Happy Holidays everyone.

Well, I just got back from Thanksgiving with my family, at which I dined on a potatostrong.com vegan stuffing recipe, as well as mashed potatoes with nothing in them, as well as cranberry sauce.

I have loosened up about my diet even more these days–going back between starches and fruits and vegetables. I kind of go back and forth between trying to be as raw as possible and eating more starches. I’m confused as to which one is better or which one I like more. So I have just been doing both lately. I haven’t noticed any major weight gain or anything even though I think I have been eating more cooked foods. In fact, I am down from a size 12 when I began this journey to a size 6. WOW people.

 

sorry for my lack of pleasant facial expression, but I never never ever ever ever ever thought I would lose weight this easily.

I mean it’s debatable how easy it was. I guess I did withstand a lot of annoying remarks and I did grin and bear it a lot at restaurants while my friends were dining on foods with delicious aromas and I did haul a lot of 20 pound fruit bags back from the supermarket….but besides that this whole raw till 4, high carb vegan thing has been SUPER EASY.

Compared to a true diet in which you literally starve yourself and are counting calories, depriving yourself of carbs, distracting yourself from eating–this plant based vegan lifestyle is TRUE HEAVEN PEOPLE, I tell you.

Not only that, but it is fascinating. I have learned so much about animal rights, health, the history of alternative health cures and “natural hygiene”, fasting, detoxes, the individual differences of fruits, the proper conditions for health, enhancing performance through raw foods, new recipes, the whole raw food world, the whole controversy over high carb and low carb diets.

I met so many cool people at the Woodstock Fruit Festival and learned so much from all the youtubers I subscribe to.

It has been an awesome journey.

Not to mention I have ironically gotten RID of all guilt I had around food and eating. I say ironically because some people probably view being vegan as extremely restrictive and almost like an eating disorder. In fact, it is the opposite. I feel like Freelee the banana girl saying this, but I LOVE being able to eat as much as I want and I love that I am eating so many fruits and vegetables and whole unprocessed foods.

It’s really fun.

Anyway, when I was home I was looking at all these pictures of myself from when I was younger.

It came together for me, how much I was struggling with my body and being a fat kid.

I wish I had known about this way of eating then. I would totally have been on it. The youngest raw foodist in Connecticut.

I just had no idea.

I remember when I first found Freelee in the very beginning of my journey and downloaded her ebook, she said something like “congratulations you have found the path. you have found the lifestyle that will allow you to have the body of your dreams”.

I wondered if I had or not.

It’s hard for me even to accept, but she was right. I feel I will continue to lose weight and continue to improve my looks and fitness.

This Halloween, a guy was telling me 28 is the best age to be because you are at the peak of your looks.

I told him every year I think I have got better looking and I think I will continue to improve as I age.

I guess that’s one of the awesome things about “starting from the bottom” if you will.

You get to learn so much more on the way up.

Now when I look in the mirror I just stare and stare. I look so good!

I think I only feel this way cause I started from the bottom. And now I’m just so thrilled with my new physique I created through being vegan and eating PLANTS.

I encourage you guys all who are interested in losing weight but never dieting again to check out either

1. The Starch Solution by John McDougall

2. Raw till 4 on youtube with Freelee the Banana Girl

3. Being fully raw (maybe start by reading Raw Family by Victoria Boutenko or 80/10/10 by Doug Graham)

And to all you fat kids out there, I love you and I think you’re beautiful the way you are. But if you want to lose weight, I believe there is hope. Even though it may sound hard, it really is quite awesome. Forget everything you were told about LOW CARB DIETS. Go vegan and eat ONLY plants, no oil, mostly fruits and vegetables and give it 2 years, ha. It will be worth it.

 

So I met this guy at the Woodstock Fruit Festival who is now my one true fruitarian friend. Ah, what a relief to lol about DurianRider and fruitarian drama on youtube with someone who truly gets it!!

At the same time, he really inspires me cause he is being 100% raw vegan, gets to bed early, is striving to be as healthy as possible and most interestingly possibly, he healed a ton of health problems on this lifestyle. When I first met him at Woodstock he told me he had healed his daily migraines with his diet. I decided I have to interview him because I know a number of friends and family who suffer from terrible migraines.

This interview is for them, and hopefully anyone out there on the internet searching for a way to cure migraines.

Oh and he has a really good instagram account, where I took these photos from. Check it out @Juice_and_love

10 Questions for John Falucca

 

1. Can you describe how bad your health problems were before, how often they occurred,  and what you felt about them. Were you in despair over them?   

Before I shifted to a low fat raw vegan/fruitarian lifestyle my health had declined steadily over the years. The worst of it was the severe headaches. I also experienced sleeplessness, brain fog, chronic fatigue, indigestion, excess mucus/phlegm, dry skin, constipation and high cholesterol. I would say most of these issues occurred almost daily. About 2 years ago I had reached a point where I was frustrated and tired of dealing with these issues. When I really started learning about food additives, preservatives and GMOs, I had a good inclination that the reason for my sickness was the food I was eating. Raised on the typical SAD – Standard American Diet I ate mostly meat, dairy, grains, and little fruits and vegetables. I naturally ate a lot of the boxed and canned foods you would find in your everyday supermarket.

2. How did you find out about raw foods and decide to give it a go? Did you expect it to cure you?  

I learned about raw foods mainly through self-education. For a while I was reading everything that interested me about health. A subject matter has countless opinions and theories. I was really curious about Veganism and how it might improve my health. I had a random thought about 5 years ago that one day I would go Vegan. It resonated for a while before I took any serious action. Intuitively I knew my health would improve just by eating more fresh fruits and vegetables. I believed most of my issues would disappear if I changed my diet.

3. How quickly did you see changes with your health problems when you started changing your diet?

My health problems slowly went away as I adopted a vegan lifestyle. It was a subtle change for me because I took about a year and a half to completely eliminate, meat, chicken, seafood, dairy, processed foods, caffeine, alcohol, grains, and all cooked food. I went about eliminating them one by one, although initially I did not plan it that way. I really felt the detox was slower at times but I still had serious physical and mental cravings that I had to overcome.

4. In your opinion, what do you think it was exactly that alleviated your health problems?

I think a big factor which improved my health was when I eliminated all processed food and dairy. I also think avoiding foods with chemical additives is important.

5. Do you think everything you had to change about your diet and life makes it worth it to be healthy?

Absolutely, if I didn’t change I would probably be worse off or at best still dealing with the conditions listed above.

6. Why do you think you decided to take it to this extreme with your health?   

I think you have to be a little crazy to adopt 100% raw food diet. It completely changes your life as you know it. Right now I’m striving for optimal health. I want to feel good all the time.

Were your health problems that debilitating or do you think you had a natural curiosity and inclination towards health and trying new things?

I got to the point where I no longer wanted to deal with these health issues. I think I am very curious and do have a natural inclination towards health. I first started juicing at age 15. I wish I had kept that up but there were other factors that prevented me from continuing at that time.

7. What are your best recommendations for helping other people who have these particular health issues?

I think the best advice I can give to people today is to educate yourself as much as possible when it comes to your health and nutrition. It is your responsibility. Also I think it is important to keep an open mind. A lot of people judge an idea or concept, before really learning and understanding it. Most people don’t want to be open to anything outside of their belief system. I would also advise people to seek a natural way of healing. Too many people mask symptoms of a greater problem with a prescription drugs. You have to look at the root causes.

8. Do you enjoy eating this way?

I love eating the way I do now. The majority of food I eat is fruit, so it is really fast food in its freshest form. No preparation whatsoever. Typically when I eat dinner, I have a few pieces of fruit followed by a very large salad or zucchini pasta. I also juice dark leafy greens from time to time. This lifestyle does involve more planning when it comes to meals, especially if you are on the road or do not have easy access to this type of food. A lot of times I’ll bring a food stash with me to where I go just in case.

9.  Are you into veganism for animal rights too and if so how did you get into the ethical side of veganism?     Did you come to it for health first?

My initial reason for adopting veganism was for health reasons. But the two go hand in hand. It was only after I started watching documentaries online that I learned about the abuse towards animals. When I realized it was not healthy to eat animals and the vitamins and minerals we require can be found from plants, there was really no need to eat animals. The meat and dairy industry is a multi-billion dollar business. When you think about it animals are being exploited for profits.

10. What did you think of the Woodstock fruit festival?

I thought it was a great event for health and fitness conscious people. It is very helpful for people to want to transition to a healthier lifestyle. For one week you get to experience a fruitarian lifestyle – raw fruits and veggies. There are not many people eating this way in the world so I’m glad we are able to connect, share stories, and talk openly about various health/wellness topics.

More info:

John Fallucca is a Raw Vegan/Fruitarian –  Can be found on Instagram: @Juice_And_Love where he posts food photo, recipes, and his raw journey.

 THANKS JOHN!!!!

If any of you internet pilgrims out there find this, do you think focusing on your health to this extent is crazy or would you ever try eliminating all processed foods and eating more fruits and vegetables to improve your health? Your thoughts?