"I freed myself from the 9–5 slave drive and moved to the jungle. I spend most of my day nude; free of restrictive clothing. I feast mostly on organic fruits and vegetables picked from the land. I shower in monsoonal rains and drink from pristine creeks. I quit an unhealthy relationship and found peace."
Before becoming Freelee The BananaGirl, Leanne Ratcliffe was a typical girl in Australia with a 9–5 job.
She was born on September 17, 1980, and raised on a farm in Queensland, Australia. However, she lived in the city for the first part of her life, working in different professions.
She worked as a bartender, an alcohol brand promoter, a snack vendor at a movie theater, and a receptionist. For some time, she even worked at McDonald's. But, eventually, she got frustrated with the busy city life.
She started hating the system where no one is free in society; rather, all are dependent on an unstable system. So she began questioning the rat race and concluded that peace was nowhere in the city.
She understood the instant gratification lifestyle people live in the city leaves everyone highly vulnerable and impedes our spiritual wellbeing.
Ratcliffe chose not to live as per society's expectations. Instead, she decided to live independently, have the highest-quality foods, be surrounded by nature, and improve her spiritual wellbeing. So she initiated some changes in her life.
In 2001, she quit alcohol and recreational drugs and embraced a vegan diet. She also stopped following fashion trends, wearing makeup and bra. And she started being vocal about society's double standards. "As I walk through city streets, it's almost impossible to find a makeup-free female face. Even the 'natural look' takes a ton of product. The made-up face is now the NORMAL face of a woman, and that's fucked up. As a female, if you don't wear face paint, then people think you are sick, tired, crazy, or poor. And you certainly aren't 'feminine.' And every time we wear it, we reinforce this lie," Ratcliffe explained.
"We are being taught to be ashamed of our natural face because it's good for business. We are becoming corporate clones of each other. Unique features that identify us are drowning beneath an ocean of slave paint. What the actual fuck happened to the natural human face of a female?"
Thus, she started questioning every decision we make every day that we take for granted and never bother to think twice.
Not only that, she was determined to live an environmentally sustainable life. So she gave up most of her possessions and adopted a minimalistic lifestyle.
Ratcliffe was enjoying the changes she introduced into her daily life. Though it was tough at first, she was improving every day. Thanks to the vegan diet (mostly raw fruits), she lost 20 pounds very quickly.
At one point, she wanted to share her journey with others. So in October 2007, she started a YouTube channel to share her experience and track the changes. She named it Freelee the BananaGirl. The name itself reflects her love for freedom and fruits.
Her extreme vegan diet and straightforward talking style quickly attracted others. Millions of people watched her videos and got inspired to go vegan and lead a simplistic life.
She also uses other social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. In addition, she calls herself 'frugivore vegan,' meaning that she typically only eats fruits.
Ratcliffe, aka Freelee, went viral in 2014 when she promoted a controversial extreme vegan diet where she said that she ate 51 bananas a day!
Her daily calorie intake is between 2,000 to 5,000. However, she claimed that the key to her healthy and thin physique is this fruity diet.
Generally, she follows the 'Raw Till 4 Diet.' That means she eats no cooked/heated food until 4 pm. She eats only raw fruits such as bananas, mangoes, papaya, pineapple, etc., as 'mono meals,' a single type of fruit at a time. Then after 4 pm, she eats cooked potatoes or other vegetables for dinner.
Freelee said that after adopting a vegan diet, she lost 40 pounds and it cleared up her acne, chronic fatigue syndrome, low thyroid function, and terrible digestion.
Many nutritionists/dieticians criticized Freelee for her extreme vegan diet and for spreading this method online by saying it's risky to take diet advice online from Freelee, who has no professional degree.
Freelee responded by saying, — "It's just funny how they really push the whole like you're not qualified. But I'm qualified because I'm helping people around the world get the results they desire. I have results myself. And it's all about abundance. It's not starving. It's all about eating as much as you care for enjoying life and becoming the happiest, healthiest person you've ever been in your life."
She also criticized the meat and dairy industries for spending too much money on marketing and manipulating people's minds to think meat and milk are necessary for good health.
In 2017, Freelee did something unthinkable. She thought she had enough of this high-stress city environment. So she decided to leave the city, go off-grid and live in the jungle.
Why jungle!!?
"I had enough of the fake city vibes where making money was more important than being happy and healthy. I was bored of trying to fit in with the mainstream herd," she explained.
"I chose the off-grid lifestyle because it just feels right. I love being surrounded by nature rather than cars, people, and shops."
Freelee, with her partner Robin, moved to the jungle of South America. They started living a new life there that is completely off-grid and sustainable.
They built a small cabin in the wilderness and started producing their food and living with nature harmoniously.
"I spend most of my day nude; free of restrictive clothing. I feast mostly on organic fruits, and vegetables picked from the land. I shower in monsoonal rains and drink from pristine creeks." Freelee told about her daily life in a social media post.
You may wonder how she could use the internet in the jungle. Freelee said she would use the internet via satellite to share her daily life with her followers.
In 2019, Freelee came back to Queensland, Australia, and kept advocating the environmentally sustainable and vegan lifestyle.
She also published a few books — including Go Fruit Yourself, and My Naked Lunchbox — to spread a new/controversial way of living.
Freelee loves the primitive lifestyle in the jungle, far away from the chaos, competition, and stress city life offers.
She roams the wilderness barefoot, touching the wet ground and leaves. She walks naked just like other animals in her vicinity. She climbs the fruit trees she's grown. She takes shower in the crystal clear water of the nearby creek. And, as always, she continues to question the way of life we all have taken for granted.
Being surrounded by nature is very liberating for Freelee. She made the jungle home and finally found peace and happiness.
I think the story of Ratcliffe, aka Freelee the Banana Girl, teaches us a valuable lesson. That is not to take everything society teaches you for granted and always question to know/explore more.
You cannot be a vegan or jungle lover, but there is no harm in thinking about what you are putting in your mouth and whether the fast-paced city life is making you happier or not.
Thank you for reading.
Sources: The Cut, Wikipedia, Daily Mail, Instagram, thebananagirl.com, Pressreader, New York Post.
New to Medium?? Unlock thousands of AWESOME stories only for $5/mo. and OUTSHINE others — Click Me.
If you want to read more of my writings, do check out the following articles.