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”.
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
