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Freelee the Banana Girl (Leanne Ratcliffe) is an Australian nutrition educator, metabolic health consultant, personal trainer, vegan activist, and author. She is also a fruit-based nutritionist. Freelee is the author of the popular eBooks: The Raw Till 4 Diet (which went viral in 2016), Go Fruit Yourself (2014), and My Naked Lunchbox (2019). She also wrote Binge Free Me.

In 2009, Freelee created the website forum 30bananasaday.com. She later refreshed the forum under the domain thefrugivorediet.com to bring new life to the community. Forum members discuss topics such as veganism, raw food, gardening, and exercise.

This website, thebananagirl.com, was created in 2016 and includes blog posts, articles, and eBooks.

Freelee is a YouTube creator and is widely known for her work on long-term, lifestyle-based weight management and metabolic recovery. She has maintained her results for over a decade and has helped many women improve their consistency and outcomes through a fruit-focused, high-carbohydrate, low-fat approach.

Freelee created her YouTube channel Freelee The Banana Girl in 2007, where she discusses diet, exercise, and lifestyle change. In 2019, her channel content included reviews of popular fad diets and “ What I eat in a day” videos.

Freelee’s popularity rose due to her direct, unapologetic style and her promotion of a high-fruit, high-carbohydrate vegan diet. A well-known example is a video of her eating up to 50 bananas a day. She has also discussed public debates and media appearances in her content, including this video.

Freelee was born on September 17, 1980 and was raised on a farm in Queensland, Australia. She has spoken openly about her history with dieting and disordered eating, and how she recovered using a raw vegan and Raw Till 4 approach. She also addresses common claims and labels in videos such as this video.

Freelee has discussed losing over 40 lbs following the Raw Till 4 Diet while eating adequately and without relying on stimulants. The Raw Till 4 Diet outlines a vegan framework of fruit-based meals until 4pm, followed by a high-carbohydrate, low-fat plant-based dinner.

Freelee has studied nutrition and weight management since her teens. She has completed personal training and nutrition-related certifications and has documented parts of her training history publicly.

If you want to see more of Freelee's certificates, please visit Freelee's certificates page here.

Freelee the Banana Girl originally started her channel to document her own progress and to share the diet and lifestyle techniques she was experimenting with at the time. She has spoken in detail about her early work history in her book My Naked Lunchbox, including roles as a bartender, promotional brand worker, cinema snack vendor, real estate receptionist, and for a period, working at McDonald’s.

In 2014, Freelee gained wider online attention after publishing the video “Why Is Jenna Marbles Gaining Weight?”. Jenna Marbles later credited Freelee the Banana Girl for influencing her decision to adopt a vegan diet and has remained at least plant-based since. Freelee has also influenced a number of other online creators, including Joey Graceffa, Trisha Paytas, Shane Dawson, and Emma Chamberlain, to explore vegan or plant-based eating.

In 2017, Freelee moved to the jungles of South America, where she lived off-grid with her partner. She later returned to Queensland, Australia, and continues to document aspects of off-grid and minimalist living. Some of these videos have been viewed by millions of people.

Freelee has been featured in publications such as Men’s Fitness, Huffington Post, Daily Mail, and News.com.au. She remains active across social media platforms including Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.

Freelee’s newer YouTube channel, The Frugivore, focuses on updated educational content and response videos.

Written by Leanne Ratcliffe (Freelee The Banana Girl)