All vegan diet - Freelee the banana girl

meemo88

hi guys, i was wondering what you thought about the freelee banana girl diet...(on youtube)....she claims that you can eat as much raw foods (fruit, veg, nuts, whatever it may be) and lose weight. she eats 30 bananas a day along with much more food and she looks fabulous. and there are all kinds of testimonials......do you think this is a good way of living life and can you really lose weight eating as many calories as you want but having them all come from raw food choices?

thx :glasses:

JoRocka

no.

just. so much. no.

GillianMcK

Calories in v's calories out (and at 30 banana's a day, I would be interested to know how much sodium is then being taken on to counteract too much potassium, because that's a lot of potassium in just the bananas).
Feeling that if you dig a bit deeper into this, there'll be more to it that eat all you want fruit/veg, how much does she exercise each day, what supplements are being taken to deal with the missing essentials from meat etc??

Personally I don't think it sounds sustainable for the majority of us, sounds like another fad diet to me.

PRMinx

eric_sg61

NO

ew_david

hi guys, i was wondering what you thought about the freelee banana girl diet...(on youtube)....she claims that you can eat as much raw foods (fruit, veg, nuts, whatever it may be) and lose weight. she eats 30 bananas a day along with much more food and she looks fabulous. and there are all kinds of testimonials......do you think this is a good way of living life and can you really lose weight eating as many calories as you want but having them all come from raw food choices?

thx :glasses:

I hope you like your bathroom. You'll be spending a lot of time in it if you decide to go this route.

And no, I don't think it's a good way to live life. I'd be miserable.

sseqwnp

I'm not completely sure, but I'm pretty sure that "eating 30 bananas a day" is actually a euphemism.

srslybritt

I point you to this conversation I had previously in the forums. I will not take Freelee's advice on anything. Wouldn't trust her farther than I could throw her. 0/10.

Freelee is the chick that called Jenna Marbles fat, isn't she? Pic below from July 2013, about when that happened... she's a nutter and hardly a good person to use as any sort of reference.

srslybritt

Deleted, creepy double post.

1stplace4health

She also suffers from IBS/Crohn's. So her motivation to eat this way is do to intestinal/colon issues. The other foods are pain triggers.

PRMinx

She also suffers from IBS/Crohn's. So her motivation to eat this way is do to intestinal/colon issues. The other foods are pain triggers.

LOL. No.

Raw fruits and raw vegetables are common triggers for Chron's pain.

bananamaple

I will admit that I tried this for 3 months and it did not work for me. I gained 2 kg and now I'm trying to lose it -_-. It seems to work better for 'some' people who are really overweight but doesn't seem to work for people who are at a healthy weight or underweight. I went from 53kg to 55kg and almost up to 56kg and I'm 5'7". I now have massive dental bills from the accelerated rate of tooth decay that came with eating that much fruit and I can't tell you how bad my digestion was -_-. I was eating 2500 - 3000 calories a day and literally forcing the food in. Now my portion sizing is distorted and I am attempting to retrain myself to be satisfied with less food I'm still absolutely vegan and really enjoy my food but fruitarianism is almost beyond being vegan because it's so extreme.

srslybritt

Chron's/colitis patients are generally supposed to eat foods that are lower in fiber.

You know what's not low in fiber?

Fruit.

rachiealx

...she called JennaMarbles fat?! Disliking her even more now.

rachelrb85

I want to puke after eating 1 banana nevermind 30 bananas.
You know what's a good diet for health and weight loss? Eating in moderation at a calorie deficit with some exercise. Who knew.

srslybritt

...she called JennaMarbles fat?! Disliking her even more now.

Not in so many words... but essentially, yes. When the internet discovered that Jenna was no longer following a mostly-vegan diet, this chick was the first to step out and talk about how "bloated" and "unhappy" she looked.

arussell134

I was thinking about this yesterday (well, not this Banana girl specifically, but in general, about social media and bloggers). How easy is it for ANYONE to start a blog, a YouTube channel, whatever and make whatever claims they want about health and nutrition. Some of which advice is downright dangerous. It's amazing to me how a strong personality and/or headline/topic can get people on a bandwagon they never anticipated going on. Again, this isn't just the Banana girl... there are lots of sites like these.

(I guess on a personal note I'm intrigued because I am a blogger - not in nutrition/fitness niche though).

IMHO, I think eating lots of raw foods is a good thing, but I get leery of ANY diet that portends to be the only/best way to eat and excludes several major food groups.

Swiftlet66

You forget that Freelee is also a cyclist and runner and she exercises every single day, one hard session in the morning and usually a walk with her dog in the afternoon. Yes, I've watched her daily video blogs and this is what I noticed...! Sure, you can eat as much as you want but you're still gonna have to exercise it off. Freelee also used to have an eating disorder; I think this way of overeating till you are way point the past of full is a part of it. The only difference is binging on fruit...!

belgerian

Not to mention 30 banannas a day is about 15,000 mg which equals 15 grams (which is alot) of Potassium. Too much Potassium will raise your PH which will destroy your kidneys and or kill you over a period of time. My wife is a dialysis nurse and she freaks out if I eat maybe 5 a day. I like banannas but 30 a day thats even too much for me. And what was stated ealeir how much salt would you have to take to counteract that at least. This does not even include the potassium intake from other foods.

PRMinx

Not to mention 30 banannas a day is about 15,000 mg which equals 15 grams (which is alot) of Potassium. Too much Potassium will raise your PH which will destroy your kidneys and or kill you over a period of time. My wife is a dialysis nurse and she freaks out if I eat maybe 5 a day. I like banannas but 30 a day thats even too much for me. And what was stated ealeir how much salt would you have to take to counteract that at least. This does not even include the potassium intake from other foods.

Truth!

Also, certain medications already elevate potassium. I try to limit my potassium intake because I'm on Yaz.

srslybritt

I was thinking about this yesterday (well, not this Banana girl specifically, but in general, about social media and bloggers). How easy is it for ANYONE to start a blog, a YouTube channel, whatever and make whatever claims they want about health and nutrition. Some of which advice is downright dangerous. It's amazing to me how a strong personality and/or headline/topic can get people on a bandwagon they never anticipated going on. Again, this isn't just the Banana girl... there are lots of sites like these.

(I guess on a personal note I'm intrigued because I am a blogger - not in nutrition/fitness niche though).

IMHO, I think eating lots of raw foods is a good thing, but I get leery of ANY diet that portends to be the only/best way to eat and excludes several major food groups.

Bolded for emphasis. This is a good point.

meemo88

cool guys thanks.....

ya when you watch her videos she steers you into thinking her diet is the best and everyone hates fat people and such

msf74

You forget that Freelee is also a cyclist and runner and she exercises every single day, one hard session in the morning and usually a walk with her dog in the afternoon. Yes, I've watched her daily video blogs and this is what I noticed...! Sure, you can eat as much as you want but you're still gonna have to exercise it off. Freelee also used to have an eating disorder; I think this way of overeating till you are way point the past of full is a part of it. The only difference is binging on fruit...!

All of this.

The girl suffered from anorexia and bulimia in the past and still seems to be promoting bingeing and purging with exercise in simply a different guise. I am sure she also claimed losing her menstrual cycle for months was a good thing...

Still she looks good I suppose which is all that counts right?

ColeCake292012

This be old news, brah.

JustinAnimal

I'm not completely sure, but I'm pretty sure that "eating 30 bananas a day" is actually a euphemism.

Euphemism?

meemo88

This be old news, brah.

cool story, brah.....i was not asking if it was old or new, but thanks for your input anyways

mommyrunning

Two previous threads on this.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1308353-banana-girl?hl=freelee+banana+girl+&page=1#posts-20218523
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1415847-raw-vegan


I don't think there's anything wrong with eating raw vegan. However, the diet that is promoted by Freelee seems unhealthy and I think it's important to research the source if you are going to follow a diet. She has a history of eating disorders (not judging just mentioning this) and what she is doing seems like maybe another form of that. She also lost her period for 9 months which indicates this diet was probably harming her body. She probably started with good intentions but anytime someone is making money off of their advice it's important to remember that they could be biased or not sharing all the facts. You could probably get similar results that are less harmful to your body by eating a balanced raw vegan diet (as opposed to eating dozens of bananas for a meal as she does) and exercising on a regular basis. Good luck on your journey.

jfboomer

This be old news, brah.

cool story, brah.....i was not asking if it was old or new, but thanks for your input anyways

I think her point was that if you did a search on the forums you would find an agonizing number of topics on "Freelee the nutter"

cdoesthehula

I've just found her website. :noway:

I would not have believed she existed without having read about her first.

Do people really do that?

JenD1066

She gives raw foodists a bad name.

I went raw on the advice of my doctors- I have terrible allergies and the pharmaceuticals, while controlling the hives, itching, and sinus pain, left me feeling like a zombie. I have been raw for 9 years now, and, while I am free of allergy symptoms, I slowly gained 50 pounds. I ate whatever I wanted, and lots of raw food, from burgers to dressing and sauces to cheesecake, is mainly comprised of nuts.

HeidiCooksSupper

30 medium bananas per USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference:

3150 calories
38.7g protein
11.7g fat
432.9g carbohydrates
93g fiber
432.9g sugars

Okay, so if you don't die from too much potassium screwing up your kidneys, you'll screw up your liver and pancreas with the sugars -- and of course, you'll sh-t your brains out from so much fiber, meanwhile you'd need to cycle at 14-16 mph daily for about 3 hours to burn off all those extra calories.

Oh, yeah. That sounds healthy and sustainable.