Introduction and Question

Hi Everyone, I'm Jennifer.  I've been vegan for about 25 years and experimenting with raw since 2007.  Lost 50 lbs the first 9 months of 2007 eating 100% raw, not low fat, but not high fat either.  Let a stressful situation get me back on cooked and have been back and forth ever since.  I recently finished 30 days with Freelee and am now struggling with it again!  I know a huge issue I have is being prepared with enough ripe fruit.  Right now it's super cold here and even bananas are taking twice as long to ripen as usual.  I have several cases of fruit at home, but none of it is ripe even though it's been sitting for over a week.

Lurking on the forum I saw that Durianrider mentioned eating within 30 minutes of rising in the morning.  I usually don't eat for about 4 hours after waking, so I'm wondering if eating earlier would help me stay on track.  I get up between 4:30-5:30 most mornings, and exercise, get myself ready and prepare my food for the day before going to work.  Then I feel like I'm eating all day to get my calories in.  I really prefer to exercise on empty first thing in the morning.  How soon after getting up do most of you eat?

Thanks for any feedback.