Tell us about yourself: your age, where you live, your job, your family, and the like.

My name is Ronnie Smith, I am 30 years old and live in Glasgow, Scotland. I work for the Civil Service and also teach guitar. I am the main organizer of the UK Fruitfest, a raw vegan festival in the UK. I am currently single and have no children.

 

Do you eat 100% raw vegan?

Yes, and have so since August 2012. I will admit I sometimes stretch the “raw” line a little far, and use some things like pasteurized juice, frozen vegetables and nuts that were probably heated in their preparation but generally I eat simple monomeals of fruit and simple yet delicious vegetable meals.

How long have you been eating the 80/10/10 way?

I started to embrace an 80/10/10 vegan diet in September 2011 but still included cooked food. I continued to go for longer and longer periods on 100% raw foods over the course of the year after having read and been fully convinced by the information contained in the 80/10/10 diet book. I eventually moved to 100% raw in August 2012. A big part of making that decision was listening to Dr Graham speak live, at an event.

Why did you choose this path?

I have always been very conscious of my health and from a fairly young age made changes to my diet and lifestyle that improved my health. I always enjoyed giving up an old habit or type of food and feeling my body and mind respond in a positive way to the change. It was inevitable that I would eventually completely embrace the health benefits that could be attained from a raw food diet.

The lifestyle fits with my ethics and in particular my belief in aiming to do as little harm to one’s self as possible and at the same time to cause as little cruelty to animals and damage to the planet as possible.

Eating 80/10/10 fully supports you in anything you want to achieve. Your brain and body will improve for the better and your confidence and belief in what you can achieve will reach new heights.

I also believe that something about going back to eating our natural diet of fruit will bring us back to a closer alignment with nature and a more peaceful world.

Describe your journey from the diet you were raised with to raw vegan.

I was raised on a standard diet for someone living in Scotland. Breakfast was usually a cereal with milk or maybe toast with butter or jam. Lunch and dinner would often include some form of meat with starches (mince and potatoes, fish and chips, rice with chicken etc).

There is also a habit in Scotland of deep frying food (deep fried pizza being a particular delicacy) and occasionally we ate traditional Scottish food like Haggis (made from sheep’s lungs and intestines) or Black Pudding (made from sheep’s blood).

I was not a fan of vegetables and avoided anything green. I always enjoyed eating fruit but was also a bit of a sugar junkie eating a lot of food with refined sugar in it.

Unlike many people in my country, I never got into the habit of drinking alcohol. Despite this I could tell that my fitness and health were gradually going downhill in my late teens and early twenties.

I gave up refined sugar, then caffeine. I really enjoyed the improvement in my health from making those commitments and thought I had found the elixir of true health. Eventually I made an ethical choice to go vegetarian and once again immediately felt the benefit of giving up meat and never tried it again after that.

A few years later I watched “Earthlings” and decided to go vegan. I started to research the vegan diet and almost immediately came across raw vegans thriving online who were thriving on an 80/10/10 lifestyle. I started to experiment from there and was amazed by the incredible benefits that eating lots of fruit and reducing cooked food brought.

Give us a sample of your daily diet and lifestyle routine…

My largest meal of the day is usually a smoothie, often blended dates or blended bananas. I prefer smoothies to be just one fruit. On top of that I often have orange juice, grapes, berries and other seasonal fruits. I often end up snacking rather than eating large meals, which I believe would generally be better.

For a savory flavor I enjoy dried tomatoes. I probably don’t eat as much vegetable meals as I should but I do enjoy courgette noodles with a simple sauce or a salad with a simple dressing.

I enjoy using the dehydrator to dry fruits and create different textures in my meals. Occasionally I will eat nuts especially pistachios, and I admit I still make the mistake of eating too many.

I practice aikido 2-3 times per week or more and like to meditate daily. I like going for long walks and listening to positive and educational material. I would like to sleep longer and earlier but this is something I am still working on.

What are some of the personal benefits you’ve experienced since transitioning to 811v diet?

Within the first week of going vegan and eating more fruit various aches and pains that were starting to accumulate in my joints disappeared completely. I had amazing emotional experiences of feeling tremendous amounts of pure joy after eating a meal of fruit that really made me feel like I was on the right track.

My brain would go into interesting altered states of almost expanded awareness at times. Digestion becomes quiet and effortless. Athletically, I was able to run 22 miles non-stop with almost no training and recovered within days with no injuries.

I feel I understand my self and the world much more and have a clearer vision of how and where I would like to live. I have also met some amazing friends and inspiring people from all over the world.

Really there are so many benefits and it is hard to list them all. You must really experience it for yourself!

How have you found it socially eating this way?

I have always been a bit unusual in my country as I don’t drink alcohol so I was used to being the odd one out in social occasions. I don’t often go to restaurants but if I did I would be happy to ask for what I wanted or just eat nothing. The more comfortable I am with the lifestyle the less worried I am about what people think of me when I’m eating differently to them.

What advice would you give to a newbie to 80/10/10?

If you can, find a group of 80/10/10’ers and meet them to find out where they are sourcing their produce and spend time with them to get a flavor of the lifestyle. I urge you to attend an event with Dr Graham who will inspire you to eat this way, and give you the basics on how to thrive on this lifestyle. On the practical side for your daily life, buy two boxes of bananas per week (try to get each in different stages of ripeness). Prepare banana smoothies for the day in advance, and you will not crave cooked food as much later in the day. Get a few 811 recipe books, and find some recipes that work for you. Continually watch videos, and listen to interviews and talks from successful 80/10/10’ers.

 

Anything you would like to share that wasn’t covered in the interview so far?

If you are living in Glasgow feel free to get in touch with me for any help you may need in transitioning to this way of eating. I post videos on YouTube fairly regularly on my “Fruity Ronster” channel.

I would like to invite everyone in the FoodnSport family to the 2nd annual UK Fruitfest taking place in Sussex, England this year from the 5th-9th of August. You can find out more at www.fruitfest.co.uk (if you subscribe to our mailing list soon you will receive our emails and newsletter, and you will be entered into our prize draw to possibly win £50 of tropical fruit delivered to your door). Please use the Prize Draw code FNS2.