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Tuesday 29 October 2013

From the mouth of babes

My curiosity continues with the 801010 lifestyle as I am definitely enjoying it.  I can see how people may think it's extreme, but it's really not, it's just a different way of eating.  It is actually, the simplest way of eating and I think that is part of it's appeal.  
I can definitely see myself eating this way the majority of the time, and I know I'm not alone.
I know individuals who classify themselves as 801010 and still eat a cooked meal for dinner either every night or on occasion.  They just make sure that it's high carb and low fat, and they still reap the benefits.  This is really encouraging to me as I love eating raw but when the weather gets cold, specially at night, I'd like to know that I can still tuck into some baked sweet potatoes!  The point of a lifestyle is that it has longevity and can be maintained.
Others have stuck to the lifestyle fully raw for years, with no cooked food, those people I admire the most.

A little while ago, I discovered a lady doing just that. 
What intrigued me about her was that, not only was she doing it, but so were her husband and their baby, Elvis.
I find Ellen really inspiring, not only because herself and her family are thriving on this lifestyle, but also because she is honest and always so positive.  
I asked her a few questions that I thought you guys would like to know about, I know I was curious.  This is a lengthy post and I'm glad that it is as it has answered a lot of questions for me.  And although it is just one person's account, it's a good and honest one.


Here's what she had to say.


1. How long have you been a vegan and how much of that has been 801010?


I have been vegan for 7 years. I learned of going vegan and the raw food diet about 7 years ago. I was trying to heal from my eating disorder of anorexia and a friend mentioned something about the raw food diet. I immediately jumped right in and never looked back because it was almost like a light switch turned on in my head. I thought, "wow, that makes so much sense! i should eat to be healthy not to just be skinny". This was the first time in my life where following a recommended diet made sense. None of the other diets I have ever heard of made logical sense to me- such as "the Zone diet", or "the Atkins diet". Almost instantly my mind switched from thinking that "too thin is still not thin enough", to caring about my health and learning to feel my best. Back then I only knew of one raw food diet (the high fat raw food diet). I did not really understand that certain raw foods were much healthier than others and I used to think, "if its raw, its healthy". I was confident in this lifestyle and knew raw foods was what we, as humans, are designed to eat, but I was missing the mark quite a bit in the beginning. I definitely felt better on the high fat raw diet than on the SAD (standard american diet), but my skin never healed (from on and off acne struggles all through young adulthood) and I never had that great of digestion. Not to mention I also still had intense cravings for cooked vegan junk food like corn chips and salsa, vegan Chinese food, or vegan sweet potato fries on the weekends. I realize now that this is because my diet was so high in fat. the human body is designed to thrive on carbohydrates, specifically RAW carbohydrates (fruits and veg!). Because I was eating such a high fat diet, I could never get rid of my intense cravings for junk food. Even though I ate lots of vegetables and had a green smoothie every day, most of my CALORIES were coming from fat in the form of creamy cashew dressings with olive oil over my salads, almond butter mixed with agave nectar (processed unhealthy carbohydrate) spread over a little banana, and a raw dessert with walnuts, cashews, coconut oil and agave to finish the day. This is why many people start on a diet (any diet that is high in fat and low in carbohydrates, such as the Paleo diet for example, in which most people on this diet end up getting most of their calories from fat and protein) and loose weight initially, but shortly after loosing the weight many go straight back to the cookies and pie, because its not a long term sustainable diet. That, or they just try to stick with their diet all the while fighting off cravings not to “over eat” or “cheat” on unhealthy foods. Life should not be lived this way! The ultimate goal (for one who is looking to achieve overall life long health) to think about, in my opinion is to find the human diet that we as a species are designed to thrive on for longterm success. This is because when eating the human diet we as a species are designed to thrive on, we can eat as much as we desire without weight gain or ill effects. When eating the human cravings for unhealthy foods diminish completely for most, and are extremely minimal at worst. I now eat 100% raw low fat vegan, and have no desire to eat cooked foods, and that is so amazing and so freeing in my mind. I love my fruits and vegetables and am happy to eat them. In fact, i crave them! I transitioned to 80/10/10 about a year and a half ago, when my son was 6 months old. (I was and still am nursing).

2. Why did you decide to change to 801010/lfrv?

After my son was born my skin broke out worse than it had since late high school/ college. My husband told me it was because most women's hormones go a little crazy after giving birth. And i agree with him that he is probably right. During pregnancy my skin was glowing so i definitely noticed the change of my skin after elvis was born. i cried a lot talking to Andrew about what could be the cause and was confused about why my skin was doing so horribly even though I ate so healthy (I now realize that I actually was NOT eating healthy and that my skin would never have healed on the high fat raw food diet). I began to research and look up possible causes for my terrible acne. I looked up the possibility of having candida and then tried to implement a raw version of candida prescribed diets. the only fruit i had was a small serving of berries. i ate loads of nuts, seeds, avocado and coconut as my main source of calories. it was horrible!! i became super lethargic and tired all day long. I had no energy to get through my day. after a week and a half of this I decided to screw that method because I felt so ridiculously unhealthy. I then searched online again for more answers and then came
across a blog of someone who cured their candida through eating the 80/10/10 diet. I looked up this diet and low and behold it was a raw food diet, but it was a totally DIFFERENT raw food diet. I immediately jumped right in and ordered the book "the 80/10/10 diet" by dr. graham. Everything about the 80/10/10 diet made perfect sense to me. we as humans are physiologically designed to thrive on whole fresh ripe raw organic fruits and vegetables. and generally, most fruits and vegetables contain very similar to this macronutrient ratio (at least 80% of calories coming from carbohydrates, less than 10% of calories coming from fat, and less than 10% of calories coming from protein). Fruit is abundant in nature and humans thrive best in warmer climates where fruits and vegetables grow and produce food easily for us to enjoy. His explanation of why any and all oil should not be considered a health foods resonated with me. Fractionated foods should not be considered a health food. We all can agree that fractionated carbohydrate (processed sugar) should not be considered a health food. Why do we consider fractionated fat (oil) or fractioned protein (protein powder) a health food? It just doesn’t make sense. His explanation of why eating nuts and seeds in large amounts should not be considered healthful because in nature, nuts are very hard to open. I can attest to this; I had a bag of macadamia nuts in shell a while back and used a nut cracker to open them. I was going to make a creamy sauce out of them so i needed 1/4 a cup for the recipe. After opening 3 macadamia nuts i realized how much work this was and i was over it. Now a days we have access to bulk bin style nuts and seed where the shell has already been removed so its very easy scoop a couple pounds worth of nuts and blend them all up for one raw vegan pie crust! oh my! So many nuts it just doesn’t make sense. I was also moved by what dr. graham said about mammals in nature. He explained how all mammals, when eating their species specific diet, the diet they are physiologically designed to eat, eat until their heart is totally content. No less and no more. We as humans have trained our brains to think that the less we eat, the thinner and healthier we will be. We are always told to limit our portions and to learn to eat everything "in moderation". But how silly this actually is! No tiger will stop eating the abundance of deer he just killed in front of him because he doesn't want to gain weight. He eats until he is content and wants no more food. And what an enlightening thought to realize that we too have a species specific diet and we too can live without that nagging voice in our head saying, "you should stop eating.
Definitely don't go back for seconds. Put just put a small portion of food on your plate because you don't want to gain weight." Dr. graham also heavily emphasizes that
health doesn't just come in the form of diet. It comes with exercise, sleep, water, positive thinking, etc as well. Many things like motivation to exercise and positive thinking come naturally with this diet! Its unreal how much I actually DESIRE to work out now. I was so blown away by the truth of Dr. Graham's words and instantly my mind was changed forever. I then realized the reason I was craving such unhealthy foods. its because I was eating a diet so high in fat. No matter the fat, even if its "healthy fat", too much fat is too much fat. i always thought it was odd that fruit is generally discouraged in abundance (because of all the sugar in fruit) to american citizens. Fruit is ABUNDANT in nature and is so easy to get access to. The animals closest to our physiological design eat loads of fruit in abundance in perfect health. why would God design for a producing mango tree to drop 20 or 30, or many times 50 delicious sweet ripe mangos from its branches EVERY DAY during mango season if we as humans were only meant to enjoy one or
two mangos in a day for fear of getting diabetes if we ate more? My neighbor has two gigantic mango trees in their backyard that went off at the same time. We literally were swimming in mangos every day and enjoyed every last bite.

3. What benefits have you noticed since going 801010?

I have more energy throughout my day than I've ever had in my life. i also am a happier person because I feel so healthy and amazing! My ultimate joy comes through my relationship with Christ, my savior, but it is A LOT easier to be HAPPY now that i have great digestion, energy all day long, and great skin. The absolute best benefit to this lifestyle, in my mind, is having perfect digestion. I could probably go on to describe the amazingness of this benefit for paragraphs, but ill stop there, haha. My skin is finally healing! This process took a long time as I know I had a deep rooted acne issue. My skin actually got worse for about 4 months. It was pretty terrible. but I knew my body was cleansing out old toxins from within my body and learned to embrace this period of my life. Once it started getting worse i stopped wearing all make-up and cut out all my cleansers and lotions (that were already organic and vegan products). I began washing my face with only water and I still to this day do this. its awesome! Everyone experiences different forms of detox. my sister-in-law's hair started to fall out for a good 2 months! It was pretty extreme, her hair was falling out in gobs. But one day she woke up and her hair stopped falling out and began to grow back stronger and healthier than ever. Some people experience very minimal detox symptoms. My husband is a good example of this. His skin never broke out, he always had great digestion through the transition and never really experienced headaches or over tiredness. My husband obviously has very healthy kidney function that can expel toxins properly, which can be attributed to genes and a few other reasons.
I, personally, did not experience all these positive benefits however until I went 100% low fat raw vegan and cut out all cooked food and followed the 80/10/10 diet exactly to the T. And example of how some people follow this lifestyle while not following it to the T would be one who still eats spices (like garlic, onion, or cayenne), doesn’t eat very many greens, and eats cooked food on occasion. From my experience of what I’ve seen, some people feel fine not following Dr. Graham’s recommendations perfectly, while some people like myself are only able to cure themselves of their ailments with a 100% low fat raw vegan diet. For a very long time i was eating a whole foods high carb cooked vegan meal about once a week. it was not until i cut that meal out of my diet that my health skyrocketed. my skin did not clear up and start to have a healthy dewy glow to it until i stopped eating all cooked food. Everything about my health got better, including my teeth health, when i majorly upped my tender leafy green intake (I now eat about 2 large heads of tender greens every day). My energy levels skyrocketed and my digestion became perfect once I stopped eating all cooked food and spices. And the best part is that my DESIRE for all cooked foods, no matter how enticing or delicious they were to me before, dispersed. That is the most freeing part about this lifestyle. I literally not only enjoy but crave all my fruits and vegetables. Imagine if you didn't crave unhealthy foods and what that would look like in your life? Wouldn't that be such a freeing feeling? It sure is for me at least!
Elvis is a 100% raw vegan baby and is healthier and happier than any kid I know. He has never stepped foot inside a hospital or doctors office and has NEVER been sick. He is fully developing at the same rate of his friends of the same age and has better healthier poops than the other kiddos! Haha! He also doesn't get sick with fevers or ear aches like a large amount of kids do these days. There are a lot of nay sayers out there who like to think and preach to me that children cannot thrive on fruits and vegetables alone and that children "need" meat and dairy to survive and grow. I beg to differ. the proof is in the pudding...or shall I say the proof is in the papaya, banana, avocado, celery, lettuce, breast milk etc. There is no essential nutrient in meat, dairy, legumes or grains that is not also available in raw fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds, And it is in a form that is much easier to digest. As Kevin from the FoodnSport so perfectly stated, "Fruits, vegetables, and leafy greens not only contain sustainable amounts of carbohydrates, protein and fat, they have them in the percentages, ratios and quality that are optimum for human health."
My husband, my child and I are all thriving on the 80/10/10 diet and we've never felt healthier in our entire lives. Elvis is lucky enough to not have to know the difference, in that he has only felt one thing, optimal health.


4. Is it true that you lose your periods on the lfrv lifestyle?

I have heard that some women's periods lighten and even that some women stop bleeding all together, yes. There is a misconception, though, that if you stop having a monthly period that you also have stopped ovulating. This is just not a good way to understand a woman's cycle and is simply false. Some people even believe and teach that it is actually not optimal for women to bleed monthly. Many people do not bleed but still ovulate-and they are also able to conceive and carry a pregnancy healthily and with ease. I highly recommend reading the book "Taking charge of your fertility" by Toni Weschler. I read this book about 5 years ago and it totally opened my eyes to the way my physiology as a woman, works and function. It is sad how little we women know about our own bodies and I wish the concepts in this book were taught to every young girl and woman.

5. Where you lfrv before you got pregnant, and if so, did you
maintain it throughout your pregnancy?

I ate high fat raw vegan, with some cooked food vegan meals about once a week, all through my pregnancy. I learned of the 80/10/10 diet when elvis was 6 months old. I was (and still am) nursing elvis and transitioned from high fat raw vegan to low fat raw vegan with no issue at all in milk supply or the health of my babe. Elvis is now 23 months old, so I have been eating the 80/10/10 diet for almost a year and a half. I want to address that one might think that since I was already vegan and eating lots of raw foods that that must be the reason why i had no issue with transitioning to low fat raw while nursing. But I sincerely believe ANY nursing mother can transition to this lifestyle while nursing. All it takes is a little more awareness of their body while transitioning. I experienced some detox, and only once I experienced too strong a detox that I felt was
unhealthy for my milk, and when I realized it I ate a cooked vegan meal and my detox symptoms disappeared within 10 minutes. If you are drinking enough water and eating enough calories from fruit (IMPORTANT!), then a nursing mother should have no problem transitioning. I recommend a slightly slower transition for nursing mothers than I do for regular people not feeding children from their bodies. For those people who are not nursing I always recommend the quickest transition they possibly can stand, because the quickest transition brings the quickest results, and results (plus the satisfaction of large quantities of fruit and veg) are the reasons to keep you going in choosing fruit and vegetables over in-n-out burgers, chocolate bars, or vegan "junk food".

6. What do you eat in a typical day?

I always start my day off with one to two liters of water. Everyone needs different amounts of water to stay hydrated and here in maui it is extremely hot. So I feel my best drinking lots of water. I also drink 2 more liters of water throughout the day on an empty stomach.
What I eat changes with the seasons but lately I've been drinking a large smoothie for breakfast. My favorite right now is about 3-4 cups of freshly juiced oranges with my citrus juicer, blended with chopped pineapple, local maui mango and frozen organic blueberries.
Lunch will normally be a mono-meal of one type of fruit. Examples would be either 4-6 mangos, or 1-2 lbs of grapes if in season, or 5-6 hawaiian non gmo papaya (etc). Sometimes for lunch i will eat a large handful of gooey organic dates and wrap a lettuce leaf or a couple cucumbers slices around each date. if i have this for lunch i go through about one large head of organic lettuce and 1 large cucumber in this meal.
For dinner I like to make a large dinner salad. I start with a base of 1-2 large heads of tender lettuce (be it baby spinach, arugula, romaine, red leaf, green leaf, butter leaf lettuce etc). I sometimes add spiraled zucchini or cucumber or chopped heirloom tomatoes. There are lots of different ways i dress my salad. Sometimes I just top with chopped papaya and lime juice. Other times i blend mangos with bell pepper and basil. Sometimes, instead of a fruit based dressing I use about 1/2 an avocado or small handful of hemp seeds and blend it with celery and lemon juice. The possibilities really are endless. These are just a few examples of my favorites.
I feel my best eating LOTS of lettuce greens as well as celery, sprouts, herbs, and zucchini and non sweet fruits like cucumber, bell pepper and tomatoes and other vegetables. Most of my calories come from fruit (because sweet fruits are higher in calories than tender vegetables and non sweet fruits), but I would say about half of the volume of my food comes from vegetables, about 4-6% of my calories. The rest is from sweet fruits and about 2 times a week I eat a small amount of avocado, nuts or seeds.

7. What do you feed your child in a typical day?

I actually recently started a youtube channel in regards to this question! I get a lot of questions from young mothers wanting to feed their children healthier foods and in need of some direction. There are a lot of high carb raw food leaders in the movement helping people move in the right direction towards better health but there is not much
information out there for pregnant women, nursing women, and mothers in general on raising healthy raw vegan children. I hope I can help fill this need a little bit. There is one Youtube channel, though, I recommend parents subscribe to which is “superhealthychildren” by Karen Ranzi. My youtube channel can be found at www.youtube.com/mangoislandmamma1
My first video actually is called "what my raw vegan baby ate today". please feel free to check it out! :) I also post a lot of information on what i feed my little one through my Instagram account. My account name is “ellenfisher”.
My son is now 23 months old and I am still breast feeding him. He only breast feeds a few times in the mornings now. I exclusively breast fed him up until 8.5 months old. his first bite of food was avocado.
I don't have a rule by exactly what elvis eats in a day. I go by what he asks for and is craving that day. I do like to stick to a few guidelines I like to follow though.

1. I never restrict his calories from fruit or vegetables. He eats as many bananas as he likes in a day. He eats as much sprouts or zucchini or raw organic corn or tomatoes as he likes in a day. He eats as many berries or mango or guava or lilikoi or surinam cherry as he likes in a day...you get the picture.

2. I also make sure he eats leafy greens AT LEAST once every day, whether its in a smoothie, chopped up in his dinner salad, or munching on plain baby spinach or lettuce from our garden by itself. We munch on baby spinach like chips!. Most of the time he eats greens two to three times a day, but sometimes he doesn't want very many greens and thats ok.

3. I also give elvis an overt fat about once a day. His favorites are avocado and coconut. Sometimes he really wants hemp seeds and everyday when I ask him what he wants for dinner he knows exactly what he wants. "Elvis what do you want for dinner?" "Mushroom! Avocado! Cucumber! Lettuce!" is just one example. :) Babies need more fat than adults do for healthy brain development. An easy way to put this into perspective is to realize that breast milk has, on average, almost 50% of its calories from fat. And if all mothers let their babies wean from breast milk when their little bodies didn't desire it anymore, on average, babies would be consuming a lot more breast milk for a lot longer than the average baby in america. Elvis gets his fat from my breast milk and from eating slightly more overt fat foods than we do. So his caloric nutrient ratio is not 80/10/10 but it will become that through the gradual process of getting older and naturally weaning himself from breast milk.

With that being said, I will describe an example of what elvis ate yesterday:
-Started his morning off with a healthy dose of mothers milk :)
-Then he ate some surinam cherries and passionfruit as well as shared some of my morning smoothie with me (he drank about 8 ounces)
-Before nap he ate 3 apple bananas (maui grown bananas) and 1/2 of a giant cucumber and he munched on it and ate the whole thing (picture a kid gripping a snickers bar and gorging on it...except instead of the snickers bar it was a big chunk of cucumber :) -After nap he ate about 1 cup of organic grapes
-He wanted a smoothie before dinner so i blended: 1 mango, some strawberries and pineapple, 2 large kale leaves and a piece of celery blended smooth
-dinner was shredded zucchini, sliced cherry tomatoes, 2 green leaf lettuce leaves and 1/2 a creamy avocado all mashed up and mixed well together.
-He also shared a little of my dinner salad after he finished his meal. He snacks on a lot of both me and my husband's meals.

8. What is your favourite dish and can you share the recipe?

Of course! Almost all my favorite recipes involve mangos because I'm coo-coo for mangos! And here in maui some of the varieties are just off-the-hook delicious I literally could talk about my love affair with mangos all day long.
This salad creation I'm going to share is what I love to make for people who are new to the lifestyle. I, on occasion, eat dried fruit like sun dried tomatoes; and adding sun dried tomatoes to this recipe creates a wonderful burst of flavors that remind people of food they feel familiar with.
-1.5 very large heads of organic butter leaf lettuce or romaine
- 3-5 sweet and delicious mangos
-1 large organic heirloom tomato (or 2 smaller tomatoes)
-2 handfuls of organic cherry tomatoes or equivalent of roma tomatoes
-1 handful sun dried tomatoes, soaked in water for at least 20 minutes (buy the ones NOT soaked in oil and have not been treated with sulfur dioxide. "Mediterranean Organic" is a good brand)
-1/2 a lemon, juice of
-handful of cilantro
Chop lettuce and place in a large bowl. Chop mangos, heirloom tomato, and cilantro and add to salad bowl. Take soaked sun dried tomatoes and squeeze out the liquid. Discard the soaking water. Blend the sun dried tomatoes with cherry tomatoes until smooth. It should taste like a rich delicious tomato sauce. Add a little more sun dried tomatoes if its too watery (don't add any water when blending this mixture). Pour tomato sauce over salad and top with a little squeezed lemon juice. Voila!

9. What advice do you have for folk who want to transition to
lfrv?

I feel like there is SO much I could say to answer this question! I made many mistakes in the beginning so I can totally see why so many people give up or fail on their attempt at a low fat raw vegan lifestyle. We, as humans, have a species specific diet, just like all other mammals do. Cows are physiologically designed to eat grass. This does not mean a cow cannot survive on being fed gmo corn, like the mass majority of cows in America are fed these days, but cows who are fed corn are much less healthy and do not thrive like a free range grass fed cow does. Tigers are physiologically designed to eat meat. Humans are physiologically designed to eat Whole fresh ripe raw organic fruits and vegetables. I so badly want people to understand this. When one can not settle on one diet and continues to change their diet throughout their life, it simply means they have not found the diet that we as humans are designed to thrive on (whole fresh ripe raw organic fruits and vegetables!). When someone fails at their attempt to an 80/10/10 lifestyle, it means that either he/she was not following the diet and lifestyle properly (lifestyle, meaning all other factors that play into health like sleep, water, sunshine, and exercise), OR that their body was making drastic changes and trying to heal itself from the inside out, which can confuse a lot of people. I could easily have given up on this
lifestyle when my skin got worse. My skin got soooo bad for 4 months straight. It was worse than I had ever experienced. I could have easily said, “This lifestyle sucks! The 80/10/10 made my skin go crazy bad!". When i was having bloating issues and my digestion was not getting better, I could have easily thrown in the towel for that reason as well. Low and behold though, I learned that I actually wasn’t following the lifestyle properly. Someone mentioned I should try cutting out spices because spices is not apart of the lifestyle. Dr. Graham says that if you cant make a meal out of it then it should not be considered a health food. I can sit and eat a large head of lettuce if I wanted to, but i surely cant sit and eat 10 knobs of garlic! I eliminated all spices and within a week and a half I had perfect digestion (better digestion than I’ve ever had in my life) and all bloating was gone. I even went as far as doing a consult with Dr. Graham to help with my skin and he recommended I cut out all cooked food. He also recommended I do Banana Island (a period of time between as little as one day and as long as even a month where one eats bananas and greens only). Every time I went on Banana Island or Mango Island my skin got a little bit better. But I kept going back to eating one cooked high carb vegan meal each week which undoubtedly pulled me back in my progress of healing. I asked Dr. Graham if he thought I could heal my body without completely eliminating cooked food, and he said, “I’m not sure, but if you did heal it would be a much slower process.” Something switched like a light bulb turning on in my head after my 4th Banana Island. I thought, “Why do I keep going back to the cooked food when I feel so stinkin fabulous on being fully raw?”. I emailed Dr. Graham and said, “Ok, my mind is made up, I am going fully raw. I want to heal and feel my best.” And he responded with, “Get your mind in the right place. Living healthfully is not a hardship.” His simple words were so powerful to me and he is so right in every way! I stuck with it because I knew in my heart that this is the human diet and I pushed through it. My skin now is so much better than it ever has been since my teenage years! My skin is glowing and I only wash my face with water and use NO skin products. My eyes are lightening as well. My digestion is perfect and I have energy that lasts all day long. I fall asleep as soon as my head hit’s the pillow and I now have a real DESIRE to work out (in which I never had that feeling before). Once one comes through the detox and learns from their mistakes getting into this lifestyle, as well as lets their body make a full transformation, in time that person will see simply and truly what real health feels like. And once I felt it I realized how much other foods were not enticing to me anymore because any food that doesn’t promote perfect health for my body is not something I desire. I think most people don't ever get to know what truly healthy feels like. My husband, back in college when he used to eat the standard american diet of in-n-out burgers and whey protein shakes, used to tell me he feels fine and that he will never become vegan and change his diet. Just a few short years later his entire diet and lifestyle was transformed through my influence, as well as my sneaky ways of hiding informative books in places he might desire to pick up and read. He now looks back at his old SAD ways and realizes that he THOUGHT he felt fine, but now realizes just how incredibly different he feels! His digestion is now amazing and his energy levels are sky high. He now can recall, "oh yeah, I was tired ALL the time, my sweat smelled horrible (which I can attest to that all the way back from in high school after his basketball games. when he would try to hug me I would push him away because he smelled so bad. I no longer deal with that issue. Even after a 14 mile run he returns home, full of sweat, but it doesn't smell bad). And
the digestion he used to think was normal and healthy, was in no where near the healthy state he feels now.
So my advice to anyone who wants to get into eating the 80/10/10 lifestyle is this: 

1. Read "the 80/10/10 diet" by Dr. graham and follow his advice! I remember being blown away by the truth in his book and it made so much sense to me. This book literally changed my life for the better in so many ways!

2. When you get started on this lifestyle, find what your favorite fruit is and stock up on it. Eat as much fruit as you desire! Eat enough for each meal that it keeps you satisfied until the next meal. Buy the most delicious, high quality, organic fruit and vegetables that you can get your hands on. Invest in your health through quality fruits and vegetables so you won’t have to pay for it later in the form of prescription drugs. If the fruit and vegetables are bland and lack flavor, then you will not last long on this lifestyle. Organic locally grown fruits from quality trees is where its at.

3. Once you find those delicious fruits, buy in bulk for discounted prices and to make sure you always have enough fruit available to you. Ask for a discount at farmers markets if you buy a whole case of their fruit. This lifestyle is not about feeling starvation in your day and having intense cravings. Carb up on fruit to keep you totally satisfied.

4. Eat tender vegetables! A lot of people who get into this lifestyle forget the need for vegetables simply because they are not drawn to it initially. But thats like an obese person who eats fast food every day saying that he doesn't eat fruit because he is not drawn to it. Your taste buds renew every two weeks. If you give your a body a chance by not eating unhealthful foods, eliminate spices, salt and oil, and instead, load up on whole fresh ripe raw organic fruits and veg, and your DESIRES for foods will soon become fruits AND vegetables. I can't believe how much I now literally crave my greens. I crave bell pepper and crave tomatoes. Its amazing what happens to your mind and body when you just give it a real chance.

5. Learn to get enough SLEEP! Let your body rest so your body can properly function and restore itself. I've found that my body goes through the quickest healing when I get enough rest. As a mother with a little one I totally understand that this can be very difficult. My little man has been a horrible sleeper since day 1 haha. I've learned to go to bed between 30 minutes and an hour after my son goes to bed in order for me to get proper rest. True health involves every aspect of your life. One cannot simply eat only raw fruits and vegetables but sleep only 6 hours every night and expect to feel their best. Sleep as much as your body wants! Do your best to not make excuses but to get your priorities straight to get yourself healthy, so that you can be a better mother, wife, sister, friend, brother, dad, husband etc.

6. Get enough calories, learn what ripe fruit is, enjoy large salads, and seek support! Get into instagram, there are a lot of fellow 80/10/10ers who answer anyone's questions-which there will be lots of them! Ask questions! Learn from people who have been doing it longer than you. Thats what I did! I asked SO many questions, and thats the BIGGEST reason I learned how to thrive on this lifestyle. We, as a society are not used this lifestyle in any way because of the decades of processed food most of us have been raised on. Its going to take time but it is so worth it, I promise!

7. Buy and read the book “Whole” by Nutritional Biochemist Scientist T. Colin Campbell so you can fully understand WHY the truthful information about health is not readily
available, common, or well known in America and most of the world. It is an AMAZING book and helps put it fully into perspective. Campbell even recently said in a Ted talk, that the 80/10/10 diet “is the healthiest diet on the planet”. He is an amazing man and strives just like Dr. Graham to bring the truth to light, and is not in it to make the big bucks. Also, if you are a parent or plan to be a parent some day, the book “Creating Healthy Children, through attachment parenting and raw foods” by Karen Ranzi is a great book!

Some people might look at me and think I must live a boring life because I go to bed so early, don’t drink alcohol, practically never go out to restaurants, and only eat fruits and vegetables. I’m ok with someone looking at my life and thinking that because I just feel too stinking good and happy to care. My husband, baby and myself are healthy and feeling good all the time so we can fully enjoy everything we do in life such as going to da beach, hiking to waterfalls, gardening and enjoying company with our friends by preparing a raw dinner for us to share. I love hosting and having people over to our house, especially when friends visit us from the mainland. And the best part is
that I no longer have to go through life calorie restricting and constantly worried that i’m going to gain weight because “I ate too much of this or that”.
I will end with a quote from Harley (Durianrider) Johnstone: "Chipmunks can live on Cheetos and Twinkies, but the healthiest chipmunks will be eating their natural chipmunk diet. so humans can live on Cheetos and Twinkies and Big Macs, but they are going to do better on their human diet of fruits and vegetables; as we see in the cancer reversals, the heart disease reversals, the type 2 diabetes reversals on the 80/10/10 fruit and vegetable lifestyle.”


Hope you enjoyed reading that as much as I did, and to Ellen and others like her, I admire your conviction and dedication to your health and that of others.  
So thank you Ellen, sending big cuddles and banana kisses to you and your lovely crew.

If you would like to know more about Ellen, please follow her on Instagram @ellenfisher and also check out her Youtube channel Mango Island Mamma.

Peas, love and mungbeans

xxb

Monday 28 October 2013

Banana Island



Remember that time I tried to give up fruit temporarily?  Yeah, it wasn't too long ago and if you remember, I lasted 6 weeks out of the 8.
I don't deem it a failure, not at all, if anything, it taught me a lot about myself.  Maybe it was plainly obvious but hey, sometimes you just have to learn the hard way.
The plain truth is that I love fruit.  And perhaps like most things, it took given it up, if only momentarily, to bring me to the realisation that my body thrives on eating fruit.
How do I know this?  Well, throughout the 6 weeks that I wasn't eating it, I was eating other things, and although they were by most accounts, clean plant based foods, I wasn't feeling as good as I do when my main diet is made up of fruits and vegetables.
This got me to thinking about 801010 again, so I revisited the book by Dr. D. Graham and again, just like the first time, it made complete sense to me.  
So, since giving up on giving up fruit, I started to slowly cut out some of the things that the 801010 diet suggests.  First to go was salt, guess what, I lost two kilos, all of it retained fluid I'm sure.
Second to go was caffeine, guess what? I don't feel tired, I'm more alert and although I love the smell, I don't crave it.
I also went a step further.  Having failed my first attempt at 801010, I revisited the blogs and youtube channels of some of the individuals who are thriving on this lifestyle and took their advice and tips that they gave.  Guess what? It got easier.
So here is what I did:
After giving up salt and caffeine (including tea & raw cacao), I went on banana island.
Banana WHAT?! Is that like some tropical place somewhere off the coast of somewhere amazing?  Umm, well yes, it could be, it could also be somewhere rich Nigerians live (this is true, I googled it).  
But no, banana island as I'm referring to here is a common practice undertaken by low fat raw vegans (or 801010), where you eat mono meals for a chosen length of time.  In this case bananas.  It doesn't necessarily need to be bananas, it could be mangos (mango island), persimmons, melons, e.t.c.
You also consume tender greens like baby spinach and cos lettuce, and are allowed celery and cucumber as well as cinnamon and vanilla.

Wow, but isn't this type of restrictive eating bad for you?  
The short answer is yes, it totally could be bad for you if you chose to do it for the rest of your life but this isn't a rest of your life thing.  The point of a mono island is as a short term cleanse, where you allow your digestive system to take a break and allow your body to concentrate on other important things, like healing and recovery.

But all those bananas?  Won't you die from potassium poisoning?  
Apparently if you eat 487 bananas you could die, however, I only got to max 22 bananas a day.

But bananas are so full of sugar, that'll make you fat?
Yes, bananas are full of natural sugars and guess what, you need it.  Our bodies are meant to and thrive on carbs, they are after all, the primary source of energy that every cell in our bodies need to function.  Enough said.  What makes us fat is eating refined carbs like sugar, refined grains and flours and refined fats.
I've looked at a lot of individuals on this lifestyle and guess what? They are not fat, nor do they have issues with diabetes, heart disease, metabolic syndrome, e.t.c.

But hey, I'm not here to preach to you, you can believe what you want, and I encourage everyone not to take my word for it, go and research for yourself if you are wondering about it. 
I'm just here to tell you about my experience and how it made me feel.  
I know this may be a controversial topic for some people, and that is fine, I know that some people hold strong views about fruit eating, but all I am saying is to have an open mind :)

So, what benefits did I feel on banana island?
- alertness
- increase in energy levels
- improved digestion
- improved elimination (and may I add odourless, for real!)
- good sleep
- not hungry
- didn't feel restricted at all

Will I do it again?  Hell yeah!
I should mention, I also drank on average about 3 litres of water a day, and kept track of my calories on cronometer to make sure I was getting enough.  I aimed for at least 2000 calories a day.
It wasn't tedious  specially since all I was adding up was bananas, cucumbers, cos lettuce, carob, vanilla and celery!

So what the hell did you eat?
Well that's the beauty of having bananas, they are so versatile.
As you know, I always keep frozen bananas in my freezer so lots of smoothies and ice cream were always on the menu.
A typical day would go something like this:
Breakfast- 5 frozen bananas with cinnamon and water, about a litre.  
Lunch - 1 head of baby cos, 3 stalks of celery, 1 cucumber all chopped up + 5 bananas
Dinner - 4 or 5 banana ice cream with a large green salad like the one I had for lunch.
I still had lots of green smoothies and if I felt lazy, i'd just sit down with about 8 bananas, a head of cos lettuce, and wrap up my bananas in cos and eat that.  Easy and no time wasted preparing stuff.

Here's a few things that I had:

Banana & cinnamon 'rice' pudding

Carob & cinnamon banana split
Green salad with vanilla banana ice cream layered with carob coated bananas
So there you have it, my experience on Banana Island in a nut shell, or a banana peel!
If you are interested in doing banana island, I recommend that you first read 801010 by Dr. D. Graham, and also check out the YouTube videos of Freelee the banana girl and Fully Raw Kristina.  These girls have been living a fully raw high carb low fat vegan lifestyle for over 7 years and their stories are really inspiring.
Like with any new or old information, make up your own mind.  If it doesn't sound like something good to you, then leave it, and if it does, than explore it.  There are so many different views out there, it's just about getting information and choosing what works for you.
I also want to stress that this is NOT a weight loss diet, it is just meant to be used as a short term cleanse.  
Long term weight loss if that is what you are looking for, is a combination of things: a clean diet, exercise, plenty of sleep, and a positive mindset.  Everyone does it in their own time, the point is to find time and just do it.
Peas, love and mungbeans

xxb


Tuesday 15 October 2013

Fruity offerings

I figure I should probably do a wrap up of the I Quit Sugar 8 Week Program.
I'll be honest, I caved after the 6 week mark.  All those beautifully ripe bananas where calling my name!  So essentially I didn't finish the program but I'm cool with that.
It was ok at the beginning, I felt really confident, and I had so much fun experimenting without fruit but it started to suck big time after week 5 for me.  Here's why:
I was eating a lot of cooked foods, especially for breakfast and it didn't really sit well with me.  Don't get me wrong, I don't think it's bad to eat cooked foods, but for breakfast?  Yummy, yes, but for me, long term, no.
Second thing:  I was eating a lot of nuts to make up for the calories I was missing from fruit.
Now I love nuts as much as the next person, but eating too many just makes me feel heavy and blocked up.  Not nice and not for me.
Thirdly, I dearly missed fruit.  
So, after thinking about the journey and reflecting back on how I was feeling throughout the challenge, I decided that I had given a pretty good go of it, so didn't feel terrible when I chose to stop after the 6th week.
Here are my thoughts on the program:  If you have no idea about nutrition, it's a good place to start.
If you are a vegan, there are some good options but the menu is heavy on eggs, dairy and fats.
If you are a low fat raw vegan, sorry but the menu doesn't really cater for you, apart from some juices, and smoothies.
Would I do it again, probably not.  Purely on the grounds that I already don't eat refined sugars, only fruit, and I don't see an issue with this.
Like I said, the program is great for non-vegans and I've even spoken to a few people at work who have noticed since giving up sugar, that their rheumatic pain has diminished.  
And, the most important lesson for me is this:  there are a million food philosophies out there, just like there is a million different individuals, therefore, research, try and stick with the one that makes you feel best.
Well, what makes me feel best is eating raw fruits and vegetables and I'm sticking with that!  As much as I can anyways, can't say I've given up cooked foods forever, just that when i do eat them I'll make sure that they are high carb and low fat.

Ok, enough of that.  

Now that I'm back on fruit heaven, I've been making lots of, you guessed it, fruity yummies!
I'm going to share my faves so far, hope you like them too.

Fresh Fig Tart with Banana Carob Cream
Makes 1x 12 cm tart

Ingredients

Base
4 medjool dates
4 sundried figs

Filling
1 large fresh fig
2 frozen bananas
2 TBS carob powder
1 tsp vanilla extract

Method

Line the tart case with some baking paper and set aside.

Base
Pulse all ingredients in the food processor until it's the consistency of a chunky paste.
Place onto lined tart case and flatten out with fingers, including around the sides.  You may need to wet your hands, it can be quite sticky.

Filling
Place all ingredients, except the fig in the food processor and process until it resembles soft serve ice cream.
Use this mixture to fill your prepared tart, level with the back of a spoon.
Cut your fig and place on top.
Serve immediately or place in the freezer without the fig and have it another day.



Did you know that the easiest thing in the world to make is ice cream.  You just need some frozen bananas, which you chop up and put in your food processor or blender.  Depending on quantity I use the food processor for 2 or less bananas and the vitamix for more, but you can use whatever works for you.
All you have to do is process/blend until it becomes thick and creamy, and gives the consistency of soft serve ice cream.
Next step is to eat it with glee OR add your desired flavourings.

If I'm not having a green smoothie, I'm having ice cream for breakfast.  That's just how I roll.

Vanilla and Mulberry Ice Cream with Fresh Fruit
Serves 1

Ingredients

4 frozen bananas
1 tsp of vanilla exact
1 handful of mulberries
1 kiwi fruit, chopped
1 cup of papaya, chopped

Method

Place the frozen bananas in machine of choice and process/blend until the bananas reach soft serve consistency.  Add the vanilla extract and process some more.
Take out half, that's your vanilla layer.
Add the mulberries to the left overs and process until they break up a bit but not completely.
Layer your fruit with the ice creams and your done. 
Didn't I tell you!


Dark Cherry, Carob and Coconut Ice Cream
Serves 1

Ingredients

2 frozen bananas
2 TBS carob powder
2 TBS coconut flakes
small handful of pitted dark cherries (I used frozen) + 5 for decorating.

Method

Place all ingredients in the food processor (except decorating cherries) and whizz away until magic happens and it turns to ice cream
Serve on top of some of the decorating cherries and with a cherry on top and some coconut and carob.


And here are some of the other stuff I've been stuffing my face with:
Spicy Cauliflower rice with pineapple, corn, tomatoes, capsicum, olives and guacamole.

Made with sprouts, mango, capsicum, red cabbage, baby spinach and served with a side of papaya

Baby spinach with peaches, figs, strawberries and spanish onion

Cos lettuce with mango, blueberries, kiwi fruit and lemon juice and an orange & raspberry crush
Spiced pear & apple crumble with vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce
Berry banana smoothie with fresh fruit, homemade raspberry & lime chia jam and mint
Banana matcha smoothie
Raspberry & Pear chia jam folded through coconut chia pudding
This is typical of my work meals.  If I work in the a.m I take a breakfast smoothie and salad for lunch

Zucchini fettucine two ways:  sundried tomato sauce on the bottom, avocado & basil on the top



All the recipes are raw vegan, all of them are low fat.  Notice I'm not avoiding fats, just eating them in smaller amounts and good fats from avocado, never oil, and I've also added some chia to supply essential omega 3 fatty acids.  
Hey, we all need fats, just not in the amounts that you normally find in foods.

I should also tell you, I haven't been adding salt to my food still.  Funny, for such a salt lover, you do get used to it.  It's all a matter of changing your taste buds by feeding your body the good stuff.  Eventually, that's all it will crave.

If you want any recipes for the above dishes, let me know, but if you do a search, you'll find I've done similar recipes before.

Sending lots of good vibes your way!

Peas, love and mungbeans

xxb


Thursday 3 October 2013

Herb it up

I've cut out salt as you know, and will try to do my best to maintain this as a constant rather than a sometimes, but it will be almost impossible to do this, specially if eating out because just about everyone uses salt as a seasoning, specially restaurants/cafes.  That's cool, I'm not a believer in extremes so it is what it is.
But this got me thinking about my food and how I would adapt to make up for the salt.  I'll be honest, I think salt does bring out the flavours, but what are the alternatives?

There's a few things:


  • dulse:  a type of red algae that has been around for yonks and is widely used as a snack or flavour enhancer.  It's a good source of minerals and vitamins compared with other vegetables, and contains all trace elements needed by humans, including iodine.  It also has a high protein content.
  • kelp granules: another sea wonder, same properties as dulse and used in the same way.  
  • nutritional yeast: a type of deactivated yeast that is sold as yellow flakes or powder.  It is a source of protein and vitamins, especially the B-complex vitamins, and is a complete protein. It is also naturally low in fat and sodium and is free of sugar, dairy, and gluten. Sometimes nutritional yeast is fortified with vitamin B12.  It has a cheesy flavour and is great when making the popular 'cheese' sauces for zucchini pasta.
  • herbs:  herbs are an amazing addition to any dish, both savoury and sweet, and we are lucky that we are able to get just about every herb, year round.  A trip to the Asian supermarket is a revelation in herbs (even if you can't read what they are or how to use them).  I say, just have fun with it, and try them out.  My favourites to use are mint, coriander, parsley and basil.  Yes, I'm a bit boring where herbs are concerned but I have been experimenting with some Vietnamese herbs so I'll have a recipe for you using those.
  • spices:  it's no wonder that they were once used as a form of currency, and there is a plethora of spices to liven up just about any dish.  My favourite to use are cinnamon, cumin, turmeric, ground coriander, smokey paprika and pepper.
If you are trying to give up salt and love Asian cooking that contains tamari or soy sauce, you could opt for coconut aminos which are a lot less lower in salt and contain natural sea salt rather than the bleached white stuff that is not good for you at all.  I've only been able to find raw coconut aminos through iHerb.
I would also recommend using Celtic sea salt or Himalayan pink salt as alternatives to table salt.

So here's a recipe using some wonderful asian herbs that I found.  The one on the left is called sawtooth coriander (Ngò gai)and the one on the right is called rice paddy herb (Ngò om).  They are both so fragrant and delicious.  As you can tell by the name, sawtooth coriander has a really strong coriander taste and the rice paddy has a citrus/cumin flavour.  Both delicious, both worth trying.  I am told that they are important herbs in the delicious Vietnamese sweet and sour soup.
Sawtooth coriander is also known as culantro (not cilantro), and used a lot in Central American cooking, specially bean based stews.  Yum!

Crunchy Asian Salad with Vietnamese Herbs & Mango Ginger Dressing
Serves 1

Ingredients

Salad
2 medium zucchini, julienne
1 small carrot, julienne
handful of bean sprouts
1/4 of medium red capsicum, julienne
6 snow peas, julienne
1 bunch of bok choy, chopped
1/2 cup of fresh mint, thinly sliced
3 sawtooth coriander leaves, thinly sliced
4 sprigs of rice paddy herb, leaves removed
hemp seeds (optional)

Dressing
1/2 mango
1/4 medium red capsicum 
1/4 tsp grated ginger
1/2 lemon, juiced
1 medjool date,pitted

Method

Place all salad ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.
In a large bowl, mix your salad ingredients except for the hemp seeds. 
Pour over the sauce and toss well, serve with the hemp seeds sprinkled on top if using.

This salad can be made with whatever vegetables you have and love and is good when you want to use up any veggies that may be nearing their use by date.

Hope you try it and like it!

Peas, love and mungbeans

xxb

Wednesday 2 October 2013

Salt be gone!

So I've been doing a little experiment these last 3 days.  Basically, I've stopped eating salt, in all it's forms, yes, that includes my beloved Himalayan pink salt.
And this is what happened, I lost 2 kilos.
I've always known salt to be the number one culprit in fluid retention but 2 kilos worth, wow!  Now I know why body builders and models stay away from it before a major event, gee whiz!
I used to think that I didn't eat that much salt but when I really think about it, I always add it to my dressings, somehow they just taste a bit bland without it right?
And hey, don't we need salt for our cells to function?

First thing first, yes it's true that things taste bland without salt, that is because salt actually dampens the ability of our taste buds to sense the range of flavours (sweet, sour, bitter). This is why we load our foods with it!  A vicious cycle.  
If we want to wean ourselves off salt, we must make a commitment to complete abstinence and if we do this, I'm told that the cravings for salt will abate in a couple of weeks.  This also means that your tastes will change, and yes, people may find your new salt-free food bland, but hey, you have to start somewhere, and with more practice, you'll be able to turn tasteless dressings into delicious and nutritious accompaniments to your kick-ass salads.

But what about the importance of salt for cell functioning?  Firstly, extracted sodium chloride (salt) is very different to the sodium and other vital minerals that our cells need.  The former is toxic whilst the latter occurs naturally in whole plant foods.  Eating a variety of vegetables such as tomato and celery, contain the right balance of natural salts and minerals that our cells need to function at optimal levels.

So, the moral of the story is, if you are trying to give up salt, do it now, just stop!
If you wan't to cut down, make it a point to have salt free days, and beware of packaged foods if  you eat those  because they are PACKED with salt and other bad stuff.
If you must eat salt, I still believe that Himalayan pink salt is the way to go as it hasn't been processed to hell and back.

Now I don't want to leave you empty handed in a saltless world so here is a salad dressing that requires no salt but packs a flavour punch.  

Mexican Salad with Spicy Jalapeño Dressing
Serves 1

Salad
1 head of cos lettuce (romaine)
1 tomato diced
1 corn cob, kernels removed
1/4 cup red capsicum (peppers)
1/4 cup yellow capsicum
1/4 of a small red onion, sliced thinly
1 small mango, chopped
1/2 avocado, chopped
2 handfuls of baby spinach
small bunch of coriander (cilantro) or to taste

Dressing
2 kiwifruit
1/2 medium cucumber
2 stalks of celery
1 small lemon (juiced)
Jalapeño chilli to taste 

Method
Add all salad ingredients to a large bowl.
Blend all dressing ingredients until desired consistency  I like mine smooth.

Pour dressing over salad and enjoy the yumminess!
This is completely raw vegan and a good example of what a typical 80/10/10 meal looks like.  However, if you are eating cooked foods, you could cook the corn although I highly recommend trying it raw, just so sweet!
You could also add some red kidney beans or black beans.

So, try to eliminate the salts and see if it makes a difference to how you feel, I have a feeling it will.

Peas, love and mungbeans

xxb