The Benefits of Raw till 4: What I’ve Experienced NOT Being 100% Raw Vegan
Hi guys,
So I completed my raw January thanks to this great health coach I hired, Anthea Falkiner. She is really helpful and really smart. I highly recommend her services. Anyway, the raw month was not easy. I was under a lot of stress too and eating raw is a big challenge. But I did it like 95% perfectly.
On one of our last calls I was talking to Anthea about whether I should continue trying to be raw. I was telling her, maybe since I only did it 95% perfect, I need to try again. This time, I will do it perfectly so that I can experience the incredible magic of being 100% raw.
She told me, “I feel like you are looking for this magic cure that will make all your problems go away and you will never be unhappy again”.
Ha. Nailed it.
I have often thought about how it seems like I’m doing that.
I often do extreme things in hopes that it will magically fix some problem I have.
Most things don’t work like magic, but some do.
For example, banana island…was pretty magical. And some books I’ve read have really changed my life.
But anyway, she was like, think of how far you’ve come, think of all the things that you have already gotten from raw food. Think how much your life has improved since you started eating this way.
It made me realize that I’ve already benefitted a huge amount from eating this way, even though I may not be happy and productive 24/7 and experiencing euphoria while looking like a supermodel.
I thought I’d put the list on this blog so I can realize that even without experiencing a constant state of joy and energy and wellbeing, raw food has still given me a lot.
Here’s my list:
1. I’ve overcome my obsession with dieting.
I hate thinking about how I used to think so much about weight. I mean I think about weight a lot now, but it is in a detached way. I used to be hoping and praying and scheming and dreaming about ways that I could lose weight. It occupied so much of my mealtimes. Feeling guilty about eating something I shouldn’t have. Trying to eat less. Starving myself really. Why was I constantly trying to sabotage my own self by making sure I always went hungry?
Now I never restrict my calories. When I am hungry I eat till I am totally full. I don’t worry about doing unhealthy things to lose weight. I trust my weight will go down the more whole unprocessed plants I eat.
It’s just so much better this way. I hate seeing people restricting their calories now, and talking about losing weight (guilty I know). But it just reminds me of how sadly weighed down I used to be with thoughts of weight loss–when I was barking up the completely wrong tree. I was so confused about how to lose weight (longterm…for life), and I think most people are.
I used to read on my fat acceptance blogs that it was a proven fact that 95% of dieters regained all the weight they had lost 2 years later. 2 years later I am the thinnest I have been since one crazy calorie restricted year in high school.
(me as a kid, the large one, next to the dogs)
2. I look a lot better
It’s funny to me how nonchalantly I always say whenever I’ve made youtube videos…”I think I look a lot better” or “I think I look amazing”. But honestly, people, for me, I do. I am amazed because I was always worried that I would decline in looks as I aged, and I wasn’t that high up on the ladder to begin with, if you know what I mean. But amazingly I feel I have reversed aged. I honestly feel I look better at 28 than I have ever looked. And that all began when I started eating a lot of fruit on this lifestyle.
People started telling me all the time: you look like you did in high school, your skin is glowing, you look a lot younger, blah blah blah. I know it sounds unbelievable, but I feel my face has gotten more symmetrical and more feminine somehow. Bananas are a little known beauty secret. Take 10-15 ripe bananas, and call me in the morning. Tell me your face didn’t transform right then and there.
3. I lost like 20 pounds
I haven’t weighed myself lately but I am now a size 4 or 6. When I started I was a size 12, and weighed around 160-165.
WOW, people. I argued with so many people about fat acceptance, (which I still support). I told people I was born fat, and I would never lose weight. I had tried so many times and ways. All failed.
Little did I know there was one more way I hadn’t tried which is actually, I believe, the way we are meant to eat and therefore an easy lifestyle to maintain for life, and one that isn’t really a diet, cause you never restrict your calories ever.
me yesterday
some art I made about my weight loss
4. I eat tons of fruits and vegetables every day, and before I barely ate any
I enjoy salads now. I crave fruit. It’s amazing I actually like eating fruits and vegetables now and enjoy being healthy.
5. I feel connected to nature when I eat plants
When I look at fruits and vegetables it is like a small miracle. It grew in this perfect shape, in this vibrant color, such an amazing unique taste, so complex…from a seed in the ground. I don’t know, it’s just beautiful. It reminds me that life is special, beautifully designed, mysterious.
6. I only have one day of light cramps when before I had 3 days of pain
My cramps drastically reduced themselves within 2 weeks of being raw till 4 (I was still eating higher fat cooked vegan stuff at night too). Just eating unripe bananas and oranges basically for breakfast and lunch (before I knew about ripe bananas).
7. I have a new interest in extreme health and alternative healing that has even helped my friends
I sent my friend 80/10/10 and her boyfriend read it. He has diabetes and was interested in a case study in the book of someone who cured their diabetes as a raw vegan. He has gone gung ho raw till 4, and my friend said he has had like a miraculous recovery? I sent him mindful diabetic robby’s youtube page. I feel with this new hobby, if ever any of my family or friends were in need of help healing from some disease doctors couldn’t help them with, I could share with them what I know about healing on a vegan diet. It could save a life.
So yeah, that’s a start.
I am really grateful that I found this way of eating.
Honestly, my life has really changed for the better. Even though I don’t eat like normal people I guess, I would chose the green pill again.
Thank you all for reading. And feel free to ask me any questions or comment below if I can help in any way.
As always, your posts are honest, sincere, and inspiring. Thank you for sharing.
thank you very much for the encouragement and taking the time to write me that. <3
Hi, have you experienced any cravings on Raw till 4 and if so how did you deal with them?
Hi Sofie,
It can be hard to eat fruit for lunch sometimes definitely. But I am not strict with raw till 4. Also if you are really experiencing cravings, it means you aren’t eating enough fruit. Especially if you are craving anything sweet whatsoever. So just remember to eat more, and know its ok. It might help to track your calories on cronometer (an app) to make sure you’re getting a decent amount (around 2000-3000). Are you experiencing a lot of cravings? Another thing that might help is to make sure to eat enough salads and vegetables at night.
Hi again, first of all I would like to thank you for your inspirational and interesting blog! I really love reading your posts. Yes, you are probably right in that I do not eat enough fruit when I try to follow the Raw until 4 or 80/10/10diet because on most days I fall off the wagon. I would really love to be able to follow the diet because I love to eat raw fruit and veggies and I feel amazing when I do. My biggest cravings are bread and dairy… On most days I drink around 3 litres of water with a little lemon in which gives me a lot of energy. The sad thing is that I have some extra pounds that I would like to shed and I think about this a lot! Why do I obsess so much over my fuller figure and yet I can’t take the right course of action in terms of my diet, it’s such a mystery to me. I used to be a lot slimmer due to the fact that I restricted my calorie intake but over the years I have grown tired of always being hungry, always depriving myself and never being able to eat the same dinner as my husband. So I can really relate to your posts on your weight struggles, thanks again for sharing.
Hi Sofie,
thank you for commenting. I am so glad you relate to my ramblings about weight loss. I think about it a lot too. It is such an important subject for some women who have struggled with their weight. It takes up so much energy trying to solve the riddle of how to lose weight. I have hired this really amazing health coach who is helping me with my desire to lose the rest of my weight. She has given me a lot of support and insight into both how to lose weight and why weight isn’t the most important thing. Her name is anthea falkiner in case you want a coach too. It really helps. Anyway, bread and dairy are SO hard to give up. I tried to be vegan for around 5 years it seemed before I made the switch. I was even vegan for a year until I ate cheese and became addicted again. Then one day it seemed so simple to go vegan. I think it was because I read this book called The Lucky Ones by Jenny Brown who is the founder of the woodstock farm animal sanctuary. In the back she explains in clear detail what goes on in the dairy industry. I had never read it all laid out like that before. After I read the book I really desired to go vegan in a new way. I think knowing the truth about dairy really helps in giving it up. I myself did not fully understand it until i saw some videos of cows running after their children and crying etc. :((((
But another big piece is knowing what foods to replace dairy with. Like you can’t just eat some raw veggies during the day without being starving and going crazy by dinnertime and not having any control. It’s not your fault at all–i have the exact same problem. And so would everyone. If you don’t literally fill up with enough calories from fruit (raw vegetables have such minimal calories they honestly barely count) during the day, you won’t have any control. And you will definitely crave dairy and bread. So the trick is to eat enough fruit during the day that you feel full. It is harder than it seems. You have to have a ton of ripe fruit that you would enjoy eating always at hand. But if you master that, then it is easy! You won’t have any cravings at all, cause you will feel full.
Also another thing my coach told me is don’t try to go fully raw. I was always thinking well if I go fully raw I will definitely lose all my weight in a flash, and it is kind of true. When I was raw in january I lost a shocking amount of weight. But I wasn’t happy restricting myself to only raw foods. My coach said, going 100% raw should be something you want to do because you KNOW you feel better eating that way. She told me to do it gradually. Like just notice how good you feel when you eat raw and notice how you may not feel as optimal when you eat bread and dairy. I know for me it is true, that when I eat a lot of bread it is a very different feeling then when I eat a lot of fruit. So now I am really happy I no longer feel the need to force myself to go 100% raw. Instead I am just going to gradually move towards it if that’s what makes me feel the best.
Another really important thing she told me about weight loss was…being 100% raw or 80/10/10 JUST to lose weight isn’t enough. Eventually you will fall off it. You have to do it because it makes you feel so good that you feel you are better able to fulfill your purpose in life. Like you have the energy to be productive and achieve your goals. She was like weight loss isn’t what really makes us happy. What makes us happy is being able to do what we feel we are meant to do in life. And if raw foods gives you the clarity and energy to achieve that, then great…but weight loss by itself isn’t a good goal.
I totally get what she is saying cause just cause you lose weight doesn’t mean you will be happy. What really makes us happy is doing what we dream of doing and achieving our purpose or purposes in life. I have been so thin (in high school) and still thought I was fat. Thinness doesn’t make us happy.
But at the same time, I just dream of having this perfect flat stomach and looking amazing in all my clothes. I dream of people just handing me a huge trophy as soon as they see me, like, “congratulations for being the hottest person who ever lived!” lol. I totally understand why people want to be thin. Especially having been overlooked and teased for being the fat kid in my early life.
at the woodstock fruit festival when I asked doug graham about weight loss he was like just “eat fruits and vegetables and you will be ok”. I knew he was right because the only way I’ve ever managed to lose weight was by doing that.
two other thoughts that may be helpful (but you might already know): Have you read the starch solution or maximum weight loss by john mcdougall? Some people like potato strong and high carb hannah have managed to achieve very easy weight loss eating starches and in a way I think it is a lot easier than raw till 4 because you can have such a wide variety of normal foods just without oil. It’s also good for raw till 4 dinners. But good to know the principles. you can have pizza, burritos, etc etc etc just healthy versions.
Another thing is just stick it out longterm! I have been at it 2.5 years i believe and very very gradually i have slimmed down.
one final thing, is do you track your calories with cronometer? It is very crucial I think. Cause if you don’t you may not even realize that you have only eaten like 300 calories all day.
Sorry this was so long, but I hope it helps!! And thanks again for the encrouagement and support.
Honestly you look great. Don’t doubt yourself so much, I know bc I do the same thing from time to time. You are very beautiful and yes I had the same thing I use to be overweight growing up and its hard to shake that old belief system. I enjoyed reading your article it was very nice and straightforward. What really shifted for me was starting to focus on how I feel instead of how I looked. Whenever I focused on looks I was never good enough ever! Now that I focus on how I feel it doesn’t even matter bc if I feel great thats all that matters right? What really helped me was working on my mental game through meditation and reading and implementing the tools from Louis Hay for positive affirmations and they both were game changers for me when I put them together. Thanks for the article and keep up the good work
Ryan
thank you very much ryan for taking the time to comment and the compliments you gave me. and thanks for the tip about focusing on how you feel, I will try that. I am trying to get more into meditation myself.