Tag Archive for: Doug Graham

Loni Jane Anthony pregnant and eating 10 bananas a day: She says “80:10:10 diet saved my life”

A pregnant woman eating 10 bananas a day in Australia is making world-wide news and stirring a lot more than raw cacao and acai bowls… Loni Jane Anthony is a 25-year old pregnant blogger and instagram sensation, famously known as “10-bananas-a-day” Loni Jane.

Loni Jane was recently featured on news.com.au in Australia where she discussed her the details of her “extreme diet,” considered even more extreme to many because she is now 26 weeks pregnant.

“It all started about three years ago. I started getting skin infections, acne and putting on weight which was weird because I’d always been so slim. I wanted to sleep all the time and ended up with a whole range of health problems including candida overgrowth, hormone imbalance, irregular periods and hair loss,” she said.

She says that years of a party-hard lifestyle with excessive partying, drinking and alcohol left her sick and desperate for a solution. She turned to the 80-10-10 diet, a diet created by Dr. Doug Graham consisting of low-fat, whole, fresh, uncooked fruits and vegetables after her health hit rock bottom.

“It wasn’t for weight loss or for a quick fix. I was internally really sick; I was killing myself slowly. If I’d kept living that lifestyle I would’ve ended up with a disease like cancer or early ageing. So giving up that food was really quite simple for me,” Loni said.

“I came across the 80:10:10 Diet from an extreme fruitarian. She really taught me that you can live and thrive on this lifestyle by just eating higher carbohydrate vegetables, fruits and juices, and keeping your diet low fat. You even keep good fats low to keep your blood sugar stable. It’s been amazing.”

Loni also tried the Paleo Diet and Gerson Therapy before converting to 80-10-10 or “811,” a low-fat, plant-based diet – which is 80% carbs, 10% fat and 10% protein.

Now 26 weeks pregnant with her first child, Loni Jane says The 80:10:10 Diet ‘saved her life.’

“I usually wake up about 4.30am-5am and have up to two litres of warm water with lemon. I let that go down for two or three hours. In summer I like to eat half a watermelon to get hydrated,” she said.

“If I don’t have watermelon I’ll have a big smoothie with at least five bananas, but usually more than five because organic bananas are smaller, and about a litre of filtered water. I also always have oranges in the morning being pregnant. I’m obsessed with eating oranges.

“At lunch I usually like to have a mono meal, meaning one type of fruit, which is really good for digestion and goes straight through you. At the moment it’s mangoes I’m hooked on so my meal for lunch will be at least five or six mangoes. I might then have a salad later depending on how active I am that day.

“Dinner is always a huge salad with a tahini dressing. If I decide to have something cooked I’ll have it on the side like at the moment my crispy no-fat potatoes are divine.”

“I feel like now I can share who I really am and I’m not trying to hide behind alcohol and partying. I don’t need to alter my state and get drunk to feel like myself or to have fun. I didn’t quit alcohol altogether but it’s no longer five days a week, it’s more like once every five months.”

“If you live your passion people will see that. I’m just living it, and living exactly what you see, and that’s what inspires people I think. Because I’m at an age where most people are out getting super-drunk and taking heaps of drugs and having no self-respect, so I like to inspire girls because I was once in that position as well.”

So, the big question… is this ok? Is it safe for a woman to be eating 10 bananas a day while pregnant? First I should say that I’m happy to hear of any story that gets us talking more about fruits and vegetables! Loni Jane is a very pretty girl. It sounds like she’s feeling great during her pregnancy and I hope she’s getting her iron levels tested and regular health check-ups to make sure the baby is ok.

From my own point of view, I personally think Loni Jane is a bit too thin and she looks very thin in her pregnancy photos, but just that’s my opinion. Of course, some woman can be very thin and healthy while pregnant. The most important thing to do while pregnant is have regular doctor visits and make sure the baby is developing at the right rate, that the heart rate is ok and that the mother is not anemic or mineral deficient.

When I see photos like this, I worry more about the implications of what kind of image this puts out to young girls and women. I’ve worked with many women with eating disorders and I’ve seen the obsession with flat-belly “selfie photos” all too often… I’ve also worked with many women who had drug and alcohol addictions, and went straight from that addiction into a strict and regimented 100% raw food diet. Replacing one addiction for another keeps an obsessive-like behavior, it isolates a person from family and friends, and keeps them locked into a “perfection-seeking” lifestyle. Often these women will binge and purge between raw food and junk food, desperately trying to find a stable middle-ground. Underneath that can be a real lack of self-value, self-worth and self-love. Some women will even combine their 100% fruitarian diet with getting breast implants, cheek fillers, lip fillers and botox but then profess their love of raw food and living a “natural life.” When young girls see an image of a size 0 women with size D silicon gravity-defying breasts drinking a green juice or holding a handful of bananas, it just doesn’t give plant-based diets or raw food a good name. How do we find a balance, when it’s clear that sex and beauty sell? In truth, there is no easy solution.

It’s definitely important for pregnant and breast-feeding mothers to get enough fat, protein and calcium in their diet. If a pregnant women is vegan, vegetarian, fruitarian or raw foodist, she should be extra attentive to her nutritional needs. Eating 10 bananas a day while pregnant is perfectly fine. (How many women eat 2 bagels, a bag of cookies, ice cream and cake while pregnant…and no one bats an eye?) However, in the early stages of pregnancy, it’s especially important to avoid too many high Vitamin C foods. High doses of Vitamin C can stop the body from making progesterone, the main pregnancy hormone. It could be dangerous for young pregnant women to follow Loni’s diet if they eat too many mangoes and oranges thinking they are doing the right thing, when in fact the high amounts of Vitamin C could trigger a miscarriage. It’s also not a good idea to go straight from a SAD or meat-eating diet into a 100% raw food diet at the onset of pregnancy and this can stir up a lot of toxins from the natural detox effect and that’s not good for a growing baby.

In Loni’s case, she seems to be doing well at 26 weeks and I wish her all the best. She’s got a creative eye and her photos of raw food are great! I’m happy that she is bringing a lot of attention to eating a more plant-based diet and she sounds like she’s pretty grounded in her approach to dealing with her new-found fame.

What do you think? I look forward to reading your comments below!

Related Article: Is it safe to detox while pregnant or breastfeeding?

Raw Food Diet Articles:

Loni Jane Anthony pregnant and eating 10 bananas a day: She says “80:10:10 diet saved my life”

A pregnant woman eating 10 bananas a day in Australia is making world-wide news and stirring a lot more than raw cacao and acai bowls… Loni Jane Anthony is a 25-year old pregnant blogger and instagram sensation, famously known as “10-bananas-a-day” Loni Jane.

Loni Jane was recently featured on news.com.au in Australia where she discussed her the details of her “extreme diet,” considered even more extreme to many because she is now 26 weeks pregnant.

“It all started about three years ago. I started getting skin infections, acne and putting on weight which was weird because I’d always been so slim. I wanted to sleep all the time and ended up with a whole range of health problems including candida overgrowth, hormone imbalance, irregular periods and hair loss,” she said.

She says that years of a party-hard lifestyle with excessive partying, drinking and alcohol left her sick and desperate for a solution. She turned to the 80-10-10 diet, a diet created by Dr. Doug Graham consisting of low-fat, whole, fresh, uncooked fruits and vegetables after her health hit rock bottom.

“It wasn’t for weight loss or for a quick fix. I was internally really sick; I was killing myself slowly. If I’d kept living that lifestyle I would’ve ended up with a disease like cancer or early ageing. So giving up that food was really quite simple for me,” Loni said.

“I came across the 80:10:10 Diet from an extreme fruitarian. She really taught me that you can live and thrive on this lifestyle by just eating higher carbohydrate vegetables, fruits and juices, and keeping your diet low fat. You even keep good fats low to keep your blood sugar stable. It’s been amazing.”

Loni also tried the Paleo Diet and Gerson Therapy before converting to 80-10-10 or “811,” a low-fat, plant-based diet – which is 80% carbs, 10% fat and 10% protein.

Now 26 weeks pregnant with her first child, Loni Jane says The 80:10:10 Diet ‘saved her life.’

“I usually wake up about 4.30am-5am and have up to two litres of warm water with lemon. I let that go down for two or three hours. In summer I like to eat half a watermelon to get hydrated,” she said.

“If I don’t have watermelon I’ll have a big smoothie with at least five bananas, but usually more than five because organic bananas are smaller, and about a litre of filtered water. I also always have oranges in the morning being pregnant. I’m obsessed with eating oranges.

“At lunch I usually like to have a mono meal, meaning one type of fruit, which is really good for digestion and goes straight through you. At the moment it’s mangoes I’m hooked on so my meal for lunch will be at least five or six mangoes. I might then have a salad later depending on how active I am that day.

“Dinner is always a huge salad with a tahini dressing. If I decide to have something cooked I’ll have it on the side like at the moment my crispy no-fat potatoes are divine.”

“I feel like now I can share who I really am and I’m not trying to hide behind alcohol and partying. I don’t need to alter my state and get drunk to feel like myself or to have fun. I didn’t quit alcohol altogether but it’s no longer five days a week, it’s more like once every five months.”

“If you live your passion people will see that. I’m just living it, and living exactly what you see, and that’s what inspires people I think. Because I’m at an age where most people are out getting super-drunk and taking heaps of drugs and having no self-respect, so I like to inspire girls because I was once in that position as well.”

So, the big question… is this ok? Is it safe for a woman to be eating 10 bananas a day while pregnant? First I should say that I’m happy to hear of any story that gets us talking more about fruits and vegetables! Loni Jane is a very pretty girl. It sounds like she’s feeling great during her pregnancy and I hope she’s getting her iron levels tested and regular health check-ups to make sure the baby is ok.

From my own point of view, I personally think Loni Jane is a bit too thin and she looks very thin in her pregnancy photos, but just that’s my opinion. Of course, some woman can be very thin and healthy while pregnant. The most important thing to do while pregnant is have regular doctor visits and make sure the baby is developing at the right rate, that the heart rate is ok and that the mother is not anemic or mineral deficient.

When I see photos like this, I worry more about the implications of what kind of image this puts out to young girls and women. I’ve worked with many women with eating disorders and I’ve seen the obsession with flat-belly “selfie photos” all too often… I’ve also worked with many women who had drug and alcohol addictions, and went straight from that addiction into a strict and regimented 100% raw food diet. Replacing one addiction for another keeps an obsessive-like behavior, it isolates a person from family and friends, and keeps them locked into a “perfection-seeking” lifestyle. Often these women will binge and purge between raw food and junk food, desperately trying to find a stable middle-ground. Underneath that can be a real lack of self-value, self-worth and self-love. Some women will even combine their 100% fruitarian diet with getting breast implants, cheek fillers, lip fillers and botox but then profess their love of raw food and living a “natural life.” When young girls see an image of a size 0 women with size D silicon gravity-defying breasts drinking a green juice or holding a handful of bananas, it just doesn’t give plant-based diets or raw food a good name. How do we find a balance, when it’s clear that sex and beauty sell? In truth, there is no easy solution.

It’s definitely important for pregnant and breast-feeding mothers to get enough fat, protein and calcium in their diet. If a pregnant women is vegan, vegetarian, fruitarian or raw foodist, she should be extra attentive to her nutritional needs. Eating 10 bananas a day while pregnant is perfectly fine. (How many women eat 2 bagels, a bag of cookies, ice cream and cake while pregnant…and no one bats an eye?) However, in the early stages of pregnancy, it’s especially important to avoid too many high Vitamin C foods. High doses of Vitamin C can stop the body from making progesterone, the main pregnancy hormone. It could be dangerous for young pregnant women to follow Loni’s diet if they eat too many mangoes and oranges thinking they are doing the right thing, when in fact the high amounts of Vitamin C could trigger a miscarriage. It’s also not a good idea to go straight from a SAD or meat-eating diet into a 100% raw food diet at the onset of pregnancy and this can stir up a lot of toxins from the natural detox effect and that’s not good for a growing baby.

In Loni’s case, she seems to be doing well at 26 weeks and I wish her all the best. She’s got a creative eye and her photos of raw food are great! I’m happy that she is bringing a lot of attention to eating a more plant-based diet and she sounds like she’s pretty grounded in her approach to dealing with her new-found fame.

What do you think? I look forward to reading your comments below!

Related Article: Is it safe to detox while pregnant or breastfeeding?

Raw Food Diet Articles:

Raw Spirit Festival Sedona, Arizona – Raw Food Lectures, Speakers & Inspiration!

Well, it’s all over now, but it was a great 3 days last weekend in the magical red rock of Sedona, Arizona. The 3rd Annual Raw Food Festival was in full-force, and even though the turn-out was less than expected…there were perhaps 1,000 people instead of the predicted 5,000….it was still a great time had by all.

Viktoras Kulvinskas

Perhaps the hardest thing to deal with all weekend was that there were too many things all happening at once – with 3 talks going at any time plus raw food cooking demos plus meditations every hour and exercise workshops in addition to live music and all the vendor booths, it was just impossible to see and do everything!

I met some amazing people, from the speakers to just other participants like me, and if only I had more time, I would have met more of them! I guess there is always next year….

Anyway, the speakers….so many good ones.

Everyone had something unique to add and something good to say – this was the beauty that I saw even within the diversity of the speakers.

David Wolfe was someone who I was really excited to see…especially because his book ‘The Sunfood Diet Success System’ was the main book that I used in my raw food transformation. I must admit that since then he has gone a lot more commercial, and many would say that he is a supplement pusher more than anything else these days, but I did enjoy his talks and his enthusiasm. You can’t deny that this guy is into raw foods, that’s for sure. He had some great points. I liked when he said, ‘We are coming out of a nutritional holocaust.’

He noted that, ‘Everything we eat is affecting our state of consciousness.’ Now we all know that, but think about it really. I mean REALLY. Include in there the coffee and cakes and chocolates and all the little things which really do add up in a big way.

I had the great pleasure of seeing Dr. Flora VanOrden speak, she has been a raw foodist for over 40 years and worked with Ann Wigmore for over 25 years. This was her first public appearance in over 10 years, and we were all blessed to hear her words of wisdom. She has done some amazing work over the years doing outreach education. She outlined her secret recipe for a longevity smoothie, and hey, it looks like it’s working for her!

Kris Carr

One of the most motivating speakers I saw was Kris Carr author of Crazy, Sexy Cancer. This woman is so incredibly positive and uplifting, and to hear her come from a place of real healing and still remain so full of love and gratitude, well it was completely inspiring. She definitely advocates changing to a healthy diet but also doesn’t over-define the diet she is on and allows room to accept herself with the cancer, instead of feeling that life would only be good or whole if the cancer were gone. I hope to see more of her outside of hospitals and more speaking to general audiences because we need to get this message to people BEFORE they get sick. Prevention, yeah.

She also talked about affirmations and saying every day, ‘Thank you for my perfect health, my spiritual wealth and my happiness.’ Something we can all do, wherever we are!

Other great quotes to remember…’Vote with your Fork!’ and ‘Make Juice, not War!’

I also saw Dr. Yashpal Jayne who spoke about Ayurvedic principles, Dr. Jameth Sheridan, Dr. Ritamarie Loscaizo talking about thyroid dysfunction, Brigitte Mars explaining color therapy, Philip McCluskey who has had an amzing transformation and has lost over 200 pounds on his raw food journey, and Ronnie and Minh talking about sprouting sunflower seeds at home (they are so cool by the way).

Minh, me and Ji Young – Raw Girl Power!!

Are you overwhelmed yet??? I was!!

I was very inspired by seeing Matthew and Terces Engleheart, owners of Cafe Gratitude in San Francisco talk about their concept of ‘Sacred Commerce.’ They are the most genuine, kind-hearted people and I am sure that every staff member they have feels lucky to work for them. They talked about ‘clearing energies’ with each staff member before each shift as a way to make each and every person feel loved and appreciated, and from there as they start their work for the day, they are only spreading more of the same love and, well, gratitude. We practiced the exercise on each other…and it really works!! I so hope to meet them again!

And, just so you know….we are only half-way through the festival at this stage!!! So you can imagine how many great speakers there were…quite a few that I was sorry to have missed 🙂

I was very happy to see Karen Knowler from the U.K. and I was impressed how authentic and down-to-earth her message was….I really wasn’t sure what to expect after seeing her website which seemed very commercialized, but I’ve gotta say that girl is speaking her truth, and living it too. She’s a great public speaker and had me feeling inspired by the end. As she said, you’ve gotta ‘find a way that works for you.’

She points out that when you eat something, ‘ask yourself, what am I trying to get from this food and why?’.

She also stresses visualization and emphasizes that you need to have a bigger version of yourself to step into on your journey. So….who do you want to be???

Sunday morning was my day of enlightenment during the festival. I had a silent prayer very early Sunday morning where I asked to meet someone who really motivated and uplifted me, and on the very first talk I went to at 8:00am Sunday morning, I knew I was receiving what I had asked for! Dr. Medicine Wolf was, by far, the highlight if my weekend. One of the first things he said was that he has dedicated his life ‘to the healing of Mother Earth and all Life.’ And he was genuine, wow this guy moved every single person in that room. The most impressive thing about him is that he has no ego whatsoever. Just a man full of love dedicated to helping everyone. As he said, ‘I don’t care if you are a butterfly, an elephant, a dog or a cat or a human being, I want to help you all just the same.’

He made it very clear that ‘we lose a species to extinction every 10 minutes, and WE are on that list!!’.

Medicine Wolf, what a special soul

He talked a lot about the chemicalization and radiation that is affecting the planet and all life today. His words were ‘we have to move from a numb and dumb situation; we need to advance our brain and we will discover that we have the intelligence to live in a disease-free state and every thing we need to do this is in Mother Earth.’ He also explained the importance of frequency 528, the exact scientific frequency of divine unconditional love. If you make one goal from reading this entry, it should be to try and meet Medicine Wolf just once in your lifetime.

Before I forget, I must mention Shantree and Lorenna, such a beautiful couple living their message and sharing so much wisdom and knowledge with others. I really felt a connection to them and would highly recommend anyone visiting their centre and working with them in the future.

I love Shantree’s concept of ‘spending 20 minutes every day with a tree’ as a way to actively meditate and re-connect with nature. You guys rock!!

I was so busy moving from talk to talk that I missed Victoria Boutenko’s talk, but luckily I was able to meet her in person and have a chat about Green Smoothies, because I tell you, her book ‘Green for Life’ is incredible, and it really helped so many raw foodists I know add an extra value-packed meal to their diet each day. That woman is so gentle and kind and really genuine…I so hope she comes to Thailand soon 🙂

Now…we are finally getting to the ‘headliners.’ Sunday was a day FULL of amazing speakers. I finally got to see Victoras Kulvinskas speak, and I can honestly tell you that this guy is so HIGHLY evolved and so incredibly intelligent that he has to struggle to come back to earth and find a way to communicate to us mere humans. It’s so unbelievable and if you weren’t energetically tuned-in, you might say that he has dementia or that he is ‘out-there,’ and guess what, in a way you would be right! This guy is super-knowledgeable and I find it such a shame that in the recently aired television show 20/20 on USA tv network ‘abc,’ that Victoras was edited to look like a complete fool when asked about this so-called new health threat called ‘orthorexia.’ If you had a chance to meet Victoras in person and if you had any ounce of conscious to your spiritual body, you would know instantly that this guy is tapped into something much bigger than what we know on earth to date. Enough said. I love him! His talk was uplifting, full of useful knowledge and very funny as well!

Victor man, keep being you!!

So many people to mention, but gotta wrap this up so I’m going to end with mentioning 2 very impressionable speakers for me this year…one is Gabriel Cousins who has been a spiritual and health teacher to so many and is so powerful in his energy and his presence. His talks centered mainly on the success he has has in reversing diabetes just through diet. Check out his new DVD on the subject. This guy is an MD from Columbia Medical School by the way, and he has embraced the raw food diet for over 30 years!!

So enough with calling us ‘airy-fairies’ – ha!

And finally I must mention Doug Graham who was one of the last speakers of the festival but had one of the most powerful messages and that was ‘I though this was a raw food festival…so where is the FOOD?’ Hahaha…you knid-of had to be here to get the joke, but the festival was over-run with vendors selling supplements and ‘super’ foods and everyone agreed there was a definite lack of ‘real’ food.

Gotta give it to Doug who is true to his message which is EAT WHOLE FOODS!

One Free Raw Food Meal Per Day

In that case there is no need for supplements or processed and refined superfoods. I liked his simplicity – it goes a long way. All the Doug crew are invited to Koh Samui anytime for some yummy Durian indulging. Earn your food – yeah!

What can I say to close except I am fully inspired to be a speaker at the festival next year! We need more girl power representing and also we need someone like me to tell my story, which is totally different to everyone’s story I heard, and to speak to the newbies in the raw food world because we have to find a way to make this lifestyle work for everyone, no matter where they are on their journey!

With that I say HAPPY EATING and MANY BLESSINGS!!!

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Raw Spirit Festival In Sedona, Arizona and I’m there!

I’m back in the raw foods again and ahh, it feels so RIGHT! The energy of the cooked foods was ok, and I guess in terms of Traditional Chinese Medicine I was removing excess ‘damp’ by having steamed veggies, but I can honestly say that my overall alive-ness feels so much more ‘alive’ when I am eating the veggies raw, not steamed.

Yum.

And on that note…it’s a perfect lead into talking about the Raw Spirit Festival this year in Sedona, Arizona:

So…guess who’s going?? ME! I’m really excited. In just 1 week I’ll be back in Philadelphia visiting family and friends and enjoying all the love from home. And in just over 2 weeks, I’ll be in Sedona, Arizona celebrating life and raw food living with the best of the best raw foodists from around the globe! What an idea and already the energies of good intention are conspiring to bring good things to me out of this experience and I am not even there yet!!

I’ve met some super people online who are giving me a ride from Phoenix to Sedona, and, if that wasn’t enough, they’ve offered to let me share their hotel room with them for the festival – yeah! Shower and bed, check. I’ve got another friend who is flying all the way from Korea to come to the festival – she’ll be hanging out with some friends who have a van to sleep in…so I’ve got more people to catch up with. Friends, check. Then I’ll be seeing all the latest and freshest information and knowledge from some of the most experienced raw foodists, vegans and vegetarians ever, people like David Wolfe, Doug Graham, Victoria Boutenko, Victoras Kulvinskas, Karen Knowler, Gabriel Cousins and more!! Inspiration, check. Excitement, double check!!

I’ll be keeping you all posted along the way.

Til then, remember, you have everything you need from Mother Nature to heal yourself.

Fall is fast approaching in the Northern Hemisphere. Apples are soon to come out in season. You know what this means? Time for some liver cleansing!!! Make a variety of fresh apple juices every day to help the liver tonify and detoxify. It’s that easy.

Slow down on the caffeine and alcohol for awhile. Give the liver a rest. Eat more GREENS! Try some GREEN SMOOTHIE POWER for yourself!!

Feel how good it feels to be healthy inside! Let GO of any anger or resentment. Live in gratitude in every moment! Feel how lucky we are to be alive and have this experience on this beautiful earth! Now…go and have some FUN!!

Read about my personal experiences and see the pictures from Sedona Raw Spirit here:

Raw Spirit Festival 2008 – Sedona, Arizona – Raw Food Inspiration!

You’ve Gotta Cleanse! by Scott Kalechstein at Sedona Raw Spirit Festival

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