RE: Creating a comprehensive program / weight, body composition, etc. [s]

[Guest guest]

Hi Melissa and all,

 

I realize that, when starting out from a position of significant overweight,

the idea that your weight might ever fall below some " ideal " target seems

almost unimaginable. And that is exactly why it is best to create a program,

from the beginning, targeted (at least roughly) at some target weight AND

BODY COMPOSITION.

 

SELF-SUPPORTIVE LANGUAGE

I suggest dropping weight loss as a goal. Excess weight is a byproduct of

other factors. If you change those factors, the weight will take care of

itself. Also, from an energetic perspective, anything you can lose, you can

find again. I typically encourage people to think of returning all this

material, which has truly served them in some positive ways for many years,

back to the earth. In other words, try and think in terms of being a part of

the cycle of life, of Nature.

 

BODY COMPOSITION

Note above that I highlighted body composition. Athletes talk about body

composition, but for some reason few " health professionals " do. I believe

this occurs largely because weight is more visible, and therefore weight

loss is much easier to sell.

 

But body composition is actually more significant than weight, as you go

forward. By body composition, I mean the proportions of lean tissue, fat,

and excess water weight in your body. This is important because:

 

1. Excess water weight exists only for the purpose of diluting and storing

toxins for later release " when energy becomes available. "

2. Lean tissue moves and supports us, structurally. In contrast, fat and

excess water must be moved and supported by us, consuming vast amounts of

energy and other resources.

3. Lean tissue burns lots of calories, fat tissue few calories, excess water

weight virtually zero calories. This occurs because lean tissue is where all

the action, all the physical and metabolic work, occurs. Excess fat just

sort of sits there.

4. Lean tissue is very high in water and oxygen and metabolizes sugar well.

These are the fundamental ingredients of life. Excess fat contains virtually

no water or oxygen and metabolizes little (i.e., burns few calories). Excess

water may contain water (obviously) and therefore oxygen, but these are

metabolically unavailable as long as the water remains a toxic storage dump.

 

 

Lean tissue is associated with activity and a high-water, low-fat diet. The

body builds lean tissue directly in response to activity.

 

Excess fatty tissue is associated with overeating and usually with

generalized malnutrition.

 

Excess water weight is most commonly associated with salt buildup, among

other factors.

 

CREATING A PROGRAM

So we want to create a comprehensive program that will GENTLY release both

the excess water weight and fatty tissue from our body AND build lean tissue

at the same time. This cannot be accomplished by diet along. Physical

activity, sunshine, fresh air, quality rest (not just sleep), etc. are all

required. To be sure, you don't have to be perfect from day 1, never met

anyone who was. But you can set your compass and walk steadily in the right

direction.

 

Remember, a journey of 1000 miles begins with a single step.

 

As you may sense by now, I eat largely fruits and I generally recommend this

to others. I do this because:

 

1. Fruits are very high in water and oxygen and very low in protein and fat,

yet they contain the RIGHT amount of protein and fat for our species'

design.

2. Fruits are very high in simple sugars, our body's fuel. This means that

virtually no digestion or conversion is required in order for our bodies to

harvest and use this fuel material.

3. Fruits contain abundant water soluble fiber and very little nondigestible

(water insoluble) fiber, the right mix for our species.

4. Of all the food groups, fruits are #1 in oxygen, water, simple sugar,

vitamins, many enzymes, and many other nutrients, and #2 in fiber and

minerals. And where fruits are #2, tender greens (lettuces) are #1. So when

we eat mostly fruits, accompanied by tender greens, we are getting the very

best for our species that Nature has to offer.

 

I have not checked in some time, but even the World Health Organization web

site used to list fruits as the ONLY totally nontoxic food group (setting

aside use of pesticides, etc.) ALL other plants contain at least some

materials/substances that are at least mildly toxic to us.

 

FIRST STEPS

For most people who pursue a high-fruit, high water-content path, bananas

become a core food of choice because:

 

1. Bananas, including organic bananas, are available year-round in most

locations.

2. Bananas are one of the few fruits that actually does ripen off the plant.

 

3. Bananas are high in calories (about 100 per medium fruit) and water

(about 75%).

4. Bananas are high in soluble fiber, minerals, vitamins, etc.

 

So I eat about a dozen bananas a day, depending upon my activity level.

When I am more active, I automatically increase bananas consumption.

Exception: during the melon harvest, I drop my banana intake to make room

for melons!

 

I recommend finding a source where you can buy bananas by the case. In

almost every locale, SOMEONE will sell you bananas by the case for far less

than the per-bunch price.

 

After bananas, I add whatever other fruits I like, are in season, etc. Right

now that might include mangos, citrus, pears, among others. Soon lots of

strawberries and other berries, then melons, tomatoes, and so on. It can be

lots of fun to learn Nature's harvest cycle, and to shop at farmers markets.

 

 

Enough for now,

Best to all,

Elchanan

 

 

 

 

 

Melissa Thomas [mypinkbow]

Wednesday, March 16, 2005 12:04 PM

rawfood

RE: [Raw Food] mixed fasting / juice etc.

 

 

Hi

 

I have heard people discuss this RW Free Fall on the

Weight Loss..........I have been on and off again raw

since jan but keep returning to the raw lifestyle even

if i have lost no weight going back and forth I feel

soooooooooooooo much better.

 

Any tips on how I can stick to this??? As I have

about 70 pounds to lose via the RF Free fall as you

put it........HAHA! I have never had a problem with

losing too much weight!!!!

 

Thanks

 

Melissa

--- " INFO @ Vibrant Life " <VLinfo

wrote:

 

> Hi Elvira,

>

> Yes, loads of experience. First, did you see my post

> on fasting the other

> day? If not, I'll repost it for you and we can go

> from there.

>

> Since nowhere in your proposed program are you truly

> fasting (not eating),

> this is really a discussion about managing your

> diet. Based upon the items

> you've listed, you are likely to get at least some

> of the right types of

> nutrients you need, but not necessarily the quantity

> or mix you need. The

> big questions are how much fruit, how much nuts and

> seeds (as in the actual

> weight in grams or ounces). These will be your

> primary sources of calories

> and therefore will largely determine your overall

> nutrient mix.

>

> The concern is that if you undereat fruit (as most

> do), then you MUST get

> your calories from nuts, seeds, perhaps avocado

> (which you didn't mention

> explicitly, but I imagine might be part of a

> salad??) And if you go that

> route, the program will eventually fail. If you are

> beginning from an

> " overweight " starting point, you can get away with

> this sort of thing for

> awhile, as your body will harvest/recycle from the

> fat it burns to provided

> needed calories (thermomechanical energy). But when

> that supply runs out,

> and if this approach has become your habit, you

> could end up in a

> weight-loss free-fall and/or worse. This happens

> more frequently among new

> RFs than is generally discussed, partly to preserve

> people's privacy, and

> also because discussing it would show the flaws in

> what many raw food

> teachers teach.

>

> As a general guideline, I'd suggest starting out

> slower, perhaps more in

> 7-day cycles. Do the liquid diet (what you have

> called a " juice fast " ) every

> seventh day, see how that works for you. And I also

> suggest that you

> increase your planned juice consumption for the

> juice days.

>

> Keep in mind that juicing concentrates some

> nutrients beyond levels our body

> can use, creating a need to dispose of the excess.

> And juicing also discards

> important components of the nutrient mix, including

> ALL fiber as well as

> many other nutrients that only partially come out in

> the juicing process. To

> the extent that you eat the pulp, you can still gain

> access to the " whole

> food, " but if you separate the parts and eat them at

> different times, then

> you have still broken apart Nature's design.

>

> In my opinion, a better approach is to use smoothies

> on the liquid-only

> days. That way you ARE consuming the whole foods,

> and you still lighten the

> load on your digestive system considerably by

> choosing only fruits and

> vegetables, and by pulverizing the food before it

> enters your system.

>

> One final note, chew your juice/smoothie. The

> mechanical act of chewing

> sends important signals to the rest of the digestive

> system.

>

> Best to all,

> Elchanan

>

>

>

> elvira tutic [e_tutic]

> Tuesday, March 15, 2005 3:51 PM

> rawfood

> [Raw Food] mixed fasting

>

>

>

> Hi

> I just completed my first 3 day juice fast this

> weekend. Because I had such luck and felt so good. I

> want to alternate fasting days with my usual raw

> eating days. So my days would look like this

> i.e:

>

> monday: salad/and fruit/some nuts/seeds (end eating

> at

> 9pm)

> tuesday (fasting day): fruit juice in the

> afternoon/veggie juice in the evening. total juice

> fast:around 34hrs.

> wednesday: still have juice in the early

> afternoon..maybe eat a banana/salad at 7pm/some

> nuts/fruit

>

> Begin the cycle again. I've heard its ok to do this

> and that these kinds of fasts exist. I just don't

> want to wreck havoc on my system. Does anyone have

> experience with this/or want to offer their

> opinion/any resources online?

> thanks

> elvira

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

At some point Elchanan ahd mentioned about many RFers not eating

enough...

 

I thought I was doing ok, and I just started using Nutridiary to get

a sense of what was what....and Eureka! it's just like Elchanan had

said: not getting enough calories, and too high a percentage is

coming from nuts, etc.

 

Today was 47% of the calories from fat! whoa! total caloric intake

was/is about 1473, and I was way short on Vitamin A, calcium and iron.

 

I'd be interested in more of Elchanan's thoughts on fasting...I saw

the earlier post.

 

best to all,

 

Bob

 

ps - going to work on cranking up the bananas

[Guest guest]

bib smile. will write more about fasting sometime soon.

Elchanan

 

Bob or Farrell [rjf2]

Wednesday, March 16, 2005 4:25 PM

rawfood

Re: [Raw Food] Creating a comprehensive program / weight, body

composition, etc.

 

 

 

At some point Elchanan ahd mentioned about many RFers not eating

enough...

 

I thought I was doing ok, and I just started using Nutridiary to get

a sense of what was what....and Eureka! it's just like Elchanan had

said: not getting enough calories, and too high a percentage is

coming from nuts, etc.

 

Today was 47% of the calories from fat! whoa! total caloric intake

was/is about 1473, and I was way short on Vitamin A, calcium and iron.

 

I'd be interested in more of Elchanan's thoughts on fasting...I saw

the earlier post.

 

best to all,

 

Bob

 

ps - going to work on cranking up the bananas

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

> I typically encourage people to think of returning all this

> material, which has truly served them in some positive ways for many years,

> back to the earth. In other words, try and think in terms of being a part of

> the cycle of life, of Nature.

 

Hi,

 

I thought I would share something i do in occurdance with this idea.

I do to things both invole daydreaming.

 

1. I imagine myself behind a table wrapping packages of excess body

fat. On the other side there are starving people, as they pass by I

give them a pakage.

 

2. I image myself digging a hole in Gaia then I imagine that I am

being squeezed from head to foot (like milking a cow) and excess body

fat is going back to her so that she may use it where needed.

 

I have been doing this for about 2 weeks while on 80\20 RF way of

eating and have gotten rid of 6 pounds. Also I agree that chaning

your mind set from loosing to getting rid of or giving away is

important. I just want to add that maybe changing from weight; which

can also mean muscle mass, that it might be good to call it excess

body fat, as that is really what you want to get rid of.

 

Just my two cents. I am no where close to the expert that Elchanan is.

 

Love and kisses,

Lu

[Guest guest]

Hi Lu,

 

Thanks for sharing your beautiful experiences!

 

You (and at times others) say a couple of things that offer an opportunity

for clarity.

 

FIRST, with respect to language, may I suggest that " get rid of " still comes

from a place of force or violence of a sort. I wish to encourage you and

everyone really to focus on the idea that this material DID serve us in the

past, and that now we no longer need it and are releasing it and returning

it to the world (or to Gaia or ...). This emphasizes that we are a part of a

larger whole, and conveys a sense that the excess material is now merely

circulating to some other place where it may be of use.

 

SECOND, you write:

 

I just want to add that maybe changing from

weight; which can also mean muscle mass,

that it might be good to call it excess

body fat, as that is really what you want

to get rid of.

 

Just for clarity, in general, your body will ONLY lose lean tissue (muscle,

bone, cartilage) for one of these reasons:

 

1. Inactivity. Physical activity promotes formation of lean tissue,

inactivity brings forward the other side of the " use it or lose it " idea.

This effect is very visible, for example, when someone has an arm or leg in

a cast for awhile, there is a considerable loss of lean tissue during that

time.

 

2. Hyperacidity. When we consume too many acid-forming foods (animal foods,

grains, to an extent nuts and seeds), OR when we experience stress overload

on an ongoing basis, OR when we are in continual or recurrent physical

danger (variant on stress), then our body must compensate by leaching

organic minerals to neutralize the acids we form. This primarily affects

bone and can affect teeth. However, leaching of calcium can affect the

muscles and other lean tissue, as well.

 

3. Starvation. When our body is literally starving for energy

(thermomechanical, or caloric, energy), then it may begin to consume its own

flesh for fuel. I do not personally know anyone from any western country who

is starving in this manner, however. (I do know MANY people who are

suffering from malnutrition due to poor diet, excess stress, etc.)

 

Therefore, you need not be concerned about losing muscle mass.

 

THIRD, we wish to release BOTH excess water weight AND excess body fat, both

are significant. I wrote on this just a day or two ago, I believe. Please

let me know if you would like a copy of that post.

 

Best to all,

Elchanan

 

 

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