Soooo over it...

figure competitions that is... In June I went to Miami to do a huge national competition with one of my clients/friends. After torturing myself to the point of absolute physical and mental meltdown, I just really decided I was totally repulsed by that scene. I was just like what the hell??? What is the point of this stupidity? The women were sooooooo buff and soooo pretty, but uuuuuuughgghghgh... I just decided I was so over it. I cut way back on reading fitness competitor and bodybuilding message boards and blogs. I basically quit reading that stuff- but I confess I do check in to my favorites maybe once a week.

THIS basically describes the scene I finally decided I was sick of... I don't think many people understand this world. It is basically an eating disorder contest that you can really get sucked into and almost think it is 'normal' to exist that way.

Anyway... I am now trying to eat for health instead of eating to look a certain way. Those 2 roads are VERY different. Granted you CAN be healthy on a non-starvation competition type high protein diet. My bloodwork shows that I was very healthy. Just that I was doing it for the wrong reasons. And mentally competition mode is very destructive.

Anyway... I digress. I just found that link today and it kinda illustrated my reasons for taking the path I am on now.

Still 99% vegan. I was cheating a little with junk, but over the past couple days I have decided to clean it up 100% again. I have cut back on workouts. Doing about 4-5x a week instead of about 10x a week. I did have a soda today, but it was my only one in a couple weeks or more. I didn't even really like it or want it. I just needed something to drink when I was out and about. Starting tomorrow, I will go ultra clean vegan again for a few more weeks.

Other than that.... crazy busy as ever. Bought 2 new cars in less than 2 months. That sucked... hate the process. Still working a TON on my upcoming business venture. Lots of clients are still on vacation so my training schedule is a little light so I can work more on the new biz.

Naturaopath appt was good. She did say that the massive skin breakout was from detoxing and she was not opposed to my current diet, however she did recommend adding in lean meats and whole grains at some point, which I am not wanting to do now. She WAS very impressed that I changed my diet and chemical (aspartame, processed food) intake so drastically. I brought her my last blood tests taken in May. She was a little confused as she thought it was taken AFTER I cleaned up my diet. I was like no- that was when I was eating all protein and a bunch of chemicals/soda/sugar free everything. She asked me that 2x. Which goes to show you can be healthy and fine on a radical diet. It is better than the crap 90% of everyone else eats. Anyway, I think I am going to try accupunture. Never done it before and want to try it.

Went shooting at an outdoor range today- had to go super early as I had clients starting at 10am. A client and her fiance and Mike and me went. OMG it was so fun. I was really scared at first- never been around guns before- other than my dads antique display unloaded guns that hung on a wall, but I shot several different guns. With the maniac serial rapist and killer on the loose, I have surveyed everyone I know and train just out of curiosity... I think I may be the only one who does not own a gun in AZ. So I am researching it and will be purchasing one soon. I got to try my friends 22 and a 9mm and a shot gun and another big ass shot gun- I am gun retarded and have no idea of all the lingo. I am going to go gun shopping and may get a Conceal Carry permit. We'll see. Also arranging a women's self-defense class for my clients and their friends/family in September. That should be fun.

Still alive...

Been keeping pretty much to fruit still on the diet front... with a few bites of processed stuff here and there. But still nothing other than distilled or bottled water- no soda or crystal light (this is a massive feat on my part- don't think I have done this since before college?). 90% of my diet is fruit. Mike has been making bad stuff lately... so I have had an occasional piece of whatever he is eating. Had one slice of homemade pizza, a bit of ice cream, a few chips and that is pretty much the extent of the crap I have eaten in the past week. Everything else is fruit or veggies. My skin got a lot better and now a lot worse again. I have not felt the best lately, but not sure if it is the heat or what. Had a few bouts of nausea, but I have been out in the heat a lot lately- including car shopping in 117 degree heat (who does that?? only an insane person would do this... it was horrible) and planting shrubs and plants (who does this in the middle of summer?). Not much else to report except that I have been super busy, even though many of my clients are on vacation.

I am going to a naturopath today. Just to check in and discuss a few things. But I am also going to ask her opinion of the diet approach. We'll see what she says. Might think it is a little extreme. I dug out my most recent bloodwork results to bring to her. I will post it later... because it makes a definite point that eating very high protein, even Atkins-ish sometimes does not kill you, raise your cholesterol or whatever. My cholesterol and triglycerides are stellar. I was eating mainly protein and fat for the several months prior to the tests...

More on the naturopath later...

A 6 month experiment...

Still going strong on the fruit detox/raw food vegan program. I think I am going to give it a full 6 month trial. I have a larger scope of reasoning as to why I am doing this and why I started doing it... however, I would rather not divulge everything here- there are some personal reasons. If you want more info... email me. I know I am going to get a lot of crap for doing this... but we'll see how I am feeling in a month or 2. I will also be doing some blood work in maybe a month to see if anything has changed- good or bad- from this type of eating. It doesn't hurt to experiment. And this way of eating is 49584958 times healthier (even though it may seem restrictive to some) than the standard American diet. The other thing is that I rarely do anything without researching it to death.

However, I got to thinking... my 3 dogs now eat better than I had been... One of my clients is very into holistic vet and naturopathic people stuff and she told me about feeding her dogs human grade food. I had read about it in the past, but began researching it further. Stumbled onto this site (which led to many other sites and books). Lots of good info there. Anyway... I have been making my dogs food for about 6 months. They LOVE to eat now. I can't scoop it out fast enough for them... their coats are so smooth and shiny... they are extremely healthy. Better than all the nasty stuff they put in even the most 'natural' dog food. I don't feed them raw meat though. That is the only thing I don't do. But I blend or chop up tons of veggies and eggs (sometimes raw, sometimes cooked) and meat, along with flaxseed oil, ground flaxseed, some cottage cheese or powdered egg shells for calcium.

So while I was thinking of doing a detox... I remembered my dogs were eating healthier than I was... and there is just something wrong with that picture. No chemical or 'sugar free' stuff in their food. Just pure veggies and protein, which is what they would eat in the wild... which is how humans should be eating for optimum health.

Fruitatarianism Research

Fruitarianism: Pro and Con

by Tom Billings

First issue 1996 Second (revised) issue 1997

Introduction
This article is based on my direct experience as a fruitarian, and on my observation of, and association with, fruitarians over the years. I was a fruitarian for most of the 1970's, when I lived in Florida; see my bio on this site for details. I no longer follow a fruitarian diet; instead I suggest that others find, and follow, a more diverse (less extreme), more balanced diet.

Definition
Here fruitarianism will be defined as a diet that is predominantly raw fruit (75+ %), with the remainder of the diet being composed of raw vegetarian (usually raw vegan) foods. Here fruit has the common definition, i.e., the reproductive parts of a vine, bush, or tree, that includes juicy pulp. The common definition is used here rather than the botanical definition, as grain is considered a fruit under the botanical definition (but not the common definition).

Summary Statement on Fruitarianism
Fruitarianism is possible according to idealistic dietary theory, but it can be quite difficult in practice. The diet has many pitfalls that can cause serious problems for the would-be fruitarian. Fruitarianism portrays fruit as the ideal natural food, yet modern fruit is the product of generations (in some cases, thousands of years) of human-directed plant breeding. In short, modern fruit has been bred for a high sugar content, and is greatly over-rated as a food. Very few people claim to succeed on the fruitarian diet, in the long term. Additionally, the high incidence of binge eating and backsliding in raw veganism raise serious questions regarding the credibility of the claims of long-term success. In summary, apply common sense: there are very few long-term success stories, and even fewer credible success stories, for fruitarianism. Does that suggest that it is the "ideal, natural" diet for everyone, as its advocates claim, or a fringe diet that appeals primarily to idealists? This question deserves serious consideration, particularly if you are considering adopting the diet.

Fruitarianism: Pro

* fruit is widely regarded as the best tasting raw food, and eating fruit is very pleasant indeed - after all, we all like sugar! :-)

* it is a very cleansing diet, and may be helpful (in the short run) against diseases/disorders where physical toxemia is a factor (note: this applies to other raw foods diets as well; the point is that fruitarianism is probably the most cleansing diet)

* fruit, if it is grown locally and not shipped, refrigerated, fumigated, subjected to heat/cold treatment to kill fruit flies, etc., is a low violence food. However, shipping fruit, refrigerating it, etc. do involve violence to the environment; fruit subjected to such treatment cannot be considered a low violence food. In other words, most fruit is neither violence-free nor karma- free.

* promotes weight loss and gives you a light body

* fruitarianism alters your mental state, promoting a light and airy mental feeling that some find quite pleasant. Some interpret this as a "spiritual" feeling.

* can promote extraordinary physical health - you *appear* to be (relatively) immune to illness (at least in the short run), and injuries heal very quickly. This, combined with the "light" mental effect, makes it *appear* that you are experiencing a higher state of living.

* your respiratory system may function better than on other (cooked) diets, though only slightly better (or same) as other raw diets

* it can sharpen your senses to an extraordinary degree, especially the senses of taste and smell. Your sense of smell may get so sharp that it is emotionally painful to sit in the same room with someone who is a garlic eater, or one who smells of tobacco (you simply can't stand the stench).

* reduces the amount of water you need to drink (as fruit is high in water)


Fruitarianism: Con

* modern fruit is expensive, lacking in vitality and quality as a result of shipping, refrigeration, fumigation, etc. The importance of year-round access to good quality local fruit limits the applicability of fruitarianism.

* fruitarians usually experience severe weight loss, with weight stabilizing at anorexic levels. It is extremely difficult to gain weight on a fruit diet, even if you overeat avocados.

* advocates of fruitarianism claim that anyone can succeed on their ideal, natural fruitarian diet if they have faith or positive thinking. This is a contradiction: does the cow need faith to succeed on diet of grass? Does the lion need positive thinking to succeed on a diet of zebra, antelope, and wildebeest meat? Of course not! If you need faith to succeed, it is probably not the "ideal, natural" diet as claimed by the advocates.

* the diet is extremely difficult, as most people find that a fruit diet is neither physically nor psychologically satisfying: hunger is frequent, and backsliding and binge eating are very common.

* fruitarians often display food-obsessive behavior. Take two pieces of bread, give one to an anorexic, and another to a fruitarian. The anorexic thinks, "I can't eat this bread, it will create fat"; the fruitarian may think in a similar matter: "I can't eat this bread" - with the reason(s) cited being one or more of the following delusions: a) the bread is cooked, hence toxic, b) the bread will produce mucus, which is the root of all disease, and will make me "impure", c) the bread contains protein (and/or starch), and all protein/starch is toxic and a horror. Here the point is the obsessive attitude toward food common to the anorexic and the fruitarian.

* very easy to overeat, and easy to fall into the nasty trap of sugar addiction. Sugar is well known for its ability to promote food cravings, which often leads to binge eating and/or overeating.

* modern, cultivated fruit is very high in sugar, higher in sugar than most wild, uncultivated fruits. A diet of only fruit can provide excess sugar intake, resulting in diabetes-like symptoms: sugar cravings, excessive urination, thirst, sugar highs/blues, fatigue. Excessive sugar, in the long run, may have a negative effect on the pancreas. (Fruitarians would be well advised to daily eat some dark, bitter, leafy greens - according to several herbal health systems, bitter greens help regulate sugar metabolism and reduce sugar cravings.)

* very socially isolating. This is very difficult for most people to handle; extroverts should not try to be fruitarians! The social isolation can promote a sense of psychological deprivation, which further encourages backsliding and binge eating. The social isolation and psychological deprivation can also warp your perception of eating; instead of a nourishing, nurturing experience, it becomes an exercise in egoism (similar to the phony compassion/ego trap that so many ethical vegans fall into.) One may identify with the diet; it becomes a "badge" or "symbol" of your individuality - in other words, a projection of the ego, rather than a peaceful, nourishing experience.

* many fruitarians eventually give up the diet as it is too difficult to continue - one experiences burnout from the food obsessions, social isolation, psychological deprivation, frequent hunger. It's interesting that some untreated anorexics also eventually recover from anorexia nervosa for the same reasons. In practice there is little difference in avoiding eating because you fear getting fat, and eating an inadequate diet because you are afraid of cooked food, mucus or protein. One must be very careful to practice fruitarianism with a totally positive attitude, lest it become a diet motivated by an obsessive fear of cooked food, mucus, or protein; for when fruitarianism is characterized and motivated by obsessive fear, it becomes an actual eating disorder!

* light, airy mental feeling that some compare to a minor drug high, and others mistake it for some kind of spiritual feeling. Said light feeling does not compare to, and is not the same as, the secure, peaceful, blissful, loving feelings that one gets from meditation or other genuine spiritual practices. I speak from direct personal experience on this point, having experienced both kinds of feelings. (P.S. some anorexics report mental effects similar to those experienced by fruitarians; that is one reason anorexia is so hard to overcome.) Note also that the "light" or "euphoric" mental feeling reported by fruitarians (and those with anorexia) may in fact be a symptom of a zinc deficiency. Zinc supplements are sometimes used in therapy for anorexia. Similarly, the loss of libido reported by some fruitarians, may be another symptom of a zinc deficiency (zinc is scarce in vegan diets, particularly raw vegan diets).

* fruitarianism, especially the 100% fruit version, is a very purifying diet, on the physical level. However, it is my observation/opinion that extensive physical purification, without accompanying spiritual or ethical development, usually leads to mental and/or emotional problems. These problems can take many forms; a few examples (in my experience/opinion), are as follows. 1) The fruitarian who was obsessed with two things - food and his bowel movements - and who drank vinegar like it was water. 2) The fruitarian who left his wife, moved to South America and lived naked with his girlfriends on a mountain. 3) The zealot fruitarian(s) who attack all diets other than (their own) raw vegan, and whose dialog is filled with ego, anger, hate, and other negativity. A pure body is irrelevant when your heart and mind are full of the poisons of anger and negativity.


An Alternative: A Near Fruitarian Diet

A "near-fruitarian" diet is an alternative to consider, for those who insist on following a high % fruit diet. It may help you avoid some of the problems of a 75+% fruit diet, but, of course, it cannot be guaranteed, and one should keep sharp watch for problems on a near-fruitarian diet as well.

For purposes of discussion, such a diet is a raw vegan diet that is approximately 70% (or less) raw fruit, with emphasis on semi-sweet and (to the extent possible) neutral fruit.

And, the remainder of the diet consists of:

- dark leafy greens and other vegetables. Emphasis is on bitter greens, but should also eat astringent, pungent, salty tasting greens. According to several herbal health systems, such greens help regulate sugar metabolism and provide some protection from sugar addiction. They also provide chlorophyll and minerals, and provide tastes that are difficult to get in fruits (most of which are predominantly sweet or sour).

- It's also a good idea to regularly eat some ginger to promote the digestive fire. If you object to ginger, eat pungent greens instead: mustard, arugula, watercress.

- Sprouts, specifically almonds, sesame, sunflower, pumpkin, peanut, also flax. These provide fatty acids that are scarce in fruit (you do get tired of avocados if eaten daily). Green jelly coconuts are good also. Buckwheat, other sprouts are also OK but do not supply fatty acids.

Additional considerations:

- get vitamin B-12 from a reliable source (supplement)

- do something to avoid or counter stress and social isolation

- last but most important: make spiritual or ethical development a top priority, to reduce/avoid the potential mental and emotional problems that often occur.


Comments on Neutral Fruit

The term neutral fruit refers to fruits that are neither sweet, nor acid. This includes many "vegetable fruits": tomatoes, sweet peppers, zucchini, eggplant, cucumbers. However, these fruits also present problems if one tries to make them the basis of a diet: - tomatoes - can be acidic, and many people react negatively to them, especially when eaten in quantity, - zucchini has little or no flavor, - raw eggplant is not appealing, in texture or flavor, - sweet peppers are notorious for causing gas (severe flatulence), - cucumbers - the least offensive, but provide almost no calories, and very little nutrition. What do you call someone on a long-term, (nearly) mono- cucumber diet? In my opinion, the term anorexic may apply.

Neutral fruit, primarily cucumbers and some tomatoes, can be part of your diet, but are not a sufficient basis for a diet for most people. Some fruitarians suggest that you emphasize neutral fruit if you have trouble with the high sugar content of sweet fruit. Be aware that you may experience severe weight loss if your diet is based on cucumbers. (Once again, reality contradicts idealistic dietary theory.)


Epilog

Don't try fruitarianism out of fear of cooked food, mucus or protein. If you choose to try fruitarianism - do so ONLY if you have clear, positive reasons to motivate you, and do watch for signs of ALL the potential problems listed above. A fruitarian diet that includes protein foods and leafy greens, will pose fewer risks/problems than a 100% fruit diet. The information in this article is offered in the hope that it may help others who are considering fruitarianism.

Some readers of this article may think the difficulties of fruitarianism are exaggerated here: they are not, but you are of course free to find out the hard way, if you insist. To anyone on a fruitarian diet, or contemplating one, good luck - you may need it!

Raw Food Research

Is fruit too cleansing to build muscle on it?

That's the way it appears to many people, but it has not proven to be true for long-time fruit eaters Roe Gallo, Don Weaver, Tom Stone and myself. It can take a few years to build up on fruit. The body will not build up until it is essentially completely detoxified. If fruit eaters stay too thin, their emotions and perceptions about their body and what food is supposed to do for them may figure in that. To gain weight on fruit, we must have the desire to live in a fit body, and we must be relaxed. Weight training may be necessary to build muscle mass - only a little bit can yield pleasing results. If fruit eaters want to gain weight and they are not into physical culture, I suggest that they try a few lessons with a fitness trainer - they may discover how great it can feel to work their muscles, develop muscle tone and have a stronger spine. Dr. Bernard Zovluck in Los Angeles and Stephen Arlin of Nature's First Law in San Diego are both 200 pound 100% raw food body builders who eat mostly fruit.

It is noteworthy that over the last year, Dr. Doug Graham, author of "The High Energy Diet" raw food recipe book, trained pro basketball player Ronnie Grandison. Doug is a chiropractor and fitness trainer for world-class athletes (he trained Martina Navratilova at one time) who teaches the Natural Hygiene approach out of his center in Florida. Doug recently informed me that Ronnie transitioned to a diet of about 90% fruit, and in October Ronnie made the New York Knicks team - the world's first pro athlete raw fooder! Ronnie is 6'8", 200 lbs., and according to Doug, is doing better than ever with regard to every aspect of his health and athletic performance. If you're searching for a good reason (there aren't many) to see the Warriors at least once this year, the Knicks are coming to Oakland on March 24. I'll try to get as many tickets as possible!

from rawfoods.com

So... I just wasted an hour...

looking for blog templates... because I have nothing else to do... riiiiight. I didn't find anything I liked so I guess I will keep this boring one.

The past couple days have been rough. Friday I was about in tears all day with the most horrific back pain I have had in a very very very long time (I have a major spinal fusion). I don't have any Vicodin on hand... but of course OTC and RX meds are not really part of the detox plan. And they are not healthy... think Vioxx (kills people) and then my dad was killed by his unnecessary cholesterol medicine Lescol. I am very anti-medicine now. If your body hurts or whatever, you need to figure out why. Not treat the symptoms... treat the CAUSE! Most ailments can be cured through proper diet and dietary restrictions and exercise. But most people won't do the work. Most cholesterol medicine is unneccessary and overused. Cholesterol is not what kills people. It is produced naturally by the body... it is inflammation that kills people. The majority of people on cholesterol meds and insulin (Type 2) could get off of them via a severe reduction in carbs and a lot of exercise... but of course that takes work and it is easier to pop a pill. Now there are the random cases where medication may be necessary, but they are few and far between. Doctors are drug dealers and are paid to overprescribe drugs. Ooops... random ranting tangent I went off on. Anyway... I think the pain may have been a detox symptom (which would mean the cause is the detox, which is a good thing... I just need to get through it. Taking Vicodin just masks the symptoms and fries out my liver and kidneys). So I suffered. The Extra Strength muscle rub stuff didn't even touch it, when normally it helps a lot. Thankfully I did not have a ton of clients that day.

My skin is out of control... disgustingly gross breakouts. All over- chest, back, face, shoulders... but again this means the detox is working. The worse the symptoms, the more toxic I was.

I have added in nuts (raw almonds mostly... a few soynuts... need to buy walnuts... bought raw organic pumpkin seeds from Trader Joes- GROSS!) to the mix for protein, which in the past have caused me to gain weight. Not sure why- other than they are high in calories and fat- the good fat.

I cheated a bit this weekend (last night... Mike made ice cream pie which he was really proud of... so I tried it. Damn it was sweet... and it made me feel sick... I mean it tasted good, but then after I felt sick. Oh and we tried some Sprouts brand nacho chips- bad idea... soooooooooo salty). Both made me feel horrible. Tonight we went out to dinner at a new sports bar place in Gilbert. I didn't really want to go... would rather stayed home and had a cantaloupe for dinner, but Mike insisted. It sucked. My salad was gross, hard iceberg lettuce with a few sour cucumbers on it. His burger was gross. We are not going back there... We are picky restaurant people and usually frequent 1-2 favorite places and thats it. We have really cut back on that though. We either get bad food or bad service- even at the places where we are known as 'regulars.'

Oh and I have not worked out since Wednesday. I am trying to give my body a rest... I don't want to stress it too much while detoxing. I am still going to workout, just not for 2 hours a day like usual. But my back was hurting on Thursday so I laid off, then Friday I wanted to die so I didn't go to the gym. Today I trained from 7am-noon, then worked on the new business from 1pm-5pm. I am going tomorrow though.

Tomorrow I am also going back to strict fruit only. I was doing fantastic with that and want to continue the experiment. I mostly eat cantaloupe and berries. Like a whole cantaloupe at a time, which only has 193 calories. I find that amazing. It is a LOT of food. I LOVE it though. LOVE IT! I actually eat about 3 cantaloupes per day and lots of strawberries and blueberries... a few grapes and an occasional apple or 2.

Also I have eliminated all cleaning chemicals and products. All of my household cleaners (spray cleaners, dish soap, dishwasher detergent, laundry detergent, floor mopping soap, glass cleaner, etc) are tea tree oil based products and could basically be drank/drunk? (whatever) by humans/animals and not be harmed/killed. I have even switched to a natural deodorant. I need to switch toothpaste as well. Fluoride is not good for you (which is why I am drinking mostly distilled water). I use all natural (tea tree based) hand and body soap as well as shaving cream. Up to 60% of the stuff you put on your skin (read a lotion bottle once- what is all that crap you can't pronounce??) is absorbed into your system. I switched out all of the chemicals about 6 months ago.

I am going to eventually go organic on all of my food, but I figure one abrupt change at a time. I use organic when I can.

Ok... Saturday night at 8:50pm and I have work to do! Launching another business to be announced later. Dang- I typed a lot more than I planned on....

I am in the midst...

of a fruit-only detox... I have given up my all-time favorite things... that mostly contain chemicals: sugar free popsicles, diet dr pepper, crystal light, flavored sugar-free bubbly water...

I am about a week into it with a few little cheats or slip ups... but I am only drinking distilled water- nothing else. In the past this would have KILLED me. For some reason, the timing of this must be right for me because it has not been too hard. I felt like crap the first few days (this is a detox side effect, so I have dealt with it and feel better each day). I have not eaten ANYTHING (other than a spoonful of Light Miracle Whip) processed at all. No condiments. Nothing canned. Nothing out a box. No restaurant food. Not a bite of Mike's pizza. Not a sip of soda. Nothing.

I have also cut out meat. This is totally against what I have done for years. Basically all I have eaten was meat- a very high protein diet... because that is mainly what keeps me lean. Protein is the ONLY thing that grows muscle. I find most women REALLY skimp on protein. So this makes me nervous. Eating fruit makes me nervous. For so long, I avoided it as most bodybuilders and fitness girls do. Too much sugar- even though it is wholesome sugar. So in the back of my mind I am wondering if I am going to gain 20lbs... but I have decided that this is an experiment and if I gain weight, I gain weight. I am sticking to it for long enough to decide if I feel a lot better over time.

I have just not felt well for a looooooooooooooooong time. Tired all the time. Drained (granted I work a very weird schedule). Massive stomach issues and bloating- I deal with this 100% of the time and am generally miserable. I am going to continue on this for probably a month and then see how I feel and where I am at physically. I have been reading and researching a ton because I have been so conditioned to eat for aesthetic purposes only. Not health purposes, though for the most part they coincided for me.

I was thinking I would post every day a pretty detailed tracking of what I am doing and how I am feeling... mainly so I can look back and notice if things are working or not. But I am in the process of starting a new business venture in addition to my current personal training schedule, so it will be challenging. I am also reading everything I can possibly find on vegan and raw and detox topics... now I am not going to start hugging trees or anything. I just want to explore a totally different approach and see how I feel. If it doesn't work out, I will return to my meat-eating ways (minus the chemical foods).

I will post here as much as possible........

Changing directions in my fitness world...

BIG TIME.

Going to revive the blog....
More info to follow... hopefully very soon.