black rhinos journal

[blackrhino]

I've struggled with weight most of my life,diet after diet after diet and nothing seemed to work for me.I'm a type 2 diabetic and of course weightloss is a big thing.A few years back I've seen so many people at my job getting the gastric bypass surgery, some did well with it some didn't but i felt as tho my choices were limited.So i consulted a gastric bypass surgeon.Then i attended the info session,which explains the procedure.I never made it to my next appointment because i came across a program of body cleansing thru raw veggies and fruit and manipulating pressure points located behind your ears.Well it was working for me! i posted before and after pics. but once i came off the program,once again i started to pick up the weight again.So back to the gastric surgeon i go determined to get the weight off at any cost,i became extremely desperate.One day i can across The Cure manual website so much valuable information there,which in turn was referred to RPF by Good Samaritan(THANKS)Also i forgot to add i have adult add too.Well just wanted to give some History but will start to post daily diet,exercise etc..... (the first pic is after the program i spoke of and the second pic was before.Now I'm at the halfway point of being back to the second pic.)

[eveheart]

...i came across a program of body cleansing thru raw veggies and fruit and manipulating pressure points located behind your ears.Well it was working for me!

I dare say this (from experience): It wasn't working for you, it was working against you, just winding you up for the next weight gain. Insulin resistance gets worse the more you stress yourself with carbs. Type II diabetics have insulin that doesn't "work" right, so carbs signal body to circulate insulin, which tells the fat cells to store more fat every time you eat a bunch of carbs.

You can learn more about how insulin resistance works in Gary Taubes' book. Taubes is neither for or against raw, so you can take what he says and use it in RPD.

[blackrhino]

Eveheart,
Why we get fat book?

[eveheart]

Taubes has a few books out, I like Why We Get Fat the best.

Edit: The reason I say not to focus on weight loss is that many things can slim you down, but they don't solve the metabolic problems that underlie obesity. If you do not address the underlying problems, they will be there for the next yo-yo.

[Ioanna]

gastric bypass...  do you think there is another solution?  have you given up on your body?  i understand desperate, but it's not a place to live from, make decisions from.  maybe take a step back from that place?... consider what can be empowering or confidence building for you? what if surgery does help you achieve the weight you want... how will you feel on the inside (physically, that's quite a surgery going to change all of your digestion)... will it give you self-confidence?

[blackrhino]

Ioanna,how are you today?I was giving a history of what was going on with me.But I've decided that the gastric wasn't for me and I am not going thru the process.I believe that it was a godsend, that I'm here.So I'm going to take full advantage of this gift of knowledge that I'm receiving from all of you.Little by little I'm learning a great deal.

[Dorothy]

Hey Rhino,

Glad to see you started the journal! 
Again - kudos for by-passing that by-pass!

I would like to bring up the subject of vitamin d with you right away. Dark skinned people tend to get things like heart disease and diabetes partly because they have trouble making enough vitamin d with the limited sun exposure most of us get in today's world. Have you gotten your vitamin d levels checked by any chance?

[Dorothy]

Rhino - here is a link to an entire thread on high meat. Go to the last post on the page that comes up at the link because a newbie asked for a summary - and then go back and read the entire thread if you are still interested. Fascinating stuff really.

http://www.rawpaleodietforum.com/display-your-culinary-creations/high-meat-recipe-preparation-for-more-advanced-rafers/160/

[blackrhino]

Thanks Dor!
It's funny that you brought up vitamin D, I had my levels checked about two weeks ago and yes,my vitamin D levels are low.I'm taking a vitamin D supplement right now,but I'm sure there's other ways to get this nutrient through whole foods or raw foods.Any suggestions?

[Dorothy]

Thanks Dor!
Its funny that you brought up vitamin D,i had my levels checked about two weeks ago and yes,my vitamin D levels are low.Im taking a vitamin D supplement right now,but im sure theres other ways to get this nutrient through whole foods or raw foods.Any auggestions?

Actually - from my research it is impossible to really get vitamin d from food sources (others disagree - but this is what I finally came to the conclusion of from reading and listening to sources I have come to trust). There are some good threads on the subject on the forum - dosage is important. Cherimoya Kid turns us onto the vitamin D thing and it really helped my husband. How low was your level and what dosage did they put you on?

[TylerDurden]

I disagree re some of the above posts. I am no fan of  Taubes's explanations. Taubes was rebuked consistently here:-

http://reason.com/archives/2003/03/01/big-fat-fake

Taubes' rebuttal to the above article:-

http://reason.com/archives/2003/03/01/an-exercise-in-vitriol-rather

Followed by Fumento's rebuttal of Taubes' response:-

http://reason.com/archives/2003/03/01/gary-taubes-tries-to-overwhelm

Basically, raw plant food diets do indeed lower one's weight. I found that to be the case, whereas, if I ate any cooked animal foods, my weight would soar. The reason for this seems to be, according to Aajonus, that the toxins from cooked foods get stored in the fat-cells of the body.

Vitamin D can be easily obtained from raw shellfish. Raw shellfish is much cheaper in coastal areas, though, and less likely to be prefrozen. I eat things like raw scallops, raw mussels, raw oysters,raw crabs, raw lobsters, raw prawns/shrimps etc.The mussels, oysters and crabs are a nuisance to eat raw  as one has first pry away the shells but they are worth it, imo. Obviously, exposing your skin to the sun in summer as much as possible will also generate vitamin D levels.

[Dorothy]

Remember Rhino - your needs for vitamin d and your ability to absorb them are going to be very different than Tyler's or mine. A summer of staying out in full body exposure to full sun still might not be enough for you because of your skin color. Dark skinned people developed as such to be able to be outside in the intensest sun all day every day all year round.

I have read by a doctor that I trust that foods that are high in vitamin a cannot be depended upon for vitamin d because the vitamin a interferes with the absorption. I'm no expert on shellfish (love them though - very tasty - learned about eating them here) but do your homework on line and with your doctor.

Vitamin D is essential for those with diabetes. Some believe that diabetes could be considered a symptom of vitamin d deficiency.

Good luck!

[TylerDurden]

All depends where he lives. If he's in a hot climate, then exposure to the sun is less of a need for someone with dark skin, especially since people in such places are more likely to expose their arms when wearing T-shirts etc.

Re gastric bypass:-  I knew someone who had that because she couldn't control her appetite and it never solved her overall problems. It's a lot easier to control one's appetite when one is eating 100% raw, provided that one is eating mostly raw animal foods, plus lots of raw animal fat. Raw plant foods seem to increase one's appetite, though to a far lesser extent than cooked foods.

[blackrhino]

Thank dor,thanks tyler im taking all of the info given to me in.The one thing I dread trying is animal fat but I'm hearing that it has so many benefits!

[blackrhino]

hey dor,
I recieved a report from the lab that performed the test i cant remember how low my vitamin D level was neither can i find the report. lol when i do ill let you know,but they have my on a pharmautical grade vitamin D3 5000mg.Once a week

[Dorothy]

Rhino - hubbie and I take 5000 IU a day when not in the sun. 5000 a week for someone deficient seems to low to me - but do your own research on-line. There was a thread here I started on vitamin d a while back where I posted some stuff. I'll try to find it for you.

[Dorothy]

http://www.rawpaleodietforum.com/hot-topics/vitamin-d/

[eveheart]

I disagree re some of the above posts. I am no fan of  Taubes's explanations....
Basically, raw plant food diets do indeed lower one's weight. I found that to be the case...

I am not aware of the extent of your obesity, TD, but from your before pics, you look pretty near normal weight. What Taubes says is that "insulin resistance" can occur in people who are genetically susceptible to obesity, when they reduce fats and increase carbs, as is often the case with habitual dieters. The true test of this "insulin resistance" is when a person has just eaten and is still hungry, a feeling that every obese person knows well. The irony is that these dieters do lose weight on raw plant food diets, only to have the weight and hunger come back with a vengeance at some point, hence the term yo-yo diet. If a person has not experienced the utter defeat of losing 60, 80, 100 or more pounds and then watch in helpless bewilderment as it creeps back on, then perhaps once cannot appreciate the value of what Taubes writes in his book.

In an earlier post, you were more in agreement with this detail of Taubes' work:

4)   Eat low-carb... Raw plant-food seems to increase the appetite.

I reduced my plant food ingestion to less than 5 g/day after re-reading Taubes' book Why We Get Fat. Prior to that, I spent most of my RPD year eating a combination of raw fruits, vegetables, and meats, and I had "good days" and "bad days." The last "bad day" I had was weeks ago, and it coincided with the last time I ate carbs.

[TylerDurden]

Those photos I had on rawpaleodiet.com were both after I had started rawpalaeo. The one in which I have reddened eyes is c. 6 months after going rawpalaeo, the other one with upraised arms was taken c. 1.5 years after going rawpalaeo, during a period when I went in for a caloric restriction diet in a big way. My real "before" photos(which I can't upload until I get my digital camera from abroad) show me as a very obese person with bulging fat in the cheeks etc.

In my own case, I found 100% raw plant food diets to be very slimming indeed. I agree that I got massive hunger-pangs after some time, but this had nothing to do with insulin-resistance but with the fact that I wasn't getting all the nutrients I needed as plant foods are not complete foods. My weight did not decrease anywhere near as much on a cooked-vegan diet, and my weight ballooned on diets including any cooked animal foods.

As regards raw plant foods increasing the appetite a bit, it doesn't greatly add to my weight as long as I don't eat any cooked animal foods. And I only get massive hunger-pangs if I eat raw plant foods only for long periods of time, not something that has happened, really, since I went rawpalaeo.