27th in my series of interview with fruitarians.. see the full list here: http://mangodurian.blogspot.com/2008/02/list-of-interviews-with-fruitarians.html
Could you please start off by introducing yourself.. tell us who you are, a little about yourself, how old you are, what part of the world you grew up in? anything particular else you consider might be relevant to get an insight into who you consider yourself to be..Its interesting to me the way you ask that question "who you consider yourself to be" that pretty much describes what we are i suppose. i was born and raised on Long Island in New York in 1961. My father was also and my mother was born and raised in Jamaica. My father is half italian and half african-american. My home was dysfunctional from birth, my parents separated and divorced while i was young and i really don't have much contact with either of them. i was a very angry and depressed child and young man. Then i met Jesus Christ and He began to change everything. i became a born again Christian in 1982 at the age of 21. i joined a church that taught that the body was the temple of God and should be treated as such. i had always been into health and exercise to some degree from a child (i learned this from my father). Over the years i experimented with many different health-related things. Different exercise routines, different health philosophies, different types of diets. i didn't realize it, but i was really searching for something. i now realize that until we really find what satisfies us in mind, soul and spirit, we will always be searching and many never find what they are looking for.
In 2001 i began to find it. i had a crisis in my life and i needed an answer from my Father in Heaven about it. i was very serious about it so i decided to just eat fruit and fast on water for 40 hours each week until i got my answer. i had no idea what i was doing. i did no research into it at all. i fully expected to be sick and get emaciated but the answer was more important to me than my health. Instead something wonderful happened. At first i did get sick and bloated and felt terrible. But then, about 8 weeks into it, i felt totally full of life and energy to a degree i had never experienced before. At the time i was jogging 3 miles per day, it would take me about half an hour. But when i hit this point, i began doing the same distance in about 24 minutes. After running i would rest a couple of minutes and feel like i didn't run at all. Well, some months later, i got my answer. It was miraculous to say the least. Once i did, i stopped the diet. This was the beginning of getting me to where i am now and where i am going.
Interesting, do you have a website or blog?we have a website.
www.rawremnant.com it's still being built.
It's a Christian ministry helping people who want to treat the body as the Temple of the Holy Ghost the Lord created it to be. We also do seminars (usually at churches) and prophecy studies. We believe that God's last day people will be raw vegans and the bible says that in Heaven all the people will be raw vegans. i blog on
www.iheartfruit.com This is a wonderful fruit-friendly site by a dear sweet woman named anne. i believe you have interview her and know her.
OK.. I gather you've been on a fruit only diet for the past 2 months or so now, is that correct??Yes, its been two months on just 100% fruit now.
And when do you think it was that you first realised that eating fruit was a definite good thing?i truly realized it as a child, but i never fully put much thought into it. i believe the Holy Spirit led me to do it in 2001. Then i realized it by my own experience, but i just thought it was temporary. Then when i became a raw vegan in 2004, i knew it, but i got caught up in gourmet raw veganism. But perhaps i needed to go thru that first.
Backtrack to your earlier years, what kind of diet did you grow up with? Could you give us a rough idea of what you used to eat on an average day?Being that my home was a broken one, it was me and my brother (and later my cousin) alone most of the time. My father (with whom we lived after the divorce) was very unpredictable in that he was a good provider but we never knew if he was coming home to beat us or cook for us. Sometimes he would do one, sometimes the other. Most of the time he would buy us a bunch of groceries and go to stay at his girlfriends house. Which was fine with us at the time. So it was every man for himself..lol. My brother became an excellent cook. He learned to make himself some very nice dishes. Me on the other hand, my meals were usually peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, cold cereal, oatmeal, pancakes or hotdogs. i also liked pot pies. Anything quick and easy. i also liked fruit but it wasn't any different than the rest, just quick and easy. i was married for about 8 years before i learned to sit down at the table for what was "supper time".
So a typical day was like this:
Breakfast:
If it was winter it would be oatmeal, if it was summer it would be PB&J [
Peanut Butter and Jelly], if it was a weekend it was pancakes.
Lunch:
at school i would usually get some sort of hero, usually turkey or bologna and cheese with some sugary fruit drink and something sweet for a dessert.
Dinner:
either PB&J or pot pies or hot dogs. If my dad was in a good mood, we would get pizza or McDonalds or fried chicken.
in between meals i would sometimes eat fruit.
Compare that to now, what does a typical days food intake look like for you now, and how long have you been eating this way?Today is vastly different (i thank my Heavenly Father and my Saviour for Grace).
Breakfast:
For the last five years its always been 100% fruit. Either whole, or in a smoothie or both. Lately i have really been drawn to melons in the morning. The watermelons have been good here lately so i have been eating that along with some oranges.
Lunch:
Whether i am 100% raw as now or during periods when i was as low as 75% raw i always ate something raw for lunch. Lunch is my biggest meal of the day. Either a large fruit or veggis salad. These days its a non-sweet fruity salad consisting of things like tomatoes, cucumbers, sweet peppers, apples, and celery. i will usually make some sort of sauce out of either plantains, mango, or avocado to go over it.
dinner:
Dinner is always fruit. Sometimes its a smoothie or whole fruit or both. These days its usually both.
Is it correct to say that you have complete faith in the 100% fruit diet?i believe that in my case its more accurate to say, i have faith in the God of the 100% fruit diet. i believe He created mankind to eat this diet and its best suited for the body. i am not one who puts much stock in man's theories (though some of them are good), but i put all my stock in the Bible. i believe the 100% fruit diet is the original bible diet.
So when did things start to change for you? Did you progress slowly to vegetarianism, veganism, raw food and fruitarianism, or was it more of a sudden change for you?? Anything at all that sparked those changes?Things started to change diet-wise in 1983 when i joined a certain church. As part of their doctrine i became a vegetarian. Then through the years i began to drift back towards eating fish and more junk food. My weight started increasing. In 1983 i weighed about 180lbs, by 1995 i weighed 220lbs. Now, i suppose there are much worse stories out there, but remember, health is a part of my religious beliefs and i had always been into exercising so this was totally unacceptable. By 1999 i was about 230-235lbs and desperate to do something about it. i began trying to jog and lift weights. i also began eating meat again that year. Then in October of that year the Lord convicted me about that and i stopped the flesh eating. In fact, at that time i became a vegan as the Lord convicted me about consuming any animal products. Then i started eating the fake soy meats as a substitute. Honestly, those things are worse for you than the flesh of an animal. i began to fall more deeply into one of two addictions i had not faced about myself; sugar. i was hooked on sugary things. So any sweet thing whose label did not list animal products i ate. Needless to say, my health and my weight were not doing well. Then came the crisis in 2001 that i mentioned earlier. While on the fruit diet, my weight went from about 225lbs down to 190lbs in about 8 weeks. It was amazing. Yet i was so focused on getting an answer spiritually that when i got it, i foolishly stopped the diet. Also, in all fairness, i had moved to New Hampshire in northern New England and i was concerned about facing the winter without anything warm in my stomach.
Then my weight shot up again and my health declined. Then in 2004 i began to do something with regard to diet that i had never done. Pray about it. Now that seems crazy for a Christian, but its true. i began to pray and ask for help from Heaven so that my body would become God's Temple. At that time i received strength and immediately went on a fast of just fresh squeezed OJ [
Orange Juice]for two weeks. i felt fantastic. i was so excited and i began to search the web for more information. i discovered raw gourment foods. Looking back i now understand that it would have been better for me at that point to stick with the fruit only but i am glad i went thru the raw gourmet phase because it helped me come to understand the second addiction i didn't realize i had; salt.
Within months of going raw in 2004 i was completely free of my sugar addiction as the fruit totally fulfilled me. i also began running; now prior to that time i had never in my life run more than 5 miles. Within months of going raw i was running 8 miles up hills with 1 pound weights in my hands. i had so much energy. Living in the country in New Hampshire helped. The air is so clean and fresh and we lived in a very small town (less than 1000 people) and we had fresh springs to get our water. It was great in that regard. Of course, the winters are not very nice, but thats another story. i stayed raw and even though i ate gourmet raw foods, i still ate a very high quantity of fruit. Really during the coldest days in an old drafty house, i was fine.
From that point each year i would do some sort of juice fast. Either pure juice or in conjunction with the Master Cleanse. It would range anywhere from 20 to 30 days. In the beginning of 2008 i was blessed to do 39 days on juice. Each time i would get cleansed further and be more attuned spiritually. This is an important point, in 2004 i began to discover how the clearer my mind got the clearer i was able to connect with Heaven. i was able to more clearly see my own true condition, the truths of the bible and especially the meanings of prophecies. It was in 2004 that the Raw Remnant ministry was launched. It was in part, because of these developments that i was disfellowshipped from the church i had joined in 1983 (i had been a member for 23 years). i was deeply disappointed at first, but then i was definitely shown that this was of God. i was being led by Him and that gave me tremendous comfort as i was shunned by all those who used to call me their brother. But it was all necessary for my growth.
Anyways, as 2008 was approaching its close, i began to prepare for my usual juice fast at the beginning of 2009. But i was led to end 2008 eating fruit only. No gourmet raw, no salt, no nuts, just fruits. Now i believe nuts are fruits also, but i was led to leave them at least at this point. After about a week i was convicted to stay on all fruits....permanently. i was not sure if this was my will or the Lord's so i committed to it for 2009 and will see where it leads me. It has now been 60 days.
Where in the world are you currently located, and how long have you been there?i am now residing in southern Virginia, usa. i am just outside of the city of Roanoke. i was led here for what purpose i don't know as yet. But it is a beautiful place surrounded by beautiful mountains. The people are much nicer here than in the northern places i am from and its so much warmer. i like that part the best.
Do you travel much? if so, have you met any other fruitarians on your journeys?i had been traveling in different parts of the usa for business and the ministry. But since we have moved down here and been separated from our former church i have not traveled at all. i believe the Lord is dealing with us here, further developing us. i have spoken at a Baptist college here last year on Bible health and they have asked me to speak there again twice more in the coming weeks.
i have one brother in Christ who is a raw vegan with his family. They came down to Virginia from New Hampshire with us. They live an hour or so from us but we don't get to fellowship as often as we'd like. So basically there is no one else. i don't mind that though, as i want to live the message by example and the world needs it.
Can you tell us a little more about your health before and after the dietry changes you've made? Especially more about your weight and the losses & gains?My health has been fantastic over the last 5 years. Prior to this particular period, my weight was about 190-193lbs usually. These days its 185-187lbs and dropping. i have no idea where it will bottom but its fun to watch. i am just going with it and eating all fruit.
What do your mother and father make of your being fruitarian? What about the rest of your family?My family is disintegrated as far as mother, father, brother, cousins... etc. i have a beautiful wife, four beautiful children and two beautiful grandchildren (whom i don't get to see because they live far away). This year will be our 25th wedding aniversary. The Lord has replaced our broken family with a new loving family. i am very blessed. My wife and family totally fought against me in 2004 when i went raw. My wife pretty much fights each change i make. i learned early on to say nothing. Not to argue or defend myself. i just pray and live by example. i never force my family into anything. As a result, now my wife is 100% raw along with my oldest daughter. My two youngest children are very strict vegans (high raw actually). My oldest son (he is in the army and is stationed with his wife and children far from me) is 29 years old and he is starting to seek to improve his health. He hates it when people think we are brothers and don't know who is the oldest......lol.
So you're wife seems to be supportive now?Yes, a beautiful, virtuous wife of 25 years. She is what the bible describes in Proverbs 31 as a Virtuous woman. That's the highest level of wife. i am very blessed.
What's your view on supplements? - Stuff like vitamin pills, spirulina or similar? Are you at all concerned about not getting enough calcium/protein/B12/whatevers??Completely unnecessary. The bible says, God made man upright, but man seeks out many inventions. Stuff made in laboratories should not be trusted. Thats how i feel about it. Thats what i believe. i take no pills of any kind. If there is a problem that ever arises, it will probably be because i have either not eaten enough fruit, gotten enough sunshine, or fresh air or rest or exercise or i have sinned in some other way against the Lord in the laws of my body or His moral law. But it won't be because of a lack of pills or supplements.
Nice answer! Do you, or have you ever, suffered at all from cravings, or have you ever binge eaten? how do/did you deal with such times?i have binge eaten. In the last five years though, it has usually been on some fruit or another. i feel there is something that my body is looking for in it. Lately for example i cannot get enough of watermelon and orange. The only thing that stops me from really getting alot is the cost and my lack of funds. But its something in there my body wants. Last weekend i binged on durian.....that was big fun!
Do you ever talk with others about fruitarianism? If so, what do you think is the most common question people might ask you about it?Fruitarianism it the original bible diet. Its the diet of the redeemed in Heaven and its a big part of the Raw Remnant ministry presentation. We have a CD we send out for free called "Why what we Eat is a Salvation Issue" we send to those who are truly seeking to make the body the Temple of the Holy Ghost it was created to be. The most common question is the protien one that every raw vegan gets.....
"where do you get your protien"....
i tell people that Jesus Christ created the body by hand, He created the fruit diet for man and Adam lived 930 years after he sinned. i don't think he had a protien deficiency. i put no trust in man but in the Word of God. People are free to chose what they want to believe and if they want to put trust in science (so-called), good for them. i trust my Creator and the diet He made for me. i tell them nations that eat the most protien are the ones that get the most cancer. The bible predicted this in Isaiah 24. It says the earth is defiled and corrupted because its inhabitants have transgressed the covenant. The animals are being slaughtered for man's lust, not for his survival. The diseases and stress that are in the animals are in the people that eat them. i tell people look around you, look at yourself, how many pills are you taking? How many people in your family have heart disease, diabetes, cancer and other diseases? You think this is an accident? Oh, i could go on and on, but you get the picture. In the end though, i seek to stress how much their Creator loves them, but He will not force them to go His way, its their choice.
Do you have a favourite fruit and can you recall the first time you tried one?My favorite fruit is a mango. First ate one in Florida when i was eleven years old. Last weekend for the first time i ate durian. i am in love! i have been invited to preach to some very poor people in the phillipines. We are praying that if its the Lord's will he will provide the means. i told them i could live on durian and mango. That made them very happy. i also love avocadoes. Yummy. But i eat only one or two a day as i feel it they can be heavy on my system. My favorite juice though is that of the orange. i could (and have) also live on this if need be.
Where and how do you see yourself living and eating in 10 years from now?As i read the prophecies of the bible, there is not much time for this world. i don't see mankind lasting more than 10 more years. If that is the case, i want to be eating of the fruit of the Tree of Life in 10 years with all the redeemed from all ages and listening to Jesus sing for us as the Bible says he would. i want to be drinking of the water from the River of Life. If this world will end, then the new world will begin. No more sorrow, sadness, sickness and tears. The former things will be passed away. That is where i want to be in 10 years.
How do you feel if people tell you that you must be crazy, and that you can't possibly survive eating the way you do??i don't argue with people about anything. Man's theories mean nothing to me. i will respect everyone's opinion, but i follow the Word of God. i know what i know from my own experience and faith. i truly have immense respect for those who do things they have learned from their own experience rather than theories. Even if it completely is diametrically opposed to my own beliefs. Because that is where they are. i do survive and thrive as many have looked upon me and told me. That's proof enough.
Finally, is there anything you'ld like to add as words of encouragement to those that are aspiring toward fruitarianism?Well, people do many things for even many more reasons. i can only speak from my own experience. If you are looking to be a god yourself, i cannot help you. If you are wanting to make your body the Temple of the God of Heaven, ask Him for His love and Grace. Tell Him how weak you are, He understands. He will help you. Believe with all your heart and do not listen to the voices of the faithless and unbelieving (even if those voices are in your own head). You are guaranteed complete victory, its only a matter of time. It will take everything you have because you will be opposed on every side (even from yourself), but go forward, the blessings are yours and have been paid for by One who loves you very much.
Grace and Peace be multiplied unto you.
Thanks Todd!!
