FRUIT

Lately, I’ve been really loving FRUIT! It’s a bit strange because I’m not usually drawn to sweet stuff. I would prefer a bag of Doritos to a cookie any day and for sure I would choose veggies over FRUIT, but that’s all changed recently!

I was shopping on Melrose with my friend Jill and we came upon a Mexican-fruit stand. Though I’ve seen them everywhere, I’ve never tried it. I was starving, so I thought I would give it a go! The nice lady chopped up mangos, oranges, pineapples, watermelon and cucumber and slid it into a bag. Then, she squeezed fresh lime over it, added a dab of salt and a sprinkle of chile pepper. I gave her $5 (a bargain for a huge bag of fresh fruit) and she handed me a fork and a napkin. I dove right in and my taste buds were tickled by the mix of sweet fruit with salty and spicy flavors. I was hooked! (A bit of advice: Don’t eat the whole bag at once… like I did! I had the worst stomachache that night). Those stands are all over LA and now whenever I need a snack I know where to stop (I only eat half now and save the rest in Tupper-ware for a healthy snack later). Mexican-fruit stands are FABULOUS!

FRUIT is great for you and recently I decided to do a 3-day FRUIT fast. A FRUIT fast is a great way to cleanse and detoxify the body. A while back I tried the Master Cleanse (see June 25th, 2008 blog). It was traumatic and I didn’t last long enough to get the full effects. A FRUIT fast is much gentler and so I thought I’d give it a shot.

Sunday, I went to the Farmer’s Market to stock up on all sorts of fruits. I bought oranges, apples, nectarines, pineapples, watermelon and berries. Fruits are filled with enzymes that do almost all the work of digestion, allowing the pancreas a much-needed rest. Fruit sugars as well as the vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, are carried by the bloodstream and delivered to the cells in the body. The fibers that are left behind in the colon are moist and cleansing, softening and removing years of impacted bad stuff (which I have a lot of with all the Big Macs and Cheesy Gordita Crunches I consume).

Monday morning, I started my fast. I ate throughout the day a variety of the FRUIT. I ate 2 apples, 1 orange, 2 nectarines and a whole bunch of berries, pineapple and watermelon. I also drank herbal tea in the morning and Senna Leaf laxative tea at night.

A FRUIT fast is easier than other fasts because you are constantly chewing. I never felt hungry because I was fooling my body into thinking I was eating, plus the Fruit tastes great (at first). At the end of day one, I felt good and not hungry at all and I slept well, though I had to get up a couple times to pee (FRUIT has a lot of water in it).

Day two, I woke with a grumbling in my belly, but I was still energetic and vibrant (On the master cleanse I was tired and totally out of it). I ate again an apple, oranges, a nectarine, pineapple and tons of berries. In the late afternoon is when my head and emotions started to kick in. It wasn’t that I was hungry, but I couldn’t stop thinking about bagels, bacon, coffee and wine and cheese. My body has become accustomed to diet of shitty foods, so the FRUIT was way less satisfying.

I realized that I was definitely cravings cheese far more from emotional attachments than hunger, but this is were it started to get hard. Supposedly fat, sugar and salt cravings will subside in a few days, but by late morning of day 3, my emotional cravings got the best of me and I chowed down on a salad.

The next morning, I brought coffee, regular food and wine back into my diet. I did leave out cheese and red meat (which I miss drastically) … at least for now.

I think I did ok on the FRUIT Fast and my body definitely ended in a healthy state. Even though I ended my FRUIT fast cursing all FRUIT… I remember that Mexican-fruit stand and I am reminded that FRUIT is FABULOUS!