Here is a picture of me, Audry & her little one enjoying a beautiful sunny day in nature by the stunning waterfalls.

Soaking the sun…

I have a lot of exciting news to share with you in this article but let me start with the very beginning.

“Buttercream” Bananas, Anyone?

First of all I would like to tell you how I stayed all raw during my trip and about pretty amazing experience I had with… bananas.

It was easy for me to stay raw because I was traveling by car, and I was able to bring all my food with me. I was living mostly on bananas for 6 days. Truthfully, it wasn’t that different from what I normally eat, but obviously, when I’m at home I can use my Vitamix and make some pretty delicious banana smoothies with berries and other fruits. Even though I brought my Vitamix with me and had access to a full kitchen during my stay in Alabama, I decided to do a sort of “pattern interrupt” and live mostly on mono-meals of bananas. I brought some grapes and fresh orange juice with me too, however, those were gone within the first couple of days.

So, mono banana feasting it was. And this is when the ‘magic’ started happening! What do I mean by that? Well, let me explain.

I began noticing that plain bananas started to taste like buttercream cake filling to me! And I’m not exaggerating — it was exactly that rich, buttery taste that I never forget. (I would like to mention that it’s been a while since I had a piece of cake or anything with butter in it, but not that long to completely forget the taste. Especially, considering the fact that I used to be a huge pastry lover.)

Strangely enough, it was NOT the whole banana that tasted like buttercream. Only a few bites would taste like it, and then it would taste like a banana again. Perfectly ripe and delicious banana, but still banana. And, not all bananas had this special buttercream flavor — some of them did, and some of them didn’t.

I was truly mesmerized by this experience, and every time I was about to peel a banana, I was wondering what kind of taste surprise it had in store for me…

As I reflected on it for a little while I came to the conclusion that this whole experience had to do with my taste buds. I believe they are awakening to the new heights and becoming more sensitive to subtle flavors of fruits. Bananas never tasted better to me, and sure enough they never tasted so good or “buttercreamy” when I first started eating them in decent quantities. Now I’m back home and can whip up all the fancy smoothies I want, and, ironically, all I want is… mono-meals of my ripe, delicious bananas. It seems like I’m never tired of eating them and they never taste boring, even when I don’t get to experience that rich, buttery flavor I was talking about.

I shared this discovery with Audry, and she thought it was pretty cool. I also feel it is important to share it with all of you in this article to give hope to those who don’t quite enjoy the taste of bananas or cannot eat a lot of them in one meal. I firmly believe there’s hope for you guys, and you CAN train and elevate your taste buds’ sensitivity to new heights of flavor as well. With right attitude, practice and persistence, of course. Let me be very honest with you here — in my opinion, it is very hard to make this low-fat high-fruit diet work for you without eating large quantities of bananas on the regular basis. Especially if you live in areas where there is not a lot of other fruit is available and you need to consume a great amount of calories. So, make friends with bananas as soon as you can — you’ll be glad you did!

All in all, eating mono-meals of bananas day in and day out is very satisfying to me. Actually, it might surprise you HOW satisfying it can be! I was a bit surprised myself, even though bananas are my year-round staple and I eat them in great quantities regularly. The only other thing that I want after a full day of mono-banana-eating is a savory dish of some sort that usually includes greens. Other than that, I experience no cravings or feelings of deprivation whatsoever. Now I see how some folks can do a Banana Island for two weeks, even though I’m not sure how they manage to go without greens for that long. Personally, I could not do without greens even for a week without developing all sorts of cravings. I guess, there are some variations of doing a Banana Island — Dr. Graham, for instance, offered greens at his first Banana Island event this past fall.

Side note: In order to awaken your taste buds it is absolutely necessary to remove all salt and spices from your diet. Perhaps, you can get away with using a little bit of good quality natural seasoning like dried herbs or ground cumin once in a while, but salt is definitely the biggest offender and is better eliminated, in my opinion. Also, please keep in mind that if you’re trying to go 100% raw yourself and still transitioning, then I wouldn’t necessarily recommend not adding spices to your food in the beginning. Going 100% raw is a big enough change as it is. So it’s good to transition with recipes that make you really enjoy the food. Later down the road you can work on improving your raw diet if you chose to. As for me, I was using some fresh hot pepper, dried herbs and dulse flakes to flavor my food while transitioning, and it did the trick. Even nowadays I still add a small amount of hot pepper to some of my savory meals because I’m a little bit attached to that spicy flavor… Obviously, that didn’t prevent me from experiencing some taste miracles while eating simple mono-meals of bananas. My goal though is to eventually drop hot peppers from my diet altogether.

I like to call this recent experience “My Banana Breakthrough” and it inspired me to do a Banana Island for the first time ever. Today was my first day on the Island, and I set an intention to do it for seven days straight. I intentionally chose not to include greens at this point and eat only mono-meals of bananas, because this is what will help to heal some digestive issues I’m still dealing with. I have no idea how long I can do a “no greens” thing without developing cravings so I left the door open just in case, which means I will include some greens later during the week, if I need to. Perhaps, I will share some of my experiences with Banana Island in the future articles, and for now I’ll just leave it at that.

How I Made It Work and Stayed 100% Raw During My Trip

One of the main reasons I chose to drive and take a road trip instead of flying is that I could bring all my food with me in the car. Traveling by airplane would have been a totally different experience and something I intend to explore soon. As for road trips, this was not my first time traveling on the 811RV diet — I’ve done it quite successfully in the past without ever going off my eating program.

Well, let me tell you, traveling on a high-fruit diet requires some preparation and planning, and my trip wasn’t an exception. I had to plan ahead most of my meals, even though the bulk of them were bananas eaten mono. I had to bring a big basket full of bananas with me, and they were at different stages of ripeness too. You have to consider that because you don’t want them to be ripening all at the same time, otherwise you’ll end up with a whole bunch of ripe bananas at once. You want them to get ripe gradually so you can work through them comfortably. It is also a good idea to bring more than you might think you need to eat — it is better to have some extra food than not to have enough.

My trip lasted six days, and to be honest, I slightly underestimated my banana needs for this amount of time. On the other hand, I also knew that I would have an opportunity to shop and pick up some extra fruit if I need to. Here in the US you often can find pretty ripe spotty bananas at gas stations; you definitely have to pay extra as they are sold by a piece, but we are usually prepared for extra expenses while traveling anyway.

So, I’ve experienced a slight banana shortage during the last couple of days of my trip. I already had some new bananas ripening, however, they were not quite ready yet (bananas take longer to ripe at cooler temperatures). I was saved by some dates and a few ripe bananas generously given to me by Audry. The next day I was already on the road going home and I was lucky enough to find a few large perfectly ripe bananas at the gas station. I also made a stop at the Whole Foods to pick up some green juice and cut-up fruit. That helped a lot and I didn’t have to eat anything outside my preferred foods.

I am also glad I packed some dates and almonds with me to take on my trip — those foods keep well and are a good calorie source. It is always a good idea to bring some dried fruit & nuts with you when you’re traveling. You might not use them if enough fresh fruit is available, but chances are, you will use them. And they will save you from eating something totally undesirable. So, the advice on dried fruit & nuts is a good one, and I agree with it 100%.

Personally, I also like grapes for traveling because they are high-calorie fruit, and you can pre-wash them and stick in a Ziploc bag to eat later. And voila, you have a meal! Grapes won’t last long without refrigeration though, and this is the only downside. That’s why banana is such a winner in this regard — it doesn’t require any refrigeration, and the only thing you have to do is to pack your bananas carefully so they are not damaged during transportation.

As for greens, I also had a big Ziploc bag of celery with me that I washed and cut beforehand. For the first time, I ate it with my bananas — taking a bite of celery, then a bite of banana, etc — and it was OK, but I didn’t enjoy it as much. I prefer celery blended into a savory “stew” or green smoothie; it tastes better to me that way. However, I am still glad I’ve tried this straight banana-celery combination, because I knew that a lot of folks like it, and I wanted to find out if it was the case with me.

Hopefully, my experience will give you some ideas on how you can travel, take trips and still eat within your preferred food choices.

Makeovers, Makeovers…

Well, now I finally got to the most exciting part that I cannot wait to share with you.

Our time together with Audry was truly special and we got to do a lot of things during that time. We went sightseeing and enjoyed the stunning fall scenery in the area. We did some sun-gazing on the brow of the hill overlooking a beautiful valley. We had meaningful conversations that led to breakthroughs. Some “girl talk” too, as you might have already guessed. We danced, we laughed and we had fun. And finally, we ate bananas. Lots of bananas.

Feeling happy surrounded by nature…

But we also brainstormed business ideas and looked for ways of partnering together on future projects. We discussed some nutritional topics as well, and some of the struggles and stumbling blocks that are often so frustrating to those transitioning to the 811RV diet. Obviously, we did a lot of things, and the pinnacle of our time together was… the image makeover I gave to Audry and the business makeover she gave to me. This might sound a little surprising to you but you heard it right. And, I guess, this is what happens when two passionate, conscious and heart-centered women entrepreneurs get together.

On the brow…

I hardly ever share this publicly but I have this passion for fashion, style, bright colors, accessories and putting different outfits together. I’ve been doing it for many years and it is something that comes to me very naturally. I often get compliments on my style, on my ability to wear color and accessorize tastefully. In the past, while I was still living in Russia, some of my girlfriends often consulted me with their outfit choices and even imitated my style… I didn’t have a problem with it at all since my personal style would always remain unique to me and my personality.

Another quite fascinating thing about me is that I always see things for what they could be and not for what they are. What do I mean by that? Well, if I have to put it in two words — I often give people makeovers in my mind. It usually applies to women as I picture them looking their best and being glamorous, almost like celebrity-style cover girls. If I see an overweight lady that looks tired and lacks confidence, I picture her being slim, fit, vibrantly healthy, looking her best and being totally in love with her body. It is not just about the body — I often ‘give’ the person a totally new look, and I do it all in my mind’s eye. And I do it in a loving and non-judgemental way.

So, this is what happened with me and Audry — I totally saw her natural beauty and wanted to draw it out by giving her a makeover. She trusted my vision, relaxed into it and bravely followed all the steps that needed to be taken. All in all, it happened quite naturally, and here is the result of our work together.

Audry before…

Audry after…

The second picture was taken professionally by a talented local lady photographer on the last day of our time together. The whole transformational work culminated in a fabulous photo shoot which enabled us to capture Audry’s new look and embody her new image. And by the way, Audry gave me a permission to share her wonderful transformation with you here.

I would like to say a few things about Audry: first of all, she is an amazing friend and I am so grateful that our paths have crossed in this world. Secondly, she is the budding icon of a new paradigm business consulting for spirit-driven female entrepreneurs — it is her passion and one of her many gifts. Audry is very talented, heart-centered and open-minded. As I mentioned previously, she gave my business a makeover too, and, as a result of that, I will be taking my entrepreneurial adventure into a totally new direction.

Working with Audry was very empowering and fun at the same time, and I’m super excited about what’s coming up for me next. Very soon I will be releasing my new Platinum Weight Loss Program for women who want to shed extra pounds and fall in love with their body — I will be working one-on-one with ladies who want to reveal their fabulousness and lose weight effortlessly. It is going to be a high-value 90-day mentoring program that will include a VIP intensive where you’ll get a day of focused quality time with me in person. I will also discontinue all the other services I currently offer on my site so this new program will be the only way to get my personal attention and support. If you are interested in working with me within this format and getting the results fast please sign up here to receive future updates and announcements. 

Doing “I absolutely Adore My Body” dance…

I also would like to mention that this new program is NOT going to be about nutrition and what to eat, even though it will include some health components as well. It is NOT going to be another “how to go on a diet” program — in this program I will be bringing all my gifts together taking you on a journey of self-discovery, self-love and self-acceptance. It is going to be a very powerful and transformational experience that will change your relationship with your body forever.

And here is one more picture for you!

Care to join me on a body-loving journey?

We (Audry & me) also have a surprising project in the works that we will be announcing very soon! It is SO cool it will blow your mind!

Here’s to you, Loving Your Body & Your Bananas,

Vlada

I just turned 40 at the end of August, and this time of the year around my birthday always feels heavy to me. I mean energetically, of course. However, this is also the time when tremendous growth happens and powerful insights occur…

This year it happened again.

The Brilliant Body Health Summit was a strong catalyst that made me look back at my journey to adopting this high-fruit lifestyle and come to some profound realizations. It happened quite naturally after listening to some speakers that resonated with me the most (I’ve listened to ALL of the interviews though) and reflecting on the certain things that have been shared.

And the most profound insights I had were on the subject of transitioning.

To me, a non-native English speaker, transition is a strong word because it implies movement and change. And those things usually don’t feel safe to us…

Before I take this further, I would like to tell you the short version of my transitional story and how I came about to adopting this seemingly impossible and perfectionistic (is there even a word like that?)  but so rewarding diet/lifestyle.

In 2009 I came to the point where I had to witness how my life that I was so diligently creating started to fall apart. My marriage wasn’t working anymore. The relationship with my precious and only daughter had suffered tremendously after she defiantly left my house at almost 17 and decided to live on her own because I was ”too much of a controlling mother” (her words)… After that happened we hadn’t talked for months (despite my courageous attempts to establish some kind of communication with her) and, when we finally started connecting again, it was a tough process. Our relationship had a lot of recovering to do and we needed to rebuild trust and friendship — this is where we were at that time.

After a couple of years of soul-searching and trying to figure out what to do with my life, my purpose and career path was still unclear to me. I knew I wanted to change my career when I moved to the US at the end of 2005, however, a few years later, in 2009, I was still uncertain what my gifts were and how I could share them with the world.

On top of everything else, my health and physical well-being wasn’t something to brag about either. I have to admit that my weight was stable and I was a relatively healthy person compare to general population, however, I knew that I could do much better than that. I had been dealing with some digestive disorders, constipation, low energy, mood swings and depression, to say the least.

There were times when I wished I was already dead and didn’t have to deal with all my “stuff”… Without exaggeration, some of the darkest moments in my life belong there too. The year of 2009. Please understand that I’m not being dramatic here — I’m simply stating the facts.

I knew that something got to give and things had to change. I had to get “real” and face the challenges. I had to make some important decisions. I had to let go of certain attachments and end some relationships that didn’t serve me anymore. I had to get clear on what I wanted in every major area of my life (like health, relationships, career, money, etc.) and figure out my first steps on a new path. And I had to connect to my heart and find my joy… Oh, that one was a biggie!

And, yes, I did it.

With the help and support from my dear friend in Russia (who happened to be a professional psychotherapist and amazing coach), I was able to do all those things and start moving and shifting into my new direction. I had to start following my heart and do the things that I wanted to do for a long time. I had to detach from conditioning and other people’s expectations, and follow MY path.

Was I scared? Yes. Uncertain? You bet. Did I have to move through resistance and fear? Check.

Did it matter? NO.

I came to a realization that I had enough and I deserved better. I knew I could do better and I refused to settle for less.

This is when I enrolled in school to receive my training in Holistic Nutrition. I had this passion for Nutrition and Natural Health for years (since I was 17, actually), and at almost 37 I finally did something to pursue a career in that direction. I thought it was a good start. Later that year I also made a decision to start my own business as a Nutritionist helping others to eat better and become healthier.

Around that time (summer of 2009) I also discovered this high-fruit low-fat raw vegan diet (a.k.a. the 80/10/10 diet) for the first time — I had a brief introduction to it from Frederic Patenaude’s website. At the time I had a very vague idea about this diet and the whole lifestyle associated with it, however, deep down I knew that I had to investigate and learn as much about it as I could.

A few months later I ordered Frederic’s famous The ‘Whole Enchilada’ Raw Vegan Lifestyle Package (it includes every book, program and product Frederic has ever created on the subject of raw foods) that was just released at the time, and it took me another few months to actually start going through some of those materials and resources. It was a process and I was taking my time learning and absorbing the knowledge.

Interestingly enough, after I made all those life-changing decisions I started making better choices in the foods department as well. I went vegan in June of 2009 letting go of my last non-vegan indulgence — cheese. I’ve been addicted to the stuff for years and sincerely thought I could never stop the cheese completely. I limited myself to only having it once a week, but I HAD to have it! My addiction was cured and gone within a couple of weeks, and the naughty thought of having me some cheese has never even entered my mind ever again.

All the gluten-laden breads and pastries made with wheat flour were next to go — it turned out that I was extremely sensitive to wheat gluten. As I tested myself I found out that gluten-containing foods were causing my constipation, mood swings, compulsive behaviors and depressive thoughts. Obviously, they didn’t belong in my diet and removing them was a breeze. Well, almost. Gluten-containing products are extremely addictive and I had to work my way to a gluten-free eating. The result? One of the best things I’ve ever done for my health. Period.

So, I started flirting with the fruit-based diet at the end of 2009, and in the beginning of 2010 I was already on the clear path of transitioning. Reducing fat and eliminating oils, consuming less and less processed foods and increasing my fruit intake gradually… I’m sure it all sounds familiar to you.

Well, this is exactly what I did, and to make a long story short, by June of 2010 I already considered myself fully transitioned and quite stable on my eating plan: fruit and greens on a daily basis, no salt, no oils, no processed or cooked food whatsoever. And this is how I roll ever since!

Certainly, my diet has evolved and endured some minor changes and adjustments during this time. This is only natural and expected to happen. What remains constant though is my ability to stay high-fruit and raw quite effortlessly. Plus the love and appreciation I have for my food — I absolutely love and adore every bite of it.

Side Note: In no way does this mean that I’m all perfect and do only the best things 100% of the time. I’m only human and I have plenty of weak moments. There are times when I would have a little more fat than I should or I eat later than I would have preferred… However, I don’t feel the need to apologize for my humanity.

As I think about my transition now, I realize that I basically had to change my life before I was able to radically change my diet. After I made all those important decisions in 2009 my life has never been the same again. And I wasn’t the same person anymore either. It seems to me that the whole dietary piece had to come last in my case — only after other significant life-changing decisions had been made and actions taken. After that, switching to a totally new way of eating was a piece of cake. 

Here I would like you to stop for a moment and think about your transitional journey. And if you haven’t started one yet, I hope you will, soon, otherwise you wouldn’t be reading these lines. I firmly believe that you came here for a reason and it is NOT an accident.

My belief about you is very simple — human beings are elastic. They can grow. They can transition. They can move with liquidity very quickly. I’m so passionate about this that I want to make love to this statement. It gets me excited and keeps me going on my chosen path — I hope you can feel it through my words.

Practical Tips on Transitioning

I’m a very practical woman, therefore I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t give you some real applicable tips to help YOU with your transition. Here we go, read on some of my insights that I’m eager to share.

1. Be gentle with yourself and allow enough time for the transition. How much is enough? As long as it takes for YOU. Your transitional period can take few months or few years, and it is OK. It is ALL good. Personally, I’m not a big fan of an overnight transition and I’d much rather see you take things easy and lay a solid foundation for your future success. ‘Direction over speed’ should be your mantra.

Side Note: I would like to say a few words about my own transition. It took me about 9 months to transition, from the day I found out about high-fruit way of eating to the moment I considered myself fully transitioned. I thought is was pretty symbolic, almost like having a baby. The seed was planted and it took time to develop and grow inside of me before I was able to ‘give birth’, figuratively speaking, to something new and so beautiful.

2. Learn not to judge yourself for your journey. Honor and respect your journey! It is usually not a good idea to compare yourself to others — compare yourself to an earlier version of yourself, instead. Give enough credit to yourself for what you’ve already achieved and how far you’ve come. If you’re currently eating a cooked vegan diet you’re already ahead of the 99% of the population. This is huge!

3. Take baby steps and give yourself time to celebrate even small successes! Personally, I absolutely love and admire baby steps. They’ve got a bad rep, like something insignificant and wimpy, while in reality they totally rock! If you think about a baby trying to walk for the first time, keep the balance and not to fall and hurt themselves, you’ll understand what I mean. A baby step is a risk, it requires learning and getting out of balance. But than you learn something and become competent. So get out there and take some baby steps today!

4. Take time each day to connect to your heart and your body and access your feelings.  Think about what you want in a relationship to what you’re feeling. Then go and take action, hopefully, inspired action! It’s a simple three-step process (What’s Real? What am I Feeling? → What Do I Want? → Inspired Action & Embodiment), but it is not always easy. Make it a lifetime practice — it will be totally worth your time, and will result in a more fulfilled, happy life.

5. Work on your confidence and self-worth. Do you know what is the #1 reason why we fail to create health transformations we desire? If we set aside all the excuses and get to the real reason we’ll find out that deep down inside we do not feel worthy of vibrant health. It is that deep core unworthiness that gets in the way and don’t let us even imagine the power we would come  into if we experienced our true health potential.

Side Note: This is a very important topic and also something I’m especially passionate about, however, it is beyond the scope of this article. If you choose to work with me closely we will definitely be addressing this, and for now I just want to remind you of one thing. Print it out and put it on your desk or carry it in your wallet, if you need to.

Who you are right now (not who you’re going to be in 5 years time), every one of you right now — whatever you’ve done in your past, whatever you’ve said to your husband or your children, whatever failings, weaknesses that you think you have — everything that you are right now is blissfully RIGHT and it does NOT affect your goodness one bit. You ARE good through and through. Through and through. Nothing can take away the fact that you are intrinsically good. It doesn’t matter what foods you eat, how much you weigh and what your body fat percentage is — you are still worthy, lovable and deserving.

Now, to really own and believe that statement, and live life from a place of “I AM good no matter what”… Wow! That takes a bit of practice. But with practice, mastery is a result.

6. Get support and hire a coach/mentor! It is vital to your success! We’re so used to seeing things from our own perspective, that it’s often really hard to see things any differently. It often takes a coach to point out a different way to look at the problem. A good coach will help you make dramatic progress in your life by showing you a different way to look at things you wouldn’t have thought of on your own. Think of all the breakthroughs you could be making by having an experienced raw-food coach help to show you a simpler way of getting the results you’ve been after.

If you feel you’re not making progress, it may be because you’re trying to do everything yourself. You might be stuck into thinking that you can solve every single problem on your own.

You might need coaching! This is why I’m here and always ready to help! Please get in touch so we can discuss different support options that will suit YOUR needs. I can be your personal Raw Vegan Lifestyle Mentor and hold a vision of your health transformation close to my heart.

Post a comment below and say what your most powerful insight from this article is. I work hard to write posts that inspire, and I value your comments. Talk to me!

You can do it. I believe in you.

Here’s to You, Loving Your Journey,

Vlada

Image credit: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Some of you may know that I have a daughter who is 21 y.o., totally independent and doesn’t live with me anymore. Her name is Inna (pronounced “ina”, not “aina”). Like any regular mother out there I absolutely adore my daughter, am proud of her and brag about how amazing she is every chance I get.

Inna and me

Sharing some mother-daughter love…

What you may not know is this: I usually go very easy on my daughter and don’t teach her how to eat, unless she asks me a question. I used to do that when Inna was younger and lived at home, but not anymore. I’ll be honest with you — deep in my heart I cherish a hope that one day my daughter will follow my path and adopt a fruit-based diet. Of course, as a mother I want only the best for my daughter and something tells me that this eating plan will work extremely well for her.

For now I chose to lead by example and show Inna what’s possible — in that case no preaching is required. My daughter is very impressed with the results I’ve achieved through this lifestyle and is very respectful of what I do.

As for me, I very much respect Inna’s right to make her own choices in life, including food choices. However, growing up with a mother who was obsessed with good health, proper nutrition and youthful looks, Inna had been exposed to a lot of good information and healthy lifestyle practices. At the age of 16 she made a decision to become a vegetarian, even though she wasn’t raised as one.

That was Inna’s own decision, she made it consciously when she told me that she could no longer eat anything that was alive and had a mother. Inna is pretty hard-core and I don’t think she will ever get corrupted by the society and change her mind on being a vegetarian.

As of now Inna eats predominantly vegan diet with the small addition of dairy cheese or yogurt, occasionally. Dairy products don’t make her feel very good, however, she likes the taste. Inspired by my example and spectacular results Inna also eats a lot more fruit now. She keeps her diet low in fat (no oils and no nuts) and high in healthy carbs (fruits, baked potatoes, steamed veggies & some brown rice occasionally) since she is very susceptible to weight gain and wants to stay slim.

Inna recently asked me a question whether she is going to lose a lot of weight if she adopts the same diet I eat — a low-fat raw vegan diet — and, particularly, whether her breasts are going to get significantly smaller.

Truth be told, my daughter is more endowed in the chest area than I am and this is why that question is very important to her — she doesn’t want to “lose” one of her main female assets, her breasts! I thought Inna’s question deserved an answer and, perhaps, she is not the only one who is wondering about this.

Now, I’m aware of the fact that there are some women out there who are struggling with weight gain or inability to lose weight on a fruit-based diet. I totally feel you ladies and I might share my insights on the subject in the future posts. While you still might find the information I share in this article valuable, it is probably more for those who lose too much weight on this diet or have issues maintaining their healthy weight.

Well, I certainly cannot tell you what exactly is going to happen to your body should you go low-fat raw and follow the program properly. But I can tell you about my experience and what happened to me (and the size of my breasts) when I adopted a diet of fruits and vegetables.

You see, I was already slim when I started this eating plan (size 0 in pants), but I had a very low muscle tone and pretty high body fat percentage due to a lack of fitness. Last year I wrote a whole article titled My Fitness Journey which included a lot of details, so please read it if you want to know more about it.

I’ve lost a lot of weight during my first few months on the program — I’ve lost one pant size and yes, one bra cup size too (I went from 34B to 34A). I guess, if you want to get technical, I did “lose” my two main female assets at that time – my derierre and my breasts, which were never big anyway. It was mostly water weight and fat tissue loss. At that time (summer of 2010) I was the thinnest I’ve ever been in my entire adult life and I weighed 102 pounds (my height is 5’4″).

Honestly, I didn’t plan for it, I didn’t quite expect it and was very surprised when my jeans started to get very loose on me and my bras didn’t fit me anymore. Consequently, I had to get rid of most of my pants/jeans and buy new clothes. My friends and family members (including my daughter) thought I was melting and they were even concerned that one day I will simply “melt away” and vanish… Luckily, that didn’t happen as I’m still here as you can see.

On a serious note, I want you to know why this massive weight loss was happening to me.

There were two main reasons and one of them is pretty obvious to me right now — I was undereating! I wasn’t eating enough calories during that time and let me tell you, I wasn’t consciously calorie restricting. I simply could NOT eat more fruit on any given day!

I was training myself to be able to eat larger fruit meals and get more calories from sweet fruit. It was a process and a big learning curve, and after a while I finally got to the point where I was eating enough. However, during my weight/fat loss phase I was eating under 1500 calories a day — this number is approximate as I didn’t count calories back then and can only “guesstimate” now. I assume, on certain days I only ate around 1200-1300 calories which is obviously not enough for a woman of my size and age. I also didn’t exercise at that time and didn’t engage in any kind of vigorous physical activity.

The other reason I lost all that weight was that my diet contained very little fat. I went on weeks without adding any overtly fatty foods like nuts and seeds, and occasionally I would have an avocado in my salad. My fat intake from total calories consumed was low and under 10%.

And the last reason I would like to mention here was a salt-free diet. I weaned myself off salt and all the puffiness and excess water had left my body. I’m convinced that eating a diet without added salt is one of the major keys to sustainable weight loss and lean physique. I’m so glad I broke free from salt addiction and don’t have a desire to eat salt anymore.

In case you’re wondering how I felt during that time I’ll tell you. I actually felt amazingly good — my energy was high, my mind was clear and sharp, and my mood was elated pretty much all the time. I was high on fruit. Usually I would get weak and tired by the end of the day and go to bed early. I didn’t feel as strong physically as I do now, but other than that I was doing good. You know why? Because my body was using the extra fat as a back up source of fuel and was able to run on that for a while. However, such a low caloric intake was not sustainable nor healthy for a woman of my age and size. I had to start eating more, which I did, eventually.

There is NO way I could have sustained myself on this diet if I didn’t start eating around 2000 calories a day.

And I gained some of my weight back, by the way. A year later, in the beginning of fall 2011 I was already at 108 pounds with low body fat percentage and high skeletal muscle percentage. The weight I gained was a healthiest weight gain possible — lean muscle mass attained through bodyweight training. I’ve earned every ounce of it through hard work, sweat and tears… It wasn’t easy for me to start exercising after years of sedentary lifestyle and I had to constantly push myself, especially in the very beginning. But this is another story and another article, perhaps.

Well, what about my derierre and my breasts? I’ll tell you everything as is – I still wear size 00 (or 24) in pants/jeans. Most of the time I purchase my pants in petite sizes and then it’s 0 as I like my clothes pretty fitted. When I buy my shorts from teenage brands like Roxy or Billabong then I’d buy them in size 0 too. My derierre looks bigger though and appears more plump because of toned muscles. I do bodyweight squats to keep it in shape and I also recently started running.  These are the best things you can do to have tight and nicely shaped posterior.

As for my bra size, it remains the same too — 34A. Personally, I have no problem whatsoever with my breasts being small and I carry them around proudly. Having smaller breasts to me is an advantage as things don’t bounce around as much.

Another interesting observation I made: my breasts are not “going south” anymore, if you know what I mean. In the beginning of this year I started noticing that my  breasts actually perked up and improved their appearance. What could that be? I have the same answer for you my friend — bodyweight exercises. The Lightning Speed Fitness Program is the program I personally use and recommend to my clients — this program has enabled me to ease into fitness gradually and become quite athletic after years of being sedentary. Push ups and pull ups work the muscles that support breasts and I do quite a few of them pretty much every day. Last year I started with only 3, and now I can do 160 push ups in a short time! I swear by push ups now because they enabled me to feel as if I was 16 again (this is when I had perfectly round and perky breasts, obviously).

Even though small breasts are a plus in my book, I totally understand those ladies like my daughter who want to keep things nice and sizeable. Please be aware of the fact that female breasts composed of mostly fat tissue, so there’s a chance that you lose some of it as your body fat percentage drops. If it reaches the athletic range of 13-19%, I can assume you won’t have much fat anywhere on your body. On the other hand, I wouldn’t be too much concerned with it because I see a lot of healthy and fit girls out there who eat the same low-fat raw vegan way and maintain their shape without using plastic surgery and implants. Swayze Foster is one of them, as far as I know.

I would say eating enough calories from sweet fruit is key if you want to maintain weight or gain healthy weight. Your goal should be to have a high percentage of lean muscle mass in your body and it is attained via proper diet and exercise — there’s no way around it, sorry ladies. Interesting fact: according to one study, the number one predictor of longevity in humans is the amount of a healthy lean muscle mass in the body. Something to think about…

Bottom line: eat your sweet fruit and make sure you get enough calories based on your height, weight and the level of physical activity. Engage in some form of fitness training and make it lifetime practice. Get enough sleep and learn how to handle stress well. Your body will thank you for that.

I know, I’ve said these things many times before. This is my message and I will keep repeating it because we all need to be reminded of these things every now and then.

If you’re currently stuck or struggling on your journey to a healthy and lean body, please get in touch. I’m very passionate about working with my clients one on one and supporting them with all my heart!

To Our Healthy, Fit & Feminine Bodies,

Vlada

Check out Yonanas Ice Cream Maker at the Amazon store below:

Yonanas 902 Ice Cream Treat Maker, Black/Silver

Vlada,

Obsessed With Banana Ice-Cream

Bananas with “Caramel” Sauce

It all started with me having some dates sitting around doing nothing. I have been eating mostly mono-meals lately, plus lots of melons, so the decent-sized glass container filled with dates was getting lonely in my fridge… I decided to come up with an easy recipe that could use dates, and here we go — my “Caramel” Sauce was born. Now, the sauce didn’t really taste like caramel, but it had the perfect consistency and color so I decided to call it that.

Initially, I was a little uncertain about what to pair my dates with… until I saw a bag of organic sun-dried Incan berries at my health food store. Normally, I don’t even look at dried fruit and I blissfully pass it while grocery shopping. Who needs it, especially during the summer when the fresh fruit is so abundant? However, this time I stopped, picked up the bag of Incan berries and placed it in my shopping bag. Something told me that they would pair beautifully with dates, even though I’ve never had them before.

Boy, was I right! The “caramel” sauce made with dates and Incan berries totally blew my mind and exceeded my expectations by far. It was so good I just wanted to eat it straight with a spoon. It shined over sliced bananas. Incan berries offered a pleasing taste balanced between sweetness and tangy tartness which helped to temper the dates. I soaked the berries for about 24 hours before I used them in this recipe — they still were quite firm and held their shape nicely. I believe you can soak them even longer, especially if you have a regular blender that is not as powerful as Vitamix. Just make sure you keep them refrigerated all the time.

If you cannot get Incan berries from the store, you can order them online by following this link. This is the exact same brand that I’ve used in my recipe. The 8 oz package contains about 1.5 cups of dried berries.

Important Note: Normally, I don’t encourage the consumption of dried fruit for many reasons. I certainly don’t recommend to eat it straight as it will stick to your teeth and provide perfect nourishment to the bacteria that cause cavities.  Dried fruit can also cause dehydration. With that said, I still believe that dried fruit has its place in a raw vegan diet. For instance, when you’re traveling and your access to fresh fruit is limited — dried fruit can save your butt from starving or going completely off the program. If you’re to use dried fruit under normal circumstances at all make sure you always pre-soak it in advance and use it very sparingly, preferably in recipes that require a small amount. Personally, I limit my consumption of dried fruit like these Incan berries to only a few times a year. This recipe was definitely a special treat, not something I would eat on a regular basis. However, if you’re just starting and looking for more ways to eat fruit — this might be something you need!

I also would like to mention that this was a pretty calorie-dense meal (around 850 calories), and it kept me satisfied for a long time.

So, to make this recipe you will need the following ingredients:

4 medium cheetah-spotted ripe bananas

“Caramel” Sauce

8 large Medjool dates, pitted and soaked in advance for 30 minutes in 1/2 cup water

3/4 cup (4 oz)  Incan berries, soaked in advance for up to 24 hours in 3/4 cup water

Method:

Slice your bananas and place in a shallow bowl. Set aside. Make the “caramel” sauce by combining dates, Incan berries and soaking water in a blender (high-powered blender like Vitamix is preferred). Blend until smooth and creamy. Pour the sauce over sliced bananas and enjoy!

Notes:

1. Always make sure your bananas are nicely spotted and ripe before eating them or using in a recipe. I strategically placed a ripe banana next to my bowl so you know how it looks, just in case you’ve forgotten!

2. Medjool dates are pretty large dates, so if you have smaller ones, use a few more.

3. If you cannot find Incan berries you can substitute sun-dried Mulberries in this recipe. The flavor is not going to be the same, but it will still be delicious. Dried Mulberries don’t need to be soaked for a long time, and 30 minutes is usually enough.

4. If you use 4 medium bananas like I did you might not use all the sauce. Place leftovers in an airtight container and refrigerate. It will keep well in the fridge for a couple of days.

All in all, this was a bold sauce that made all the flavors dance together. I made some banana ice-cream the next day and used the leftover “caramel” sauce on top if it… Yum! I don’t think I ever enjoyed my food as much as I do now, eating mostly fruit, day in and day out.

Please try this recipe and let me know what you think. I love hearing from you and reading your comments!

Here’s To You, Loving Your Diet,

Vlada

You see, a lot of times people refer to the body as a machine. It’s not. It’s an organism: where machines wear out from use, organisms thrive upon use.

Organisms wear out from misuse, abuse and lack of use. Our bodies suffer from lack of use because they are designed to be moved and engaged in physical activities. If you don’t use it, you lose it.

Turn off the TV and the video games, folks, and get active! Did you know that when you’re physically active, you are more likely to eat foods that are good for you, to get more sleep, and to take better care of your health in general? When you exercise, your body looks and feels better, which makes you feel better about yourself.

But what if you are feeling stuck… You are so comfortable in front of TV that starting an exercise regimen feels like a huge stretch… How do you actually motivate yourself into exercising and taking even baby steps towards the physique of your dreams? Perhaps, the physique you once had and lost over the years of misuse, abuse and lack of use of your body? Don’t despair, because I have an answer for you!

When it comes to starting an exercise regimen, I’ve found three great techniques that work. And I’m going to share them with you in this article.

1.  Get educated about the consequences of NOT exercising.

Yes, a bit of shock and awe fear can sometimes be enough to kick-start us into action. You can look at different sources of information on the subject. I’m simply going to give you a little ‘taste’ of what will inevitably happen to you if you adopt a couch potato lifestyle.

Why Couch Potato Syndrome Is Bad for Your Body and Overall Health

Adopting a sedentary lifestyle is one of the worst things you can do for your body and overall health. Lack of physical exercise negatively affects blood flow in the body. When you don’t get your blood pumping thanks to aerobic activities, the levels of nitric oxide drop. This causes the blood vessel walls to become distorted, which limits blood’s ability to pulse freely. This puts you at increased risk for heart disease, high blood pressure, and stroke.

Without adequate blood flow, the blood vessels in the deep areas of the brain also become distorted, increasing the risk of tiny strokes. As the years go by, these tiny strokes accumulate and cause these deep brain areas to shut off and stop working. The deep brain areas control leg movement, coordinated body movement, and speed of thinking and behaving. These are some of the areas of the brain that are affected by Parkinson’s disease, which explains why these strokes produce a clinical picture that closely resembles this disease. This explains why people over the age of forty who don’t exercise aren’t as mentally sharp as those who are physically active.

Being a couch potato also makes you more vulnerable to high blood pressure, which in turn increases the risk of developing other brain-related health problems. Research in the journal Neurology shows that people  as young as forty-five with hypertension are more likely to experience problems with memory and thinking skills. In particular, middle-aged people with high diastolic blood pressure (the number on the bottom) are at greater risk than people with normal readings. For every 10% increase in the diastolic reading, the odds of an individual having cognitive problems jumped by about 7%. With nearly twenty thousand people involved in this study, it is the largest to investigate the link between hypertension and memory problems.

These findings support those of the Honolulu Study of Aging, which concluded that middle-aged people between the ages of forty and sixty who have untreated high blood pressure are at greater risk for developing dementia. The damage from inactivity can be devastating. Basically, when you shun exercise, you can say good-bye to all the brain and body health and vitality.

2. Align your exercise with something that brings you joy.

The best exercise is the one that you’re willing to do. Even better is the one that you’re willing to do that you actually enjoy so you’re looking forward to doing it and that’s different for every person. It can be dancing, yoga, walking in nature, etc. or whatever feels good to YOU. It will be a good thing if it varies throughout the year.

So, the best activities, the best fitness training, comes from the activities you enjoy, the ones you’re willing to do and find that you CAN do and that you WILL do at a level of reasonable challenge so that you can adapt to that, you can develop your abilities.

As for me, I’ve just recently discovered that I want to learn how to dance salsa. This is quite a turn from the physical activities I’ve been engaging in the past year… And guess what? I’m taking my first salsa dance lesson next week!

To jump-start your exercise regimen pick up a copy of Roger Haeske’s famous Lightning Speed Fitness Program. The Lightning Speed Fitness Program was designed to be simple and understood quickly. You can get super fitness in about 15 minutes per day and with just a couple of basic exercises categories. You can do these exercises just about anywhere. Your body is the gym. You don’t need equipment to get a fantastic workout. You can work out every single muscle in your body just by using your bodyweight. The key here is that most people don’t know the power of these bodyweight exercises done in a certain way. And Roger teaches you how to do exactly that, plus gives a lot of extra valuable information I’ve never found anywhere else before. The Lightning Speed Fitness Program changed the way I go about exercise forever. The program comes in a convenient downloadable format which means that you can start learning it within minutes!

3. The third and final technique is to get support and be held accountable in the early habit-forming stages.

Get yourself an exercise buddy or have your partner/loved one involved. Plan some physical activities with your kids. Tell your friends and family about your fitness goals. I know, it all sounds very simple. However, we all need to be reminded of simple things every now and then. And how many of us actually do them?

If you are new to fitness, ease into it gradually. Trying to do too much too fast can lead to injuries and burnout. It is just like when you were a kid. You had to crawl before you walked, and you had to use training wheels before you could ride a two-wheeler bike.

Making exercise a habit takes time. A habit is a series of actions your brain executes — when you tell it to do so — relatively automatically and without effort. It takes numerous repetitions before your brain learns to perform a function automatically. The best chance of making exercise a habit is to schedule a specific time and place to exercise each day or at least on several specific days each week. This doesn’t mean you have to do the same form of exercise each time. As mentioned above, it is better to vary your routine. This prevents boredom and helps keep you motivated. After a few months of sticking to the routine, you will find that you no longer think about whether or not to work out; you just do it. By this time, exercise will have become a habit that will help keep your body healthy and fit for a lifetime.

Make it a rule to exercise. Don’t give yourself an option of exercising or not. It should be a daily habit just like brushing your teeth.

Move it folks! Start an exercise plan now! There’s no time like the present to get on the move to better health and physique through exercise!

Here’s to Your Ever-Improving Fitness,

Vlada

Image credit: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Fast forward to today. I will be 40 y.o. this coming August, and I’m in the best physical shape I’ve ever been in my entire life. My BMI is as close to ideal as it gets, my body fat percentage is within an athletic range, and I have a great amount of healthy muscle mass on my body. I can do 160 push ups within 10-15 minutes or 300 squats within 30 minutes (I take short breaks between sets). I’m slim, fit and full of energy. My health and vitality is so evident to others that even people who know nothing about me notice it immediately.

All this was made possible by tapping into my body’s ‘natural brilliance’ using the incredible powers of FRUITS & VEGGIES!!! And it only gets better as I keep working my way through the 80/10/10 lifestyle. And this is what I want for you. I’ll say it again: I want YOU to experience the same level of health and reach your full potential.

This is why I’m taking the time today to write about this unique upcoming event — The Brilliant Body Health Summit. This is the first ever event of this kind in the low-fat raw vegan movement, and it’s going to be phenomenal! We literally will be making history there.

25 health pioneers who have created powerful health transformations in their lives will be sharing their stories, experiences and wisdom. I’m truly honored to be one of the speakers at this remarkable event.

I’m inviting you to join us and sign up for this event as soon as you can, if you haven’t done so already.

The event kicks off on July 24^th and will last 3-4 weeks with one call per day.  The calls will be held at 11am and 5pm Pacific Time depending on the day of the week.  All recordings for the summit will be available for FREE for 48 hours after the interview.  If listeners want to own the recordings to listen to on their own time, they have the option to purchase the upgraded “Passionfruit Package”.

And one more thing to remember: The biggest gift you can give to yourself, your family and the world is to be a FULLY HEALTHY YOU. If you’ve ever wanted ‘an entire TEAM of health coaches’  to help support you in your health goals, now is your chance!

Sign up today by clicking here.

To Your Ever-Improving Health,

Vlada

How have I ended up in such a mess?

My teeth were compromised a long time before I went raw and started eating lots of sweet fruit on a daily basis. My teeth have taken their share of abuse and dentistry. Growing up in Soviet Union took its toll on my oral health as well – the quality of dental care was extremely low and I was never taught the proper oral hygiene (I never even heard of flossing at that time). I was also seriously traumatized by the Soviet dentists’ practice of drilling into a cavity without using any anesthesia… Yes, you heard me right — I had to endure that as a kid quite a few times.

But enough of that horrifying stuff from my childhood. In fact, it doesn’t even bother me anymore. I’m actually grateful to Russian dentists for their glorious attempts to save my teeth and give American dentists something to work on! At least I HAD all my teeth sans the fact they were severely damaged and required lots of TLC…

Later I’ve learned that the health of our teeth actually begins before we are born. What kind of prenatal nutrition your mother had, i.e., what she ate during pregnancy, plays a significant part. The quality of diet and dental hygiene you had as a child before your permanent teeth developed also affect your dental health as an adult. Many dentists consider heredity to be a big issue.

However, sooner or later, we must abandon all hope of changing the past. We can’t change what our mothers ate, what we ate as children, or dental work already done. All we can do is move forward from where we are right now. I was determined to make the most of the situation. This is your assignment, should you choose to accept it. (Does this sound familiar? Remember Mission Impossible?)

I decided I would tackle one problem at a time.

As of now, three years later, my teeth are in good shape, according to my dentist and dental hygienist. I haven’t had even a single new cavity developed despite of the fact that I eat a diet of predominantly sweet fruit. I have to admit I did a lot of research on the topic of oral care and read some books, mostly those that honor natural & holistic approach to it. I developed a system and dental routine that I follow which works for me and yields great results. I feel quite confident and empowered applying the knowledge I’ve acquired, and I’m definitely not intimidated by fruit sugars anymore.

At the end of this article , I’ll give you some tips & recommendations on how  to take a better care of your teeth on a high-fruit diet and prevent dental disasters. I’ll also share with you my absolute favorite dental care products that I use and love. It took me a while to find and test these products, and now I can recommend them to you. Please note, I will never, ever recommend anything on my site that I don’t personally use and enjoy as I have an extremely high standard for this.

And for now, let’s look and some dental problems and their causes, shall we?

What is Tooth Decay?

Tooth decay can be described as the situation when enough mineral content of a tooth has been dissolved to result in some sort of defect. These defects are commonly referred to as “cavities” or in dental literature as “caries,” which comes from the Latin word meaning to rot.

Teeth have soft nerve centers, but the bulk of the tooth is made of dentin, covered by a layer of enamel. The enamel is about 95% calcified mineral. Dentin is slightly softer and only about two thirds mineral. Most of this mineral is hydroxyapatite, which is rich in calcium. Tooth decay is, in reality, a form of demineralization, which starts with the presence of acids on a tooth’s surface.

These acids arise from bacteria—specifically Mutants streptococci and lactobacilli. These bacteria feed on sugars such as glucose, fructose, sucrose, and lactose. The waste products these bacteria leave are the acids that cause the demineralization. Every time you eat, especially if you eat any form of sugar, you also feed these bacteria which begin to produce acid and waste products within minutes.

Other factors besides sugar intake also play a role in acidifying our mouths, making it impossible for our salivary flow, which aids in removing the bacteria, to keep up. These include drinking acidic drinks (sodas, coffee), acid reflux dis-ease, and dry mouth (a common side effect of antihistamines, antidepressants and other prescription drugs).

While everyone’s mouth harbors microorganisms by the millions, what you want to do is keep the bacteria from forming organized colonies. This is one reason why fastidious dental hygiene matters. When bacteria form colonies, they produce what we call plaque. Plaque not only houses bacteria, but also secures them onto the tooth utilizing the acids the bacteria produce.

Saliva contains minerals which buffer acidity and replenish lost minerals. But often the rate of destruction exceeds the rate of repair. When you eat, some acids get buffered by saliva or washed down with food. But some get trapped behind the plaque, and this plaque provides a protective layer over the acids. This layer prevents the acids from becoming buffered or removed. As a result, saliva can take two hours or more to penetrate the plaque and neutralize the acids.

The amount of demineralization taking place has a lot to do with how old the plaque is, its thickness, its chemical composition, and what specific types of bacteria it houses. Newer plaque will not do as much damage to tooth enamel as will older plaque.

Cavities typically take months or even years to form under certain conditions. Unfortunately, those “certain conditions” occur all too easily. All that’s needed is the presence of plaque and sugars. The good news is that, if conditions are right, teeth can also undergo a re-mineralization.

When a tooth’s surface is clean and in a non-acidic environment, a tooth can actually reincorporate minerals, provided those minerals are in your diet in the first place. Sometimes this re-incorporation can even reverse previous damage. A diet high in minerals is necessary for this very reason. Some of the most mineral-dense foods you can eat are leafy green vegetables so it’s important to add enough greens to your eating plan to re-mineralize your teeth.

To sum things up: Fruit sugar per se doesn’t cause the tooth decay. The bacteria count does. And sugar is the food for bacteria. Normally, you want your bacteria count to be as low as possible. You want to avoid bacteria forming in to ‘colonies’ and creating their own little civilization in your mouth. If your oral environment is really clean… it doesn’t really matter if you eat dates all day. If the bacteria count is low, you can do that without problems.

You’re doing your health a tremendous favor when you adopt the low-fat raw vegan diet. That said, I must warn you against the most common mistake raw foodists make. Most people following a healthy raw food diet have no need for doctors’ visits. Naturally, they want to forget their dentists as well. If you come to raw foods with healthy teeth, you might be able to do this quite successfully. But if you have compromised teeth, your situation is dramatically different. Do not cancel your yearly checkup!

It seems there are some raw foodists out there who don’t take care of their teeth.  They figure they are eating “all-natural” so they don’t need to brush or floss.  This is not a good idea.  One should always floss and brush their teeth no matter what. Moreover, if you eat a diet high in fruit you should incorporate the advanced dental hygiene that we will discuss later in this article, and take active control of your oral environment. Just controlling your diet does not address the root of the problem.

Tips & Recommendations

Here is the list of my tips on how you can take a better care of your teeth on a diet high in fruit.

• Be careful of eating too much acidic (pineapple) and citrus (lemons, oranges, grapefruits, etc.) fruit. Limit consumption of citrus fruits and never brush your teeth after eating citrus. The reason: Citrus makes the enamel on your teeth softer. I did some research and found that apparently the citric acid in fruit can temporarily weaken tooth enamel. As a result, brushing immediately after eating fruit can wear down the enamel on your teeth. Instead, swish your mouth with water, wait about 30 minutes and brush your teeth. At that point the softening of the teeth has reversed itself with the help of the saliva in your mouth. If you are going to drink citrus juices or lemon water, use a straw and keep the liquid away from your teeth as much as you can.
• If you are having some dried fruit (dates, raisins and other sticky dried fruits), you should really brush and floss immediately afterward.  Those types of foods seriously get caught in your teeth (and particularly between your teeth) and can cause trouble if you don’t brush and floss. Personally, I don’t eat any dried fruit at all. I might use some fresh dates in my smoothie — when dates are blended with water and some juicy fruit they won’t stick to your teeth as much.
• If you are going to eat any nuts, it can be a good idea to soak them so they are soft when you eat them.  This is easier on the teeth.  Plus, this is an especially good idea if you have any fillings, crowns, etc., already.
• You might want to watch your intake of fruit juices.  The whole fruit in and of itself is fine because the fiber balances out the sugar content.  However, consuming fruits in juiced form could affect the teeth negatively if you drink them too much. As with citrus juices, use a straw to keep the liquid off of your teeth as much as you can. Check out this website for reusable drinking straws made of glass www.strawsome.com.
• Be sure to chew your food thoroughly: Proper chewing increases the flow of saliva, and your teeth will benefit from this increase. Chew each mouthful of raw foods thoroughly between 25 and 30 times. Even when you are drinking smoothies make an effort to chew each sip at least a few times to stimulate saliva production.
• Drink your green/fruit smoothies through a straw. This way, less sugar comes in contact with your teeth. If you really want to get serious about using a straw for drinking, you can buy inexpensive glass straws that will help eliminate your exposure to plastics as well as cut down on waste. For more info and a fun assortment of glass drinking straws to choose from you can visit: www.strawsome.com.
•  Eat a stalk of celery after every fruit meal.

Advanced Dental Hygiene

I highly recommend that you move from a regular hygiene program to an advanced hygiene program.

What does it mean? It mean this:

• Increasing the time you brush. Average American only brushes for 37 seconds which is NOT enough! You should brush at least for 2 minutes.

• If your oral hygiene habits are slack, begin today to step up your efforts at being diligent. Get a ShowerBreeze – Oral Irrigator with 3 ft hose. It costs about $24.00 and you can find it on the Internet. Begin using it every time you take a shower.

• If you have gum issues, especially around root-canalled teeth, professional cleaning can be very helpful. You must go in for cleanings, if you want to keep your compromised teeth.

•  Do not use toothpaste containing glycerin. It leaves a film on the enamel which prevents re-mineralization from nutrients in the diet. Try ToothSoap instead — a natural, fluoride-free cleanser.

• Use a tongue scraper.

• Spend more time taking care of your teeth and following your dental routine.

Oral Care Products I Use

ToothSoap is one of the dental care products that I personally use and highly recommend. Why? Because ToothSoap is an all-natural, fluoride-free, non-toxic “tooth and gum cleanser” designed to clean teeth and gums thoroughly for the best re-mineralization possible. ToothSoap also deep cleans fissures and pits in teeth — the most common places for cavities. ToothSoap removes oils, residue and other contaminants from teeth so that your healthy pH balanced saliva can re-mineralize your teeth. ToothSoap leaves no film on your teeth after brushing like toothpaste does. Even so-called ‘all-natural’ toothpastes contain glycerin which leaves a thin film on your teeth and prevents re-mineralization from taking place.

I’ve been using ToothSoap for almost three years now and after only a short while I’ve noticed some major improvements in the state of my mouth — my teeth were not that sensitive anymore and my gums didn’t bleed when I brushed. I also use Tooth Swish in between and after brushings, and you can learn more about it on the ToothSoap website. Tooth Swish is a powder that helps to neutralize food acids, promote salivation and bathe teeth with 84 ionic/collodial minerals and trace elements.

If you’re not familiar with ToothSoap at all, I sincerely encourage you to give it a try. They’re currently running a “Buy One Get One Free” special for the month of June, and they ship all over the world. Check out the website to find out more. Both ToothSoap and Tooth Swish will last you a long time.

Another dental product that I recently purchased and got to try is Tonya Zavasta’s Bentonine Oral Balm. Absolutely. Amazing. And. I. Am. In. Love. This Oral Balm has exceeded my expectations, even though I knew that Tonya’s standard for natural skin care and dental care products is extremely high. Almost unbelievably high. Tonya literally surpassed herself in an attempt to create an unmatched product in the market of natural dental care. I love, love, love everything about it — the smooth texture, the captivating smell, the clean fresh taste… and the total feeling in my mouth after I use it. Incredible product that I cannot recommend high enough.

I also use Tonya’s Siberian Pine Chewing Gum that is the purest, safest gum on the market, anywhere. I really like the gum and I also found out from Tonya that chewing gum is a good exercise that benefits our teeth, our gums, our jaw, and, ultimately, our good looks. Moreover, as Tonya states, it’s a terrific solution to stop eating at night and help dealing with cravings, and I can attest to that as well. Check out Tonya’s website for more info.

I truly hope this article was helpful and inspired you to take a better care of your teeth and gums. Even if you don’t eat a 100% raw low-fat high-fruit diet, you can still benefit from the information provided, if you apply the knowledge.

Here’s to You, Being Freed from Dental Disasters,

Vlada

Image credit: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Video Summary

• It’s a well-known fact that world’s long-lived & healthiest cultures consume diets that are naturally low in fat and high in carbohydrates. All those healthy populations consume 69-74% of their total calories from carbohydrates and under 20% of their calories from fat.
• Americans consume one-third to one-half of their calories as fat — the number tends to gravitate around 42% for the average fast-food connoisseur.
• Truly low-fat diet should include no more than 20% of total calories from fat (15% is better, and 10% or under 10% is the best). Most dietitians, nutritionists, sport scientists, and health professionals agree that approximately 10% of total calories from plant-based fat sources is moderate and more than adequate, and that health declines significantly on practically every level when fat consumption rises above the mid-teens.
• Switch to a low-fat diet in order to become a healthier person: increase your carbohydrate consumption and eat less fat. The best source of healthy carbohydrates is sweet fruit. On a high raw diet you can include relatively healthy cooked carbohydrates like steamed vegetables, baked potatoes, steamed quinoa or rice, etc.
• You can transition to a diet lower in far gradually. One of the most important steps you can take right now to experience better health is to completely eliminate oil from your diet. Oil is NOT health food. Refined oils (including coconut, flax, olive, hemp, almond, borage, and the like, which are touted as “pure” or “special” because of their source or carefully processing methods) are essentially empty calories. They are stripped of fiber, protein, and carbohydrates that accompanied the whole foods from which they were derived, leaving an imbalanced fractional product that is 100% fat. 
• It is always best to get our fat calories from whole foods (raw, unprocessed nuts & seeds, avocados, or young coconut flesh), and eat them sparingly. These foods provide some useful nutrition and are not automatically detrimental to health. Using such intact sources of fat in salad dressings and other dishes with their full complement of macro and micronutrients is by far preferable to using refined oils.

What about you? Do you find it challenging to switch to a diet lower in fat? What are you struggling the most with? And maybe you’re already eating a low-fat diet and are able to maintain it successfully… Please share your experience in the comments below! I read every comment and I’m looking forward to hear what YOU have to say!

Here’s to You, Eating Healthfully,
Vlada

There are certainly some other benefits I’ve experienced on a high fruit eating plan, and I’ve only mentioned my top few in this video.

What are YOUR reasons for eating a low-fat raw vegan diet or for wanting to adapt this way of eating? Do you have any particular health goals you would like to achieve through this diet & lifestyle? Please share in the comments below! I would LOVE to hear from you!

Here’s to You, Eating Healthfully,

Vlada

PS: Honey Kiss Melon I showed you in my video was divine! Very similar to a cantaloupe but twice as sweet. Oh my! One of the best melons I’ve ever had. I highly recommend this fruit! Yum! ♥ You can find some pictures and the description of this marvelous melon down below.

Honey Kiss Melon

Honey Kiss Melon Cut Open

Honey Kiss Melon

Honey Kiss Hami Gold is a new exclusive Hami melon variety. The Hami melon originated in the northwest province of Xinxiang in mainland China over 700 years ago and has been popular with the Chinese for centuries. It is said that the Hami melon was not originally produced in the Hami Prefecture but in nearby Shanshan. Because King Hami sent it to the Qing Emperor as a tribute, which praised the fruit greatly for its incomparable honey aroma, the melon was so named “Hami melon.” In China the Hami melon is called the “King of Melons” due to its sweet honey aroma, high vitamin content and perceived medicinal value.

Honey Kiss Hami Gold melon has a distinct light crisp texture and is incredibly refreshing and sweet. Honey Kiss melons have a lightly netted distinct yellow skin, pale orange flesh and are oval in shape. Some melons develop brown spots (sugar spots) due to their high sugar content and are the best tasting melons. Honey Kiss melons have a long shelf life and are extremely refreshing served cut into cubes or melon balls and chilled in the refrigerator.

Selection and Storage

Ripen at room temperature. Refrigerate cut melon and enjoy within 1 week.

Availability

May thru November. Melons come from Arizona and California. You can find Honey Kiss Melons at finer retail and club stores in the USA and Canada.