Hey, so I came into a raw till 4 lifestyle about 8 months ago and since then, whilst overall I feel good, I have gained a lot of weight - about 22/23 kilos. This is obviously not the most pleasant situation. Atm I am 177cm and 95 kilos. I lift weights once a week, and have some not insignificant muscle mass, but my BMI is now 30.3 and I have fat stored in my stomach and love handles. I expected some initial weight gain because I have a past of calorie restriction, but never this much. Has anybody gone through similar and then lost the weight? 

My diet and water intake are both good. I don't eat added salt, or use oil or anything, I drink 3/4 litres of water a day, pee clear etc. Atm I eat about 4000 calories a day, cycle 3 hours a week, lift for 2 hours a week, and walk for at least an hour a day to commute to college. My sleep is often limited though, and I'm working on improving it.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, many thanks! I know if we stick together we can all make it, and change this world for the better. :)

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  • When you increase your calorie intake to more than your body is burning, you put on weight.  Unfortunately, your metabolism hasn't quite caught up to your increased calorie intake.  Over time with eating more calories, your metabolism will increase, especially because the added weight requires more calories to maintain.  Once your metabolism catches up to how much you are eating, the weight gain will slow and eventually stop.

    The only way you will lose the weight again is if your metabolism ramps up to higher than the amount that you are eating.  This can happen for many different reasons.  After periods of caloric restriction or stress, your body will lower your metabolism, so that is why the increased caloric intake is resulting in weight gain.  Once your body realizes it's not in a famine anymore, it may boost your metabolism, allowing you to lose some weight, or at least stop gaining.  If, over time, your body doesn't increase your metabolism high enough to lose weight eating 4000 calories per day, than the only way to lose the weight would be to decrease your caloric intake by a very small amount.  Not enough to create another famine situation, but enough that you can lose some weight. 

    • I second this.

  • What's your diet like?

    I can't believe you gained that much weight in only 8 months eating 4000 kcal / day while being active. I'm really curious to know what do you eat on a daily basis...

    • Okay, in answer to your diet question: About 2/3 of my calories are raw, mainly coming from bananas, grapes, oranges and some canned fruits to add variety. Occasionally I'll drink a smoothie or orange juice with pulp, but I don't think this is really such a problem (less fibre than the whole food). The other 1/3 calories are eaten at dinner in the form of cooked starch eg brown rice or potatoes with some mixed vegetables and tomato passata (virtually no sodium). I may eat some lentils or beans with dinner a few times a week.

      Re the gain, it isn't as bad as it sounds because as I said I have a fair bit of muscle mass and strength for my age (150kg squat at reps, for example), as well as a large skeleton, but it is a noticeable layer of fat and what bothers me is the idea of becoming seriously obese on this lifestyle in the future, as crazy as that sounds. 

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