What I Ate Today & A Recipe!

• 1/2 head kale
• 1/3 head romaine lettuce
• 1 roma tomato
• 1 pineapple
• 2 1/2 zucchini
• 3 bananas
• 3/4 c sun-dried tomatoes
• 4 Tbsp chili powder
• 3/4 c orange juice

Nut-Free, Overt Fat Free, LFRV Tacos!

Ingredients:

• Some sort of greens (kale, romaine, etc)
• 1 zucchini (or you could use other vegetable such as maybe carrot or beet?)
• 2 Tbsp chili powder
• Chipotle pepper
• Garlic (optional)
• Sundried tomatoes

Instructions:

• Grind sundried tomatoes to small bits/chunks in blender/food processor
• Add zucchini, blend until chunky
• Spoon mixture into bowl
• Mix in chipotle, chili powder, & optional garlic
• Wrap a small/medium amount of the mixture in each of your greens, and enjoy!

Things To Remember

Doubtlessly, everybody already knows everything that's on this list. I thought it would be good for me to have something to look back at during my weak moments, mostly.

• Don't take stuff too personally
• Don't take stuff too seriously - You are young; nothing ever stays the same, especially at this age. Enjoy the ride and don't stress about the details of right now.
• Remember that everybody has reasons for believing what they do and feeling what they do, and everybody (no, I changed my mind - everything) has something to add to your life.
• If life isn't ment to be fun, then what is it? Overlook/deal with the bad, and enjoy the good - there's no point being alive if you're not going to be happy.
• Everybody and everything deserves to be happy. Never allow yourself to be someone who's happiness benefits from the unhappiness of someone else. Do what you can to bring happiness, and a chance to be happy, to others.
• Remember that you will always have people there who love you and care for you, even if at the time it seems there aren't. Remember the first person on this list always must be yourself - and nobody can take that away from you but yourself.
• Forget jealousy. No matter how badly someone wronged you, it is a waste of valuable time and energy and, most importantly, happiness, when you are bitter. Forgive them, and love them as though they never wronged you.
• Take time to listen and observe. You don't always need to be talking. You can learn and benefit a lot from listening to others' information, ideas, opinions, and point of view.
• Always think before acting. Do not be consumed by anger or some other emotion and be driven to act out of impulse. Think through all of your words and actions and you will regret much less.
• Remember that, no matter who it is - you are never any better than the person next to you. Or worse. Everybody is different, with different strengths and weaknesses. In the end, we are all equal....and should be treated/treat others as such.

Science Says: We Are Frugivores.

Recently, I've been reading up on the scientific side of my diet. I thought maybe I'd share some of this stuff with you guys, because it's kinda information that we really all should know.

Science Verifys That Humans Are Frugivores - a detailed description of the anatomy of us, vs. frugivores, carnivores, and herbivores

The Science Of Raw Food - there is a LOT of reading material here, but it's all good, solid information; a good part of it from accredited scientists, doctors, etc. If you're serious about learning about your diet, visit this website.

Are We Vegetarians Or Fruitarians - this is actually from the above website; talks about how fruits are the only nutritionally appropriate food for humans, and why. Also has a simple and easy to understand chart detailing anatomical differences between humans, frugivores, herbivores, and carnivores, and omnivores

The Milk Letter: A Message To My Patients - this isn't actually about fruitarianism at all, just milk. But it's super informative, and unbiased, too, actually. It's also by a doctor, by the way.

I'll definitely add more as I come across more, too! This is just the ones I've read recently that I really liked.

Changed My Blog, Changed My Mind!

Today, I was in Madison, doing some shopping for expensive healthy/delicious food that I figured it was okay to splurge on... even though I'm on a budget - Saturday's my birthday after all! Haha, anyhow, I was at Whole Foods Market eating a lovely salad consisting of greens, tomatoes, parsley, sweet corn, and a little bit of garlic (I don't know how I feel about that. I will do some reflecting in the next few days and decide. Haha), when I realized something.

I really enjoy eating vegetables. I've found that at times I feel compelled to eat greens, plain - just as I would fruit. Moreover, I have been doing significant amounts of reading in the past weeks from accredited scientists and anthropologists who do indeed support the theory that humans certainly are designed to bem, and naturally are, frugivores. (I'll try to remember to post some links in the near future!) However, I am aware that there are no perfect fruitarians in nature - frugivores eat mainly fruit, but also indulge in leaves and succulant vegetables when they feel the need.

While fruits are an excellent source of minerals, vegetative matter such as greens contain a much better supply of some necessary vitamins.

I still do believe that fruit is certainly the optimal diet for humans, being frugivores, and should certainly make up the majority of a person's diet. However, I no longer wish to advocate a 100% fruit diet for health reasons. Spiritually... maybe in future I will continue down the road of 100% fruit. But I am done decieving myself into believing that it is the most healthful thing to eat just fruits.

At this point, I am officially chosing to willingly partake in the ingestion of vegetative matter, that does not *kill* the plant. This will include things like greens (though perhaps not baby greens), broccoli, ...I can't think of anything else right now. Haha. I will continue abstaining from eating things that directly cause the death of the plant, such as modified-stem vegetables like kohlrabi or potatoes, or root veggies like beet and carrots.

Since I have made this decision, it would be a lie to continue titling my blog, "I Was A Teenage Fruitarian", so, I have changed it to "Embracing My Inner Frugivore" - because I continue to believe that we are all designed to eat a raw, fresh, frugivorous diet, just like our early ancestors and the members of the ape family that science tells us we evolved from.

As I have said before: As I have done now, I change my views on diet and what is healthy and good for me all the time, based on new experiences and information made available to me. The things I advocate are certainly the things I believe in at the time - but I am a 15 year old girl, I'm certainly not a scientist. While I have to assume my beliefs are pretty close to right (haha), I'm certainly not 100% correct, and not qualified to be a solid resource. However, I certainly invite you to do more research on your own to verify my assertions.

Eat fruit (and greens, haha), be healthy, be happy! G'day to you.

Fruitarianism, To Me

[update - original from 1-8-12]

I feel like there are so many different forms of fruitarianism, every fruitarian seems to practice a little differently, and for different reasons. Some of us eat seeds and nuts still. Some of us eat greens. Some of us eat only raw, others will eat cooked fruit, and others will only eat one type of fruit in a sitting.

Every fruitarian seems to have their own definition of fruitarianism, their own beliefs about the diet - so, as someone who has talked about the wonders of this diet in the past, I figure I could provide a definition, of what I mean when I say that I practice fruitarianism.

Well, I eat fruit, very simply.

Sweet fruits, fatty fruits, vegetable fruits.

I eat commercially grown fruit, because my parents sponsor my eating this way, and purchase this food for me. And we're not super rich, so, though it would obviously be better for me, we just can't afford to eat all organic, and I don't expect my father to spend more than he already does on feeding me.

In the summer, I eat lots of organic fruits like zucchini and tomatoes, that are grown in our garden;

I do eat dried fruits, because they keep longer, so my father can buy a bunch and store it for when we don't have any other food in the house, or when I am not going to be home for an extended period of time, as it travels much better than raw fruit. Also, in the summer I will dry tomatoes and zucchini, since there is such an abundance of it at the time, but I will definately be missing these foods 6 months later.

I eat frozen fruits. I definately prefer them over dried. They taste more like the real thing, more fresh, alive. Personally don't like eating them frozen; I will take the fruits out of the freezer a day or 2 before I want to eat them, and put them in the refrigerator, so that they thaw without spoiling. I have also in the past tried blending frozen fruit in the blender, to make a sherbet kind of thing. It wasn't bad, but icecream was never really my thing.

I do not eat a mono diet of fruit, I will eat mixtures of fruit if I feel the need.

I do now eat mono-meals whenever possible, though if I don't have enough of a single food available, I don't think it is the end if the world to mix fruits.

I eat (or drink) juiced fruits, such as grapefruit. I really like citrus juices mixed with pure carbonated water.

I will eat olive oil, mainly drizzled over fresh tomato slices or something of the like; I also use olive oil rather than shaving cream and lotion, and it works super well.

I no longer use olive oil as a food at all. You can visit this post if you'd like to know why.

I will eat things like powdered Cheyenne pepper, or things of the like, but not herbs or spices made from roots.

Since adding greens back into my diet (visit this post for why I did this), I do use herbs. I still do not eat spices made from roots or seeds.

I do eat fruits with seeds such as raspberries, cucumbers, and tomatoes that have the seeds in them - but when it is at all possible, I work my way around, and avoid eating seeds. I do this because seeds are baby plants, who will never get a chance to live and flourish, if they are chewed up and digested by me; it makes me rather sick at the thought that so many people are so against abortion - but will eat eggs and nuts and things like it's nothing.

I do not eat plain seeds or nuts, because - as I said above, I like to avoid killing things,, and purposefully taking the life of a seed, to eat it definately falls under that category.

I do not eat coconut, as it is actually a nut, that would give life to a new tree if given the chance.

I do not eat foods that have been cooked over 110 or so degrees. I have experience as a raw vegan, and do believe that at a certain temperature, enzymes begin to denature, and therefore makes it much harder to digest the food you eat. (This is why many people feel sleepy after eating a meal.)

I certainly do not eat vegetables (any part of the plant that is not the freely given flesh surrounding the seed, nut, or other reproductive method), or animal products such as eggs, milk, and meat (by meat I mean all meat - red meat, chicken, fish..).

I do now eat greens. Visit here for why.

In addition, I would like to point out that I recently completely cut added salt out of my diet. I'll do a post in the future as to why I chose to do this.

I do not restrict my intake of fruits at all. If I feel the need to eat 12 avocados, I will do so, providing I have this many at hand. My body knows what it needs, if it tells me it wants something, I am going to try and give it what it needs. Likewise, if I am just not hungry one day, I will not force myself to eat, for fear of not getting nutrients or calories - as I've just stated, my body will ask for what it needs, nothing more; nothing less.

Along those same lines, I definately do not take vitamins. I have complete faith that this diet is what is right for me, as well as the rest of us. If they are vitamins I need, they can be provided by this food that is natural to humans. I don't need to supplement and drown our organisms with nutrients that it is not asking for, that it has no need for.

I follow this diet largely for ethical reasons. I do it because I've come to the realization that killing a plant to eat, is just as sick as killing an animal for food. Just because the tree has no voice to protest, doesn't mean it wouldn't if it could.

Despite this, I do also have complete faith, that an all-fruit diet is absolutely the one for us.

I feel it could solve many of the problems we deal with today, and ultimately create a much healthier, happier, empathetic, caring, understanding, calm, all-knowing, and ideal society.❤

LFRV-Friendly Fast Food?!

(That's a bag of seeds in my hand, by the way... we were going out to plant cucumbers, zucchini, yellow summer squash, and mango melons!)

My friend works at Jimmy Johns... and at Jimmy Johns, they serve "unwiches". These "unwiches" are basically their normal wraps, only wrapped in a piece of lettuce rather than a tortilla. She ordered mine with tomatoes, peppers, and lettuce. Hehe!

100% LFRV.

Fruit Is Amazing!

(The photo doesn't even begin to do the day justice... but it was the best I could do. By the way, sorry for the giant Expedition and basketball. Hah.)

I just finished eating half of a delectable, juicy watermelon in the warm afternoon sun of an exceptionally beautiful mid-May day. Somewhere between 75 and 80 degrees, just enough breeze to cool you off ever so pleasantly... Absolutely no clouds in the sky... A variety of birds tweeting out their different tunes in the trees, and loads of insects buzzing around the moist, soft grass... Though oddly enough, they haven't gotten close enough to get annoying. It really is a most superb day.

Anyhow, my watermelon. I was eating it. I slowed down, And really looked at it. Thought about it. How amazing it is. Millions of teeny tiny little spheres seem to adhere to one another, suspending the sweet, pinkish juice... Creating that unique, melt-in-your mouth experience when you bite into the pink flesh.

The flavor was awesome. I couldn't remember anything like it. I realized - that's because I had never had anything like it. Every single piece of fruit is unique and different. No two flavors are exactly the same.... In a world where every morning you get the same flavor coffe from Starbucks, you enjoy the same flavors every time you eat ramen noodles or McDonalds or B-Dubs, and you get the same experience every time you suck on a lollipop or bite into a snickers bar.... Fruit is special. Fruit is unpredictable. Fruit is an adventure.

And how crazy are all the different kinds of fruit?! Every type of plant produces a fruit SO different from the next! A leaf.. Well, whether it comes from a head of kale or a head of romaine... It may be a bit differently, but honestly... They're still greens. They taste green. And they look like... A leaf. But honestly... Where is the semblance between a pineapple and cherry?! Every type fruit has different flavor and texture and colors and nutrients. That is incredible.

As I ate the watermelon, the world seemed so bright and beautiful. Birds sang to each other and branches full of bright green leaves swayed in the breeze as they harvest the suns energy. It must be hard work, though they make it look so effortless. And then they take that energy...and package it up into a sweet, delicious little package, all ready to nourish us heterotrophs.

How beautiful and miraculous it is that the world would create and provide us with such a perfect thing as fruit, at no cost to us. How wonderful it is that everything fits and works together so perfectly. How fantastic it is that I have the luxury of being able to take the time to sit and really appreciate and enjoy it all. And how amazing is watermelon?! How amazing is fruit!

My big post-watermelon belly.. Full, happy, and oh so content! My tummy's actually often considerably even bigger than this after eating a good meal. Don't be afraid to eat to much fruit! There's nothing hot about having a flat stomach and being miserable and grouchy 'cause you're starving!

Fruit Is Sexy!

VS

Honestly? The fruit one is just so much sexier. ....And so much more tasteful, too. 

No?

Eat fruit, be happy, be healthy, be SEXY! 

Want Long, Healthy, Happy Hair?!

Strong, fast-growing, healthy, natural hair? Who doesn't want that?! My friend and I were talking this morning, and she said something about wishing she had pretty, long, curly hair like me. Well, the curly part's natural. But I have a few theories on how my hair came to be described by the other two adjectives.

My hair naturally grows really slowly. I had it cut super short in 5th grade, and have been trying to grow it out since then. Up until very recently, there was virtually no change. To illustrate this to you, I have included some photos from the past 5 years.

First of all, this photo up here ^ is of me, summer of 5th grade, very shortly after getting my hair cut short.

In this picture, taken 3 years later, summer after 7th grade, you can see my hair has grown a little. It's also gotten curly...so I guess that might have something to do with the lack of difference.

However... Over a year later, in the beggining of 9th grade, you can see my hair has barely lengthened at all. This is just under a year after I became vegan, by the way.

In this photo, taken at the beginning of this year (10th grade), you can see again that my hair has grown *a little*. In this photo, I have been gourmet (high fat) raw vegan for just under a year. I was still using conventional shampoo at this time, as well.

And finally! (This is wierd.) Only about half a year after that last photo was taken, my hair finally looks so much longer! Doesn't it?! And I think it just looks so much healthier and shinier, too. I haven't washed my hair with conventional shampoo since 2011. Zero products in my hair, no styling. Totally natural. Oh... also, barely any makeup. Just a teeny bit of mascara..

So what do I think caused this rapid change? Well, first, maybe my diet. A month after the 4th photo was taken, I became fruitarian. However, I think a better explanation would be the shampoo I have been using, honestly. Shampoo strips your hair of its natural oils, causing it to be thinner, duller, harder to manage, and break more often. Baking soda effectively (and cheaply...it's so much less expensive than commertial concoctions!) cleans your hair without doing any of this!

For more information about this awesome, simple method of washing your hair, visit my previous post on baking soda 'shampoo'. The first few paragraphs describe why and how I arrived at the decision to use baking soda shampoo. If you want to skip right to the recipe, it's in the 3rd/2nd to last paragraphs.

I seriously recommend you try this. I really can't think of any reason not to!

Two Overt Fat Free Recipes

Banana Icecream

Pretty much the simplest recipe in the raw food cook book. Just so happens that makes it one of the easiest, as well.

For the basic recipe, you just freeze some bananas overnight, then teke them out, let them thaw a little, then blend them up in a blender.

For this recipe, I used:

• 8 bananas, frozen, blended
• 3oz fresh strawberries, sliced
• 3oz dates, pitted and sliced

I was only able to eat like half of this... But it was pretty good.

Delicious Cucumber Noodles!

• 1 cucumber sliced lengthwise with a veggie peeler to make wide noodles,
• one tomato, diced
• juice of half a lime,
• a handful of cilantro,
• and a few scallions!

I had this dish this past weekend, and it was wonderful! So simple, and refreshing!

It was also really, really pretty! This photo doesnt come anywhere near doing it justice.

Something else very exciting that happened this weekend:

We discovered this little tomato growing on one of my tomato plants - which we got to finally take outside this weekend! I am so excited for summer! ≧◡≦

Preaching

I was thinking today, about just how much I preach to people about my diet. I prattle on about it to my family, friends, people I barely know, the wide open internet... I spend so much time talking about the way I eat.

It is kind of a big deal for me. It is definately something I am passionate about, finding the 'perfect diet' (if it exists. Haha). I spend a lot more time on my diet, and learning about it. I guess I just invest a lot more in my diet than a lot of people do. And I think that might be part of the reason that I seem to have this insane need to defend the way I eat, and try to make other people understand.

But another reason is: I care, to put it simply. I have found something that works really well for me, and that I absolutely believe in. I want to share it with people I care about. I want my friends and family to have lots of energy. I even want to help that depressed freshman girl feel better about the world and about herself with this fruit diet. And I want to help you - that's (partially) why I post a lot of what I do on this blog. Because (I know it sounds cheesy) it really does make the whole world a better place. I believe you will have more energy and empathy and optimism and just.. So many more positive emotions and ideas, that will influence those around you. In addition, following a vegan or fruitarian diet contributes to a more violence and pain-free world, which is really an goal that we should all be striving towards however we can.

So, no, I am not going to stop annoying you, trying to share this information with you. It's sort of a moral dilemma for me, because I don't want to annoy people, with the message. I know people are often irritated with vegans for just this reason... But I can't sit by and watch people that I care about essentially destroying themselves with foods that they eat only because it's all they know to do. I will not silently watch as millions of animals are being brutally murderd, daily... Only to lead to chronic and detrimental diseases in the humans that ingest them. So, until you take responsibility for your own diet and the world around you, I am going to keep trying to share what I know with you. I guess it's just the kind of person I am. So, sorry. 

Anyhow, all that...is not to say that I am absolutely sure this is the right diet at all. I'm just gonna keep preachin' as long as I believe it is. 'Cause as of today, based upon the information that I have and that I've gathered, I feel this is right. However, I might add that we are daily discovering new, important information about diet (and everything else!). None of us really knows nearly as much about anything as we all seem to assume. I think of how many times I have changed my mind concerning my diet, upon recieving new information, or even just new experiences. Three years ago, I wasn't even vegan and thought I was eating really healthily. I felt the same about the succeding veganism and raw veganism.

So yes, I realize that I'm not always right... And, for this reason, I wouldn't want anybody to make a decision about their diet based just on what I believe and say. What I really hope I can do is maybe just inspire enough curiosity in people to research their diet and learn abut their options and what's good for them, for themselves, and come to their own conclusions... And to help people who already have researched and have come to some of the same conclusion as I.

In addition to this... I know a lot of the terms and expressions and explanations that I use to explain why I eat the way I eat make it seem as though I think you're a terrible person if you choose to eat meat. I do feel that the action is absolutely wrong... But I really don't mean to sound condemning to you as a person.

To be perfectly honest, I do sometimes have issues with being compassionate towards people who chose to eat this way, just because... well, we all do have to share this world, and eating meat takes a pretty big toll on it, the environment, animals, my tax dollars (or, well..my parents'. Haha).

However, it is absolutely wrong of me to judge somebody for their actions, from my point of view... When I do this, it's totally me at fault, and not the meat eater. I (and probably a lot of other vegetarians/vegans/fruitarians) need to remember this. I used to eat meat. It took me a long time to get to the place I'm at now in my diet... and I know (hope) that I am going to keep progressing. I recognize that we are not all at the same place in life, and we are not all emotionally, financially, mentally, whatever.. ready to go vegan/fruitarian. Or wanting to go vegan/fruitarian. It's easy for me to forget that sometimes, but... no matter how you eat and choose to live your life, (even if that includes making dumb comments about my diet,) I promise, I don't believe that you are less of a person for chosing to eat differently, or follow a different path in life than I am chosing.

Water

Well, previous to discovering LFRV, I subscribed to the belief that one should not drown oneself with water. That we can get all the water we need from fruit. And that when our bodies wanted water, they would ask for it and you would feel thirsty.

Well, about 2 weeks ago, after watching some of FreeLee's videos on YouTube (which I reccommend you watch, too!), I decided I would try out a few of her suggestions. One of them is to drink a minimum of 3 litres of water per day.

Since then, I have been doing so - and in conjunction with eating as many sweet fruits as I can possibly manage in a day, I feel absolutely amazing; Like, waay more than before - and I was one of the happiest people I knew before this!

Drinking enough water and being fully hydrated makes you more energetic, more clear-headed, helps fight disease, helps regulize blood pressure, detoxifies the body (flushes out toxins), cuts risk of certain cancers, improves digestion (and helps with constipation. Haha), gives you softer skin... the list goes on!

However, in addition to drinking enough water, we also must do so correctly. You don't want to drink anything for 10-ish minutes before eating, and then for an hour or so afterwards. Otherwise, the water can/will dilute our stomach acids, making digestion slower and harder on the body.

I drink a litre of water before breakfast, then another between lunch and dinner, and one after dinner. In future, I plan on also drinking a litre between breakfast and lunch - but at the moment, I'm not sure I could handle that much.

So: Drink to your health! ;D

$40//Week 1

• 3 mangos ($3 - sale)
• 2 pineapple (roughly $8 - sale)
• 21lb bananas (about $10.38) ...there's about 3.5 bananas in a pound, by the way.
• 8lb oranges (around ($7.38 - sale) ...about 12.
• 2 seedless cucumbers ($2 - sale)
• 2 roma tomatoes ($.80 - sale)
• 2 limes ($.66 - on sale)

That's a grand total of 10,554 calories with $32 this past week. In future, I plan on purchasing more bananas, so as to get more cheap (but oh so nutritious!) calories... But seeing as this is my first week, not only eating on a budget, but also focusing on getting as more calories, specifically from carbs. (I've absolutely been sucked into the 30BAD philosophy... And I'm not sad about it at all - I feel so amazing! Like, waaaay better than before. And I was one of the happiest people I knew before this. Hehe.)

Not only this, but I would like to point out that with the remaining $8, if I felt the need/was able to eat more... I could purchase 16 additional pounds of bananas. That's an additional 6,076 calories! ...about 2 days worth of food, eating the optimal amount of calories per day.

So, in conclusion: This week, I learned that it is *absolutely* possible to thrive on just fruit, on a low/average food budget. However, in future weeks, I do still plan on posting back, on how I am doing and feeling eating this economically sensible high carb fruitarian diet! 

Cost On Fruitarian/LFRV Diet

So, recently, I fell in love with a lady by the name of FreeLee, who runs a website called 30 Bananas A Day, and has multiple YouTube videos where she talks about her diet. This one is definitely my favorite.. I love her no bullshit, not afraid of being politically incorrect style. Aha! Anyhow, she is not actually fruitarian - she eats greens, I don't know about veggies - but she definitely follows a high-fruit diet. A very high-fruit diet.

She promotes a high calorie, high carb, low fat raw vegan diet. 80-10-10.

Her videos convinced me to start cutting avocados and any other fats out of my diet - and oh my goodness, I feel amazing. Can't even put it into words.

However, since I've cut fats out, I find I feel hungry a lot more often - probably because juicy fruits digest so much more quickly than fats. Since I wholeheartedly believe in eating whenever you are hungry, that means eating a greater quantity of food. Like, even more than the large quantity I was eating before.

Well, Pops and I were talking, and they spend $70 - $100 per week on food for me! God, they are so amazing. They don't even wholeheartedly believe in the diet, but they trust me and support me enough that they are willing spend about half of our entire food budget on moi, just so that I'm happy and healthy?

I feel really lucky that Daddy would do that for me - but I also feel so bad. That's a ridiculous amount of money to expect them to spend on just me. So, Papa suggested that we try out giving me a budget of $40 dollars per week for food. It's not a lot - especially when you think about produce prices at the supermarket.... But it's a quarter of what the Dad normally spends on the entire family for groceries in a week.

So, in the following weeks I am going to try living on $40 worth of fruit... And especially finding ways to stretch that $40 into the largest amount of food I can - lots of bananas, I'm thinking...at least until the garden starts producing! Haha.