Monthly Archives: December 2011

So How Was It?

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To answer my most-pressing questions:

Can I live on fruit alone?

Yes! However, it’s not ideal for me at this point. I really missed leafy greens, among other foods.

How much fruit will I need? 

I typically ate 6 to 8 pieces of fruit each day and that sufficed.

How much is this going to cost?

In one week, I spent approximately $50.

Other Observations…
Having been on a raw/living foods plan in the past, I found myself comparing the fruit experiment to those days.
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As far as Energy, there were no big changes. Every time I ate, there was this feeling of having a “pick-me-up” as with eating most any other meal. I wasn’t flying high, didn’t have so much energy that I couldn’t sleep. I didn’t feel as energetic as I felt when on a raw/living foods diet, which is comprised of fruits, vegetables, and sprouted nuts & seeds. I did feel quite alert, so maybe the energy changes were on a more subtle level.
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Digestion ~ no issues. Fruit is very easy on the stomach. It breaks down quickly. There was also a lack of gas.
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Weight Loss ~ about a pound per day. My initial weight was 145.2 lbs. My final weight this morning was 139.0, for a total of 6.2 lbs lost. Not as dramatic of a weight loss as I experienced on a raw food diet, and I’m glad! I’m not trying to lose weight.
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Overall, I mostly loved giving this fruit thing a try. I found it too curious to not. Every time I heard of a fruitarian, I thought How does that work? Fruitarians were mystical creatures. I only ever heard of them. So now I’ve had my feel of it. To be and see for yourself…that answers the question!
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Day 7: The Basics

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Breakfast ~ 2 Fuji apples

A bowl of apples for breakfast. No problems finishing them this morning! I was pretty hungry. I didn’t have anything else after the coconut last night, though I meant to. I’m visiting a loved one in the hospital today, so I’m keeping things very simple…apples, bananas, cherries…for the road and at the place.

Weight Loss

My weight this morning was 139.8 lbs. That’s a loss of over 5 pounds in one week. I’ll comment further tomorrow, after my last day of fruit is complete, and I’ve weighed myself again.

 

Update… 9:30 am 12/15/2011

Snack ~ cherries

I had over a 3-hour drive yesterday. I bagged up the last of the cherries and ate most of them during the trip.

Lunch ~ 2 bananas

The hospital cafe had fresh fruit. Ninety-nine cents per banana! I’m used to the typical 99-cents per pound, but it wasn’t terrible. Lunch was still only a couple of bucks.

Snack/Dinner ~ 2 Fuji apples

I munched on an apple on the way back, then had the last apple once I got back home.

 

 

Day 6: Kiwi

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Breakfast ~ 2 kiwis and a side of cherries

The kiwi skin is edible, after brushing off the fuzzies, but I went ahead and sliced it off. The shape threw me off! Each looked like it wanted to separate into two. All of the kiwis in the market looked like that. I’m used to the clearly singular oval ones. Nonetheless, they are just as sweet, juicy, and delicious. I always expect kiwis to taste like an avocado or something else green, but no.  And the cherries this morning are divine! I take it they’ve had a chance to further ripen.
At 50-cents each, the kiwis were only $1. The cherries were perhaps $1 or less, too, since they were $5 per pound. So, breakfast was approximately $2.
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— Update… 2:15 pm—
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Lunch ~ 2 avocados, 2 red bell peppers

A repeat of last night’s dinner — salted avocados and bell peppers. After being mashed in a bowl, they poured perfectly into the peppers. Pretty easy eating, too! They stuck very well, no other utensils required. The bell peppers were $2 per pound. They are pretty small, so they were barely $1. The avocados were 80-cents each. So, lunch was barely 3 bucks.
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— Update…4:15 pm —
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Snack ~ 1 young coconut
My last one…So that leaves me with only apples to eat tomorrow, the  last day of my fruitarian experiment. There is the little melon left, but it’s not looking so good. I’ll probably be swinging by the store again.

Day 5: Shopping Day

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Today’s shopping bought:

3 young coconuts

3 red bell peppers

4 avocados

4 Fuji apples

2 kiwis

for about $16.

 

Breakfast ~ 2 plums

I had leftovers for breakfast — the rest of the plums I didn’t finish last night. I ate around 11 am. I still have the other Korean melon plus cherries, but I didn’t have much of a taste for either. I decided to wait until I went shopping to eat anything else.

Lunch ~ 1 young coconut

I had a very late lunch, around 3:30 pm, after I got back from shopping at the international market. I couldn’t wait to crack one open!! I was pretty sloth-like until I took a sip, then I felt recharged! I happened to notice that it took about 45 minutes to finish the whole coconut.

Dinner ~ 2 avocados, 1 red bell pepper

Just finished dinner. I had 2 mashed avocados sprinkled with salt plus a side of sliced red bell pepper. I love the way bell pepper smells, and its sweet taste complimented the salty avocados. Great combo!

 

Update…7:30 pm

Snack ~ 1 young coconut

Working on another coconut. I should really buy a whole case.

 

 

Day 4: Pear, Plum, …

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Breakfast ~ 2 bananas

Being on the go this morning, I grabbed a couple of bananas.

Lunch ~ Korean pear and a side of plum

Another first, Korean pear! It’s much larger than the teardrop-shaped pears. It deserves to be this large — it’s so juicy and delicious!  Also, it has a bit of a nutty taste, like walnuts.The consistency is that of an apple, rather than the gritty-like texture of other pears. Korean pears were $3 each.

I also had some of a plum that was going bad. I salvaged what I could.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Update… 8:15pm

Dinner ~ Fuji apple, 2 plums

I was particularly hungry for dinner. I had my last apple and the last of my plums.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Recap

I’m down to my last just-about-everything today. All I have left from Wednesday’s shopping is one of the Korean melons and a bowl of cherries. That will be my breakfast. I’m surprised that all of it lasted as long as it did. No complaints, but I’m actually kinda confused. I thought I’d be way hungrier and tear through it all in a day! I hear of fruitarians eating like 30 bananas a day! Or some other incredible amount of fruit, just to live and not be hungry.

I’m doing well with my “meager” amount. Maybe the “30 bananas” is just a myth. Maybe my mind and body are coping in their own way since it’s just a 7-day long venture. Dunno.

I have noticed that fruit slows me down, more so than eating a salad of greens. It’s a lot of chewing! So whatever hunger I have is gone way before I finish eating all the fruit on my plate. With other foods, I’m liable to eat very quickly, thus still feeling hungry near the end of or after the meal. Hmm…

Day 3: Coconut and…

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Breakfast ~ 1 young coconut

It was filled to the brim! It’s like a 2-for-1 deal because you drink the water, which is quite a bit, then easily scoop out and eat the jelly-like fruit inside. It’s all-together delicious and fun to eat!

Only $1.99 at the international market, which usually has the best prices for young coconuts. At some of the chain grocery or natural food stores, they can run up to $4!

Update…1:45 pm

Lunch ~ 2 avocados

 

 

 

 

I wanted something salty for lunch, so I mashed up a couple of  avocados and sprinkled them with sea salt.

 

Update… 5:30 pm

At 80 cents each, my avocado lunch was only $1.60.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dinner ~ pomelo, plum

I’m having the rest of my pomelo from Day 1 and a red plum for dinner. The plums were 1.50/lb. I bought 4 for a total of $2.60. The pomelo was $3. Having only half today of it today, I’ll say the pomelo is $1.50. So my dinner was a little over 2 bucks! Sweet!!

 

 

Day 2: Apples, Bananas, Cherries, etc.

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Yesterday’s fruit shopping bought:

3 large Fuji apples

1 Korean pear

2 avocados

4 red plums

6 bananas

2 Korean melons

1 young coconut

1 bag of cherries

for a total of $24. 50.

The cherries was the most expensive at 4.99/lb. They weighed over a pound, so they were about $6. The cherries and the bananas were bought at a grocery store, while the rest was purchased at an international market.

 

Breakfast ~ 2 apples, 2 bananas

That was the plan, but I only ate the apples. Will eat the bananas a little later.

 

 

 

 

 

Update…7:30 pm

Snack ~ 2 bananas

The two bananas from above.

 

Dinner ~ Korean melon, cherries

Another first, Korean melon. Smells and tastes a lot like cantaloupe. Very juicy! Glad that I bought more than one.

 

 

 

 

Recap

Today was all fruit! I thought I would eat more, but didn’t need to. For breakfast, I barely got the two apples down. They seemed like a lot. Also, I did have a late start this morning, eating breakfast around 11am. Perhaps that was the difference.

 

Day 1: Pomelo, 2 Oranges, and a Guava

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And so it begins…

How much fruit?

This morning, the first day, I’m starting with what I have:

1 Pomelo

2 Oranges

1 Guava

Cost? $7.40

1 Pomelo ~ $3

2 Oranges ~ $1

1 Guava ~ $2.80

(Cost is rounded to the nearest .10 and includes tax.)

Weight Loss

Although I’m not in it for the weight loss, thought I’d keep track of that as well. My starting weight is: 145.2 lbs.

Kinda a meager start to last the whole day! But I could last on it, just for one day. I’ll go fruit shopping when I go out later.

Breakfast~ the Pomelo

A pomelo next to a regular-sized orange.

I’ve actually never had pomelo. It smells and looks like a grapefruit, except it’s larger. It’s about the size of a honeydew melon.

I got it, and the rest of today’s fruit, at a local Thai market.

Man, it’s delicious!! Sweeter than a grapefruit ~ takes the edge of the tartness off. And so, just half of a pomelo was sliced into 6 large pieces and filled up a bowl. It was enough for breakfast. (Sidebar: If I ever make raw vegan sushi again, adding a sliver of pomelo would make it look and taste amazing!)

Update…12:30p

On the Go ~ 2 Bananas

I bought 6 organic bananas at .99/lb while out fruit shopping for tomorrow, so the 2 bananas were about an 80-cent snack. They tided me over until lunch and were perfect while out on the go.

Lunch ~ 2 Oranges

Two oranges yields way more than it seems. Cutting each orange into 8 bite-size pieces fills up my bowl and is filling to me as well.

Update…9:50 pm

Afternoon Snack ~ I deviated!

I had a couple of pieces of toasted pita bread. I could’ve munched on fruit, but really wanted that pita crunch!

Dinner ~ Guava

I’ve actually never had fresh guava either. I’ve had guava juice, so I was expecting the inside to be pink. But I have a different variety. It smells a lot like kiwi, just a real “green” smell. Each bite tastes different! One second, it has the best flavor, kind of pear-like. The next it tastes like an avocado.I figure it was plenty ripe, so… Not really feeling the guava.

Recap

The first day went okay. I’m excited about tomorrow’s fruit! To buy just fruit is cool (and simple) on the one hand because I go to only that one area. No going to other aisles for spices, oils, etc. On the other hand, my question was “Is this enough?” as I couldn’t really gauge how much I had. Usually, I buy my regular groceries and only a little fruit ~ enough for a piece or two per day. And there I was buying fruit as my primary food!

It felt like I was snacking all day, rather than having meals. But I’m not big on having complete meals anyway.

I love how eating fruit is an instant energy boost. The energy and the sense of being full enough wore off more quickly, about an hour after eating. So tomorrow I’m just going to go with it ~ eating a least one piece every hour on the hour and see how that goes ~ rather than have the 3 “meals” and with only 1 snack time between each meal.

Even with the pita consumption, I still ate mostly fruit today. I’m excited!