When Fruit is Not Filling--suggestions?

[bluedog]

Does fruit fill you or do you find yourself feeling physically full, but craving more sweets after eating fruit?

When this question is posed in raw food forums, the response is usually that the full-but-wanting-more feeling is psychological.


I've tried upping my fruit intake and taking out sweets, but I am still often hungry and, after three weeks, have not lost any weight (discussed in previous post after week 2). It seems like I can never get enough sugar--I could easily eat 15 medjool dates if I didn't 'force' myself not to. I know tons of fruit works for a lot of people, but I suspect there are others who watch their intake. Also, excess fruit approach seems to work best with people with very active lifestyles (i.e. not me for the next few years).

Given that:
a) most sugar in fruit is fructose
b) fructose goes straight to the liver and does not immediately enter the blood stream (extra fructose that the body doesn't use immediately is converted to fat)
c) because it does not immediately enter the blood stream, it does not cause a significant insulin spike
d) because it does not cause a spike, the 'food satiation' hormone isn't released

It seems understandable why I end up feeling dissatisfied, and constantly craving sugar (*not* processed/junk food, just sweetness). I am eating more avocado as recommend, but these sugar cravings are really distracting. I'm tempted to try a low-carb raw approach to solve this, although green smoothies without fruit=blah.

Any suggestions? Has anybody had similar problems? How did you solve it?

Thanks!

[tiggerbounce]

Ok, gonna answer your question with another question.
What do you mean by finding yourself feeling physically ill? Are you eating until you are stuffed to the point of feeling ill? Are you drinking enough water? You are sure you do not have a candida/yeast infection? I read that most people do and do not even realize it. Once they address that issue, they lose weight.

Are you satisfied and just having cravings born of previous habits?

I am now eating basic simple raw again, but just came off a 10 day fast. During that fast, I found all manner of habitual hungers that I had. Very enlightening. I also found that I did better with two green drinks daily rather than one. And I had minimal amounts of fruit in them. I used no salt or seasonings or sweeteners. Not even dates. I love, love, love, dates. I am pro-date eating. Not saying to cut out the dates. Just saying what I did. I had very little hunger and I was juice fasting.

I would say, without more info, up the greens, up the water, and maybe even up the calories. Once your body adjusts, it will find its way. Maybe try a couple of juices each day. Especially green.

[MysticTree]

I find that I graze on fruit up til about lunchtime when I have more in the way of greens, avos etc then I am usually satisfied til my early evening meal which is similar to lunch.

I like to have juice morning and evening but don't always. I only feel "ill" if I over eat which is sometimes but not often.

[bluedog]

No, no, "physically full," not physically ill. :) Eating enough to know intellectually that I've had enough, that my stomach is full of fruit and liquid, but still wanting sugar (dates).

Positive that there's no infection, as verified by the doc.

While craving sweets, I'm having doubts that this is the best thing for my body, I guess. I've read here that some people have to restrict their fruit/date intake to ensure that they don't gain; meanwhile, I'm trying to lose.

[MysticTree]

No, no, "physically full," not physically ill. :) Eating enough to know intellectually that I've had enough, that my stomach is full of fruit and liquid, but still wanting sugar (dates).

Positive that there's no infection, as verified by the doc.

While craving sweets, I'm having doubts that this is the best thing for my body, I guess. I've read here that some people have to restrict their fruit/date intake to ensure that they don't gain; meanwhile, I'm trying to lose.

It's hard to know whether you are craving because you are not eating enough - "intellectually" isn't a good method to judge how full you are. You could be craving sugary foods because your body is saying "feed me, I am not getting enough".

I would up your intake of non-sugary foods and see how you get on. So often people who want to lose weight don't eat enough.

[Raw Angel Mom]

Your body needs sugar, so eat as many fruits you want. There is a woman who was overweight and she became slim even by eating 30 bananas a day. Just eat. You could have emotional craving, meaning craving for comfort food. If you are simply physically hungry, then eat. It is true that sometime when we are hungry, we are thirsty. Look into preparing green smoothie, they truly fill you up.

Fresh fruits and ripped are totally great for you, so eat as many you want.


All the best.

p.s Maybe for diner, you can look into making simple pate with sunflower seeds. You can make sushi with greens/avocado. Look into simple recipe. Sprout legumes such lentils, eat them with a nice salad. Learn to make simple soup too, they can be life saver when you are hungry. It won't take too long, your body will adjust. I do my heavy meal at night. I do fruits/smoothies in mornings and sometime up to after noon. There also raw granola that you can learn to do, for once in a while when you feel to eat something heavier. If you do fruits and a lot of them, you will heal quicker and loose the weight in no time. If you have glandular issue, or kidney issue, it will take a little while but you will get there. Fruits are very healing and your body is probably focusing to repair and restore balance before losing the weight. It is all good, don't give up.

[Traceyraw]

Ive been experimenting with a high fruit diet. When you look at how many calories are in each you have to eat a ton of fruit to get to 1500 calories. ex 15 banannas. Oranges only have 35 calories, Grapes 3 each. Ive been eating a bag of grapes in a sitting. 7 oranges. This seems to work but I have to have green juice to feel satisfied or some kind of greens intake.

Ive been researching people that eat high fruit and they seem to loose weight. So this is my new approach eat more fruit it wont' make me fat.

[tiggerbounce]

Ok, wild idea...feed the craving....have a giant banana whip/banana icecream. Without any date sauce or chocolate sauce. Use pureed berries without sweeteners instead. I recently read or watched something and I have no idea what or where, but it addressed the idea of eating a full meal yet still wanting dessert after. A little something sweet. (Forks Over Knives, maybe???) So, mentally, give yourself a dessert. Put it in a really nice glass or bowl and give that total decadent sweet dessert feeling. Make a banana split even and do some other fruits sorbets to go with it. At the same time, add more greens however you like to have them.

Maybe psychologically your mind is just saying, hey, this aint a proper meal??? What's up??? Where's the final course?

There are soooo many variables. If you are getting plenty of calories, enough fresh fruits and greens, and enough water....it can also be reactions to stress, boredom, other emotions, habits like when you site at your computer you are used to having a cup of coffee and if you see the cup setting there you just HAVE to have a cup of coffee.

I identified a lot of my habits on my 10 day juice fast. Maybe even one day would be enough to discover things like that. After I realized what they were, then I had an "aha" moment and no more problems. I grabbed a glass of water instead of worrying about it. Or made another juice of whatever kind I wanted at the moment. The habits/actions were subtle, but they were there and often enough that they hindered me. I guess moving from SAD can be a lot like stopping smoking or other addictions.

Maybe take a day or two and just eat as much fresh fruits and veggies as your body is screaming for and see how you feel about that? If you are worried about weight gain, a couple of days won't add a pants size.

There is no magical combination of eating that just makes is all fit together neatly. It is discovering your bodies needs and what fits into your lifestyle. For some it is as simple as slowing down, really chewing their food, and being mentally present when they eat. You may have to play with it a little bit.

I had a TSH of 12 and when I had only fresh fruits and veggies, 1200 cals a day (that is low for this style of eating btw), I would still lose 1/2 pound per day. With just one hour of physical activity a day. I would think that if I were very active and taller than 5feet 2 inches that I could have easily had 3000 calories a day or more to maintain my weight. And that is with a troubled thyroid.

Just saying....play with it a bit until you find your zone.

[The Sproutarian (Mr Raw)]

Does fruit fill you or do you find yourself feeling physically full, but craving more sweets after eating fruit?

When this question is posed in raw food forums, the response is usually that the full-but-wanting-more feeling is psychological.


I've tried upping my fruit intake and taking out sweets, but I am still often hungry and, after three weeks, have not lost any weight (discussed in previous post after week 2). It seems like I can never get enough sugar--I could easily eat 15 medjool dates if I didn't 'force' myself not to. I know tons of fruit works for a lot of people, but I suspect there are others who watch their intake. Also, excess fruit approach seems to work best with people with very active lifestyles (i.e. not me for the next few years).

Given that:
a) most sugar in fruit is fructose
b) fructose goes straight to the liver and does not immediately enter the blood stream (extra fructose that the body doesn't use immediately is converted to fat)
c) because it does not immediately enter the blood stream, it does not cause a significant insulin spike
d) because it does not cause a spike, the 'food satiation' hormone isn't released

It seems understandable why I end up feeling dissatisfied, and constantly craving sugar (*not* processed/junk food, just sweetness). I am eating more avocado as recommend, but these sugar cravings are really distracting. I'm tempted to try a low-carb raw approach to solve this, although green smoothies without fruit=blah.

Any suggestions? Has anybody had similar problems? How did you solve it?

Thanks!

A excellent way l have found to overcome this problem is to sprout seeds and have some algae to stabilise the blood sugar. l would start off with sprouting sesame seeds and sunflower seeds and wheatgrass and various other sprouts. After a few months of doing that you will find you feel like Superman. Need to develop the taste buds for it because it is hardcore but WORTH IT!!! Start off slow.

lf the fruit is bought from a shop, l can understand why you are hungry all the time. lt could be in the mind, but if the vibration is not in the food then of course the body will be hungry.

[blessteve]

These are your two biggest problems!!

If you could easily eat 15 dates then you should eat 20 dates. Eat fruit until totally full. Sugar cravings ? Eat more fruit.

Fruit don't Turn to fat. NEVER. The world has not produced one fat person that eats fruit all day every day.
Go to the check out line in any grocery store and find the fat people. None of them will have a cart full of fruit.

--I could easily eat 15 medjool dates if I didn't 'force' myself not to.

Given that:

b) fructose goes straight to the liver and does not immediately enter the blood stream (extra fructose that the body doesn't use immediately is converted to fat)

c) because it does not immediately enter the blood stream, it does not cause a significant insulin spike

Thanks!