|
Home Making Your Life Easier Raw Weight Loss And VitalitySavory Dressings And Sauces The Raw Lifestyle Ebook Raw Food Coaching The Vitamix! Product Suggestions The Basics The Raw Food Diet Escape Disease Weight Loss Success Stories Andrew's Recipes Reader Favorite Recipes Raw Food Videos Food Choices Which Raw Foods Fruit List Cooking Damage Nutrition Fruit Handling Fruity Locations Harmful Diets Lifestyle The Raw Lifestyle Mind Over Matter Caring For Yourself Body Care Hydration Improving The World Save The Earth Organic Gardening Structuring Society The Joys of Movement Born To Run Odds and Ends Meet Andrew What's New Article List/Sitemap Become An Affiliate Advertise On This Site Amazon Store Contact Andrew Support This Site
|
Robert Fulop's Raw Food Success StoryRobert Fulop is the perfect example of a meat-loving guy who not only lost 50 pounds by going raw, but says he's far happier and healthier than he ever was eating the Standard American Diet. He's a great example of what anyone can do by stepping up and embracing health. When I met him in November of 2010, I realized that his story of quickly shedding fat by cleaning up his diet could inspire a lot of people, and that he was definetly qualified to be among the raw food success stories listed on the site. This interview is from January of 2011. Quick Questions:Robert Fulop: I’ll turn 33 in February 2011. Andrew Perlot: Where are you from and where do you live currently? Robert Fulop: I’m Hungarian, from Transylvania. Currently I live in Milford, Connecticut, USA. Andrew Perlot: Occupation? I’m an IT Consultant. I own a computer service company (www.apluspcct.com) which provides computer repair, networking, web design, video surveillance and other computer related services to local businesses and residents. Transitioning To A Raw Food DietAndrew Perlot: Tell me about your background and how you ended up eating a raw food diet. Did you progress gradually from a poor diet toward a healthier one, or did you make the change to raw all at once? How long have you been completely raw? Robert Fulop: I was a meat/dairy/grain eater all my life for 32 years. I was eating the traditional cooked-food diet, raw fruits and vegetables were kind of a ‘side dish’..:) I never heard about the raw food approach before and I always thought that vegans and vegetarians were ‘weird'. Before I came to the US (almost 6 years ago) I never met a vegan or raw vegan, and only met 2 vegetarian people my whole life. Everybody was making fun of them back home. Eating meat was just so hardwired into our culture that if you stop eating meat people think that you are sick or crazy or something…  I was an active kid growing up, we
were playing and running around all
day with the other kids in the neighborhood, bicycling, swimming, etc. We also walked to the school and back every day a couple of miles, there was no school bus. During the high school years I played basketball and I was in great shape, Robert Fulop Before Going Raw weighing around 165 pounds. During college I got pretty lazy, and most of the trips we took were to the bars/club :). I gained a few pounds then and a few more after collage when I got into body building and started to take protein supplements to gain ‘mass’. I was always in pretty good health, except of the usual colds/acne/bronchitis that was considered ‘regular’ diseases back then. One unusual disease I got was when I was about 8 in 1986 after the Chernobyl disaster (nuclear accident/explosion in Ukraine) my head started to swell up… the doctors said it’s been caused by the nuclear radiation… they kept me in the hospital for about a week, gave me some meds and I got better. Although I consumed a lot of protein and fat back then I think the reason I stayed relatively healthy is because of the active lifestyle, clean air, and clean food. Most of our food came either from our garden or local farms. After I moved to the US and starting on the SAD diet and less active lifestyle, however, I started to gain weight and my health was also declining. I was always tired; I had very low energy, coming down with flues and fevers every couple of months, digestive problems, and so on. I felt that I needed a change but I had no idea where to start… Then I was at a party and I met Ildiko who is a personal trainer in New York City (www.fitnoxnyc.com) and she started to explain it to me about how bad meat and dairy and processed foods are for your body and that I should consider cutting out those foods from my diet. I was devastated. I just couldn’t believe that foods like meat and dairy are bad for me, when I grew up eating those foods. But Ildiko was pretty persuasive and after she showed me her before/after pictures I was hooked! So I started to do little changes like cutting down on meat and dairy and increasing my raw fruit and vegetable intake. In a few short weeks I started to lose weight and I got so excited I started to do research online and read books day and night for the next couple of months. In a few months I was able to cut out meat and dairy from my diet and also reduced my grain consumption to a minimum. I was losing weight and I was happier every day! :) But there was still a lot of confusion in my head as far as the ultimate healthy lifestyle... Every website/doctor/health guru was saying different things about supplements, dairy, superfoods, fruit, etc. but I felt somehow that there is got to be ONE and ONLY ONE truly healthy lifestyle which is applicable to all humans so I decided to keep on searching… And then I found Dr. Doug Graham’s book, ‘The 80/10/10 Diet’ and it completely blew me away. I was shocked on how simple and logical the healthy human diet is (should be…). I also found your website (raw-food-health.net) and a few others that confirmed the same thing. I was inspired and energized by your story too, and from that point on I went totally raw vegan and never looked back. The transition wasn’t easy for me, it took me about 6 months but it was well worth it! I’ m animal-product free, grain free, stimulant free now and I feel great… I’d never go back. Raw Food Weight Loss Robert After Going Raw
Andrew Perlot: What do you weigh now, and what did you weigh before you went raw? Robert Fulop: I’m 170 pounds now (about 77kg), I was 220 pounds (about 100kg) before I started to switch to raw foods. Andrew Perlot: Outside of weight loss, what improvements, mental or physical, have you noticed since going raw? Every aspect of my life is better since going raw! Perfect digestion, tons of energy, never tired, no body odor AT ALL, more calm, more focused, a lot happier, just to name a few :). Eating And SocializingAndrew Perlot: How many calories do you eat in an average day? Give people an idea of what that translates into in terms of food volume. Robert Fulop: I’d say between 2000 and 3000 calories depending on my daily activity level. I probably eat at least 8-10 pounds of fruit/day plus some veggies/greens. For example in a typical day: 1st meal around 10-11AM: 2-4 pounds of grapes, 2nd meal around 2-3PM: 10-15-20 bananas, 3rd meal around 5-6PM: 6-10 oranges, 4th meal around 7-8PM large salad or raw soup. Andrew Perlot: Are there many/any raw foodists in Romania, or was it a complete shock to find them when you arrived in the U.S.? Robert Fulop: I’ve never heard of the raw foodist lifestyle back there, but that was a while ago, however I do know a couple of raw foodists in the making there now my mother and my sister! They bought Dr. Graham’s book, it’s been already translated to Hungarian so I think the raw food movement will soon sweep the whole world!!:) Andrew Perlot: What drew you to Dr. Graham's ideas about health? What do you find appealing about them? Robert Fulop: Its logic and its simplicity. For me it’s a no brainer now (how come I couldn’t realize it by myself for 32 years…??:)) that eating raw foods created by nature is the way to go. We can’t compete with nature, and we can’t fool our bodies. Nature created us, and nature created foods for us… and those foods are fruits and vegetables... The LifestyleAndrew Perlot: I imagine that it's challenging for any foreigner to integrate themselves into U.S. culture, but doing so as a raw foodist must be even more challenging. How have you coped with this? Robert Fulop: It was hard at first while transitioning, because everywhere you go the junk/cooked food temptation is there and also some people are trying to talk you out of this lifestyle, because they are ‘worried’ you might not get enough nutrients or something… But now that I’m pass that phase it’s pretty easy. I just have to make sure I always have fruit on me if I go somewhere, or have plenty of fruit before so I don’t crave unhealthy foods. Lately I brag a lot about my new lifestyle wherever I go… :) People see that I look and feel good and they see all the fruit I’m eating and I’m always happy to share my story and recommending ‘The Book’ because eating healthier will benefit everybody! Andrew Perlot: What is the hardest part of being a raw foodist, and what is the most enjoyable? Robert Fulop: The hardest part for me is the cold weather up here in CT - planning to move to south Florida soon :) Also going to parties – there is always a bunch of cooked/junk food, but little or no raw fruits/veggies… The most enjoyable is the relief that I finally found the healthy lifestyle I was looking for, that now I can lead a life that is better for me and the environment, also the fact that I have much less chance to getting a degenerative disease and I just love this simplified and natural lifestyle. Passions and Goals
|
|
Andrew Perlot:
Copyright ©
raw-food-health.net | All rights reserved. Website design by Cre8ve
Online
Click here for the mandatory privacy policy and terms of use, which you agree to by using this site.
Click here for the mandatory privacy policy and terms of use, which you agree to by using this site.
