Does anyone else suffer from "fruit binging"? How did you cure it? page

[fcby9]

I've hopped on the Primal wagon a couple of times, and seriously started again about a week ago. Overall, I love how I feel. Apart from being unable to control what oils restaurants use to cook my food in, I've adopted the basic tenets of Primal living. (Granted, it's only been a week.) My downfall is not processed sweets or grains, though -- it's fruit. Today, for example, I had around 5 flat peaches (that I picked myself from an organic farm) and a quarter of a watermelon! I fear that this is jeopardizing my ability to get into the "sweet spot" for weight loss on the Carbohydrate Curve (i.e. between 50-100 macronutrients/day, ideally under 50).

Does anyone else suffer from the same issues? How did you cure yourself of it? Once you weaned yourself off from fruit (if you did, that is), did your weight loss accelerate instantly? It's just so much more difficult to avoid fruit in the summer, although for me avoiding it altogether is easier than moderating the amount.

I'm a girl in my late teens, 6'0 tall, and about 182 lbs. My ideal weight is 143-150 lbs. My goal for the end of this month is to reach 165 lbs. Do you think this is possible?

Thank you! Grok on!

[Tribal Rob]

Hi,

First off 17 pounds in a month, or over 4 pounds a week is not a realistic or healthy weight loss expectation. Ok some people drop weight fast at first, but they are normally up in the 250lbs + weight area and are gluten sensitive.

If you can, ditch the scales at first, at least for a month, it really not important to keep weighing at first if you want to eat this way forever, and why wouldn't you?

Then don't stress about the fruit at first either, concentrate on eating whole, real foods, no sugar, no processed crap, no grains.

Once this is sorted you will probably crave less fruit. I hardly eat fruit now, frozen berries with cream is about as far down the fruit route I go, and this is purely because I don't often have the desire to eat fruit all that often. It took a few weeks, but my fruit consumption naturally and gradually dropped, and I have gone a full week without any fruit before now without even realising it.

[magnolia1973]

Just eat fruit. Just enjoy it- I'd expect when you go fruit picking and pick fresh peaches, it is natural to eat them. And watermelon too. I go in cycles with fruit. Just make sure if you eat a bunch a bunch of fruit to also make sure you are getting your fat and protein. I like to eat mine at a meal, not as a snack. I assume you don't go peach picking every day....

And no- my weightloss does not vary based on fruit. It comes off very randomly and in "chunks".

[mitmo]

I wouldnt worry too much about it. It is healthy fruit, It isnt like you had 5 candy bars . I used to bing with fruit (and still do), so I started cutting out the high glycimic fruits and binged with lower glyciemic fruits like berries, and I always throw in a protien source, like a hard boild egg.

Going from 182 to 165 might be obtainable depending on how much water wieght you will loose in the first couple of weeks going primal. It is better to use a mirror or clothes to judge fat lose. You might not loose a single pound, or even gain weight if you are woking out. If your clothes start fitting looser but you are still the same wieght it means you are dropping fat and gaining muscle, which is ideal!

[ninagski]

I came here with pretty much the same question as the OP. It's summer...I looooooove fruit. I eat a lot of it every day. Blueberries, strawberries, watermelon, apricots, peaches - yum! I'm not eating other sugars, just fruit sugars. My goal is weight loss. Should I continue to enjoy these fruits (I'm sure my consumption will lower come fall/winter) or do you think I should make an effort to stop eating them?

Also, similar to OP, I'm also a girl, 6' tall. Although I'm 27 and 176 lbs. OP, you say your ideal weight is ~150? That seems really low for a girl of our height, no?

[sbhikes]

I used to work in an organic garden back before I did this diet. I ate fruit all the time while I was working there. Bananas, figs, oranges mostly. And peaches and grapefruit from the farmer's market. I gained a ton of weight, too. In fact, eating lots of fruit is how I got to the weight in my avatar on the left. Not once, but TWICE! That's right, I went for a long hike, lost weight, worked at the garden, binged on fruit, gained weight, stopped working at the garden and went for another long hike, lost the weight, came back to the garden, gained it all back.

I know some will scoff, but I was insulin resistant and needed an intervention to stop the process. Now I'm so much healthier. Today I could probably get away with a once-in-a-while banana or peach or mango binge, but in all honesty, it isn't all that appealing to me anymore. I'll never go back to eating like that. It was a huge mistake for me.

[YogaBare]

Yeah, I disagree with the "eat as much fruit as you like" hypothesis. Fruit is fine in moderation (five peaches = big insulin spike = sugar crash = cravings for more sugar), but if you want to lose weight, fruit is a impediment.

I do agree with the suggestion to take primal one step at a time. Permanent change is slow. Everytime you cut something out you'll overcompensate with something else, so at least cut out the refined stuff first, and maybe after a couple of weeks you can then start looking at cutting down on the natural foods that can cause weight gain.

[noodletoy]

i used to eat several servings of fruit almost everyday and my weight got out of control. combined with my reliance on "healthy whole grains", i was fat and sick. at starvation levels of cals with this menu i could not lose weight.

i went low-carb and the weight came off. i believe i was insulin-resistant as well.

i eat fruit occasionally, bu mostly berries and stone fruits, local and in-season. other fruits like pears and apples that i used to love are sickeningly sweet to me now and i never want them.

i think fruit is fine in moderation, but fresh fruit 365 days a year is a modern innovation to little benefit. i don't think it's necessary to be healthy.

if you can't stop yourself, just stop buying them. can't eat what's not in your house.

[Wanderlust]

Yeah, I disagree with the "eat as much fruit as you like" hypothesis. Fruit is fine in moderation (five peaches = big insulin spike = sugar crash = cravings for more sugar), but if you want to lose weight, fruit is a impediment.

Agree. Fruit should be more of an indulgence, not a primary staple. Sure eat a handful of berries, but don't eat fruit all day long. Think of it as your new dessert.

[Daydreamer]

i used to eat several servings of fruit almost everyday and my weight got out of control. combined with my reliance on "healthy whole grains", i was fat and sick. at starvation levels of cals with this menu i could not lose weight.

i went low-carb and the weight came off. i believe i was insulin-resistant as well.

i eat fruit occasionally, bu mostly berries and stone fruits, local and in-season. other fruits like pears and apples that i used to love are sickeningly sweet to me now and i never want them.

i think fruit is fine in moderation, but fresh fruit 365 days a year is a modern innovation to little benefit. i don't think it's necessary to be healthy.

if you can't stop yourself, just stop buying them. can't eat what's not in your house.

Do you think some people can benefit from a more important consumption of fruits ? As a teenager, I think it's hard to get all the carbs I need (I tried VLC, wasn't satisfied with the results as I need to GAIN weight), in primal form without at least 2 or 3 pieces of fruit a day.
I eat mostly berries and apples, but I go for an occasional orange, banana or kiwi sometimes.