My friend lost a bet with me and now he is fruitarian for the whole week.

100% 80/10/10.

I decided I would do it with him. Cause hey, why not? I could always use an excuse to go 100% 80/10/10 for a little while.

The first day started off well. I made him some banana mylk cereal cause we were going on a hike that day. He seemed to really like the banana mylk and the dried mulberry granola. I got the recipe from fully raw kristina.

Then we bought a lot of fruit….but the peaches I bought for lunch were brown inside and bad. So we had less fruit than we thought.

Then the pears we brought and put in the bag got totally smushed and pear mush was everywhere and the pears seemed totally unappetizing. Oh gods.

Then he started getting a stomach ache from all the fruit and didn’t understand why.

I kind of understood what the problem was… We were in the woods not by any facilities and the fruit was like, working the insides and needed to be “flushed out”, if you get my meaning? It’s kind a drastic change getting used to that in the beginning.

He was totally miserable.

80/10/10 takes practice! Ha, I forgot how complicated it was in the beginning.

On the way back, he reached for the dried mulberries in the car. I was like…”Um… I…don’t think you’re gonna want to eat that”. Cause I knew dried fruit would just give him a stomach ache.

When we were driving back it was like I could see the life slowly going out of his face. Not enough calories.

I was cursing myself for forgetting that you need high calorie fruit in the beginning. Like bananas and dates.

You can’t just expect to find apples and pears fulfilling and satisfying when you first start out. You need the good sweet tropical fruit like mangos and pineapple.

I tried to convince him to end the torture and just do raw till 4 with me, but he wanted to just stick it out another day.

I made him a salad when we got back and stuck in a little extra avocado and olives so he would like it.

He ate 2 huge bowls and felt better. Then he went home and went to sleep really early. Well at least that was excellent 80/10/10 behavior lol.

Anyway it’s day 4 now and he is going strong. I am amazed and impressed and happy for him.

I asked him if he noticed any difference yet and he said his skin feels smoother but other than that he feels the same. Well, when I first tried 80/10/10 it took me two weeks to start feeling any drastic changes… I secretly am hoping his mind is blown by the amazing benefits he experiences…

Here’s what I feel. The more I do periods of 100% 80/10/10 raw food veganism the more I recognize the subtle changes that repeatedly occur

So for me, first the water weight always drops off first and I feel like a model.

(here is an typically awkward pic of me in my yellow bikini after one day fully raw)

Also my face starts to look prettier to myself.

Then I feel energy walking to my apartment…like sometimes I’ll run it and not even realize the 10 minutes had passed.

Then later I feel athletic benefits like my dance tricks are easy.

Then sometimes I feel kind of blissful and high in my body.

Then sometimes I notice problems in my body go away…like a scar I had healed at the woodstock fruit festival.

Those are the benefits I’ve noticed of 80/10/10 or fruitarianism or raw veganism.

Anyway, while we were walking in the woods I was thinking about this amazing book I read: Illumination in the Flatwoods by Joe Hutto. The documentary My Life as a Turkey was based on his book ( you can watch it for free online).

The book is amazing. Both my parents read and loved it too.

In the book he talks about how he longs to be a part of nature. He loves plants and animals but all the animals are afraid of humans. They run away as soon as they see us coming. Not just because they get scared and prefer to be alone all the time….no, they actively recognize and avoid humans. But when he was with his turkeys….all the animals came out to interact with the turkeys. The snakes, the birds, the deer….He said it was like the woods opened up to him, a portal into another universe where he wasn’t an outsider in the woods but an integral part of the landscape like animals are.

The animals kind of lived in this meditative state where they were totally at peace doing their daily routine and excited about life…the author wanted to be a part of that too.

When I was walking in the woods I thought about that. We saw no animals and the birds and fish and stuff we did see, avoided us totally.

It is sad in a way. Fruitarianism or 80/10/10 I feel is like a way to be close to nature. Eating our natural diet is a start. Feeling connected to nature through fruits. But it is only a start. I wonder what the other pieces are.

Joe hutto, that author, wanted to connect to nature so much in his next project he spent 7 years living with mule deer in wyoming. You have got to watch the bps documentary about that as it is extremely riveting as he struggles with his love of animals and his “respect” for hunters.

I feel veganism is really a CALL to experience that natural connection with nature that other animals have that is our birthright.

That is why it is so eye opening. It wakes you up and makes you remember that we are a part of nature, just like other animals, but somehow we have become this weird hybrid….where we think we are above animals and we spend all our time trying to prove it.

Like Max in where the wild things are. Like a little kid throwing a tantrum….

And then he sails to where the beasts are and learns some humility.

Or something like that.

Happy Wednesday.