Craving sugar

[brydee]

Im eating plenty of greens, greens smoothie in the mornings, big green salads for either one or both meals and inbetween that and with it cucumber,dandelions in moderation, sproats, probably more but cant think right now.

I read that most your diet should be mainly greens,wild greens,sea greens and 2/3 pints of water and not that much fruit, nuts or seeds.

But im CONTANTLY craving fruit.fresh and dried and raw chocolate, so much so that i could give in and eat them both all day and probably nothing else.

Should i just let my body decide what it wants to eat or...

[beckx]

i have mega sugar cravings but usually i can control them with getting enough greens...

but why don't you just try adding some fruit to your diet? if you're really active you can get away with the sugar; go with fresh more than dried and focus on lower sugar fruits like berries, grapefruit, etc if you're worried about the sugar.

maybe someone else will have better advice but just know that a moderate amount of fruit in a balanced raw diet is definitely not the enemy. :)

[JennaBoBenna]

Your body needs sugar to do all sorts of things. Fruit sugars are not bad. Eat as much as your body needs!
Now, if you were craving refined sugars...that's a different thing. But fruit sugars--go ahead!

[cara4art]

Are you trying to release weight, or do you have blood sugar issues?
I agree with eating enough greens, but do eat some fresh fruit too, and exercise to burn off those simpler carbohydrates that are in the fruit. Lots of SAD people out there like to demonize fruit and they're all over meat and cheese on their "low-carb" diets, or are eating some processed "low-sugar, low-fat" junk! Go figure. Anyway, get some fruit in there with green smoothies in the am, and couple of fruit snacks if you want. A small amount of raw chocolate won't hurt either. A small amount of sprouted grain in the form of buckwheat bread or crackers is good, along with a healthy spread. A couple of special raw desserts per week are OK too, like energy cookies. Lots of recipes over on the Gone Raw site for all of this stuff as well as Alissa's book of course!
Again, listen to the body as lots of other good folks here say, for the cravings for GOOD food(NOT junk, as that would be old cravings calling!). Just try adding some lower-sugar fruit, like granny smith apples, or grapefruit, or berries and go from there. You'll find out soon how this is on your particular body.
Good luck, and remember this - I think Dr. Gabriel Cousens said the following:
"Fruit is a love letter from God!"
I'm off to have a green smoothie now!

[jacsam]

There's nothing wrong with eating fruit. My green drinks have fruit in them as well. Usually a banana and maybe some berries or pineapple and then I add the greens to it. Ani Phyo has a great recipe called doughnut holes and they have almonds, dried pineapple and dates in it....they're really good. Yeah, I wouldn't be worrying about fresh and dried fruit.....it's the M&M's that I have to avoid when sugar cravings come.

[brydee]

Hi everyone, thanks for the replies:)

Cara- yes i am trying to release weight, im not sure if i have blood sugar issues, none that i know of anyway! i have some fruit in with my green smoothies and plenty of fruit desserts,sweets etc

jacsam- might have to try those doughnut holes, they sound delicous!

Jenna-I feel like it wont stop though, like i could eat 10 kiwi's or oranges or 6 punnets of strawberries etc , so i end up eating more fruit than i do my greens, which is annoying me because i want it to be the other way around, i also read that if this happens you end up feeling more tired because your blood sugars become imbalanced:(

Beckx-im not that active at the moment, im at home all day on sick from work, i do exercise though but not enough to eat the amount i feel like eating:o .
I do eat fruit everyday, i think i worded it wrong, my problem is that i am craving it all the time, more and more.

[beckx]

one other thought i had is, maybe your body is craving the water in fruit. try drinking more water throughout the day and adding more water rich veggies.

if that doesn't work... go with the fruit and trust that your body will let you know when its had enough.

[nownatalie]

I had no idea that if your goal was to release weight that you also have to limit fruits, or rather certain fruits. I just recently cut back a great deal on the nuts, which I really really love, after gaining weight from eating too much of what I thought was raw. Now to hear that I may have to do much less fruit is disappointing. For the last week or so, since I cut out nuts, I've been eating much more fruit. Now I'm realizing the bloating, constipation, fatigue, clouded thinking might be my body saying too much or it could be the combination. I've been making so many mistakes since I started raw 4-5 weeks ago. Oh...as of lately I've been craving cooked foods which is surprising to me. I have to admit, I do feel like I'm meeting more limitations than I would like and running out of ideas. Also, I haven't found a green drink recipe that actually works for me so I don't do them. I would like to but only is if suits my taste buds!

I just wish I knew what I should eat to be satisfied, feel healthy and address my goals. HELP!

[beckx]

I had no idea that if your goal was to release weight that you also have to limit fruits, or rather certain fruits. I just recently cut back a great deal on the nuts, which I really really love, after gaining weight from eating too much of what I thought was raw. Now to hear that I may have to do much less fruit is disappointing. For the last week or so, since I cut out nuts, I've been eating much more fruit. Now I'm realizing the bloating, constipation, fatigue, clouded thinking might be my body saying too much or it could be the combination. I've been making so many mistakes since I started raw 4-5 weeks ago. Oh...as of lately I've been craving cooked foods which is surprising to me. I have to admit, I do feel like I'm meeting more limitations than I would like and running out of ideas. Also, I haven't found a green drink recipe that actually works for me so I don't do them. I would like to but only is if suits my taste buds!

I just wish I knew what I should eat to be satisfied, feel healthy and address my goals. HELP!

take a deep breath :) right now, while you and your body are adjusting, just eat whatever you need to eat to stay raw and stay excited about it. you'll lose weight at first no matter what you do. eventually your body will tell you what it needs and you feed it. that's all there is to it. just have to get through some trial and error; maybe you'll combine foods badly, maybe you'll eat too much fruit and get spacey for a few hours... you'll figure it out. :)

some people who are near their goal weight will gain weight if they overdo the fats. some people lose weight from adding more fats. some people gain weight from too much sugar (mainly from not burning the simple sugars off). but rarely do people gain weight on 100% raw food if they don't need to. so don't worry about it. keep it simple, don't restrict yourself or you won't stay with it. just know you're eating the best diet ever and that you're getting healthier and coming closer to your goals every day.

[brydee]

beckx- yes iv been craving juicy fruits not bananas, apples etc, also onions! which iv always hated cooked and raw, i know they dont digest well so trying not to each to many,dont have any spring onions either.
Iv started drinking more, still hungry all the time though, i would say i definatly drink enough, i have at least 12 drinks or so a day and 2-3 whilst im exercising.

[Carlsbad]

If your body wants fruit, eat fruit.

I go through phases where I'll be craving oranges, and I will eat a TON of oranges. When clementines were in season, I ate so many of them that my coworkers were making jokes about scurvy! If your body doesn't feel as good with high amounts of fruit, it will let you know and you'll start to veer towards other foods. Every body is different, so listen to what your body is telling you; as long as it's raw, you're fine!

[Elouet]

A lot of people make raw copycat foods (raw versions of SAD foods) to transition that include LOTS of nuts and fruits. Once you've adjusted to raw without craving SAD it's easier to start eating more greens and reducing sugar. Honestly some people eat tons of fruit and it works for their bodies just fine.