 seconds.
Then the light turned on. I don’t believe in diets. I don’t believe in statements like, “oh, you cheated”, or “you can’t eat that”, or “is that on your diet?” I don’t believe in the negativity this creates around our bodies and what we eat. I think it sets you up for failure and self-loathing.
I believe in replacing the unhealthy food you are eating with healthy food. As you eat healthier, you will get healthier. If your body needs to, you will lose weight. Even with raw, it is not the wise choice to sustain yourself with raw Strawberry Cream Pie, raw cookies and raw ice cream. You still need to make balanced choices.
What happens if instead of saying, “I need to lose weight”, you replaced those words with, “I am making healthier choices about the food I eat.” One is negative and condemning, one is empowering. I am all about empowerment. It is a part of the whole process of being a healthy person. Healthy mind, healthy body, healthy attitude. Wanna join me in my “anti-diet revolt” and join my “choose health” movement instead?
Aubrey wrote on July 1, 2012
Great article, and so true! Everyone is obsessed with losing weight, claiming in the name of “health”, yet doing so many unhealthy things to get there (pills, yo-yo dieting, calorie restriction, diet soda). We need to accept the fact that body shape and size is not necessarily directly correlated to diet. C’mon, we all know bone thin adolescent boys who eat tons and tons of junk! So we shouldn’t expect that eating healthy will get us to bone skinny if we are meant to be thick. Modern thinking theorizes that it’s all the food additives, etc. making us fat.. then how come early sculptures and cave paintings depict women as round and curvy?!
Lana wrote on October 20, 2011
Well said.
I hate how most people think of raw food as yet another temporary weightloss diet. It is a healthy lifestyle. I choose raw foods because the more raw foods I eat, the better I feel – physically, mentally, emotionally – and the better I look. I didn’t go on this “diet” to lose weight. I just want to improve my health. Of course it includes losing some unhealthy excess weight, but that’s not the only reason. And I wish more people would understand what this diet actually is about and make the choice to live a healthier life.
Dia wrote on July 21, 2010
This is a lovely post! I also love your comment: “not just about weight loss, it is about health gain.” & about making healthy choices! When I was in La Leche League in the 70s, our ‘food’ motto was “Eat a wide variety of food, in close to it’s natural state” – yes! (& I’d add fresh, local & in season as much as possible!) That’s my ideal.
& I’d echo the comments on self image & even kids ‘worrying’ about their weight/size. Some of the comments are so touching – what wonderful stories!
Here’s a definition for diet – Etymology: Middle English diete, from Anglo-French, from Latin diaeta, from Greek diaita, literally, manner of living, from diaitasthai to lead one’s life – 13th Century — so ‘leading our lives’ . . .
Here’s part of my story: I’ve been ‘into’ natural foods since the early 70s, gardened, exercised (dance, water aerobics, riding my bike), I’m a Massage Therapist, & will be 60 in a few months.
I went GF for health gain (love that!) last summer when my daughter had the genetic testing, & found she’d gotten a gluten sensitivity gene from me! She & her little family (girls now 5 & 10, her & her hubby) were going GF, so I figured I would, too. I was pleasantly surprised when weight started coming off as well – I’ve now lost that extra 20 post menopausal # I thought I was ‘stuck with,’ & am back to my ‘ideal weight’.
I have always been ‘normal’ size, but had ‘child bearing hips’ – Nadine G, a local GF consultant http://www.glutenfreern.com had ‘Polish Potato Picker Legs’ before going gluten free ~ 4 years ago (she’s lost 35#, has her hair back, & her skin’s clearing up!). When I heard her talk on Gluten & mental health issues this spring, we were BOTH wearing skinny jeans! (her sisters still have those ‘PPP Legs,’ & none of them have looked into going GF, tho she has the genes from both parents, & they have numerous health issues!)
My daughter suffered from Anxiety – which was GONE about a week after going GF, we have a family history of Dyslexia, & her older daughter has ‘mild seizure disorder’ (she had a NORMAL EEG this spring, & will be going off her meds this summer!)
One of the issues in weight gain after dietary shifts can be nutrient absorption – if we’re nutrient starved (from any cause) our bodies will ‘hoard’ nutrients! So it can take quite awhile for the body to reflect that shift toward healthier eating.
I recently read that having sufficient Magnesium & Vitamin D (often poorly absorbed with gluten issues) make it easier to loose weight after going Gluten Free – the body responds to the ‘re-set.’ Thyroid issues, auto-immune diseases (inc Fibro) any bowel/gut issues, skin . . . all can be tied to gluten sensitivity! Gluten is difficult for ALL of us to digest (it apparently isn’t fully digested by anyone, & wheat has been bred to contain ~ 2x the protein – gluten – it did in the 50s!)
Incorporating more raw foods into the ‘diet’ – helps cut down the pervasive gluten – if you think you might be gluten sensitive, here are some things to watch for:
Oats, tho they don’t contain gluten, are grown, shipped & milled with gluten containing grains (wheat, rye, barley) – GF oats are available (Bob’s Red Mill).
Soy depresses the thyroid, so that can also slow the metabolism.
Sprouted grain breads, tho lower in gluten, do contain some if they’re made with wheat, rye, barley or oats. Wheat grass is also questionable.
Many prepared products – soy sauce may contain gluten (I’ve used Braggs & my daughter uses GF tamari) there are great lists with things to watch for.
Oils: last year I also switched to coconut oil for cooking (yes, I do incorp. cooked food) & mixed with olive oil for salad dressing. MAKE YOUR OWN DRESSINGS! If you read labels on dressings – most are made with the unsaturated oils – which go rancid as soon as they reach body temperature (oxidize) & the liver needs to detox them! Coconut oil is stable, & metabolized upon ingestion, feeds the brain, balances the thyroid . . . I eat OG Virgin Coconut oil, & use OG Coconut oil in my massage practice.
We also have to avoid gluten in external products (almost all shampoos, conditioners, & cosmetics) – info on this is mixed – but OUR experience – the ‘itchy scalp’ I’ve had since I was a kid doesn’t itch any more! & my daughter’s ‘adult acne’ is slowly improving (Dermititis herpidiformis – linked to Celiac, but undiagnosed by ANY of the docs she’d seen, who just gave her topical creams)
Karen Mitchell wrote on July 13, 2010
I chose the raw lifestyle for my health. I have hypothyroid, adrenal exhaustion, fibromyalgia and constant inflammation in my joints. My mother died 4 months ago of pancreatic cancer (she only lived 2.5 months after her diagnosis) and the one thing she told me on her death bed was “please, do what it takes to get healthy”. After hours and hours of searching on the internet, everything came back to raw. I chose raw to make my body better.
I’ve only been raw for a short time, but I too and already getting “how many pounds have you lost” like it was my only motivation in choosing this lifestyle. I keep waiting for somebody to say “have you been able to get off your thyroid meds?” Or “is your pain level diminished?” instead, but I realize society, as a whole, just doesn’t think that way.
My reason for choosing raw was to give my life back to me 🙂
Gina wrote on May 7, 2010
Your post sums up my entire philosophy and is the exact message I convey to my 11 year daughter. Yes, at 11 she’s already asking me if she’s “fat” or “skinny” and asks if I my vegan way of eating is me being “on a diet.” It saddens me to see how early it starts!
I have taken great strides her entire life never to complain about my weight, never to say “I need to diet.” What I do say is that I like eating healthy and making good choices so that I don’t have to worry about my weight or worry about my health. I tell her that if she thinks more about the quality of what she eats, she’ll be able to not worry about whether or not she’s “fat” because she’ll be at a healthy weight that’s good for her body.
She, like any 11 year old, does enjoy things like pizza and the like but I’m happy to see her enjoying eating home cooked meals more than going out. She saves the junky foods for special occasions like when she’s with friends and they are sharing a meal. I’m also happy when she tells me “Mom, I’m going to have fruit for dessert.” WITHOUT MY PROMPTING!
So my little message to anyone with a young daughter, start the positive messaging about food and their self image EARLY because they are barraged with negative imaging about diets and body styles. You can defeat it by setting a good example and constantly reminding them that a healthy body is a perfect body, no matter the shape or size.
Andrea wrote on April 16, 2010
I’ve finally gotten off of the rollercoaster! Thank you for your words about dieting. I’ve been eating raw for about 5 months and, for the first time in my life, I’ve found a way of eating that satifies me completely. In my first three weeks of eating raw, I lost about nine pound and then maybe one or two pounds since. I’m not big, I’m not small and I no longer worry about that. About eighteen months ago I was diagnosed with nasal cancer and, though my doctors can’t tell me where it comes from, I have reasoned that my body must be ultra sensitive to chemicals. That’s when I looked into raw foods. I was joyously surprised at how much I LOVE the food. And especially the recipes on your site.
Rose wrote on April 8, 2010
I have been raw for just shy of four weeks and I have lost 9 pounds, but for the last two weeks have plateaued. I am eating and exercising the same. Everyone said to change your work out routinue and change your foods around if you want to break a plateau. I did. Still on a weight plateau. So I was looking on the web for SOMETHING or someones experience as to why I have not even lost another pound in two weeks, so thank you for your words…. I have wrote the some of the same sentiments as you in my blog. I have to had to remind myself I am doing this for HEALTH, but in the back of my mind, there is a little voice saying, BUT you should be losing a little more weight. Honestly I have this fear of still being overweight and a raw foodist, it is not seeming to go away. I am feeling better health wise and frankly, I am enjoying eating this way. I do not feel deprived. I do not ever seeing myself going back… I just need to learn to deal with my fears and issues with weight and be patient and let my body heal. The best to all of you in your quest for health ~Rose
Catherine wrote on March 27, 2010
Thank you. Though loosing what I don’t need weight wise is part of my choice to go raw, the biggest factor was when the doctor said we need to put you on insulin. Can’t say the thought of injecting myself had me happy and the doctor told me the insulin will make me more hungry, thus gain more weight. In just a week of going 50% raw my blood sugar numbers have come down to normal –something I haven’t seen in awhile. My goal is to be 80% raw. I can’t wait to go back to my doctor and show her what the raw way of eating has done!
It is not about the weight. It is about getting my life back!
Susan wrote on March 27, 2010
Would love for you to keep us updated!!
Kristina wrote on February 24, 2010
I love this post!
I’m not raw, I’m vegan, but I am incorporating some more raw meals into my diet. I am also curvy, I don’t think I fit what most peoples image of a vegan is. I fight that stereotype a bit. Sometimes I think I need to go do more yoga or eat more arugula or force myself into things I’m not really into so I can be someone elses image of what I should be. I stopped that recently.
I do want to lose weight, but only ten pounds or so and only because I notice that when I lose weight I feel lighter and more energetic.
Nobody said being curvy or having some hips was unhealthy, they’re just regurgitating what they’ve seen on television.
Good post and awesome blog!