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Login Here Signup Here Signup using FacebookSo far, I've been unemployed the entire time I've been raw, so I can get 10 hours of sleep a night, no big. Lately I've been having to wake up early for various reasons, and I'm finding some unfortunate side effects of the diet. If I get 8 hours of sleep or less, I just have no energy at all. I don't mean that I get a slow start and then eventually work up the energy - the day is literally shot, as I am a zombie (sans flesh consumption). This is really problematic when I actually have a lot to do in a given day. I eat all kinds of nut-based gourmet foods, but somehow am not getting enough calories. I want to stay 100% raw, but I'll never be able to hold a 9-5 job again if I have to get 10 hours of sleep every night to function. I've heard some people insist that after a couple months of calorie restriction, they have energy again. Is this true?
I'm 22, male, been 100% raw for just over 3 months. Halp!
Comments
You should try cutting out nuts completely. I find that the more nuts I eat, the more tired I feel. However, when I just have green smoothies and lots of fruit, I have so much energy! I've actually needed way less sleep lately because I don't eat any nuts or seeds.
Remember that detox can make you tired. Greens are great. I find that too many simple sugars make me tired; you may want to experiment with avoiding the simplest raw sugars like dates, bananas, and honey.
Greens, greens, greens!!!
Greens do give me a lot of energy, briefly, but after they wear off they've still left me full, which contributes to the lack of calories. Given how much of a calorie deficit I already have, I'm hesitant to cut things out. This mostly happens early in the day before I've eaten much. My appetite is small in the mornings, so I kick off with a green smoothie and don't usually end up eating my first meal for a couple hours. This could actually be part of the problem, but my body seems to have no interest in digesting stuff first thing in the morning.
Greens for energy? Are you kidding me? Greens are good, yeah, for vitamins and minerals purposes. But what you need is fruit. If you have no energy YOU ARE UNDERCARBED. Eat fruit until you are full and you will experience something a gourmet raw lifestyle cannot give you.
ZeeMox, I'm not going to go in to too much detail, but here are some thoughts:
1) Your body will go through a process while you convert to raw. Detox, clensing, etc. Its possible that a side effect could be lack of energy or even becoming sick. Stick with intuition. If you think you're doing the right thing, wait it out and see what happens.
2) Eat less. Sometimes, less=more. The more you eat, the more your body has to process, which takes energy. If you overeat, you are not getting more nutrients, just wasting energy processing extra food. If you can't tell how much you need exactly, then just experiment with cutting back little by little. You won't die, I promise.
3) Don't eat after dark. My guess is that you are not hungry in the morning because you eat late at night or even right before going to bed. Doing this makes your sleep less effective. If you make your last meal before the sunset, like around 5 or 6pm, and don't eat anything until the next day for breakfast, you will have a fine appetite. This way, your body can cleanse and rest at night instead of digest.
I agree with LaEnsalada and I think with the59sound. Calories does not equal energy. Easy calories equals energy. Remember, you have to make it easy for your body. Let it detox, don't overeat, don't give it extra stuff to do at night.
I feel like after several juice fasts and already having been a pretty healthy eater, I could only go through so many spontaneous fits of detox, but maybe I'm wrong. You've definitely got a point with the eating late. I do that a lot, as in every night. Maybe I should start there :)
the59sound: Yes, greens. Of course, as with everything else, in balance with other things. I do not believe there is any one item that will give you energy if that is all you eat. Greens contain a TON of vitamins, minerals and amino acids which contribute to having a balance of everything that is needed to sustain a healthy, balanced body. Without a healthy body as a whole, you will not have a good amount of energy. I am not trying to argue with you as I believe that fruit is a necessary part of a balanced diet as well; mainly I was making the suggestion of greens because my research and personal experience has led me to believe that most people do not consume enough greens, and this is often the key missing ingredient in a raw food diet.
As with any post that anyone every makes, this is my opinion that is the result of my personal experience and research up until this moment in time. There will always be an abundance of different opinions on every subject!
~Peace, love, prosperity and good feelings to all!!!
Yeah, you're right in a lot of ways, but it's really irrelevant, and the probability is unlikely. Any gourmet raw fooder needs to up his fruit intake and decrease his fat intake, this is crucial for long term, i'm not saying go straight 8/1/1 (although the benefits from this diet are endless, if you are an athlete or just want to feel good), but there is no way you could sustain that long term, and if you do, you must be sedentary and work a desk job or something. The probability of him needing fruit in his diet is very high, as he is a member of this site, and even said he consumes nut based dishes. Eat more fruit.
I completely agree with everything that eecho said. I have personally experienced everything she said. I find that when I eat light and less and don't eat a few hours before going to bed I feel 100% better than when I'm overeating heavy nut based gourmet stuff which makes me drag ALL day long then I wake up feeling just as tired or more tired than when I went to bed.
I find that if I'm eating late at night and therefore not wanting to eat in the mornings, I just force myself to eat an early dinner so that I'm not hungry late at night, then by the morning I'll be hungry and eat earlier instead of packing most of my calories into the later part of the day.
I really find that no matter what I eat, eating less is the MOST important thing for me to make sure I have enough energy. No matter what I'm eating, if I overeat just a little bit, it makes me tired.
Good luck!
These are all really great points that are hitting home for me today especially. I ate a nut-based dish for dinner yesterday, was full, but still proceeded to eat a heavy nut-based dessert not too long before going to bed (darn sweet tooth!). So I overate AND ate heavy foods, and all day today I have been totally DRAGGING, yawning all day, having a hard time keeping my eyes open. This is the first time I've felt so exhausted on raw, and I couldn't figure out why. Reading all of these posts, it makes perfect sense now.
I have been thinking recently about 811, though I don't think it's something I would want to do so stringently. But cutting down the fat and having more fruit in my diet is something that I think would make a big difference for me. I'm also still stuck in the routine of eating heavier at night, which I know I feel way better when I don't do. Gotta work on that.
I noticed protein and lemon/orange juice gives me lots of energy.
Before i have been working out i juice 5 lemons, and 3 small oranges, then mix the juice with two tablespoons of chia seeds. It helps Greatly
Hey! Since the thread's still going, I'll toss in an update - I scaled back the nut-based dishes, added a lot more fruit, and stopped eating after dark. Since then I've been waking up earlier and doing much better throughout the day. Had some major headaches from the calorie withdrawals at first, but I'm feeling grand now. Thanks again for all the great help!
HI there,
I agree with the suggestion to drop the nuts. Try dropping ALL overt fats for a couple of weeks and then see how you feel. Overt fats are anything that are obvious fats like oils, nuts, seeds, and avocados. There is plenty of naturally occuring essential fatty acids in fruits and veggies, so don't worry about not getting enough.
Fats are very difficult to digest and really slow us down. I only eat overt fats about two evenings a week and then in very small amounts because they make me so sluggish and tired the next day.
I've seen many people struggling with low energy have success with cutting out fats.
Blessings,
Audrey