TRA Interviews Jose Gonzalez, A Raw Food Diet Testimonial

I am so excited to share this inspirational interview between Jose Gonzalez and Myself at The Farm of Life on his Raw Food Weight Loss Testimonial.

Jose came to The Farm of Life to recreate and redefine himself through enjoying the Raw food Diet, learning Yoga, creating Positive thought Patterns among other healthful lifestyle factors. Arriving weighing over 300 pounds, feeling like he was at the end of his rope, Jose truly shows us that everything is in our hands. Raw Food Diet and weight loss? Just watch the video and see what I dub “A Raw Food Diet Weight Loss Testimonial”.

The Raw Advantage Interviews Jose Gonzalez, A Raw Food Diet Weight Loss Testimonial

Chris Kendall: This is Chris Kendall from The Raw Advantage with another awesome interview. We’ve got here Jose at the Farm of Life. How are you doing, Jose?

Jose Gonzales: I’m going great.

C: So how long have you been here at Finca de Vida?

J: Fifty something days now.

C: Fifty something days. So, you know, we’re going to have some before and after pictures. This is ridiculously amazing changes that you went through. How do you feel about your time here so far?

J: I’ve fulfilled everything I needed to.

C: Yeah?

J: And more.

C: So, you know, coming from where you are right now, when you were in the months before you came out here, how were you feeling, how are things different two months ago?

J: Wow. It was a complete difference. I was feeling, every single day I was feeling lethargic. I was feeling depressed. I was feeling like, I just, had no reason to live. Like I was just, living but I wasn’t really truly alive.

C: Yeah.

J: And I was just eating very badly. And absolutely no conscious what I was putting inside my mouth.

C: Yeah. So, how long were you thinking about making changes before you really stepped up and made the leap to do something like this, come out to Finca de Vida?

J: It took me about a year to finally get the courage to come to a place like this. But I’ve been looking for about a year now.

C: Oh wow.

J: And at first I backed down, coming here. But then, like, my family just pounced on me and a friend, ‘You have go! You have to do it! You’re going to regret it if you don’t.’ So I just booked my airline ticket and I didn’t look back. Boy, has this been an amazing ride.

C: That’s so awesome. So, a year, that means that it’s probably been a years that you’ve been going down that path where you felt more and more depressed and worse and worse. To a point where ‘I can’t take this anymore, I’ve got to do something.’ But then to muster up that energy and that self-love to really do something about it, took some time, hey?

J: Yeah, I was on my tipping point. And thankfully, you know, I didn’t tip. I came here and wow. I just feel so great. So good. So full of joy. So full of peace. Everything, the raw foods. The yoga. You know, the mentoring, the guidance, your coaching. Everything was amazing.

C: Bless you man, thank you. It’s been so fun learning and growing with you the last two months we’ve had a lot of time to spend together. As you’ve said, we’ve gone a lot of yoga, as well as, lots of talking about nutrition and the mental aspects. What were some of the hardest things for you over these last two months? Like, the physical change of the foods? Are you battling mental or physically trying to challenge yourself with exercise? What were some of the biggest challenges for you?

J: Well, as you can remember, physically I was feeling fine. It was all up here. [points to his head] It’s all up here.

C: Yeah.

J: I had very bad cravings. At one point I even wanted to leave.

C: Yeah, I know you did. [laughs] I know you did.

J: And all of y’all helped me. Even if it was a word, an action or something. All of that just kept me here. And you know, fighting that mental battle. And making me realise that I’m the one that can control things.

C: You’re the creator.

J: Exactly. My mind doesn’t control me. And all of that just helped me so much.

C: As you were saying before. Watching the observer as you learn from ‘The Power of Now’. Amazing book, hey?

J: Yes, very very good. And enlightening. It has helped so much as well.

C: Yeah, for sure. The resources here are amazing, hey? Between all of us here with support and exercise, the fresh air, the barefoot walking and the books. And of course, all the fresh food.

J: Oh, the food. It’s amazing. I love fruit, man. I love vegetables now.

C: So, before you came here, would you have been saying that? Would you have been saying ‘I love fruit! I love vegetables!’?

J: No way! No. Fruit was my enemy.

C: Fruit was your enemy! [laughs]

J: No, I can’t eat fruit because I start getting sick. It was just the food combining that was making me sick, actually.

C: Yeah.

J: And now, I know how to eat it. It’s so delicious. I love it.

C: It’s such a different feeling, hey? Lifting you up when you eat a meal instead of dragging you down, depressing and subduing you.

J: I got to learn that too, yeah. How, what a feeling it is to eat all this stuff and actually feel good and not feel like I need to take a nap.

C: Yeah, I know you’ve had a lot of huge changes. How much weight did you lose while you’re here?

J: Well, I lost a grand total of 43 lbs (19.5 kg).

C: So awesome.

J: I was close to 300 lbs (136 kg) and I leave in the 250s.

JoseBeforeafter

C: And this is just the beginning. This is the stuff you can take home. As we’ve talked about, help others with, and share, share your knowledge. Helping others grow at the same time, helping yourself grow.

J: I definitely want to just teach everything, like Brian (owner of Finca de Vida) said, I’m taking a toolbox of knowledge.

C: For sure.

J: I’m going to share that toolbox with everyone.

C: So awesome, man. So exciting. We’ve done a lot of yoga too and I remember, when you first came here you were saying, ‘I want to be a yogi. I want to be able to do crazy amounts of yoga.’ And at that time, you’ve only had very little, little exposure to it, really. So, how’s that treated you? How do you feel you’ve grow? I’ve seen you go from barely being about to do a pose to being able to being about to do a full flow class, and strength and athlete yoga classes, how’s that been so far?

J: First I have to thank you. ‘Cause I mean, you were the master in all the classes, helping me, guiding me and I have to thank you ’cause the classes were so much fun.

C: It was so fun, man. I loved it too.

J: And, you know, when I got here I knew that I wanted to learn how to do yoga. And I was so glad you were here, you know, who could teach me. Once I got here, I just got into it. I didn’t let my weight hold me back. People tell me, ‘Oh I can’t do yoga because I’m too fat.’ No, I just went into it. I noticed a tiny difference, tiny difference. And then those difference started adding up.

C: Yeah.

J: And now, it’s such a huge difference. And I feel like, you know, even though I still have a lot to go, I’ve gone so far that now, it’s, you know, I can see myself doing even more intricate poses.

C: For sure. You have natural tendency for it, you have such open hips. You’ll see some more of that, it’s so awesome, man. You definitely, from beginning to now, had so many improvements and I can tell you’re only going to improve more and more. And like you said, be able to share that with your family, too. And do stuff in your own classes at your own pace and stuff like that.

J: Yeah, I want to do that.

C: Yeah it’s all fun, you know. That’s the joy of learning new things. Always spread what you because once you learn something, you know more than someone else. We’re all teachers and we’re all students, right?

J: Definitely.

C: We’re always teaching and learning from each other. So I know also that you said that before you came here you had some back problems, some sciatica, on the left hip. And you didn’t really want to tell anyone because you didn’t it to prevent you from doing all this stuff. What’s up with that?

J: OK, yeah when I got here. Actually before I even got here, I was having lower back problems. And they were pretty bad. Every time I bent down, I had to find a position to bend down in order not to hurt myself because it was hurting more and more and more. And when I got here, I didn’t tell anyone, as you know. I probably mention that I had a little bit of a back ache but I never went into how bad it really was. And with conjunction with yoga, eating the raw fruits and vegetables and all of that, the pain is completely gone.

C: So awesome, man.

J: Completely gone. I can bend down. I even tried it, yesterday, I bent down every which way I possibly could and no pain.

C: Nothing? Nothing.

J: No pain at all.

C: It’s only going to get stronger and stronger. The classes you’ve been doing, as I said, you know, they do sort of focus on that area, the core area, which all strengthens your back. And losing the weight, it’s all so awesome, man. Definitely doing all you can do to make yourself feel better.

J: Yeah. And that little change has improved my confidence, my self-esteem, my happiness so much, because when you have pain and then you feel healthy again, you realise how much that pain was bogging you down.

C: Yeah, no doubt. [laughs] I’ve seen the change. I’ve seen the transformation. And being happy and being yourself. Coming out and not being internal.

J: Yeah and all of that, you know, you (Chris), Brian, Jodi (owners of Finca de Vida), everyone here at the farm.

C: And Lisa.

J: Lisa! Everyone here at the farm has helped me so much. With, you know, you boost my confidence, and eventually, the tape recorder in my mind starts playing all of that, all of these confidence-boosting thoughts. And the thoughts changed and the action changed. It’s so awesome.

Joseyogi

C: And the action, right? Sometimes reverse it, start with the words, go to thoughts and the actions all follow. That’s so awesome. Also, you’re talking about how before you’d wake up and take a long time to get out of bed. How has all that kind of changed?

J: Oh, wow. Again, complete difference. When I got here, I was waking up and it took me a long time to get out of bed. Before I got here I’d stay in bed for 30 minutes, tossing and turning, I couldn’t get out of bed. When I woke up, instead of feeling energised, I felt like I was actually just tired from a 12 hour work day. And now I wake up and I’m like, I’m turn on.

C: Ready.

J: Yeah, ready for the day. I feel great.

C: So now, what are some of your favourite meals? What do you love to be eating? What have you been eating since you’ve been here?

J: [laughs] It’s like I’m going through a fruit phase, right now. And I love it.

C: You’ve had a few, right? You’d have some where it was all fruit, and you’re like ‘I don’t really want fruit, I want cucumbers and lime, some salads.’ Then you’re back to the fruits again. You’re just embracing it all.

J: Everything, it’s just like small little phases. Oh I’m craving this fruit, so I eat a bunch of it. And then I start craving this other fruit and I’d eat a bunch of that. And it’s just, I’ve gone, like pineapple, I’ve gone back to it several times, I love it. Watermelon. All of these fruits, I’ve having a love affair with them.

C: It’s so awesome, man. So awesome. And they love you as much you love them, which is the most beautiful thing.

J: And they make me feel so good.

C: Yeah. So you’ve been mostly mono meals? Right, lots of mono meals, tonnes of simple recipes here and there. The other night we made some simple pasta. And of course, being here 2 months we did some transitional stuff, we had some chilli, tacos.

J: Raw vegan chilli.

C: Raw vegan chilli. What were your favourite of those?

J: Oh definitely, hands down the raw vegan chilli. That was amazing. It was like one of the best foods I’ve had, whether they were cooked or raw. It was so so good.

C: Awesome. So glad you like it.

J: So filling. And at the same time, it didn’t bog me down. It didn’t make me want to go take a nap.

C: It was a no-fat chilli. There’s actually zero overt fat in this raw vegan chilli.

J: It was incredible. I mean, the food you have made has been incredibly delicious. So nutritious. I’m just gonna miss it all.

C: Remember, I have my book. So you’re going to be able to bring that home and share that with your family. And I showed you some of these recipes, they’re really easy to make.

J: They are.

C: Not that hard at all. That’s awesome, man. You know, it’s been really awesome being here with you, and sharing and growing with you.

J: It’s the same with you.

C: It’s been mutual for sure. I’m really looking forward to talking more. And anytime you need anything, reach out, for sure.

J: Thank you.

C: Stay in touch with us here, too, ’cause we’re going to put the before and after pics from here in the months to come. Keep us up to date. It’ll be awesome. We want to help encourage you and stay with you, anything we can ever do, you know.

J: Thank you so much, Chris. You have been amazing, an amazing teacher to me, an amazing friend, I couldn’t have asked for more. Thank you so much.

C: It’s been my pleasure, man.

J: Thank you.

C: You saw it here at The Raw Advantage. This is Jose coming to you live from Finca da Vida. Blessings. We’ll see you again.

The Raw Advantage Interviews Jose Gonzalez, A Raw Food Diet Weight Loss Testimonial

Hope you really really enjoyed the interview and Pictures!!!

Much much

 

As Always

Wishing You Much

PeaceLovenSeasonalFruit ck

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4 Comments

  1. Chris, you are such an empath! Love you. Brilliant interview, the joy exudes from Jose and it made me laugh with delight. Wishing him much continued success and happiness. 🙂

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