A woman has ditched almost a decade of torturous fad diets and says that she finally feels free since going raw vegan just eight-months-ago after ditching the gym and more than doubling her daily calorie intake. Like most teenagers, Paige Shay, 23, from Refugio, Texas, always wanted to have the perfect body but found herself stuck in a vicious circle of fad diets and over-exercising where she would survive off 1,300-calories a day and went to the gym for an hour-and-a-half a day, six times a week. Despite being 135lbs, the actress and writer, who grew up on a cattle ranch and has a rancher boyfriend, Dowling, felt trapped and restricted by her diet and monitored every morsel that passed by her lips - a regimen that left her feeling miserable and stressed. So, Paige decided to go raw vegan in May last year with the full support of her family and partner.
Since making the change, Paige hasn't looked back and says she no longer worries about what she eats. Instead, she allows herself to consume anywhere between 2,500 and 3,000 calories every day from 10lb of raw fruits and vegetables. In a typical day, Paige eats every two-hours and has half a watermelon for breakfast followed by a big green smoothie, then mangoes and a banana for lunch.
In the afternoon she'll have a large salad that could feed four people to herself or zucchini noodles made from four zucchinis and another fruit meal and three bananas and five dates in the evening before bed.Paige now weighs 115lbs and has lost two inches from her waist to 20 inches, as well as this she's noticed clearer skin, more energy and she no longer has to work out other than an hour walk each day.'I have been "dieting" for the past eight years or so. I've tried just cutting calories. I've tried the paleo diet. I've done the warrior diet, which is fasting all day and eating one large meal at night. 'I've tried fasting for 18 hours. I've tried the keto diet and going low carb. I've tried alternating my carbs and fat. I've tried working out for excruciatingly long periods of time,' said Paige.'So, before I found a whole food plant-based diet and raw veganism, I was lifting weights and working out for about one-and-a-half-hours six days out of the week. 'I was eating about 160 or more grams of protein, so basically meat and dairy at every meal.
'I was tracking everything I ate, every single day. I made sure my macros were perfect every single day, so basically, a calorie counter on my phone was determining what I ate. I was not listening to my body. I was only eating 1,300 calories a day. I did this for probably a year with no results. She continued: 'I felt like eating was a constant mental struggle. I had to use my willpower constantly so that I could stay on the diet. I felt stressed out and worried about food and my body. A raw vegan diet is so simple. Even though it seems like a super hard lifestyle, it's actually very easy. I mean you can't get any more simple than just eating fruits and salad, and that simplicity is freedom for me.'I also love knowing that I'm eating high vibration foods. All foods have energy and vibration. Raw fruits and veggies are the highest vibration foods out there.
So, all of that vibrant energy is being absorbed in every cell of my body.'I have personally noticed: clearer skin, more energy, better sleep, happier, more mental clarity, effortless weight loss without working out, being able to eat more without gaining weight, taste buds change and improve, better digestion, a deeper connection with animals and mother nature, feeling totally satisfied after every meal, and never craving junk food.'Although nuts and seeds are considered raw vegan, Paige limits fat in her diet, mainly sticking to high carbs like fruits and vegetables. Occasionally Paige will indulge in a meal that consists of cooked vegetables, so she isn't completely raw all of the time. 'It was so simple that the shift was actually really freeing and easy. I did have a headache the first few days just because my body was detoxing. One thing I had to get used to was to make sure I was eating enough,' she explained.
'I was eating way too little in the beginning, which made the diet harder to stick to, but now that I'm eating in abundance, the diet is a breeze. I also had to get used to packing food with me every time I left the house.'My boyfriend, who is a cattle rancher, supports me and has been making a conscious effort to add more veggies to his diet. The rest of my family and friends ask questions and are sceptical but I don't try to change them. I try not to talk about my diet unless I'm asked. There's no point in talking to someone about health if they aren't ready to listen.'Paige shares her raw vegan journey on Instagram and YouTube and shared her words of advice to others who might want to pursue the same lifestyle change.
'If you want to quit cold turkey and go raw vegan, go for it, but be prepared. Your body goes through detoxing when you switch from a junk food diet, filled with meat and dairy, to a raw vegan diet,' she said.'You will probably have a headache, feel fatigued and sick. This is just your body adjusting and getting rid of all the crap you've eaten for your whole life. Your body is finally getting a chance to heal.'I would say start small. Just try adding more fruit and cooked or raw veggies into your diet. Eat them at every meal and at every snack time.
Then try cutting down on all the processed foods and added processed sugar and add more veggies and fruit to take its place.'Then start cutting out dairy, all the while adding more fruit and veggies. Then start cutting out the meat and add more fruit. Just take it one day at a time, and slowly work your way to a whole food plant-based diet. Add lots of beans at first, they are a great hearty substitute for meat.'Then you can slowly transition to eating only raw fruits and veggies. Make sure you are eating enough, that's a big one. A lot of people aren't used to eating this big of a quantity, but you have to get adequate calories.'If you are hungry eat. This is not about limiting calories - this is about eating in unlimited abundance and enjoying it.'