Melon Blues
I'm certainly enjoying raw fruits. And I get the argument for eating stuff that our bodies seem predisposed for. However, if this is the stuff that I'm supposed to be eating, why is it a chore to eat so much? It seems that I'm in a constant battle to shovel fruit into my mouth. I don't eat when I'm hungry, because I never get hungry. As soon as I'm not full, I eat. Yet, I haven't topped 1513 calories in a day since we started.
It's too bad there has to be a catch.
"We have this wonderful diet of foods that you will love and your body can use. Oh, but you have to eat buckets full (bucketfulls?) of it."
Dr. Graham promises that my stomach will "stretch quickly to allow you to consume normal/health quantities of fruit." That may be true, but it hasn't happened yet.
I guess if it were easy, we wouldn't call it a challenge.
posted by Jason Hill at 11:49 PM
10 Comments:
I'm afraid I would grow quite sick of fruit (which I currently love) and just start craving some of the other food groups. At least cheese and bread. Sick of it yet?
BTW - "Bucketfuls".
That seems like a rational fear Al. However, I'm not craving anything. I feel quite satisfied with the stuff fruit is providing. I'm not saying I have developed a dislike for other things; I just don't have any cravings.
The question I'm raising is more about quantity. I may try a little less of that today and see how things go.
One Time Pris and I did "The Cleanse" for 3 weeks. All I got was raw fruit and vegetables and Indian dirt shakes for three weeks. But my body loved me after words, and I stopped snoring and some other cool stuff.
Does your all fruit diet come with a de-wormer? You know to get rid of all the worms we have. Have you passed any worms yet? Maybe thats a little too personal, but don't be surprised if you do, they start to die when they cant feed on the bad stuff in our bodies. Just giving you a heads up.
Here's a contradiction I'm seeing- this is premised on what our bodies would 'naturally' crave. Yet your are having to eat so much so as to stretch your stomach to be able to eat the proper quantity of food. That doesn't seem natural to me. Why would we naturally crave a food yet have to consume unnatural amounts (unnaturally stretching our stomachs)?
On the flip side I think it might be telling that the time that God specifically allows the eating of meats (animals) roughly coincides with the time that he limits a humans life span to 120 years (read the whole flood account). So I feel filling my body with the harmful animal fats other red meat goodness is merely doing my duty as a Christian to fulfills God's desire to not 'contend with me forever'! ha ha. (by the way, this is Michael speaking through my wife's sign-on. The views expressed in this post may or may not reflect the opinion of Melinda Brummett, her offiliates, or subsidiaries. This post is not yet rated.)
Other than Dr. Graham, are nuts part of the accepted diet? They look kinda tasty raw.
Jeb, I haven't seen any worms, but I confess that I haven't been looking.
Michael, I with you on the stomach stretching. If its the perfect food, why doesn't it naturally fill me up when I've had enough? Dr. Graham claims that our stomachs have actually shrunk form all the small quantities of high-calorie foods we normally eat and that is why we need to stretch them back out to their healthy size.
CJ, raw nuts are ok. You just have to be careful not to eat too many or you'll blow the 80/10/10 thing. They are very high in fat and can make it tough to stay at 10% of calories from fat. I have put a 1/4 cup of raw almonds, sunflower seeds, or pumpkin seeds on my evening salad and the numbers worked out fine--they are tasty!
I briefly posted my thoughts on the stomach stretching and water content thing a few posts back...I also left some thoughts about Allan's comments on your first post about 80/10/10.
My suggestion re: calories - if you're not hungry, don't force yourself to eat simply to meet a goal. He's just trying to give guidelines to give people better ideas of how it can work in real life. Counting calories are helpful at first, but really, it is not about trying to reach a particular caloric goal. It's about cleaning out your body and giving it the right fuel in the long term so it can run it's best.
If you under eat on calories on 811, you will figure it out, your body will let you know that you need more and you will gradually increase.
In my (also brief) experience, a month was not close to enough to fully see and feel changes that happened and are still happening to my body. I think it took me 2 months before my desire for more calories in a sitting increased naturally, and greatly. I did have a little bit of weight to lose. I think it all evens itself out eventually. Just enjoy your experience and don't stress out about calories. Eat when you're hungry and try to eat more in one sitting but don't think too hard about it. :)
Remember, you lived many, many years on cooked, processed, junk(?) food. 2-4 weeks isn't going to reverse all that physiologically. IF Graham is right and it IS natural for you to consume all this watery fruit, then as you continue on this diet (if you choose to) then you will realize that he is making sense when things start falling in place.
Now that I'm used to getting my calories from fruit, I find it very interesting that when I feel hunger, I immediately crave simple carbs (from fruit). Before, I did not have much of a sweet tooth, instead preferring savory tastes from, and being addicted to, flavored grains (bread, pasta) to get my calories. Now my body is transforming itself slowly from the inside out and it feels SO right and natural to desire and fill up on simple sugar carbs when I am hungry!
Hope I haven't been annoying with my comments...you can honestly just tell me to shut up anytime. :)
Sarah,
You are welcome to comment here anytime. It is refreshing to hear from someone who is actually living this diet. You have been a big encouragement, and kind-of a celebrity, to me and Christa and I am honored that you would come and see what we are doing.
I like what you had to say about calories. I came to that realization the other day and have been much happier focusing on hunger and satisfaction and not calories.
One question I have, if you are still reading this, is regarding percentages. I'm very consistently at 90/5/5. Is that close enough to not worry, or should I try to find a couple more fat/protein percentages? And if so, what do you suggest?
Hi Jason - Here's a post about this very thing, directly from Dr. Graham himself:
http://www.vegsource.com/talk/raw/messages/99932475.html
Also, if you guys decide to take this a little further, I highly recommend this little book, also from Dr. Graham:
http://www.foodnsport.com/max2/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=18&products_id=47
It is for athletes (Dr. D works with many athletes) and you guys sound like active people...it has a lot of common sense in it, and will help deepen your understanding of 811. I think you can get it on amazon also, but am not entirely sure.
Hope this helps! :) I'd be happy to dialogue about this any time with you and Christa. As long as you know I'm not an expert by any stretch of the imagination. I can just share my experiences so far.
Have a fruity weekend,
Sarah
Oops, I don't think the book link posted right. Anyway, if you're interested, go to his website - http://foodnsport.com and look for the book titled, "Nutrition and Physical Performance." A little gem of a book!
I am a very wimpy little person, and I had started working out at the gym some. Well, my personal trainer (we had some free sessions) was extremely skeptical of my diet and kept trying to get me to change it. After my 5th session with her, she asked to read the book. Not that I became a super athlete overnight or anything, but she was puzzled as to why I was struggling with some of the weight training, and yet between sets I was not even breathing heavy.
This is how I learned that cutting out the fat and cooked, greatly increases the oxygen carrying capacity of your blood, which is why many athletes see tremendous improvements when they switch to 811! Cool, huh? Speaking of which, I got to get back to the gym and get my book back from my trainer!
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