My Raw Till Four Experience!

Hey everybody and welcome back to BananaBuilding!

After asking you all on Twitter ( @byatchplease ) & Instagram ( @rria_v ) what this blog's topic should be, I realized most of you were really interested in my experience will the Raw Till Four lifestyle, so here we go!

Oh and by the way, before I share my experience, tips and tricks, I'd like to apologize for having not posted in such a long time.. Finals are coming up and I've been really m.i.a..

RAW TILL 4! 

(Photo: http://www.realstylenetwork.com/beauty/2016/10/the-raw-food-diet-heres-what-to-know/ )

For those of you, unaware of what Raw Till Four is, let me start by explaining. Raw Till Four (RT4 for short) is, first of all, NOT A DIET. Diets promote restricted eating. RT4 allows you to eat as much food as you want. It's a form of a lifestyle. A long term way of eating unlimited raw fruits and vegetables for breakfast and lunch and then have a big salad, with a cooked, preferably vegan, meal for dinner. But don't feel any obligation. You can always have a raw dinner or go raw till whenevever (which is closer to that I do) and keep having fruit for snacks for as long as you wish to!

And yes, I said unlimited.

 
(Photo: https://rawmanda.com/bentgo/bentgo-lunchbox-meal-prep-vegan-raw-ideas/ )

I'm not 100% sure WHO invented RT4 but I got to learn about it via YouTube. As a vegan, I'd follow many vegan YouTubers who practiced RT4 and it didn't take too long for me to find it out. First time I ever heard of it, was by a former YouTuber, Essena O'Neill. After a tiny bit of research, I found myself having binge watched a thousands of videos on the subject, mainly made by Freelee The Banana Girl. 

I'll make sure to leave a link for more information on the lifestyle on the end of the post, so if you want any more details on it, make sure you head over there and solve things out!

(Photo: https://spoonuniversity.com/lifestyle/i-was-raw-till-4-for-a-month-and-heres-what-happened )

How does it work?

The science behind RT4 is the idea of the human body running on glucose. Glucose comes from carbohydrates, NATURAL CARBOHYDRATES, that can be easily found on fruits. Our bodies are meant to naturally thrive on them. Natural carbs are told to be our main source of energy. Our fuel. What this means is that when you get enough of them, you can kiss low energy levels goodbye. You'll regain your liveliness by feeding your body what it really needs. Unlike most 'low carb' diets, this LIFESTYLE (because as we said, RT4 is NOT a diet) that ask you to restrict your foods, and especially carbs, this way of eating allows you to satisfy your hunger by consuming whole foods, on the exact form that mother nature gave it to us. Raw! 

 (Photo: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/401031541792410433/ )

What about protein & macro ratio?

Raw Till Four usually follows a ratio of 80/10/10 macros* (meaning 80% of your calories coming from carbs, 10% from protein and 10% from fats). Well, don't let any big industry fool you into thinking that you need tons of protein to live. Actually it's easy to meet your daily protein needs by eating a plant based, even fully raw, diet, as long as you're eating ENOUGH calories in general and you keep a variety of whole foods in your diet. You might want to make sure you have some protein source for dinner but that is it (And let's not forget that very high levels of protein consumption have been proven to be distructive for our bodies).

However, things might get a little twisted when you are a weight lifter for aestheric reasons and you'd like to be a body builder or to simply build muscle, but I'll get into detail later.

Other than that, when you keep a variety on your food choices, it's not hard at all, to reach your daily vitamin needs. I've been doing this for a long time and still, my blood tests are nearly perfect! No fear there. Mama Nature took care of us!

*macronutriens (macros for short) are the carbs, proteins and fats that exist in our foods.

Weight gain(?)

Many people who tried the Raw Till Four lifestyle have returned, claiming to have gained weight while eating as they had been told. Many others, got scared by the word 'unlimited' and others took it to heart but messed up on the way. Let me break it down. Weight gain, IS possible on this lifestyle, when you might be recovering from a really restrictive way of eating, eating disorders ect. Yes, I'm sorry to pop the bubble but when your body is used in eating very few calories and you all of a suddent give it more than it can handle, at first it just won't know what to do with it. Until your metabolism starts running again, it's possible to store some of these calories for future use. Don't let this get to you.. Sooner or later, your body will return to it's normal metabolic burns and the fat will be gone, if you don't give up. 

Something I ought to mention here is that your dinner, or cooked meal, plays has an impact on your weight gain or loss. RTW and Freelee support the plan of super clean foods, meaning, no oil or salt. Another thing to keep in mind, is that white bread and pasta are should not be your top choices for more than once a week. Whole weat will work more in your favour. You're free to use any other herb to give extra flavour to your food but salt can cause water retention and bloating. As for oil (any kind of oil), it counts as fat, so it should be avoided, because this, yes, will make you fat. 

Right here, I should mention that working out plays a role here. You can't consume 2,500 calories, sit around all day and not expect to gain some fat. Human bodies are made to move, run, dance, walk. Any kind of activity you want. A person who sits around all day can't in any way need the same calories as an athlete.

Do I follow this to the bone? Honestly, no. I eat some oil with my food and if it really tastes bad, I'll make sure to add salt but I'll also talk about my eating patterns later in the blog.

 
(Photo: Freelee the Banana Girl, https://www.pinterest.com/pin/329888741428857911/ )

Raw Till Four & Body Building

Video after video, I came across Stefanie Moir, a YouTuber known as NaturallyStefanie. She was the one to get me into Body Building at the first place and to her, I owe a lot. However, when you're trying to achieve a physic like that, more mascular than usual, extra protein is an essential for that, so following an 80/10/10 macro ratio isn't really helpful, so from now on, it's up to each person to decide if they'll add extra protein powders on their meal plan or have bigger, protein based for dinner.

Pros!

Oh, but where do I even start?

So much more energy! Believe me when I say, as a former coffee addict, I no longer felt like I needed my two cups of coffee to wake up. I used to NEED 3-4 cups to wake up (Espresso coffee included) but not I barely drink one, if I feel like it. Life motivation, good moods! 

And my digestion was on point. I'd get rid of any meal about an hour later and soon enough, my stomach would look almost as flat as when I had just woken up. With so many carbs inside your body, say goodbye to mood swings. I could feel the change inside my head. There was no more fog and working out or training was no longer torturing. Hunger? Never. There are so many gorgeous and tasty meals you can create with fruits, such is smoothies, smoothie bowls, ice creams and so on! With so many great options around, I never let myself go hungry and because of that, I was no longer angry over small things. And the best of it all? No more calorie counting, or restrecting. Everything felt so euphoric inside me! And the adventage you were all waiting for, weight loss!

Cons...

Sounds way too good to be true? I know.. Nothing comes without any drawbags and this is no exeption. Fruit can be really expensive sometimes, and since most meals are based off of bananas, you're going to plan ahead and buy lots of them. And I mean LOTS OF THEM. I usually need about 5-6 kilos of bananas per WEEK, especially during winter, where the fruit variety is not so big. On summer, you can have more variety and play around with mellons, peaches, nektarins and so on. Winter however can be challenging.  

My personal experience!

I came into this lifestyle about three years ago, with many backs and forths. I could not trust it so easily at first. The idea of eating without counting calories was out of the picture. Coming from an eating disorder straight into this, it just didn't seem right. Yes there was weight gain, but as I said above, it's natural. I knew it. But knowing that, didn't stop me from giving up. After I saw the scale going up, I lost motivation and went back at restricting. Seeing one YouTuber after the other thriving on it though made me wanna give it another chance, and abut a year ago, I decided I'd, again, try it but this time, I'd stick with it. 

It didn't take too long for my body to experience all the positive outcomes of it. The weight, soon came off, taking even more fat away. My digestive system had never worked better and my mood was never low. I felt good. I felt very good! 

The more I was into Body Building though, the more I started looking for higher protein sources and I just decided that protein powder and legums were my new best friends. Banana ice cream for breakfast? Throw a vegan protein powder in there. Smoothie for lunch? Here goes some protein as well, if needed. Nevertheless, unless you're actually trying to build muscle, you do NOT need any of that. 

Do I use oil, salt or bread? Hell yes I do. Raw Till Four was meant to be the way I'd recover from my eating disorder. Saying to to these only made me feel bad. So yes, I still add some oil to my food and I'll accompany my salads with some whole weat bread but I always make sure to keep those in moderation and not base entire meals on those unhealthy options.

Am I always eating fully raw breakfasts and lunchs? Nope.. I don't follow the lifestyle so straight. I might often have a cooked meal for lunch (like when I eat at the uni restaurant) or even small 'not raw' snacks. But majority of my calories come from fruit. On the other hand, sometimes, I go fully raw on a day and eat just fruits and veggies all day long. Others, I go raw till whenever and have a cooked meal late at night. It doesn't really matter if you have your cooked meal at four or seven. As long as it remains healthy, of course.

(Photo: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/412360909614785592/ )

Do I have to be Vegan to follow RTW?

Honestly, no. You do not need to be vegan to follow any of these. Meat eaters and vegeterians, feel free to follow RT4! Keep in mind though, dairy, meat and eggs are not whole foods. They're not plants. Having unlimited amounts of these can't promise you the same results. Also, let's not forget, that dairy can leave you bloated, trick your digestion and mess up with it, a lot.

But what tasty meals can I make with.. bananas?/But I don't like bananas.

Lots of people think of RT4 as something boring, since you can't eat many different things, but that's a lie. There are only so many recipies and meals made with 100% natural ingridients that fit perfectly the lifestyle. You can create only so many meals that are not limited in fruit salads or monomeals of bananas. You can make smoothies with different fruits, plant based milk of your choice (soy chocolate milk included ;) ) cocoa powder and peanut butter, you can make ice cream, smoothie bowls and so on! The combinations are only so many to count but you can find thousands of recipies on YouTube, on many e-books and soon enough, after you get the basic knowledge, you can make your own combinations of flavours of your choice, without having to add any bananas into it. You can always switch things up. As long as you stay healthy and happy, it doesn't matter how.

To sum up raw till four, if done right, can really work miracles for your body, especially when done Vegan. Do your own research if you wish to but if you still have any questions or defficulties, please do not ever hesitate to contact me (Instagram: @rria_v ) and let me help you find the same peace I found! 

"Let's change the world, one banana at a time" - Freelee!

More info on RT4 http://rawtill4diet.com/