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As I have mentioned in other pages of this website, I was some 70 pounds overweight and rising.
I was tired, lethargic and depressed. Worse yet, I was suffering from a liver condition that was threatening to cut my life drastically short.
Actually, the first time I tried a raw food diet with fruit fasting was in a feeble attempt to lose weight quickly.
I do not know if you relate, but in reality this was an act of desperation.
I just could no longer stand the sight of myself in the mirror. Physically and emotionally I was bankrupt.
To be honest, I often considered taking my own life. So I stopped eating in disgust.
But - 'lo and behold - before the first 24 hours had transpired,guess what I was doing?
Yep - gorging again and feeling horrible. Headaches, dizziness, nausea and sharp irritability overcame me like wildfire.
More Toxic than a Landfill
These physical symptoms from not eating, however, intrigued me enough to do some research on raw food diets and fruit fasting. Soon I arrived at the ugly truth - I was more toxic than a landfill.
The headaches, dizziness, nausea and even fever that hit me were all caused by toxins in my digestive system that were loosened into the blood stream when I ate only fruits.
My body was craving the very toxic food that had gotten me sick in the first place. I was floored.
It was very similar to the cravings felt by someone who is, say, trying to quit smoking. I knew I was in the right track.
Hey, if a smoker is going through withdrawal, that means he is not smoking right?
So the physical discomfort meant I had started to eliminate toxic foods from my diet.
I became interested in finding which raw foods could help me detoxify and lose weight the fastest - and cheapest.
The Fruit Fasting Challenge
Fruits and vegetables emerged at the top of the list along with beets and beans coming a close second and third, respectively. "Yeah, but what about meat?" I thought.
I consulted a holistic medicine practitioner, and she agreed with my conclusions.
She indicated the best thing I could do was start fruit fasting at least once a week and build it up to two days per week - increasing one day every week until I did a fruit fast for at least 21 days.
At that point, she suggested, I should seriously consider expanding my fasting and cleansing efforts with a total liquid diet - a juice or water fast.
She wanted me to do a raw fruit fast for three weeks, go back to normal food for three days, and then start water or juice fasting for at least 14 days - 30 days of detox fasting would be even better, she told me.
I was none too happy and felt nervous about her proposition. Yet anything was better than staying as I was. I needed rapid weight loss and detoxification.
Apples, Pears & Bananas
So this holistic doc was my introduction to the raw foods, vegan or vegetarian movement.
I launched the fruit fasting effort with apples, pears and bananas. They were cheap and were just "grab-and-eat" which was convenient.
I went to the supermarket and bought enough to last me a week, threw away all the junk from the refrigerator and pantry, and started fruit fasting.
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Y! MyWebWhat I did was carry a bag in my briefcase with a mixture of the apples, pears and bananas and a carry jug I could refill with water throughout the day. I was off and running. Whenever I felt hungry, I would open the bag and grab a fruit.
Then I would drink large amounts of water - about a gallon a day. It was not long, however, before the hunger pains started hitting me. By the end of the first 24 hours I felt famished.
The solution, for me, was to drink even more water along with another fruit. One thing about fruit fasting, however, was that initially my tendency was to gorge on bananas. I do not recommend this because bananas are great, but actually are the most "fattening" of the fruits.
So prep your "to-go" bag with few bananas and more apples than pears. Eat any fruit you want actually, but beware of bananas and honey dews. They are very high in sugar.
Easy Does It
If you are overweight or toxic as I was, fruit fasting will be a challenge. Start our slow. If all you can do is one or three days... that is fine.
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Go back to regular food - although please at lesser quantities !!! -- and come back to fruit fasting the following week and do it for a little longer - at least six hours - preferably 24 hours. Progress, not perfection or world records.
If you do this, I guarantee you that you will feel lighter and more energized than you have in years - possibly ever.
Completing your first three-day fruit fasting campaign will be very satisfying both physically and emotionally.
Even though you are still "eating," your digestive system and colon are actually detoxing and in "withdrawal" from the unhealthy foods you had been eating.
Some Fruit Fasting Pointers
At one point, I believe it was day three, I felt hungry as if I was not eating anything. I could eat three apples and they would go right through me. That is normal. Drink more water and eat another apple. The feeling will pass right around day seven or eight.
I strongly encourage you to stick to fruit fasting until you are able to do at least 14 days. That in itself will change your life.
Or at the very least open doors of knowledge and opportunity in your weight loss and fitness goals that previously were not available.
You do not have to become a full-fledged vegan or raw food practitioner to benefit from this, by the way.
In the Raw
Raw food advocates basically do not favor any food that is cooked... period. No cooking, grilling, steaming. If any heat is used, then it is not a raw food - they say.
The reasoning is that eating food as close as possible to its natural state incites an exchange of pure energy between the food and body. The person will feel more energized and healthy.
Some benefits from the raw food diet are: a stronger immune system, better digestion, emotional stability and clear, vibrant skin.
Raw food advocates also emphasize the positive environmental impact it yields. Agriculture is enhanced and garbage production is reduced.
If this topic interests you as it does me, then I highly recommend you visit the store linked below and take a look around.
It has pretty much everything you will need to learn about and follow a raw food diet.
One thing: I personally am NOT a 100% raw food eater since I do enjoy eating lean chicken and fish.
But I do believe in the system and lifestyle as one conducive to health, weight loss and detoxification.
It does work. What I am saying is that you do not have to become a full-time vegan to use it and receive quantum benefits.
Add it to your fasting for weight loss and fitness efforts. The results will speak for themselves.
More About Raw Food Diets
Here is a bird's eye view of the general philosophy and beliefs behind it.
The raw food diet consists, to a great extent, of juices and shakes, salads, soups, dressings, yogurts, crackers, spreads, dips, vegetable burgers, curries, vegetable pastas and wraps, among others.
Those who follow this way of eating say:
That raw foods and fruit fasting give your body enzymes that aid in their own digestion.
This frees the body's own enzymes to perform metabolic processes unfettered.
Heating food, they say, degrades or destroys these enzymes, putting the brunt of digestion on the body's own enzyme production.
Another common belief is that raw foods contain bacteria and other micro-organisms that stimulate the immune system and enhance digestion by filling the digestive tract with beneficial flora.
The premise is that raw foods have higher nutritional value than those which have been cooked.
Wild foods, particularly edible wild plants, are nutritious raw foods, it is emphasized.
Freezing food is acceptable; some raw food practitioners choose to preserve nuts and seeds in a freezer.
Although freezing decreases enzyme activity, the food is still considered raw.
For more books on fasting and colon health, as well as juicers and detox cleansing kits and supplies, please visit the Anti-Prevention Nation© EXODUS "Fasting Lose Weight" Shop for our hand-picked list of products and resources.
Return from Fruit Fasting to Juice Fasting MAIN.
Robert Dave Johnston
Fitness Through Fasting - Editor
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