Hello all!
I am a 27-year old female from the U.S. who has recently embarked upon this raw journey!
A little background info first: I grew up here in the U.S. and was raised on a traditional SAD diet. I have always been highly interested in health and fitness which is, in part, what lead me to the primal diet. Prior to adopting this way of eating, I was working out in the gym (weight-lifting and some cardio) while consuming what I thought to be a healthy diet of cooked veggies, carbs in the form of rice or sweet potatoes, and high amounts of lean, cooked protein in order to meat my caloric and macronutrient goals (because I was trying to reach a degree of leaness seen in female bikini bodybuilders). I had done this for at least 2 years and noticed that while being able to stay relatively lean, my health, especially my digestion, were becoming increasingly poor. I started searching online for possible solutions for my poor digestion (constipation, slowed transit time, bloating, etc) and came across HCLF raw veganism. I tried this for about 2 months coupled with a 14-day mixed water/juice fast and found it to be very cleansing. However, I also noted that my energy was slowly declining and my hair, nails, and skin were becoming increasingly dry and brittle. I realized the importance of incorporating animals in my diet and came across this site after realizing that cooked meat was only going to undo all the progress I had made from going raw with fruits and veggies. I have only been incorporating raw animal meats for about 2 weeks now. So far I consume raw, wild salmon, raw grass-fed beef (liver and muscle meats), and raw eggs as it is difficult to find anything else unless I order it online. I am still consuming some veggies like Spinach, lettuce, zucchini, tomato, carrots, and sweet potatoes (cooked). I am also consuming fruits but in MUCH smaller quantities. I tend to consume papaya, watermelon, mangos, and bananas. I usually try to split up my food groups so that my breakfast consists of fruits followed shortly by raw eggs (3-4), my lunch is typically a salad of some type with some nuts (sunflower seeds, cashews, almonds, pistachios, or pumpkin seeds), and then dinner is usually 4-6 oz of raw meat that I occasionally combine with sauerkraut or some leafy greens.
I have found that while my digestion is better on a raw diet and bloating seems to be pretty nonexistent nowadays (aside from "that time of the month"), I still seem to suffer from indigestion at times, some constipation...although I term constipation more as my ability to only go 1-2 times a day as opposed to having a BM after each meal (which is how I used to be before my digestion went south), and some occasional gas and excessive gurgling noises in my GI tract. I am sure that it will take some time for my system to totally adjust to this diet though and am hoping to see continued benefits in this area.
So far, I LOVE this way of eating! It feels SO natural and right and I feel I have a great balance of mental calm and physical energy from eating this way. During my short stint of raw HCLF, I did feel quite euphoric (from all the sugary fruits I'm sure) but found that the sugar crashes were quite terrible and I had to eat ALOT of fruit and veggies to feel full.
Here are a few questions I have that I am hoping some of the older, more experienced forum users might be able to answer:
1. Physical fitness has and continues to be a HUGE focus in my life. Working out has helped me balance some mental issues (diagnosed bipolar a few years back) and just helping me feel better overall. Therefore, I am a bit wary of consuming so much animal fat and fewer carbs. I am currently still trying to stick to a caloric deficit in order to achieve my body composition and counting my macros. After reading through some of the posts here, I understand that animal fat is very beneficial for regulating hormones and whatnot but my fear is that if I up my animal fat intake while lowering carbs more, I will gain fat. Would it stand to reason then that IF I maintain my current total daily caloric intake WHILE increasing my fat macros and lessening my carb macros, would I still be able to efficiently cut fat and build muscle. I know that in the exercise forum, there are males there that talk of eating moderate protein and high fat/low carb with good results aesthetically and strength-wise. I am a female though and am wondering if I can expect similar results. I was thinking of making out my macros to represent the following split: 30% protein, 50% fat, and about 20% from carbs. I have always been on the thin/slender side and have a decent amount of muscle on me already. I am currently at 125 lbs and I am 5'6". I am about 16-17% bodyfat but would like to continue cutting until I'm at about 13-14%. I would honestly love to incorporate more raw animal fat but am just needing some reassurance that upping my overall fat intake will not cause me to gain more fat.
2. Besides proper food combining, is there anything else I can do to help with my digestion/bowel health? I understand, as mentioned above, that healing is a progress and will take time and I have only been doing this diet for about 2 weeks. I am just asking to see if there is anything I can do to speed up the process as I really don't want to go backwards in terms of progress (like not eating veggies for a bit or reducing fruit intake even more, etc.).
3. Is there a limit to how much meat we should be eating? Since I came from a high-protein, bodybuilding diet and saw the negative effects of too much protein (albeit cooked protein), is there a limit or guideline as to how much meat we should be consuming daily as I know that meat, even raw, is still acidic and therefore too much could create an acidic/alkaline imbalance?
I appreciate any and all responses and am very excited to be here among like-minded people! I look forward to getting to know you all better!
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. So I'm wondering if there is another way to make pemmican without a dehydrator?
Mmmmm! I'm hooked to say the very least lol.