raw veganism

How to Lose Weight on a Vegan Diet: My Experience with 80/10/10 or Fruitarianism

fruitarian/raw till 4-er Loni Jane

I was vegetarian for 18 years and I did not lose weight, even gradually. I thought I was eating very healthfully, and I enjoyed great health through all of my teen years and early twenties, almost never becoming sick.

Then I decided to go vegan for animal rights reasons and I wondered if I would lose any weight. I did not. I was vegan for about 6 months, before I decided to start eating more fruits and vegetables when I started learning about fruitarianism, a form of raw veganism.

That’s when everything changed for me.

I could definitely say that eating fruits and vegetables is the only way I have ever discovered to lose any weight longterm.

I used to be really into the fat acceptance movement, with one of my favorite bloggers being Ragen Chastain of DancesWithFat.com. I still am, and totally agree that people should love their bodies at any size.

But now I realize that a lot of people who have accepted their body size after having failed at hundreds of diets as most have, have never tried eating a high carb low fat lifestyle, because it is very counterintuitive and seems crazy when you first hear about it. And most have never even heard about it.

No one needs to lose weight…but if they want to…this lifestyle could make it happen for them, as it has made a lot happen for me.

Mainstream weight loss advice is terrible.

It’s quite sad really. The media is constantly harassing you to lose weight and yet giving you advice that will never allow you to lose weight longterm and maybe even cause you to gain weight instead.

For example, the simple equation of eat less calories than you burn….

So obvious and yet such terrible advice.

Allow me to explain. If you restrict your calories to try to lose weight, your body will panic and you will get verrrrrrry hungry. You will then look for the most concentrated form of calories available to feel satisfied. I used to eat cheese at times like that. Which is very high in fat.

Many people call this emotional eating, but it is really a simple law of the body. You are hungry. You need food. Yet society tells us it is possible to starve the body to lose weight. But the body is smarter than you, and isn’t going to let you starve it. It needs to keep you nourished and alive.

On the other hand, fruitarianism allows you to never restrict your calories, yet still lose weight.

How is this possible?

You keep the fat in your diet really low…because fruits and vegetables have very little fat in them.

What I have realized is the amount of fat you need to eat to lose weight is so small that people would cry when they heard it.

What if I told you…that you needed to eat ONLY fruits and vegetables. (and other low fat whole foods are an option too like potatoes and rice)

Yeah, and no avocados or nuts either. (well, sparingly)

Ha. People wouldn’t like it.

But it works and you’ll never be hungry and you’ll never have to starve yourself. And you’ll experience a ton of other health benefits.

I tried to lose weight my whole life before finding fruitarianism, and it sounded insane to me too when I started.

Therefore I understand why many people dismiss it as unhealthy and insane.

But many people are not very open minded and don’t like to give things a shot before dismissing them completely.

One good thing about me is I always keep an open mind…or so I think. I gave it a nice two week trial.

It wasn’t easy in the beginning. Mostly because people aren’t very supportive because it sounds so crazy. Trust me, I have endured my fair share of laughing at the case of bananas in my room.

Anyway, yeah it’s extreme.

But the benefits are also extreme. Which is why I kept on with it, after trying it out.

When I first read 80/10/10 by Doug Graham, I think I laughed at his meal plan. There was no possible way I was going to live life on only fruits and vegetables for life. LOLOLOLOL.

But now I see his point.

I agree that keeping your calories from fat at under 10% of your total calories will make you lose weight. It will also skyrocket your health.

At least it has worked for me. Which is really saying something! I am going to try to find before and after pictures of myself for an upcoming post.

In order to do this, you basically have to eat all fruits and vegetables and 1/3 of an avocado max per day or a small handful of nuts max.

Or you can do something like Raw till 4, and for dinner have something very low in fat like potatoes or rice with a fat free sauce. (this is what I try to do).

Some people would rather die than eat this way probably, but there are a lot of benefits that make it worth it.

For example, when I drink a fruit smoothie in the morning, I literally feel like sliding into a split as I drink it. Or sliding up into a handstand on the wall. Or doing ten pushups.

But when I eat something high in fat, like hummus which has oil in it usually, I feel like sliding into a chair and relaxing. Often I will fall asleep soon after. It is a very comforting feeling, but I feel my body being like drugged almost and sedated…in a good way sometimes…but not in an energetic way.

Other benefits are that your skin looks instantly better the more fruits and veg you eat. Also your body over time will lean out. Sometimes I look in the mirror in the morning and am like wow, I did not look like this before.

(80/10/10 er Megan Elizabeth’s before and afters)

Also, I think my fitness has gone up a lot. I don’t have a way of testing this, but things that used to be hard in my dance class are a lot easier for me now. (Maybe I got stronger though)… It was definitely WAY UP when I was 100% raw.

My cramps also dramatically improved as I wrote about here.

I also feel like I am eating real food and feel really glad that I have gotten away from all the marketing  of processed foods.

Anyway, I really recommend trying 80/10/10 if you are looking to lose weight in a very healthful way that will nourish not starve your body.

To be honest, I hate telling people about ways they can lose weight because I hate the idea of implying that people should try to be thin when I know that people are beautiful at every size, but I also feel like if someone does want to lose weight anyway, and is open to making a huge but healthful lifestyle change, then I owe it to them to tell them about what worked for me.

And 1 disclaimer: remember to brush your teeth very well twice a day when starting a fruitarian diet, because all the sugar in fruit can cause cavities but not if you brush your teeth thoroughly.

 

My Secret Fruitarian Beauty Elixir Brew

Hi guys,

So since I last posted about raw vegans and 80/10/10-ers on instagram, I  have found even more amazing fruit inspiration on instagram.

It has really inspired me to beautify my life in all ways. If you follow some of the people I listed in my last post (updated), they will recommend others for you to follow and soon you will be enmeshed in this amazing community of people who make truly beautiful food and inspire you to eat the food that is packed with the most vitamins and minerals i.e. fruits and vegetables.

Speaking of beauty, I wanted to share a, I think, little known secret in the world that I’ve discovered as a result of trying to be raw vegan.

Your looks will noticeably improve.

You don’t have to wear makeup, work out, drink 8 glasses of water a day, get plastic surgery.

Honestly, all you really have to do is eat a ridiculous amount of bananas. Or another fruit of your choice.

I know it sounds crazy.

Every time I have made an effort to eat a LOT of fruits and vegetables for a day or two (sometimes I’m more lax), I have had the same experience.

I will look up at myself in the mirror as I am casually brushing my teeth, and I will RRRRRRRRrrrrr

do a double take.

I’ll be like, “does my face look different?” And I will zoom in for a closer look. I look good. Very good.

I will then ask my mom, “does my face look different?” And she will say “I can’t tell, but you are looking very glamorous these days,” or “you look tan though” or something like that, haha.

But I can tell.

It’s like your face looks like you have makeup on when you don’t. But better than makeup. Your skin looks more tan, (maybe because the redness dissapears). Your skin looks more youthful, your lips look pinker, and eyes brighter.

I’m not kidding.

I’m not alone in finding this, almost all raw food-ists I think can attest to this. You can see in their transformation photos as well that after doing it for a year or two, they often look like a decade younger. So just a tip in case you decide you need a secret beauty weapon of sorts.

(gotta love the book 80/10/10 by Dr. Doug Graham lol)

Ok here is my failproof recipe for making sure this happens. I’m sure you can achieve it other ways and with other fruits, but bananas are the cheapest (5 for $1 here in NYC) and the easiest to find and I think, the most delicious and easiest to drink.

I feel like an old witch who has the ability to transform herself into a young and beautiful sorceress with this secret potion.

(Vanessa, the Sea Witch from The Little Mermaid)

Anyway, brew this up and drink this in the morning for two days. That’s my tip.

My Secret Weapon Beauty Elixir

1. Obtain 7-12 bananas that look like this.

 

Make sure they are spotted brown. It will make the smoothie taste like caramel and cinnamon. (Non spotty bananas aren’t truly ripe and do not have the powers of truly ripe bananas)

2. Put all the bananas in a vitamix or blender.

3. Fill the bottom with lots of water, about 3 cups, or enough to make the potion milky white instead of yellow when you blend it.

4. Add a tray of ice or 2 handfuls of ice cubes.

5. Blend on high till milky white and frothing with bubbles.

6. Drink it all and report back in two days.

Let me know how it goes!!!