If you want to transform your body - this is the way!
The Fruitarian Living in a Human Diet Horror Movie?
Posted: 29th July 2010 by Michael in The BeginnersI'm scared, really really scared for the human species. Since becoming a fruitarian and completely rebuilding my body and health to peak levels I now see how sick everyone else is around me.
The diets that are eaten in industrialized society today is a ticket to suffering, death and destruction. Our medical systems and hospitals are overrun and in dire states.
People are sick and only getting sicker, and it's almost all due to diet.
The greatest challenge of human history is upon us. All the wars, conflicts and plagues of human history cannot compete with the death and destruction that is taking hold of our society today all due to our horrible perverted relationship with processed foods. I feel like I'm trapped in the Matrix movie, human society is so out of touch that it seems like there is no hope at times….
Feeling High on a Fruitarian Diet and a 50 Mile Run
Posted: 28th July 2010 by Michael in Advanced FruitarianismAfter you stay on a Fruitarian diet for some time — you will gradually notice that your perception of reality literally transforms. You will start seeing things differently. Colors will become brighter and more intense. You will feel deeply connected to nature. Your digestion load will lighten to an effortless purity. You will begin to experience more life. You will discover and start trusting your inborn intuition. Instead of living by the accepted rules you will realize that you have your own answers. Your thoughts will transform. You will notice that you hardly ever experience fear, anxiety, worry or anger. You will have enough energy to spread your love and compassion to ever widening circles. You will notice that your mental and physical perceptions are sharpened and your thinking is crystal clear. Occasionally you will feel as if you are living in a different dimension from most people and from where you used to live. At times you will feel that you are literally high…
Today I ran 50 miles in 95F heat and it was easy. I ran as if I was a natural wild animal in nature, just doing what I was born to do, in perfect health, in perfect harmony, and on nothing but fresh natural fruits!
Am I high, or just experiencing how we should all feel naturally all the time?
Fruitarian Produce Shopping – Professional Level!
Posted: 28th July 2010 by Michael in For The Athlete's, The BeginnersIf you really want to eat a fruitarian diet and you live outside of a tropical environment where fruit grows year round, then you'll have to learn to shop at wholesalers.
Unless you are really wealthy, shopping at supermarkets will be a huge financial strain on your diet.
For a lot of new people trying a fruitarian diet, the greatest long term issue that they will be faced with is finding affordable fruit.
Shopping at wholesalers is fun, fresh and economical -- check out how I shop for my produce!
A lot of people are wondering what The Fruitarian's teeth look like? Fruit has a lot of sugar in it, doesn’t it? If you have so much fruit in your mouth all the time – wouldn’t it just dissolve your teeth?
Well, I haven’t had any dental problems at all in the last 2.5 years since adopting a strict fruitarian diet.
So, where did the myth of fruits rotting our teeth away come from?
I think it came from people transitioning to the fruitarian diet that already had existing dental problems, and also from people eating too much fat, nuts and seeds, avocados, dried fruit, unripe fruit, and/or going back and forth to cooked foods.
If you are transitioning to the fruitarian diet and experiencing teeth sensitivity or any other teeth problems – take a good look at your diet and see if anything from the above could be the reason. Have faith that after a couple of years your teeth and gums will become stronger than ever before, but also consider the following tips:
1. Make sure that no more than 10% of your daily caloric intake is coming from fat (overt as well as covert). Blood sugar imbalances caused by a high fat diet can result in teeth sensitivity and demineralization. If you have blood sugar issues -- it's the best to temporarily forgo overt fats completely.
2. If you have a history of candida – focus on monomeals. Efficient digestion will help to starve off the candida and your teeth will feel stronger.
3. If you have any current teeth problems or sensitivity, try to minimize the amount of time your teeth are subjected to the acids -- don’t snack or drink smoothies all day long, try to eat meals instead of grazing.
4. Acidic fruits have acids in them, which can harm your teeth, if you eat too many too often. Go easy on citrus, pineapples, kiwis, pomegranates and such.
5. Don’t ever eat unripe fruits.
6. Dried fruits will stick to your teeth and create breeding grounds for bacteria. If you choose to eat dried fruit – make sure that you thoroughly clean your teeth afterwards. The ancient Egyptians had the worst teeth in human history because they ate so many dates and other dried fruits that stuck to their teeth.
7. Nuts and seeds create an acidic mouth environment, which can harm your teeth.
8. Try eating plain greens with nothing on them after a meal of sweet fruit. Greens will clean the teeth of sugar and make enamel feel stronger.
9. Don’t brush right after meals especially after eating acidic fruits as acid softens the enamel.
10. Use a water irrigator to clean your teeth. You can use it right after meals with no risk of damaging enamel.
11. Floss each time you feel you need to, but at least once a day.
12. Don’t use teeth whitening chemicals as they further damage the enamel.
13. Don’t use any toothpaste containing abrasive components.
14. Don’t go back and forth to cooked foods, even to steamed greens. Many people find that their teeth react very negatively and become even more sensitive.
If you're up to following this advice, tell the dentist to put away his paint and his pliers. You won't need them -- or him at all.
Wikipedia gives the following definition of Eating Disorders:
Eating disorders are a group of conditions characterized by abnormal eating habits that may involve either insufficient or excessive food intake to the detriment of an individual's physical and emotional health.
Insufficient food intake usually manifests as calorie restrictive diets (anorexia), and excessive food intake -- as uncontrollable binges often followed by self-induced vomiting (bulimia). These people either are not able to stop eating foods they are addicted to or they are afraid to eat any food.
But I also believe that anyone who is eating foods that are clearly harmful for their health, anyone who eats for the brief pleasure of their tastebuds with disregard to long term ill consequences – has an eating disorder.
Fruitarianim is based on how all animals eat in their natural habitat: raw, unprocessed, species specific foods, one type of food at a time, when hungry until full, and whatever is in season, what is available, what is easy to get. I eat for health and by default my body maintains a healthy body weight. I eat until I am satisfied. And I eat for pleasure -- I love fruit. I believe I have a very natural and healthy relationship with food. If you try Fruitarianism – you will clearly see how many people in our society actually have an eating disorder, and perhaps, you will be a little sad to see how disorderly your own pattern of eating used to be.
Vermont 100 Mile Race Report (great video footage below)
Trying to keep cool at mile 40
Photo by Tom Sperduto Photography
http://www.tomsperduto.com
I was worried about 2 things going into this race: sleep and hyponatremia. If I could get solid sleep the night before the race and no hyponatremia issues like I had at Western States 3 weeks earlier I was really confident I would place top 3 and run under 16 hours.
I went into the race feeling really strong. I ran a total of 92 miles in my 5 day tapper going into the race. I ran 50 miles at Bear Mt on Monday, Tuesday I ran 32 miles, then 3 miles easy wed+Thursday, Friday driving up to VT I stopped at a rest area and ran 4 miles easy feeling fresh. That tapper seems like a lot for most people, but for me it was just regular training and my body felt good.
I got to the race site about 7:30pm, everyone was camping out in a field right by the start.
It was a pretty cool scene. Real ‘old school’ I liked it. These were hard core runners. People here were looking for an internal race, a personal challenge. I don’t think anyone in this race was really racing anyone but themselves. It’s a cool sport, these are ‘real’ people. I felt very comfortable and honored to be around so many like minded people. I was enjoying the element and sorry I didn’t get to the race site earlier.
I set up my tent and had some fruit. I couldn’t get to sleep until about 10pm, woke up about 3:15am and the race went off at 4am. I was groggy, and pretty worried about how little sleep I got. Solid sleep is a critical component to my performance. I was pretty worried that the little sleep would haunt me in the race.
3am wake up to start the race!
The race starts and I settle in at a pretty slow pace and focused on not falling while running in the dark. After about an hour of night running sun started to come up. I was glad to get rid of the head lamp and not worry about crashing on the trail. I was still pretty tired in my head (not my legs) up until 6 hours into the race. I couldn’t shake off getting such little sleep, and was moving below the pace I hoped for, but I was still pretty steady, just in a lower gear.
The course and terrain was very enjoyable. Nothing at all was flat, but nothing was too long or steep either, just endless ups and downs with some really beautiful vistas of New England. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked the race course and atmosphere of the event. It was a very low-key ultra race compared to Western States which was more like a big ‘Ironman’ event with lots of hype and fan fare. The Vermont 100 was way more old school and I really enjoyed it once I got into it.
At about 45 miles or 7 hours into the race I really woke up. I finally felt alive and ready to start racing.
I was in 6th or 7th place at the time and only 25 minutes behind the leaders. I caught up to Kami Semick who I’m a huge fan of. Kami Semick is one of the greatest ultra runners in the world. She’s plastered all over the running magazines in the NorthFace ads. She was moving pretty fast and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to run with her for a while. I picked her brain on all the ultra experience she has. I got some really good tips and 2 hours flew by like 2 minutes.
About mile 65 I was still feeling really good and holding back. I wanted to keep running with Kami and continue to get high quality advice but I felt like I could run 7:15 pace with ease. I really really felt fresh and was worried the leaders were going to get out of reach if I didn’t make a move to catch up to them soon.
At this point in the race I really thought I was going to place top 3 and run somewhere in the 15:30 range for the full 100 miles. I picked up the pace at mile 68 and felt amazing. At 12 hours I was at 76 miles and still feeling really good.
I was eating my medjool dates and melons all day, but was playing a cat and mouse game with staving off hyponatremia by taking my salt pills. Kami told me she takes 3-4 pills an hour – every hour from the start of the race to the finish. I hadn’t been taking that many, maybe 1-2 an hour until I started to sweat a lot during the midday heat, then I was taking about 4 an hour.
At 82 miles I started to feel the hyponatremia effects taking hold. I’m pretty sure my increased pace and effort brought on the hyponatremia problems. I took 2 salt pills and ate a bit. Still felt loopy, so I took 2 more salt pills. Still felt loopy… then at 84 miles the wheels fell off. I was a mess, just shuffling and going about 15minute mile pace and feeling really wacked out. My legs were rock solid, but I was getting all the dizzy/slow thinking/spotty brain activity feelings and it sucks!
I took 4 more salt pills. I think I had 8-10 pills in about a 90 minute period. Then finally I started to feel better at mile 92. Yet lots of damage to my top 3 ambitions had been done. I was about 30 minutes behind 2nd place and had less than 8 miles to go in the race. I figured I had a chance to crack top 3 but realized that my current 5th place standing was most likely going to be my finishing place. I really wanted to break 16 hours at this race, and now I was wondering if I would even break 17 hours. I kinda got down on my performance and fell into a bit of a lack-luster feeling for the end result of my race. I switched into new goal gears of just trying to enjoy the day outside and finishing my first 100 miler.
I got to mile 96.5 and my man Mike Oliva decided to run the last 3.5 miles with me to the finish. Mike had been meeting me at a lot of the aid stations and keeping me loaded up with cantaloupe, dates, salt pills and anything else I might need. He was an awesome help. It was going to get dark pretty soon, and I had made no preparations for running in the dark. I thought for sure I would finish the race before night fall. Yet I was going to be running the last 20-30min in the dark. Mike got some headlamps from some people he met and we were set for some night running.
mile 97
At mile 97.8 a guy caught up to me and put in a surge to pass me. I had been taking it easy for the last few miles and just trying to enjoy finishing the last few miles of the race feeling good. But I suddenly didn’t want to finish 6th! I was shocked at how fast I was able to run when I put in some effort to stay ahead of this guy. I literally put in a massive surge! My buddy Mike couldn’t even stay with me on the trail, I was flying. I am certain I was running sub 7min pace and my legs and stride form was perfect, I suddenly had zero fatigue in my legs, I was running as if I was completely fresh. It was the most amazing experience of the day, really amazing running so fast and effortless after 17 hour and 98 miles!
It was FUN running fast. Just at that moment I realized how much I missed running fast on the track, and in shorter races. I started to think about my mile repeat workouts, road races and fast marathon running. For the next 15 minutes as I closed in on the finish I couldn’t get my mind off how fun it was to run fast, really fast.
I crossed the line, glad to be done. I got the 100 mile monkey off my back, but my heart was thinking about running at top speed again.
Here’s what I ate and drank over the 17 hours and 12 minutes of the race:
6 lbs of Medjool dates
3 cantaloupes
1 ½ watermelons
2 oranges
8 bananas
60-64 16oz water bottles
50-55 salt pills
I got in my tent, fell asleep pretty fast, but did wake up a few times tossing and turning and listening to people talking outside as they finished through the night.
It felt great to get in my tent and get some rest!
My feet after the race were dusty and dirty, but not really even swollen and only a few small blisters.
In the morning I was blown away when I got up out of my tent with seemingly fresh legs. I really honestly had no soreness in my legs. My shoulders and back were a bit weak, but my legs and even my feet felt really good. I didn’t get any blisters or toenail problems.
Then I got this crazy idea to climb Mt. Washington. It’s the biggest mountain in the north east and incredibly beautiful. I pushed my buddy Mike to do the fast excursion with me. The weather was picture perfect and I felt great. He said ok after I promised him it would be worth the extra driving. He wasn’t so sure I was really recovered from the race, I said I would prove it on Mt. Washington.
We skipped the race barbeque and awards ceremony and jumped in the car. We broke into some watermelon on the drive over the Mt. Washington and refueled!
We got to base of Mt. Washington, the weather was picture perfect. I put some fruit and extra clothes in my backpack and we hit the trail. The temp at the base was in the mid 70’s and in the upper 40’s at the summit! We started to move up the trail at a really solid speed. Soon we were rock scrambling above tree line and in a full body workout with our arms and legs climbing up and over all the boulders.
I told mike on the drive over to the mountain that I thought it would take 3-4 hours to reach the summit (in winter it takes me 4-5 hours). We were flying, and got to the top in 2 hours and 1 minute!
I felt amazing as if I hadn’t run at all the day before. It was really the best part of the entire weekend, feeling so so strong and so alive even after a 100 mile run the day before.
On the summit of Mt. Washington less than 24 hours after running 100 miles in Vt.
Here’s the proof if you can’t believe it!
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/41081575
My training partner Oz Pearlman did this race 2 years ago and had the most difficult experience of his life. It was a defining moment for him when he had to dig deeper than ever before to find the resolve to keep going and finish. I was hoping to suffer like that, I never feel like I achieve anything unless it was really really hard. I wanted to run faster and make the race more difficult physically, but the hyponatremia issues slowed me down and lack of sleep had me feeling less than energized to push hard. I had a good time more than anything else, which is good, and fun, but not nearly as rewarding as when you need to push yourself to limits you never thought you could handle.
Am I some genetically gifted person? I don’t think so. I really mean that. My athletic abilities are a direct result of my training. When you run 180-200 miles a week up and down mountains, when you eat nothing but raw fruit and vegetables, your body becomes a machine that does not break down. I literally could have done the VT100 race on Saturday and then again on Sunday – I really mean that.
What will I do next? Well I’m not sure, but I know I can do anything when I eat a fruitarian diet, train hard and get enough sleep!
Here is my GPS data from the Vermont 100 Mile:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/41081575
Here is a video of my race and Mt. Washington climb. A big thanks to David Hestrin for putting this together for me!
some cool pictures of me in the local news/paper:
http://vnews.mycapture.com/mycapture/folder.asp?event=1043936&CategoryID=43343&ListSubAlbums=0
http://vnews.mycapture.com/mycapture/folder.asp?event=1043936&CategoryID=43343&ListSubAlbums=0
What’s Wrong with Cooked Foods? Raw Fruits and Vegetables Are Perfect Foods.
Posted: 21st July 2010 by Michael in Exploring ControversiesI have so many people asking me 'What's wrong with cooked foods?" Well, I don't even know where to begin, there are SO many things wrong with cooked foods that it's almost an endless subject.
I've tried to cover a few big points in this video, but certainly there are many more reasons why eating cooked foods is unhealthy.
I usually try to focus on the benefits of uncooked natural plant foods like fruit and vegetables. I know from personal experience that eating nothing but raw fruits and vegetables and no cooked foods at all offers you perfect health.
A lot of people are obsessed with how to live as long as possible. Most people evaluate a diet based on how long it can make them live. What I think a lot of people are missing is the importance of 'level of health' over duration. I want to feel fantastic today and I want to feel fantastic tomorrow, and the next day, and a fruitarian diet gives me peak health at every meal, every moment of every day!
If I had to choose between a long long life with so-so health, over a life of peak health everyday but that was cut short due to some contraction of a rare illness or get into an accident -- I'd much sooner choose a life of peak health and vitality. A life of compromised health is not living, I want to feel fantastic right now! That is what is important in my view.
If I can have 85 years of perfect peak health where I never have a virus, a cold or a cough, where I don't have to go see doctors, where I never miss work or the opportunity to do something active - to me that is worth everything over living to a 106 years and arriving safely to some nursing home to be spoon fed some kind of pureed crap.
I've reached peak health and vitality every single day since adopting a fruitarian diet! I AM LIVING NOW.
Dan McDonald – IF I HAD CANCER, or any DISEASE…
Posted: 21st July 2010 by Michael in Recommended VideosDO YOU WANT TO HAVE A NEW HEALTH CARE SYSTEM?
WELL I HAVE AN IDEA…
HOW ABOUT WE ALL GET HEALTHY?
Love, Dan