Organic Raw Food Pioneer Kristina Carillo-Bucaram

Organic Raw Food Pioneer Kristina Carrillo-Bucaram is achieving amazing things in the world, she is 100% raw vegan, beautiful, thriving and giving back to the community in a major way!

Kristina recovered from severe health challenges to discover her ideal self with a raw vegan lifestyle and was so excited by the possibilities that she started her Rawfully Organic Co-Op.

Since starting her co-op from her living room with only 12 individuals, Kristina has grown this non profit co-op to epic proportions, spending over 2 million dollars supporting organic and local farmers to date!

I am thrilled and excited to feature this wonderful interview with Kristina as given to Loving-It-Raw in June 2011.

Organic Raw Food Pioneer Kristina: Can you tell us about yourself?  Age, where you live, occupation, etc?

Hi Alison!

I am SO honored to be your interviewee! Thank you for allowing me to share my experience and hope with the world. Your website is wonderful, and I am so excited for you that it reaches individuals all over the globe! You are doing wonderfully!

My name is Kristina Carrillo-Bucaram, and I am 24 years old! I live in Houston, TX, and I live through inspiration. I do many different things, some for money and some for the love of giving back to the community and paying it forward. I currently run a non-profit all organic fruit and veggie co-op in Houston called Rawfully Organic that is completely for the community.

I do this out of the love in my heart to inspire the world to eat raw and to eat produce in abundance. For a living, I sell my ceramics, I coach individuals on successfully living rawfully organic, and I work as a private tutor for college students in advanced maths/sciences/languages.

Below: Kristina with one of her artworks:

Organic Raw Food Pioneer Kristina: How long have you been following a raw food diet? 

On July 18, I will be 100% low fat raw vegan for six years baby!! I am SO excited about this birthday!

Organic Raw Food Pioneer Kristina: What was your diet like before? 

Growing up half Lebanese and half Ecuadorian, you can only imagine that my diet consisted of OLIVE OIL, chicken with beans and rice, and fattening Mediterranean foods that make you fall asleep immediately after eating them!

Organic Raw Food Pioneer Kristina: What was your health like before you started to eat a raw diet?

My health was terrible. I was diagnosed with hyperglycemia in high school, and I was hospitalized frequently for low blood sugars, migraines, dehydration, and vomiting. This affected my performance in everything that I did. I almost did not graduate because I had so many sick days from school (and I was at the top of my class!)

Organic Raw Food Pioneer Kristina: Did you progress gradually to vegetarian to vegan and then to raw or did you dive straight in?

I went raw in ONE night. After being hospitalized one night, I had the priviledge of being addressed in a Whole Foods randomly by a man named John Rose. Little did I know this was THE John Rose of Juice Feasting! He introduced me to raw foods. I didn’t take on his advice at first, but after being hospitalized a few days later, I called him out of desperation. He took me under his wing and trained me to eat raw properly. I went raw in one night and ate mono-meals of peaches for about two weeks.

Organic Raw Food Pioneer Kristina: How did you find the transition to a raw diet?  Did you struggle with any aspects of it?

I began to feel better eating peaches even only after a few days, and that was a miracle for me. After an entire week of feeling better and not visiting the hospital at all, I knew that there was more to this than the food—raw foods is a life saver! I began to educate myself and well verse myself in the raw movement. Before I knew it, I was raw for months and then an entire year. I knew that there was no going back.

I fell in love with Dr. Graham, and I eventually interned with him in Seattle and in Costa Rica. When I educated myself properly and found proper guidance, going raw was simply a part of my nature. There is nothing more natural. Where there is a will, there is a way.

Organic Raw Food Pioneer Kristina: Is there any aspect of the transition to a raw diet that you are still struggling with?

For me personally, NO. It is now a part of my being. I hope to inspire others that this is possible. Do not get discouraged.

Organic Raw Food Pioneer Kristina: Are you now 100% raw or do you eat any cooked food items occasionally?  If so, which cooked items do you include?

Not a morsel of cooked foods. (Cook your food = kill the world…not sure if you want to include that but that is how passionate I feel about it!!)

Organic Raw Food Pioneer Kristina: What benefits have you experienced from the raw food diet? 

The benefits are endless, truly!! My physical sickness is gone. No more hyperglycemia. What I wasn’t expecting was the emotional and spiritual growth that comes along with it. I find that I have come a LONG way, and I have healed so many personal aspects of my life in which I had NO idea needed healing. It has truly been a blessing.

Organic Raw Food Pioneer Kristina: What do you eat in a typical day?

I eat anywhere from 2000-3000 calories in a day based upon how much I exercise or energy I expend. I eat whatever is in season, and I get all of my food from Rawfully Organic.

Organic Raw Food Pioneer Kristina: How much exercise do you do on a regular day?

When I was hyperglycemic, I could barely walk at times, and I could not exercise like I can today. After being raw, I find that I have too much energy! I not only run 6-8 miles A DAY (has been over 1.5 years since I was forced to miss a day!!!), but I try to practice yoga as much as I can fit in monthly with my many other activities that I have going on. Also, I consider running the co-op an awesome workout experience!!!

Organic Raw Food Pioneer Kristina: Do you tend to keep track of roughly how many calories you eat per day? 

I do! I always like to know how much I am eating  and what I am eating. It is important for several reasons, primarily to track performance levels, maintain weight, and calculate approximate nutrient intake.

Organic Raw Food Pioneer Kristina: Do you tend to graze all day or do you eat a certain number of meals a day?  If so, how many?

I am a big fan of eating designated meals for the sake of proper digestion and elimination. I eat two large meals.

Organic Raw Food Pioneer Kristina: As a woman in a society that values physical appearance, do you think the raw food diet enables you to look your best? 

Heck yes! It wasn’t until I went raw that I actually felt like I was MYSELF inside of my body!

Organic Raw Food Pioneer Kristina: Did you ever have any struggles with excess weight?  If so, did the raw food diet help with this?

Yes and no. I was underweight when I first went raw, so it helped to build me up. You can gain or lose weight based upon where you are starting and how healthy/unhealthy your body has become.

Organic Raw Food Pioneer Kristina: Do you think certain foods are addictive?  If so, what do you believe to be the best way to get over an addiction to certain foods?

I do. There are too many to name! Mind over matter. Mental reprogramming helps tremendously as does determination.

Organic Raw Food Pioneer Kristina: You changed your diet at a young age, do you think there is anything that you 'missed out on' as a result of that?  Or is it all purely positive? 

Purely positive!

Organic Raw Food Pioneer Kristina: Do you ever make compromises with your food choices, i.e. while traveling or during winter etc?  If so, what kind of compromises and what effects do these have on you?

NO.

Organic Raw Food Pioneer Kristina: Do you take any supplements, i.e. B12?  Why or why not?

I do take a vegan B12 just in case. This is the one arena where I believe it is better to be safe than sorry.

Organic Raw Food Pioneer Kristina: What would you say is the best thing about eating raw foods?

Freedom. Uniqueness. Love.

Organic Raw Food Pioneer Kristina: What do you think is the most challenging aspect of this lifestyle?

Sharing it with others. Live as an example, and when necessary, use words.

Organic Raw Food Pioneer Kristina: How do you find the socializing on a raw diet?  Do you go to restaurants, or socialize around food?

I love to invite people over to my house to make meals with them. The foods and experience becomes tangible, and it eliminates the scary experience for them too. If you have to go out, eat before or bring your own foods. Restaurant foods are doable, but usually not very appetizing.

Organic Raw Food Pioneer Kristina: What do your friends and family think about your diet and lifestyle?

After seeing my health change, they have come to respect it and hop on board!

Organic Raw Food Pioneer Kristina: How do you feel about the raw food movement as a whole?

Must happen.

Organic Raw Food Pioneer Kristina: Tell us about your Co-Op! 

The co-op began with 12 individuals in my living room, and it is now the biggest co-op in Houston, TX with over 3000 families!  We provide families and individuals with all organic, fresh, ripe, raw, and local produce at wholesale cost. To this day, it is volunteer run, and not even I write myself a paycheck. It was created to change this world, and so it shall!

Organic Pioneer Kristina: If people are in your area can they get involved or join your Co-Op?

Absolutely! Anyone in Houston TX or in the outskirts of Houston can join! We may be in Houston, but we have followers all over the US and the world! Please visit rawfullyorganic.com for information, raw recipes, blogs, and more!

Organic Pioneer Kristina: What would you say is the biggest factor in your success with the raw diet?

It is too big for me to even comprehend at this moment! It is simply life changing!

Organic Pioneer Kristina: What do you think is the biggest challenge most people have with sticking with a raw food diet long term?   

Their own fears. Conquer the mind and dig deep. Putting fruit in your mouth is the easy part.

Organic Pioneer Kristina: What advice would you give to someone just starting out with raw foods?

Take it one day at a time.

Organic Pioneer Kristina: Do you think you'll be on a raw food diet for life?

For now, I can say that there is no going back. I am a lifer!

Organic Pioneer Kristina: Is there anything else you’d like to tell us?

If you can change yourself, you can change this world. When you create beauty within YOU, you create BEAUTY in the world. YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL. Now, GO SHINE.

I hope you enjoyed that interview with the fabulous Kristina. For more on Kristina, watch this awesome video about Kristina in the Living On Fruit Video Series.  

Definitely check out her website, and if you live in her area, well then very lucky you! Join up with her co-op and start eating the best organic food available!

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