Meet the mum who only feeds her five-year-old daughter RAW fruit and vegetables.
Raw vegan and recovered bulimic Rhiannon Griffin, 27, eats only an uncooked plant-based diet – and lets daughter Molly, five, do the same.
Rhiannon, who battled against bulimia in her teens and early twenties, adopted the raw vegan lifestyle after discovering YouTuber Danny Glass, better known as Sun Fruit Dan, in March 2015.
And one year into the lifestyle change the single mum felt so “wonderful” she wanted the same for Molly and found that after explaining the ethical implications of consuming animal products the youngster started to ask for more fruit and veg instead of meat or dairy.
Now the pair spend every meal devouring organic fruit, smoothies and salads packed with different vegetables and say their diet has transformed their lives, boosted their immune systems and given them a healthier attitude to food.
Self-employed businesswoman Rhiannon said: “I had tried for so many years to find a way of living that would make me feel healthy.
“Everything I tried, my body never really felt like it was working the way it should but a year into raw veganism I felt absolutely amazing.
“It’s only natural as a mum that if you’re feeling so wonderful then you want that for your little girl too.
“As soon as I explained to Molly in an age appropriate way the ethics of eating animal products she wanted to be vegan too.
“I never thought about the ethical side of things until I was a mother.
“Then I was watching a documentary and I saw these cows having their breast milk and their babies stolen from them and I couldn’t do that to another mother.”
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“Instead of asking for junk and sweets like a lot of kids do, Molly asks for fruit and vegetables and seeing other children eating vegan stuff makes her so happy too.
“I love how excited she gets about fruit and veg. I want to give her the best possible start in life so knowing that she respects and loves her body is an amazing thing to see.
“We’re both so happy and have loads of energy. Molly sleeps well unlike a lot of children and I can’t even remember the last time either of us were ill.
“If I ever noticed any negative changes in her health, we would try a different diet but for now this is working.”
In her early teens, sporty Rhiannon enjoyed gymnastics and karate classes but when she hit puberty she piled on the pounds.
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This meant she became obsessed with dieting and developed a fear of food that saw her stop eating altogether, starving herself until she was so hungry she would binge until she threw up.
When Molly was born in 2011, the 5ft 2in mum-of-one fell so ‘in love’ with her daughter she was inspired to take up healthy eating and running.
But she found her body would not recover properly and her fitness worsened when she moved into her own home and could not run – meaning she ballooned back to 11st and a size 14.
When Rhiannon’s bulimia flared up again she turned to raw veganism to recover which not only saw her shed three stone and drop three dress sizes but also finally rid her of the crippling insecurities and obsession with calorie counting that triggered her eating disorder.
Now Rhiannon says she can eat as much as she wants and feel completely fulfilled without ever worrying about putting on weight – and feels her newfound confidence and respect for her body will have a positive impact on Molly.
While both mum and her daughter are raw vegans, Molly eats a lot of extra nuts and seeds due to the importance of children having a diet high in healthy fats.
Rhiannon said: “I did loads of research and started trying to do different diets again but I’d piled on the pounds and it just wouldn’t come off.
“Before I knew it, my bulimia started to flare up again and I just knew I had to do something, anything to put a stop to it.
“I wanted to be the person I knew I was inside and that is a good role model to my daughter.”
“When I went through puberty and I started to feel rundown and put on weight I had no idea how to be healthy.
“And that obsession saw me completely abuse my body and I do not want Molly to ever have to go through that.
“I explain everything to her now in a respectful way so that she completely understands the value of nutrition.
“We don’t eat just because we are hungry, we eat to help and heal our bodies.”
Rhiannon has also turned her lifestyle change into a career as she now runs workshops for adults and kids with her ’11 steps to happiness’ promoting learning to forgive and love yourself and then spreading that love and happiness outward to others.
Rhiannon, who is releasing a recipe book the next two weeks, runs her program at workshops and online through her blog and YouTube channel Happy On Fruit.
Rhiannon and Molly’s daily diet:
Breakfast: A green smoothie made with spinach, dates, bananas and soaked chia seeds
Lunch: A papaya.
Dinner: Salad of lettuce, baby chard, spinach, courgettes and cucumber with a dressing of blended mango, red peppers, tomatoes, celery, fresh oregano and basil.
Evening snack: Raw nuts or seeds
Could you stick to this diet? We think we’d miss chocolate too much…