Katy Craine attended her first FoodnSport event in 2010. She has been involved in almost every event since. She received her 80/10/10 culinary training by completing The Simply Delicious Culinary Skills Course. In the last two years she has had the honor of being co-chef alongside Chef Alicia Ojeda, Foodnsport—s Head of Culinary Skills, during the annual Health and Fitness Week and Culinary Skills Week and was executive chef for The Fasting and Feasting event and Walking Tour in Costa Rica. As a world traveler and free spirit she has become an integral part of the Foodnsport event team.

Thanks to her experience from the aforementioned FoodnSport events, she is confidently co-hosting a retreat in Costa Rica via Reciprocity Foods. She is planning on spending this summer in Tacoma Washington where she will be creating 100% low-fat raw organic refreshments at the Farmers Markets and Festivals in the West Coast Region.

Describe your journey to 80/10/10—from your first childhood diet, other dietary approaches you tried, how you came to embrace veganism, to where you are now with 80/10/10.

I have been blessed with a mother who just won—t settle for less than the best, so I was exposed to alternative lifestyles from an early age. When I was six years old, my family of four went absolutely vegan overnight. A year later, after huge health improvements for my parents, my family adopted a raw-vegan diet. It was a big shift for us, only the first of many lifestyle changes that eventually lead me to the health I experience today.

For seven years my family lead a high-fat raw diet, feeling great and thinking we had pretty much found the answer to everything. Somewhere around the age of 11 or 12, I started experiencing weight gain, skin rashes, abdominal cramping and other signs of sub-par health. I wasn—t the only one in my family who was starting to feel like the diet just wasn—t giving the same health results that we had known the previous years.

We started straying off our routine and eating more and more cooked and processed foods. This went on for a few years, going from high-fat raw fare for a few weeks, then “cheating”, as we called it, on cooked-vegan junk food. Something wasn—t right, and once again it was my mother who brought forth another the next best thing, the 80/10/10 Diet.

At first I was resistant to let go of my cherished childhood fatty raw delights. I would try the low-fat approach, but I wasn—t incorporating other parts of the lifestyle that I now know are essential. I didn—t have the understanding that health was the accumulation of everything you did in life, not just what you ate for dinner. So I tried, and failed countless times in the course of a year and a half. I became increasingly less vibrant, and started to feel sick and depressed.

It wasn—t until my mom came back from Dr. Graham—s fasting retreat in Costa Rica, that I became undeniably called to follow the 80/10/10 lifestyle. Seeing the change in my mom—s physical, mental and spiritual presentation was enough to convince me in an instant. That day I chose to read The 80/10/10 Diet book, apply what I read, and see where that would take me. I was sixteen at this time.

Six years later, I am healthier, stronger and fitter than I have ever been. Not only have a lost thirty pounds that has never come back, but I—ve also lost all my cramping, eczema, fatigue and a lot of mental stress. I—ve been really enjoying my life, and how simple it is to feel good. I am still following the 80/10/10 diet approach, and I see no reason to change that anytime soon!

Did eating an 80/10/10 raw vegan diet change how your family (household) eats?

I have the honor of sharing my diet preferences with my immediate family, so we share our meals together when I visit. We eat quite a bit more quantity than we used to, and dinner usually calls for an industrial sized salad bowl.

 

Give us a sample of your daily diet and lifestyle routine

I like to start my day with a self-guided meditation. I tune in with my body and any prevalent thoughts in my mind. Then I usually feel grateful to be alive, and I just sit with that.

After waking up, I like to hit the ground running, sometimes literally! I like to take care of my basic need to move my lymph in whatever way feels like an exciting challenge. Lately that has been either by running, callisthenic exercises, yoga, weight training, or my new love of aerial fabrics.

Once I have played for a while, I get cleaned up and spend a little time in the sun before eating some fruit. I’ll eat a mono-meal of ripe seasonal fruits. Here in Costa Rica, I have been having 3-5 large papaya almost every day. I have found eating only twice a day is best for my digestion, and I have no problems eating enough to meet my caloric needs.

After my meal, I’ll spend time doing some computer work for a few hours, and then I will usually head to the gardens to do watering, transplanting and harvesting. Usually by the time I’m done with all of this, I’m hungry for dinner! I make a large salad with fresh lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes, maybe avocado and sometimes I make a sauce! I like to include fruit in my salads as well, like pineapple or mango.

Here’s my favorite recipe for dipping and dressing with my salad this week:

 

Besides food and nutrition, what other lifestyle factors do you find most important in supporting your 80/10/10 raw vegan diet?

I have learned that, for me, the diet is a way to simplify all other aspects of my life. By releasing the stress that eating more complicated, cooked foods was causing on my body, I have been freed to more fully explore other aspects of my health. Doug talks about health being a wheel, food being one spoke of the wheel. When all the spokes are balanced, the wheel can serve its purpose efficiently, even effortlessly.

What is at the center of the wheel, holding all the spokes together?

It can only be the being, the one experiencing everything.

I am so full of creative energy and thoughts about the possibilities in my life, and ways I can better balance my spokes, that I sometimes forget that despite any of my circumstances, there is a peace in just being that is always accessible. Trying to balance all of the factors of health, when there seems to be an ever increasing amount becomes daunting and stressful. When I connect with this peace, I remember why I am even troubling to balance the spokes.

If the purpose of the wheel is to roll well, then what’s my purpose? To live well. I can do this in any moment, by coming to my center and realizing that I already am living well. After that, I am not trying to balance anymore, because the balance naturally occurs. I don’t have to struggle to feed myself what is good for me, because it is a joy to treat myself! This supports me not only in my diet, but in my fitness, my emotional poise and all other aspects of my health.

How have you found it socially to eat this way?

At first, I will admit, I felt strange for eating more fruit in one sitting, than most people would eat in a week. Eventually, I decided to just bring enough to share with others.

I feel most comfortable now when I’m doing what I have found works best for me. In social situations, I am completely happy eating what I love to eat, and sharing it with others. In most every case, this approach is well received.

Have any particular points or messages in The 80/10/10 Diet stuck with you?

The message that has constantly stuck with me from The 80/10/10 Diet is that health is cumulative, and that you are responsible for your health. You can choose to change your state of health if you so desire. This has been one of the most empowering messages of my life.

Tell us about your professional life.

I have had the pleasure of working closely with Dr. Graham and the FoodnSport team off and on for the past four years. I have worked in low-fat raw vegan food preparation, and received culinary training in Dr. Graham—s Culinary Skills Course in Washington. I—ve also had the honor of co-authoring the Simply Delicious Raw Recipe Series with Doug. Through my experience, I have learned that when preparing whole, fresh, ripe, raw, organic fruits and vegetables it is hard to make something that is not interesting and delicious. Though of course, there are a few tricks that make it extra special!

Any present or future plans?

I’m looking forward to co-hosting my own retreat, in February of 2015, with fellow low-fat raw culinary artist and owner of Reciprocity Foods, Christie Qualey. The week-long event is called Mango Mania!. It is focused on low-fat, 80/10/10 style raw cuisine, hiking, yoga and building community. We’re holding the event in a beautiful location in the Talamanca mountains of Costa Rica. In fact, it is the same facility that Dr. Graham has used for his Costa Rica retreats for ten years. The event is happening this Feb 12th-19th. It is the closest and most exciting venture I have going at the moment. I am looking forward to getting to know our attendees and sharing the unique treasures of this relatively undiscovered area of the country. My thanks go to Doug for drawing me here for the first time five years ago, I have been back every year since!

If you’re interested in more details about Mango Mania, visit our website Reciprocity Foods, or you can contact us at reciprocityfoods@yahoo.com