Originally published May 16 2008
Fruitarianism and Boot Camp Fitness, Richard Blackman Style
by Kevin Gianni
(NaturalNews) This is Kevin Gianni, and I'd like to welcome you to another very special Raw Summit Teleseminar, which can be found online at (http://www.rawsummitarchives.com) . The purpose of the Raw Summit is to pass along cutting edge information about health and living food technologies for you to reach optimal health, wellness, and success. Today, I have a very awesome guest on the line. He is a fruitarian and a fitness expert, and today, we're going to talk about fruitarianism and boot camp fitness Richard Blackman style.
Kevin: Now, do you think that being a fruitarian is for everyone? Do you think that that's our nature?
Richard: Personally, yes.
Kevin: Okay.
Richard: I believe strongly that it's the style of living. But, what I will say is that because of things like cooked food, emotional attachments, people's level of commitment, dedication, because of the conditions of some people's systems, organs, I feel that it may take some people more time. I think our diets were naturally fruitarian diets, and I honestly believe that we were foragers. We would walk around looking for our foods.
Kevin: And now you are a fitness guy and you run fitness boot camps and you have a bunch of information about that, what are some of the best fruits for power, for building strength?
Richard: You know what, in my personal opinion, science may tell you otherwise but for me personally, the best is not about fruits. The power comes from cleansing.
Kevin: Okay.
Richard: The power comes from cleansing. No fruit gives you that power, okay? The power comes from you, from your energy, from rest, from sleep, from your digestive system not being overloaded, okay, things like that. I do not believe that fruit gives you power or strength.
The strength comes from you training on a regular basis intensely and progressing. I'm a huge nonbeliever in this whole thing about what food should I eat? I believe our jobs are to listen to the body and to give it what it's used up. For example, if you're working out in a hot sun, you're perspiring, it's coming out of you, because you're working out hard. Then the first message you get from your body is to "give me juicy fruit". That's your job, period �- it's to replace what you've lost. And overtime, your job is to learn and develop the kinds of listening to your body.
Kevin: Yes.
Richard: (Many people think) like if I want to gain weight, I'll take a weight gain supplement. If I want to get more protein, I'll take a protein supplement. It's not like that at all. Our job is to replace what we lose. That's our only job we need to worry about. Everything else is just complicating things. So just to answer to your question, no, I don't believe there is any fruit that gives you power per se.
Kevin: Yes and so what do you think about the whole protein -- protein for muscle building?
Richard: I don't believe in it at all. What I do believe, yes, if you eat piles and piles of meat, you're going to get bigger. One, because it's cooked, okay, and all the stuff that goes with it �- the water retention, the fats. I know bodybuilders that eat big to get big, alright. So what they do is they eat these big meals and then what they would do is that they would drink at least a gallon of water a day, okay. So you're starting off the cycle where you're just blowing up and that's why you're getting bigger. You're not getting bigger because you're growing bigger muscles per se. Because as soon as you stop doing that, you get smaller.
Kevin: Yes.
Richard: So it's not real muscle per se. It's not like you do that and you build up and you weight train and you've got that forever. As soon as you stop pumping yourself up, as soon as you stop stuffing yourself up with whatever toxic stuff, you're going to get smaller.
Kevin: It's an interesting concept because if you go to the gym for 4 or 5 days a week and then you stop and come back about 2 weeks later and you are eating protein powders and all these, it's real tough. I mean, you get real sore.
Richard: Yes exactly and when I work out, I don't feel a thing. It's like I haven't even worked and I could workout as intensely as I want and I won't feel it at all the next day. In fact, I got into race walking for a long while and just the thought, within like 2 weeks of following the instructor around, I did 27 miles race walking.
Kevin: Wow!
Richard: And it took me �- I'm not going to lie to you, that is my first race walk distance and man, I was zonked, it just about wore me out, alright, and the next day, I was back working out.
Kevin: Wow!
Richard: And I told my instructor and she said, "You're not supposed to get into that until like 2 months." And to me, I did it because I could do it. She couldn't understand how I could go from just doing only 8 miles to doing an ultra marathon. And she said, "And second of all, it takes people several weeks to recover fully." And I said, "Well, hey I can do it." So she was dumbfounded, but I did it. It's like you're taking all these toxic stuff and it's hurting, and the waste, it's dehydrating also.
Kevin: Yes.
Richard: Because when you think about it, they've been eating dehydrating foods, toxic foods basically from birth or shortly after you went from ages 2 to 3, we're just on cooked foods, but we've got like half a lifetime's worth of dehydration going on. Toxins are flying around.
Kevin: Yes.
Richard: So we're really not giving our bodies any justice or helping ourselves at all by living the way most of us are living -- on supplements, cooked food. It's really not helping.
Kevin: Now as a fruitarian, I'm sure you get this question all the time. What about too much sugar? What about Candida issues?
Richard: It's never bothered me, to tell you the truth. I've put that down to following my own instincts.
Kevin: Yes.
Richard: If I don't want to eat, I don't eat, if I don't like it, I won't eat it. A lot of people see fruitarianism and their instant thoughts of what fruitarianism is -- eating bananas, eating fruits.
Kevin: Yes.
Richard: That's where people go wrong. Then they go on the forums where 95% of the people haven't got a clue what they're really talking about and that concept is perpetuated over and over again because of lack of education. So for me personally, the whole sugar thing hasn't really come up with me.
Kevin: I'm not too familiar with the fruitarian diet, but do you eat tomatoes and cucumbers?
Richard: Personally, I don't.
Kevin: Okay, but is that included in let's say a strict fruitarian diet?
Richard: Yes sure, they're fruits.
Kevin: Okay, interesting. So let's talk -- let's move into fitness.
Richard: Perfect!
Kevin: You're a fitness expert as well, you run boot camps. What are some of the ways that you teach people to work out and why do you think that those are some of the best ways?
Richard: Okay, basically my whole philosophy about this boot camp is to move as naturally as possible.
Kevin: And why don't you just explain what a boot camp is just because some people might not know.
Richard: Okay, my personal fitness boot camp is an outdoor exercise program. So basically what you have is you get a group of like-minded individuals and you go through an exercise program. That could be a weight loss exercise program. It could be just a general get-fit exercise program. Like say for instance I'll explain what our last boot camp was like. We had like 10, including me, raw vegans show up and it was fantastic! And basically, and I didn't know this before it started, most of the people that showed up only knew each other from the raw food potlucks in the area.
Kevin: Okay.
Richard: So, I basically broke down the rules and guidelines and how I expected the time to be, and how I expected us to act and basically the whole thing of that particular boot camp was to push yourself further than you ever have pushed yourself before. To think of your hardest workout,
your hardest hike, your hardest activity, and to push yourself past that and to support each other as a team. We move as a team and we support each other as a team. And I've got to tell you, we totally smashed the myth of the weak sickly raw vegan, you know. My whole philosophy behind the
boot camps are for us to move naturally. What we did was we speed-walked the whole time through.
Kevin: Okay.
Richard: We would stop and we do exercises. We would do various biometric exercises like the jump squats. We would do sprints, shuttle sprints. For instance, the person at the back, like we're walking single file, would sprint out and it will start a cycle up, then the next person, then the next person. We did some serious heel sprints. I mean these guys, they didn't take it seriously in the beginning in the first 15 minutes, but once they got the whole concept of what I expected and once I showed them the intensity by doing it myself and leading by example, they really, really outdid themselves and it's a fantastic day. And afterwards, in all my boot camps, we have a raw food potluck picnic where we bring our own fruits and raw dishes. My thing is that I don't care what people eat. Okay, it's all personal and we're all at different stages.
Kevin: Uhuh.
Richard: Okay. So, I don't dictate what people bring as long as it's raw.
Kevin: Got you.
Richard: Also, I'm not one of these people that I'm just so strict that I don't have fun. I mean, like our last boot camp in which you might laugh at this, but I kind of swiped one of the honeydew melons...
Kevin: Uh-uh.
Richard: So for me, messing around and being un-strict is great as well. So the support you get is amazing. You know, because anybody gets around and you clap each other on and we don't let anybody struggle by themselves.
Kevin: And so do you think fitness is best done in groups?
Richard: It depends on the individual's mind set. Like for me for instance, I got a very strong mindset, so I can, especially as a fruitarian, go out everyday and train intensely.
Kevin: Right.
Richard: Okay. Admittedly, I do better if I'm with a training partner, but in terms of other people that may not be so motivated to get out by themselves or are shy, don't feel like they know what they are doing, get embarrassed about people seeing them running by themselves or doing an exercise by themselves, those are the kinds of people that really benefit from working out in groups. In all my boot camps I always try to show people stuff that they can take home with them.
Kevin: Okay.
Richard: That they can do during the week to maintain some level of fitness. For me, it's still about hanging out for my every word. It's not about doing as I say, doing as I do you know, it's all personal and the way I see it is that we all have a choice. We either do it or we don't and I only deal with people that want to do it, that want to put the work in, that understand what they're getting themselves into, you know, people like that are willing to make a change.
To read the rest of this transcript as well as access 14 different raw food experts just like Richard Blackman, please visit (http://www.RawSummitArchives.com) .
About the author
Kevin Gianni is a health advocate, author and speaker. He has helped thousands of people in over 85 countries learn how to take control of their health--and keep it. To view his popular internet TV Show "The Renegade Health Show" (and get a free gift!) with commentary on natural health issues, vegan and raw food diets, holistic nutrition and more click here.
His book, "The Busy Person's Fitness Solution," is a step-by-step guide to optimum health for the time and energy-strapped. To find out more about abundance, optimum health and self motivation click here... or you're interested in the vegan and raw food diet and cutting edge holistic nutrition click here. For access to free interviews, downloads and a complete bodyweight exercise archive visit www.LiveAwesome.com.
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