Does Raw till 4 Work for Weight Loss? For Me it Did
Hi guys,
Wanted to give a little update about my weight loss.
It’s kind of shocking to me and also a little confusing. I was a person who thought I would never lose any weight. I had tried so many things in the past.
It reminds me of something Doug Graham (author of 80/10/10) said at one of his lectures at the Woodstock Fruit Festival. He joked that the alternate title he was considering for 80/10/10 was “Because Nothing Else Works”.
He was like, “But seriously, how many of you guys tried vegetarian? (yes) vegan? (yes) high fat raw? (yes) raw till 4? (yes)…”
He was like, if they worked for you, and got you the results you wanted, you wouldn’t have done 80/10/10. He was like, believe me, the only reason I do 80/10/10 is because it works. I like bread as much as the next guy.
I had to agree, I myself had gone through all those stages and had to agree that for weight loss, energy, fitness, 80/10/10 is the best. I think raw till 4 (which is what I’m back to doing) is still very good and perhaps a lot more sustainable, but 80/10/10 gets you it all, if you can do it.
Anyway, even being raw till 4, which is basically doing 80/10/10 correctly most of the time…you can get amazing results.
For weight loss, it works. I see many people talking about weight gain on raw till 4 but I never gained…I’ve lost! I’m kind of in shock that it actually worked 1 and 1/2 years out.
I feel almost lame admitting it, but weight loss was one of my deepest wishes for so much of my life.
You know how when you blow out the candles on your birthday cake and make a wish. I wished so many times to be skinny.
I wish I could have been truly happy with how I looked, as I see so many totally adorable chubby kids. But I didn’t know how.
I couldn’t get over the fact that I didn’t look as good as the little kid models in the American Girl catalog. Ha. I really wish I had figured it out back then and was super happy with myself and said F THE HATERS!!! I LOOK AWESOME every day in the mirror when I woke up.
But it’s ok that I didn’t.
In a sense, it is good as I now fully understand the struggle so many women have with their weight on a gut level. And I would never judge anyone for being fat. I know what they deal with. And I think dealing with it made me a more sensitive person than the norm…in a good way. Sometimes I even wonder if that is why I like and understand animals so much and even became vegetarian and then vegan. I think being an outsider in some way because of my weight made me sensitive to animals, who many are too busy to take the time to understand. Do you guys think that ever?
Anyway, the other day I weighed myself at I was 146 pounds, which is the lightest I can remember being since this one crazy year in high school. I used to be around 160 for a long time.
(ME–sorry my eyes look very DEAD in this photo)
I bought bikinis the other day even. I wanted to wear a bikini for so long but felt I looked so far from what you were supposed to look like in a bikini that people would be scared. I remember last year I bought this pink bikini thinking that thanks to all my raw food I could finally wear a bikini…but I felt so pasty and blob like I just sent it back. But now, I look a lot different.
(me in a fruit bikini. still very curvy? But that’s in these days)
My before photo:
I did it.
With no dieting. No calorie restricting. Never being hungry.
I can’t believe it.
Longterm the weight will come off little by little. Freelee the banana girl is right about that I guess.
So does raw till 4 work? I never thought I’d be the one saying this, but for me, a person who never thought she would ever lose weight, having given up on losing weight, it worked.
You can see before and after pictures of me here. The latest ones are at the bottom of the page.
How are you guys doing on raw till 4? Have you gained? Or lost? I have been doing it for 1 an 1/2 years so it has taken all that time to lose 15 pounds…like Freelee says it take a long time….but i think it was very worth it.
What people need to realize, is they are repairing years of metabolic damage and hormone regulation and this style of eating does that. Scientifically it’s impossible to fail at this diet in the long run.
Years ago, it might have been as simple as calories in, calories out, but since high fructose corn syrup and all the chemicals now found in food were introduced into our bodies, it has created endocrine disruptors.
Keep going eating real whole foods, not processed, and in due time it will work.
I also just read Harley’s book and it’s excellent.
He really gets into the science and backs up his information.
Thanks Brenda! I know freelee and Harley say that about repairing metabolic damage…I guess it was just hard for me to believe. How did you learn about it all? I just read Harley’s book too and loved it too.
You look stunning Victoria you should take up scuba diving on your next vacation.great exercise and fun but use an oval mask, I find those more better for visability.Cheers!,p.s.wear that fruit bikini when ya do.
Thank you Patrick. That is really nice of you to say. I will take your advice and consider scuba diving with an oval mask.
Hey cool deal, post some pics luv,and quite honestly you are gorgeous:)
I keep eat past 4 😢 But I’m going to commit to the raw till 4!! Starting tomorrow and see what happens!(:
Hi! Well done! I so desperately want to start this way of living, but beed to get my exercise routine fixed firts. I looked at Freelee’s Strava account and she cycles between an hour and an hour.5 every other day, burning between 800-1500 calories. I felt amazing starting the day with a 6banana and kale smoothie yesterday though. Just want to research it before I start smashing in the carbs, as my 5k walk per day mau not be enough to burn fat.
I never gained weight on raw till 4, even though i was making ten-15 banana smoothies. The weight loss was definitely very gradual though but i noticed many positive changes. Another option you could try is The Starch Solution, which to me seems a lot easier than raw till 4 and just as effective for weight loss. However you may not see the effects of eating a lot of fruit…it makes you feel good and makes your skin glow and has potential to heal your body. But many report similar things as well as more rapid weight loss on the starch solution. Also if you like starches it is very filling, tasty and east to do. Check out potato strong’s youtube channel and website. I enjoy his vids and meal ideas. I also never started cycling or did any sort of intense exercise program. I think one thing to think of is count your calories in the beginning to make sure you’re getting enough, but stop short of “smashing in” the carbs as they say, because that has not made many people feel their best and some people gain weight on that. Maybe experiment for a bit…like try a month of smashing in the carbs and see how you feel. And if it isn’t working for you, try NOT smashing them in. Your thoughts?
Starch solution is something I need to research. I love Dr Mc Dougal and all the other physicians of PCRM (especially Dr Neal Barnard). I don’t really need to lose that much weight, just maintain and tone a bit, but man, the way I felt last week on the banana smoothies… Also stopped taking the contraceptive pill over the weekend, so eeeck. So worried that my acne will return, but interested to see if I will loose any weight. I did stop once before and remember a lot of weight loss. Anyhoo, have a lovely day.
I agree that bananana’s make you feel amazing. If you are into the fruit, definitely do it! That’s what I’m doing. Congrats on getting off the pill. Let me know how it goes 4 U :)
Hey I’m going off the pill too, how did you go? I’ve done it before without this new healthy diet and had greasy skin and pimples, for a year, then gave up, hopefully this time goes better ?
A lot of people’s skin improves when they become vegan. I know mine did. I hope it goes well for you. xoxo
hi, just started a week ago, i bit concern gaining weight and herd to not over eat, do it gradually to 1800 calories then 2000 after 2-3 weeks get to 3000, what do you think?
Personally I think you should not push yourself too hard to get to an arbitrary amount of calories. Carb up in the beginning of the day with bananas and maybe eat a little more than you are used to, but don’t try to eat 3000 calories if you don’t feel like it. Eventually you will understand that if you’re really hungry by mid day, you should have ate more for breakfast etc. Track your calories with cronometer and make sure you’re getting at least around 2000 +, but there is no need for you to reach 3000. IF you eat too little, you won’t be able to stick to the lifestyle cause you’ll get really hungry and get cravings but if you cram in 3000 calories without listening to your body either, it might be too much calories for your body to handle. It’s tricky in the beginning, but eventually you will learn the right amount of cals for you and your activity level. I definitely recommend tracking your calories with cronometer in the beginning because you might be eating WAY too little and that would explain why you don’t feel that great or energetic. At the same time, as I said, don’t push too hard for 3000. It might be too much for you, but if you start feeling great on 3000 cals then that’s a different story. First track, then assess I’d say. Good luck!! Let me know if that made sense or whether you have any other questions.
amazing! Yessss, I lost weight veeeeeery slowly – I was already fit and all before, but now it’s next level! And i am so happy and satisfied, constantly. My focus has shifted though – in fact, most of the weightloss only started once I stopped caring – as if my body was like “wow, there’s no pressure anymore – ill just do my thing!”
You can follow me if youd like, on instagram – @soraya.rawfitness
you look awesome btw girl!
That’s really interesting about your weightloss really starting once you stopped caring… I think i still care. I am trying to lose more. That’s what freelee says too I think. I will definitely follow you on insta! Thank you for commenting and for the support and kind words <3
Oh wow, I was already following you! I know who you are!
I’ve been doing rt4 since July last year and I have gained 10-15kgs my belly is gigantic and I constantly look pregnant. I easy have 3000 calories a day and enjoy eating that much but sometimes I feel like maybe I should not eat so much. I exercise most days but sit at a desk for 9 hours a day which wouldn’t be too good. I went off the pill about 5months ago and my hair has been malting a lot worse than normal and I’m getting heaps of pimples again which makes me feel even more worse about my appearance. I’m losing faith.
oh wow, so sorry to hear that. That sounds very difficult. Do you know high carb hannah on youtube? She had the same problem gaining tons of weight on raw till 4. I have been watching her videos about how she lost all of it again still eating raw and starches but without any set calorie minimums or maximums. She said eating 3000 calories did not work for her and now she does not count calories at all. Her most recent video explains how she gained and lost 40 pounds on raw till 4. I really recommend watching it! Let me know what you think when you watch it. I know you are not alone in gaining weight with raw till 4. I didn’t though, but I stopped counting calories after a while and stopped trying to making 2500+ cals a day after I got into the groove.
No I haven’t heard of high carb Hannah but i’ll check her out thanks :) I’ve found I stay more positive if im keeping up the exercise so hopefully things start to look up soon. I’ve heard a few people lose weight after about a year so maybe that’ll happen to me too! I’m trying to stay in the mindset of as long as I’m fit I don’t care about my excess weight…I’ll keep you posted :)
that was my mindset as well…and I am still amazed that I am so much thinner now. I kind of half expected it not to work at all. Yeah check out high carb hannah, she is good. I recently read her ebook which is pretty good. She gained I think 40 pounds on raw till 4 by “smashing in the carbs” but then lost it again on raw and starches…by listening to her body more and focusing on whole unprocessed foods.
you can do this! once you get in the hang of it, it’s easy…and you’ll never go back. I’m so much happier eating this way.
Courtney, how much sleep are you getting? Are you consuming any caffeine after 4 or anything fatty? I’m asking because sleep greatly affects glucose metabolism and with the amount you’re eating if you don’t sleep enough, your insulin response will be impaired, putting you at risk for diabetes. And your dinner meal greatly influences the quality of your sleep.
I get around 8 hours of sleep a night but sometimes less. I don’t consume any caffeine and most of the time I eat my meals without any oils except for the occasion when I eat out. I have some avocado about once or twice a week if that counts for fat. I have an intolerance to wheat which I found out a few years ago, so I stayed off it. But recently I’ve been adding a bit to my diet and it screwed me up big time. Maybe I just need to be more strict.
Hi, i was wondering if you any workouts on raw till 4? i just started RT4 a week ago, never felt so much better…but then just keep my motivations high and plans after this, do you exercise? And how about late night eating? I usually stayed up to finish my assignments, so needed to fuel up for that
I do not do any consistent workouts except going to dance class 1-3 times a week. Usually one time. You don’t need to workout to lose weight eating fruits, vegetables and starches. But it might help speed up the process if you did? But just know you don’t need to.
Also I eat late nights a lot as well. I can’t go to sleep hungry! People say that is not ideal and that you should stop eating after 5pm, but I don’t think I ever managed to stop eating at 5pm and I still lost weight over time. It’s pretty hard to screw up eating such low fat high carb foods! Amazing job switching to this lifestyle. Please keep me updated on how it goes and if you have any more questions!
Hello to all
After lots of research , I want to begin this journey on RAWTILL4/STARCH SOLUTION.As a beginner what do u suggest. I also have am intolerance to wheat. I get bad gas eating broccoli and green bell peppers. Could it be that my food combinations are off. I don’t know.I’m really lost. Please help. I need to lose weight for health purposes. I’m 5’2 and 160lbs.
Hi Kay, well about 2 years later into raw till 4/starch solution myself I have lost a lot of weight so I think it is definitely the way to go.
The only thing I would recommend against is trying to follow the raw till 4 guidelines exactly and get over 2500-3000 calories a day IF you are not hungry. Just simply eat vegan whole foods–like, all fruits and vegetables (the ones that you like eating), all starches (like potatoes, sweet potatoes), brown rice, beans, grains….any sort of unprocessed plant food like that. You can also eat other starches like pasta and bread but you probably won’t see weight loss as quickly. Don’t add any oil to your foods or consume any oil…though if you have a little in unavoidable circumstances it will be ok. I would check out some of high carb hannah’s videos on weight loss.
I feel great whenever I eat raw foods…but it is challenging to eat fullyraw…so I try to do raw till 4. However if I feel like having starches for lunch or breakfast I will. I cannot believe how much weight I lost on this lifestyle…but it does take time. I think it is more than worth it though…as I look younger and healthier and prettier than ever before (in my opinion) at 29.
As for broccoli and green peppers…just avoid those if they make you feel bad. And avoid wheat as well…just notice what fruits and vegetables make you feel good and focus on those.
You might want to get high carb hannah’s e book raw till whenever…it goes over some good basic principles but she has it all for free on her youtube channel as well. Some other good youtube channel’s are potato strong and freelee the banana girl. Have you been watching videos about it on youtube? I would also recommend reading the books The Starch Solution, or The McDougall Program for Maximum Weight Loss by dr mcdougall and 80/10/10 by doug graham in case you want to lean more towards raw foods. Also The China Study is great.
Also if you are not already vegan, watch the youtube channel of gary yourofsky because once you understand animal rights you will never want to eat animal products again and it will be soon easy to stick to being vegan.
You will definitely lose weight over time on this lifestyle so don’t worry. Just stick to eating as many whole vegan foods with plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables as you are hungry for and you can’t go wrong.
Let me know if you have any more questions.
Thank you so much. I will be looking into those YouTube channels. OK I have 1 more question lol. If after eating a raw or starch based meal , I am still hungry, what do I do?
Sorry, I just saw this. If you are still hungry after a meal, definitely eat more. Make another meal or snack. Never try to purposefully restrict yourself cause one of the main benefits of this lifestyle is that you never have to and you will still lose weight. Just eat as much as you want, and if you’re still hungry, eat more. I know I do all the time. Best of luck to you!
Ok. That’s exactly what I did this wk.I ate a meal & started watching when I felt hungry, I would eat fruit . I ate until I was satisfied. This was my first wk. It was a bit hard. Bad ha bits kicked in , on & off. But I must say, not eating eggs, dairy or meat was not bad.lol
I just started RT4 on Jan 2nd of 2016. It’s only been 9 days and I began doing this for a multitude of reasons: one was that I was suffering from interstitial cystitis, which is a very painful condition of the bladder. Now, the pain is GONE. You read that correct. In 9 days, my pain has disappeared. My other reasons were: getting more energy, and losing weight. I come from a past of anorexia, binge eating and bulimia. However, since 2012, I put back on all the weight I had lost and I for the next 4 years, I have not restricted my calories because I was tired of starving, tired of counting, and tired of making bad choices for my body. (Note: I have been an on and off again vegan and vegetarian since 2008) Since the 2nd, I have noticed that I have the abundance of energy I wanted has arrived in the form of carbs carbs carbs! Give me fruit and lots of it! I eat as much as I want, and a little bit more. My average calories are anywhere from 2000-3000. I have not put on a single pound yet, and I don’t fear whether I do or do not – it’s all part of the healing process. What I know is that I feel amazing.
Claire that is amazing. your comment made me feel really excited actually become my best friend has IC so I know how awful it is. I have been trying to get her to try raw till 4 or fully raw for a long time and she has been slowly warming up to the idea. I will share ur comment with her because that is incredible. It is amazing how fast our bodies can heal things even on raw till 4. For a while I was trying eating more starches still vegan but I am back to raw till 4 now because I decided I like raw till 4 better. That is amazing you are not worrying about calories and eating as much as you want. I lost weight that way too. Thank you so much for commenting! keep me updated please…seriously. you should start a youtube channel so u can document your journey. Don’t forget to take before and after pics too! all things I wish someone had reminded me about before I started. xoxox
Hi, i have been eating vegan but have not tried raw til 4.. Wont i get the same results just eating vegan, i dont really get the ‘raw’ dynamic of the diet. I eat fruit and veg. All my veggies are cooked in a steamer. Is that just as good? Or is raw more effective? And also one more question, my diet plan was not to eat after 6pm as i had heard that from a personal trainer. Is there any time restrictions on this diet? Surely eating fruit snacks at night wouldnt be good for weightloss right?
So…I think you definitely will not get the same results eating plain vegan. But if you are doing a high carb low fat no oil whole foods vegan diet (as outlined by dr mcdougall in books like the starch solution) with lots of cooked whole food starches like potatoes and rice plus steamed vegetables you could definitely get the same results I think. AS for more effective, I think raw is more effective for some people–like myself. I tried both ways, healthy cooked food vegan and healthy more raw, and realized I feel better doing raw till 4 and eating more raw food. I have found nothing is more effective for weight loss for me than doing fully raw. However,I wouldn’t do a fullyraw diet just for weightloss. It is very difficult. If you are focused on being the healthiest you can possible be, I would. But if you are doing it just for weight loss, there are easier vegan ways I believe. Unless those ways don’t work for you, then you may need to try raw. I would recommend reading the book 80/10/10 by doug graham. He explains why raw is better than cooked. Also check out mcdougall’s books if you don’t want to go raw (it is a major commitment). Also check out some of the interviews I did with fully raw people on my site…the transformations can be incredible.
Hi, congratualations on your weightloss. You look amazing! I am also on the same journey. I have done very well to loose weight so far and to be honest im extremely frightened of changing what i have been doing for raw til 4 incase i put weight back on, i dont want to risk ruining all my progress! I have just been eating vegan. My diet was mainly vegetarian but i have recently started eating fruit because of all this hype around raw til 4. I was scared of fruit before because of all the sugar intake. If i eat fruit and veg (veggies i steam) throughout the day wont i see the same results? I dont really understand the ‘raw’ concept and how that will make more of an effect on my weightloss progress.
Hi again ash, to elaborate:
If what you are doing is working, I would keep doing it. Some people have gained weight on raw till 4, but I think that is because they were trying to stuff themselves with fruit to get in 2500-3000 calories a day no matter whether they felt like it or not. It is a fine balance in the beginning to get enough calories without force feeding yourself.
However have you cut out all oils and processed foods? That may help you if you have not done that already. Steamed vegetables are probably not hindering your weight loss at all, but oils and processed foods may be because u can feel way less full on them and they have a much higher caloric density than whole plant foods.
the main idea behind raw is that our bodies were designed to digest raw food. when we eat the food our bodies were designed for the body frees up tons of extra energy it would have spent digesting the sub optimal cooked food and it has a lot of energy left over to heal itself of any outstanding problems. So raw food is amazing for healing whatever issue u may have that needs healing.
As for why raw food is amazing for weight loss i am not exactly sure of the exact reason except I know it works faster than anything i’ve tried. it may be because your body heals whatever reason it was holding on to fat in the first place, or it may be just that raw food is extremely low in calories and it is hard to eat enough. Weight loss isn’t the only benefit but also you look way younger and prettier in my opinion and in others as well. But be careful because if you get too hungry, you may binge on high fat foods so it isn’t a piece of cake to do. It takes some time to get the hang of it. definitely read the book 80/10/10 by doug graham if at all interested in raw food. (victoria boutenko is another amazing raw food author to check out).
If what you are doing is working for you, I would keep doing it. Don’t be afraid of fruit though. it contains the highest concentration and best quality of vitamins of any food on earth. just don’t stuff it in in 10-15 banana smoothies or u might gain weight. I myself did that though and i didn’t gain weight. Just i have heard reports that that method did not work for some people who tried raw till 4.