RawFigure

Thats ing...I am sick. I literally almost lost it on this one. To make matters worse my husband eats eggs (not a vegetarian in the least) and I just biloed a Dozen for the Fridge as he snacks on them. I am debating as to if I want to show this to him. It will not stop him from eating eggs, but ugh..thanks for the post..an EYE opener.

I find the raw food online stores to have very steep shipping So I usually save up and place a HUGE order, shipping increases minimally once you get the base price. rawfood.com does seem to be the only reputable source of Cacao beans under the Natures First Law Label. I also love the Tocotrenials (raw vitamin E) added to my smoothies and my raw protein bars. Pricey but worth it. I have my Natural Food Store yet some things for me. They got some Gogi Berries and now they say they are there biggest selling food item, also they get me Maca Gold. So if you live in a Larger City ..see if they can pick up a few items.

I am no expert but I would also questioning his recommendation. Is this a new Naturopathic DR for you ? First reducing exercise may not be the answer for the digestive issues. If you do some research on Lactic Acid you will find it is an important AID in digestion ...and also when you train the lactic acid is created in the muscle (isn't it..?) and not in the digestive system. I think this is more complicated than can be covered here. I would keep the exercise in. Add the rebounder to you routine if you can afford to get one. I love the rebounder, great for the problem you state. I know that Soy binds me up, my husband too. Infact we have eliminated it from our diet. Fermented Tempah may be a good option for you as it is easier to digest. Also add some Kale, Spinach deep greens to the diet. Put them in a Juicer (or Smoothies too) to get the high concentration of Protein. I juice a large head and drink it. I could never eat that much Kale cooked or in a salad. Also can make soups cold in your food processer from spinach, brocoli, arugula to boost plant protein. Nutribionic makes a great Rice Protein, low carb and fat, hi protein...and it is low heat processed.

Hey, RawFigure, good to see you. I love maca as well and have them in my green smoothies. I'm 100% raw for now - I have been for over a year now - though I'm not obsessive about the "purity" of it; so I leave it open and consider myself "high raw." And, hey, post your pictures for us! I've seen your pictures when you used to compete and you were awesome, woman! Great fitness, great figure. come on! Oh, and welcome Hmmm and who are you raVen...? have we meet ? I have a few pictures posted on rawfoodtalk.com in the 30 day Challenge Gallery. I was going to pull them off soon as i do not Journal there now. I too am High Raw. I do not obsess if I eat a cooked food. If I do it is because I made a concious choice to do so. I like to sprout my Almonds, Seeds and Buckwheat sprouts great and I can make raw breads with it in my dehydrator. I also sprout mung, lentil and chick peas on occasssion. There are some Great Books, websites for Raw Lifestyle. As with anything you have to weed thru what works and does not work for you. There is the 10-10-80 raw food camp (10 protein 10 fat 80 carbs mostly from fruit) to the "you can eat anything if it is raw" camp...and then there are the only Organic types...and so on. Yes MACA rocks, and is a boost for the females hormanal balance and enhances the "love life". Gogi berries are a great anti oxident... Cacao is the raw chocolate bean, controversal in the Raw World. But then again Braggs Amino's are contraversial too, raw... not raw ? Spirulina is a dried sea veggie, great in vitamins minerals. Cholerella provides Protein for us who do not eat Soy, tofu, legumes. Dulce, warning, is an aquired taste for sure. As is Kelp. very fishy. If anyone needs resources let me know... [/img]

I appreciate your desire to look like a certain person but really we are all so genetically different. I think you look great in the pic you posted...better than the runway model. I guess my idea of muscle is different than yours as I do not see muscularity. She had no arm, shoulder or chest muscle, her legs lack tone...but to each his own. Be your beautiful self !!!

The key to bulking is weights, heavy and lower reps. So just stack those weights on. It is the only way to do it. Cardio is an important aspect of adding muscle and it is important for heart health if nothing else. Also need it for the bones, being female. Great Abs come from not only ab work outs, lower body fat...and # 1 factor...genetics !!

My experience has been its not what you eat that makes you lean..its what you do not eat...more out than in..pure and simple. Right ?!

I try to get about 54 grams as my min...some days I get to 75...wowee ! thats 1/2 of what I used to get. Macro nutrient breakdown is a huge subject. I had to throw all my learn ideas out the window when I went raw...and I am re learning from a less narrow minded view of things. Seasiren..Maca, Cacao, Spirulina ( BEST source of plant protein out there)..dulce....these are foods I did not eat until I went Raw. Now I cannot live with out ! L.

I am a raw foodie. I am almost 100% raw for 6 months now. Everyone once in awhile I will eat a cooked food, a lightly steamed plate veggies from time to time (usually in a restaurant with a salad as raw food is limited in these places). I will be High RAW for life. I love how I feel & look eating living foods. I like my Blood Lipid Profile too. Why did I go raw ? Well after 6 years of competition dieting, I am a Figure Competitor (well as of this month I am a retired competitor and will now only be an INBF and USBF Judge) & living on 1000-1200 cals a day (to stay lean that is all I could eat ) and eating daily 180 grams of protein, some veggies, oatmeal and limited fruit...I found myself with a sluggish metabolism, and a really screwed up digestive system. As the years went on I found with each new season I developed a new food allergy. First it was eggs...then shellfish..then after a season of show prep eating daily tuna and roughy...I am now allergic to ALL FISH, I cannot eat Soy and most recently whey..so what is a girl to do except ditch the diet and start over. My twin has been a raw foodie for awhile so she gave me the Raw Food Detox Diet to read..been Raw since the day I read it ! I am selective in my food selection and follow Gabriel Cousen's type of raw food diet. I am into the quick exit foods, and food combining as I have digestive issues otherwise. I eat mostly greens, sea veggies and non sweet fruit like cucumber and tomato. I limit hybrid type veggies like carrots and limit root veggies (don't taste great raw anyway). I am a HUGE green drink fan and will have them for meal 1-2 & 3 !! My favorite is Kale, Romaine, Parsley, Lemon and 1/2 an apple. I will add Celery &/or Cucumber too. I eat only sprouted grains like buckwheat and a small amount of soft sprouted wheat. Usually use these in my uncooked recipes. I limit my fruit to some berries and grapefruit and apple from time to time. I am not a big fan of sweet fruit. If I eat fruit it is meal one or on a fast type day...once I eat a meal I do not eat fruit again. I do not use oil and get fats from Sprouted Pumpkin Seed, Sprouted Almonds and Hemp and a small amt. of Flax Seeds. I eat Superfoods like a fool..Maca, Gogi Berries, Spirulina, Cholerella and Raw Cacao beans for NFL. The sweetners I use in my recipes like my Rawsome Choc Hemp Protein Bars are Yacon and Mesquite and Stevia. The only cooked food I have had this week is coffee. I have not totally nixed that from my morning routine. Oh, few chocolate chips I tasted at the health food store, they are not raw of course. Side note when I first went Raw and detoxed, got used to the new diet my strength went down for awhile then WOW my energy is thru the roof. I no longer get drag ass tired mid day, my blood suagar is stable, no more reactive hypoglycemia, my triglycerides plummets to 22...my B-12 Iron thyroid and all all all optimal function..and I am a whole new gal.. Thats my scoop....soorry so long.

I thought the first picture was a guy until I looked closer and began to read the post. I repect the hard work all these females do. After all I have been competing Naturally in Figure for 5 years and have three titles so I know what hard work it takes, to get then keep the muscle thru the diet down. I have not spent enough time I this forum to determine the consensus on natural vs Not. But from my vantage point being a Natural Competitor and knowing many Figure and Fitness Gals who are not (the look does not come easy natural !) ..it is alot more work to get the Fitness look in the pictures posted of the Olympia. For me I respect the gals who do it the Natural Way.

Thanks seasiren. I stopped bying the clothes at VS for that same reason. Fred's has some cute things Thanks for the reply !

How interesting of a post...I vote for the pants and top are Fabulous...I would go with that. I was just going to jump in the shower and was thinking along the lines of what to wear..I am a Boot a holic...and love pants but my husband loves the short skirt (oh no surprise here right guys..) so I am off to find a skirt that will look good with Black boots and some fishnet hose... I stopped buying from Fredericks as I thought the quality had gone down hill. How are they looking these days in the quality dept ? L.

Congrats on your placing at Nationals. That is great. It sound like we used similar plans for our shows except I ate less carbs. I am using Vegan and Hemp Protein and I am taking massive amounts of greens to get in the Protein, spirulina and things like that. I have the same concern, cutting up on a raw vegan diet....I don't do Tofu and soy, whey so I wonder how I will diet down ! I am sure someone out there has done it !!

This is a great question as it is something I have started to think about as I start my pre contest phase in Jan.. I have been training for 18 years and began competing in Figure 5 years ago. I did it using the Standard BB diet, high high protein, low carb, lower fat. I have done well competing 3 Ist places in three Natural orgs.. then I started having issues with my digestion, weight gain eating little in the off season...and so one (long story here) I decided to take a year off get my digestive health and Met. back. So I went back to Vegan diet (of my youth that i abandoned when I began weight training as I was convinced I need more protein in form of meat...wrong !) and the in Sept went Raw Vegan. So I am feeling Great, better than ever so I decided to compete in May staying Raw Vegan...but I am very concerned about dieting, losing bodyfat to hit the stage. I am 128 and stage weight is usually around 117. I am being told I will need to compromise to do it. I will not get enough Protein on the Raw Vegan to cut down. Too many carbs...and so on. In past I ate 150-180 protein, 50-75 carbs 15-25 fat pre contest. On Raw Vegan this type diet is not possible. So what to do ? I am in a qaundry. I am eating mostly green drinks, veggies, nuts, seeds, hemp protein, greens like spirulinna, dulse and the like. Calorie wise I am only eating 1200 cals now. I usually cut down at the 900 level.....yes I know low but my Met is slow !! Any ideas on this...competing and cut down diet !