100 POUNDS+ TO SHED?

[Anastazia]

Hi, everyone!
Anyone else here with 100 lbs or more to lose? I know that anyone with any weight to lose can relate to many of the different things that go with being overweight, & weight loss...but those of us with LOTS to lose, the obese, morbidly obese, etc. have some additional issues going on.

I thought I'd see if anyone else would like to join me here with supporting each other on this particular aspect of our raw journey, with accountability, sharing our struggles & victories, as well as solutions to issues those with less weight to lose don't deal with...& whatever else we're led to share.

{Perhaps Bunny would even set up a specific group here for us...? Bunny...?}

Soooo...anyone interested?

~Anastazia~

(& please don't take offense at this cartoon! It just made me giggle!)

[carla eve thompson]

Hi,

I currently weigh 281 and am the biggest I have ever been in my life. I need to lose around 130 pounds. So far, I have managed to "put off" losing my excess wieght- while adding more pounds. It is time to take action. It would be wonderful to be involved others who know what it feels like to have so much weight to lose.

[C_Beyondlimits]

I'm going to put myself out here and say that I currently weight 270.6 lbs. I'm 5'6" and I'm turning 34 this year. I'm tired of being in this body and I'm also tired of giving negative experiences any more power in my life. This negativity has created a "defense mechanism" in me that packs on the pounds. I'm ready to take charge of my life, my health, and my happiness. I also have to do this for my kids who are also a bit overweight for their ages.

I would love to buddy up with someone.. if you feel you can relate. I have decided to go raw because of all of the incredible information I am finding. It makes so much sense to me and I look forward to overcoming obesity as well as other health issues that seem to follow in my family... hypertension, heart disease, diabetes, obesity, kidney failure, nerve problems... etc.

I hope to find my Raw Family here... since nobody in my real family will ever understand why I'm doing this.. lol. I have also joined the 100 day Challenge for Aug/Nov... so if you're a part of that also, give me a shout!

Hello TEXAS Raw fam!

[Jenni]

Hi, I weigh about 365 pounds. I actually don't have a scale that will weigh me, but I'm fixing that tomorrow. I am 40 and getting ready to conceive and have my first baby. I need to be fit and healthy! Without the diet-related craziness. I will just focus on healthy green raw eating as much as possible, and movement!

Jenni

[Bunny Berry]

I think I am going to open it up and let people start creating their own groups.

When I first started I definitely had 100 pounds to lose. Now I'm down to needing to lose right around 70. Still a lot!

We can do it!

[Anastazia]

Thanks, Bunny, I'll get this group re-started once we can set up our own groups!

Carla, I totally understand how that happens, you don't do thing differently, but the pounds keep slowly piling on, I believe it's because the bigger we are, the slower we get, the less we move, the less calories it takes to sustain us...BUT the bigger we & our tummies get, often the more we eat, too! Many studies have proven that the obese often eat the same amount, or sometimes less calories as slim folks, but there ARE differences...the amount that comes from fat, for one...& the times of day we eat (tending to skip/postpone breakfast, & eating later at night, both of which add on the lbs)...
...but I see raw food as the great social equilizer...ANYONE who eats this way will eventually return to their body's ideal weight, with consistancy, & sometimes a little tweaking of the food intake...

Farmschooler, there will be more going on with this...once we have our own group, for this upcoming challenge, I'm going to be doing some new things with it, weekly challenges, more accountability, etc. I'm glad you're here with us again!

Hi, C BeyondLimits! Nice to have you join us! (& I was once a fellow Texan, so Howdy!) I was thinking of setting up partners, for those who want that higher level of accountability, once we get the new group set up, so it's good to know there's interest in that! & your real family WILL understand why you're changing your way of eating/living, once they begin to see the results! & though it may take time for your children to adjust, they'll also appreciate it, when they slim down, feel better, & can tell the difference REAL food makes!

& hello, Jenni! Dod you get your scale yet? When I did, way back when, I discovered I weighed quite a bit more than I thought, Lol! Hope your first weigh-in was a pleasant suprise...but even if it wasn't, you're on the right track, you know what it's gonna take (raw food AND movement!) & you'll soon see results! If your cycle isn't regular (as is often the case with obesity, even without PCOS) I highly recommend Vitex tea! Babies are worth whatever it takes, & the more weight you release before conceiving, the healthier/easier the pregnancy/birthing will be!

I've been a little frustratrated lately, since being diagnosed a little while back with diabetes, with how sloooooly the scale is moving...again, it's only with 100% & lotsa increased movement that it budges, yet I've been sooo tired, & only high raw most days, & though I wake up each day determined to stay 100%, I just haven't had the energy to do all the work involved, along with everything else requiring my attention right now. I'm learning to plan ahead more than I used to, & bring MORE than enough food with me when I'm out, & that's helping...I need to move a lot more than I have, but am sooooo tired all the time, (I know mainly due to not having my blood sugars under control yet, but also never geting enough sleep) it's been hard to push myself.

I'm really looking forward to the changes we're all going to be experiencing with this new challenge!
I'd love to hear what you're all doing to prepare! Maybe we can all glean new ideas & ways to get ready from what we all share!
One thing I've done (tied in with my diabetes diagnosis, not just this new challenge) is start a new blog, focussed on tracking the reversal of my diabetes, as well as the other healing/changes I know are coming! Come on over for a visit!
http://rawstoration.blogspot.com/

I'm about to begin swimming 3-5 times a week, & hopefully FINALLY get my treadmill up & running! I've also re-organized my kitchen, & have all the raw food totally separate from anything I won't be eating (that my daughter does) so I don't see it every time I go in the cupboards! It's helped eliminate most of the struggling with temptation when I'm weak & tired & suddenly starving! & I cleared my kitchen counter of everything except the raw equipment I'll use, so there's not 10 minutes of decluttering/making room before I can do food prep! (Keeping up with the dishes is making it not so overwhelming to contemplate pulling out the juicer/blender/dehydrater, too!)

~Anastazia~

[Shani]

Hi,

I'm currently 308 lbs and I'm down from 313. Ive been doing raw for about a week now and I lost five pounds. Though I haven't been completely raw, I've been having one cooked meal a day. But I do make sure that it's healthy cooked food.

I also have PCOS w/ Insulin Resistance. And eating processed foods were making me tired all the time and I didn't feel well at all. After being on raw foods one week I feel so much better. I don't get drowsy anymore and I don't sleep as long. Sometimes I would wake up and want to go back to sleep, but I don't feel like that anymore.

I also joined the 100 day raw challange and it's starting tomorrow, so this will be really good for me.

[KirbyCuke]

Hi everyone,
I would love to join here as well for the one on one support,buddies would be awesome if we could do it.
I weighed in this morning at 256..would love to lose 40 lbs for this next 100 day challenge but my goal is to lose a person.yup,I weigh more than 2 people for my height..ack so my goal is to get down to one person and to finally be able to shop off any rack in any store and have it fit.

I started a blog yesterday and Im hoping to use that as a journaling tool so that I can track where I am..where I have been and where I am going.
www.frommunchkinstomarathons.com

My goal is to walk a half marathon Jan 2010..I already signed up for it ..now just have to start training my body and mind for it.
woo hoo Whole Fu-we are Day 1

[aRawOma]

Hi folks,
I've been lurking around again and have to commit to someone and something. So I'm in for the 100 days also, just weighed myself and came up with 225, which sucks because I was 210 at the beginning of this year. I had been totaly raw and lost a bunch of weight and then fell off the wagon and have been eating cooked dinners lately. Its time to recommit and so here's to success for us all.
It's summertime and my garden is in good shape so WHAT'S my deal?
I keep going back to my "diet all the time thinking". And I know that I shouldn't treat this the same way but what do you do with a lifetime of conditioning?
So I'll take one day at a time and better yet one meal at a time and make better plans for dinner.I have to get my cooked hubby on board too, if I tell him I'm doing this full time again he'll be supportive, but without my commitment he just let's me eat whatever.
Should we let everyone know what kinds of meals we are eating? Maybe that would give us other ideas for our own meals.

[Anastazia]

Hi!
Shani, that's great that you've noticed the difference between the way you feel, especially pertaining to sleepiness! I, too, notice how much more awake & alert I am when I stay raw, or at least high raw...I find when I'm struggling with getting back to 100% raw, I challenge myself to do just one day a week 100%, then 2, then 3, then every other day, then next thing ya know, I'm back on track with what it takes for me to begin the deeper healing, as well as get the scale moving...keep on goin', & keep challenging yourself! We're capable of a lot mroe than we think!

Kirbycuke, great to see you here, joining us! & how cool that you've taken the concrete step of signing up for a marathon!!! Can't wait to hear all about it, & see the pics! You could even buy the outfit you want to wear, & put aside $, a bit at a time, for a great pear of shoes to use (purchased beforehand in time to break 'em in first!) I'll be following your blog!

aRawOma, we DO need commitment...but above all else, make it to yourself, for you & those you love, who want you around as long as possible, & healthy! Perhaps you & your hubby could seet some specific goals together, with planned rewards you can both enjoy! & don't worry about the scale, focus on how you feel, how your clothes fit, your measurements, & the numbers on the scale will line up as the other things fall into place...
How wonderful that you have a garden! What a blessing! See what new recipes, combo's you can come up with with whatever you're growing!

As far as the diet mentality goes, what helps lots is to not allow yourself to label foods 'good' or 'bad', & to discuss it as a lifestyle change, for the rest of your life!

Then, when you choose to allow yourself to eat something that's not 'healthy', it's just a choice in that moment, not "Well, I blew it, so I might as well go eat something else bad for me!"

Sharing our meals plans is very beneficial, & there's lots doing that on blogs...I don't know about doing it here, it'd get real full fast, but maybe we can start a new thread to share these things, & gain new ideas...what else really helps is tracking your food at Fitday (an online site that measures nutrients, calories, etc., mainly to ensure you're getting enough!)

Another thing that helps with ideas for meals is reading raw recipe sites for ideas, & trying one new veggie & one new fruit every shopping trip, then googling raw recipes to figure out what you can do with it!

I'm feeling better lately with my blood sugars, which are gradually lowering, though I haven't been 199% raw, or had time to do as much juicing as I planned...I've still been really sleepy, not getting enough sleep at night, & with the diabetes, wanting to nap every time I eat, but am making myself get up & move, & exercise, if I'm able, every time I eat, as I was told to when I had gestational diabetes, & it seems to be helping! Hopefully my treadmill will be up & running Sunday, when I have help fixing it,& I'll be able to do even more!

My update:
I weighed in for the start of the challenge (the 2nd day, actually, forgot the first!) & videotaped my weigh-in, & will weigh in every 10 days, then at the end of the challenge, will post a video of all my weigh-ins altogether...if it's not all the same number, haha! Kidding, it's going down, slowly but surely, & does if I stay raw & move!
Actually, my goal is that I'm hoping to win the weightloss challenge!!!
If we had a "Biggest Loser" show here in Canada, I'd be on it!!!

It's time, & I'm so ready, & I'm finally learning how to pace & push myself at the same time!

So how are you all doing so far???

~Anastazia~

[Allison]

Great to see such wonderful support here!! You are right, it does take a different kind of support to lose over 100 or 200+ lbs. I love eating raw for health and weight loss, but I'm such a food addict that when I'm going through stress, I can't stick to it. I find myself going to Weight Watchers just for the accountability but it's not the same. I need more support to stick to raw foods. Are any of you acting as support buddies? I would like to have a support person who has over 100 lbs to lose. We can support one another when times get rough.

[Disco Biscuit]

Hi, Anastazia! Thanks for starting this discussion. 8 lbs ago I was at the "I need to lose 100 lbs!?!?!??!" So I'm just a bit under as we speak (& hopefully that won't change anytime soon!). According to what my BMI should be I need to lose about 100 lbs for my 5'5" frame. It was very daunting realizing that just a few weeks ago. Honestly, I cried. It's seems so unattainable but somewhere I have to find the faith that I can do it. Hence, why I am so glad to have found such an uplifting & positive community in Raw Fu. I wish you the best of luck in your endeavors & am here if you need to chat, as well. :) Ashley (Disco Biscuit)

[chasmyn]

Somehow I totally missed this thread until now. Count me in, too. Is there a group yet?