THU25MAY2017
i've been thinking about why my previous attempts at being fruitarian haven't lasted.  in particular, why after a year of being fruitarian i stopped.  undoubtedly, a significant factor at that time was social eating.  i used to think that the occasional non-fruitarian meal, in the larger scheme of things, wouldn't really matter.  i now think that this just leads to sliding back into old dietary habits.  it also seems to me that the longer one is fruitarian the more one gets a taste for fruit.  deviating from a purely fruitarian diet, even occasionally, seems to diminish that development.  also, no doubt, confidence and determination play large parts.  without the confidence that a fruitarian diet is adequate one is always worrying about whether one is getting enough vitamin B12 or calcium or iron or whatever.  and without determination one is so easily led astray.  i remember that when i first tried to become fruitarian i encountered a lot of criticism from my family and friends.  it's just not possible to weather such criticism without the determination to keep going.  fortunately, i don't have that criticism now, though i don't have a number of friends that were critical of my dietary choice in my life anymore either.  by and large, it seems my family have tired of telling me how inadequate my diet is, with the exception of the occasional side swipe.

MON22MAY2017
yesterday i ran out of avocadoes that were soft enough to eat.  in desperation i bought 4 large fuerte, rather than hass, avocadoes that were very soft.  i have to say that i'm not that inspired by the fuerte.  it simply lacks the rich flavour of the hass, and even these vary quite significantly.  i've found that the ones that have the best flavour are the darkest green, a scarab green, which is almost black.  also, they have a more greeny yellow flesh, rather than the creamy yellow flesh of the fuerte.  i've been pondering, a little, the ideal avocado to lemon juice ratio.  usually, i just fill the stone hole with lemon juice but stones vary in size so much that this is hardly consistent, especially for very small stones, and i do like plenty of lemon juice with my avocado.  perhaps there is no ideal here.  nevertheless, i do find that it help to try to achieve some balance of flavours.  this seems to me to be somewhere in the medium to large stone range.  i really doubt i'd enjoy this diet anywhere near as much without being able to eat avocadoes, they really are that essential.

THU18MAY2017
it's now 2 months into my latest attempt at being fruitarian.  so far it's been really easy.  i can't say that i'm suffering from any cravings for comfort foods.  indeed, i really enjoy eating just fruit.  nevertheless, it does strike me that i ought to mention detox.  i can't say that i've had any severe detox symptoms this time, possibly because i've not built up many toxins since my last period of being fruitarian.  the most unusual thing that i've noticed is that occasionally my phlegm has blood in it.  and not just a bit.  it's bright red.  i'll guess this is coming from my lungs.  quite why, i've no idea.  the most annoying detox symptom is the cramps that i get in my legs.  these can be rather uncomfortable, though they are relatively infrequent.  i've not had any skin rashes this time, like i did previously, only a small slightly yellow area just above my right armpit, which has gone now.  and that's it, so far.  i have to confess that the reason that i've put off drinking a 250ml glass of lemon juice is that i'm a little concerned that it might cause severe cramps in my legs.  however, having written that, i decided i really ought to do so.  4.5 quite large lemons yielded 255g of lemon juice.  i decided to try to savour it, rather than just gulping it down.  the flavour is quite intense.  it has a slightly oily taste and a warmth to it a little like whisky.  all in all, not an unpleasant experience.   finally, i should add that i've lost quite a lot of weight.  i'll guess about 20Kg.  that's not unusual, as last time i lost a third of my body weight and went from a 36" to a 32" waist.

SAT29APR2017
the latest addition to my fruitarian diet is freshly squeezed orange juice.  i'm drinking about a litre a day.

TUE18APR2017
it's now a month into my latest attempt at being fruitarian.  oddly enough, i feel quite confident, after all i did it for a year previously.  as something of a consequence of deluging my avocados with lemon juice i've become very accustomed to the taste of lemon juice now, so much so that i've found that i can easily drink undiluted lemon juice.  i must admit that i always thought it was odd to have a fruit that couldn't be eaten in its pure and unadulterated state.  perhaps it, in fact, can?  i intend to find out!  so far i've only done this using a single lemon.  my intention is to try drinking a 250ml glass of undiluted lemon juice.

FRUITARIAN by BARB STONE (ISBN 978-1-539919-01-8)

this book is quite short and fails to provide any explanations of its claims.  indeed, the disclaimer in the front would be sufficient to deter any sceptic from reading further.  there isn't even a single reference.

that said, it's not such a bad little book.  i personally feel that some of the claims made are a little misleading.  within that context, i do think this ought to be read with a much broader understanding of the health implications of diet than is on offer here.

the other aspect that i found a little disconcerting was the notion that fruitarianism isn't a raw food diet.  this seems to indicate a certain naivety.  but, if you'll forgive the very liberal interpretation of what constitutes fruitarianism, the bit that genuinely took my breath away was the inclusion of salt.  now, admittedly this is only the odd pinch here and there but salt has no place in a fruitarian diet.  it's a preservative.  and that kind of clinched it for me.

perhaps the rather overly culinary style, to my way of thinking, featured here will appeal to some.  i can't help but feel it misses the point.  what should be a truly liberatingly simple diet is obscured with blending and dicing and mixing.  it's trying too hard to be conventional.  even ice and vegan cheese get included.  and this, we are to believe, is the modern interpretation of fruitarianism.

there are some interesting bits here but, sadly, it could have been so much better.

FRI14APR2017
i'm continuing to expand the range of fruit that i'm eating.  i was pleasantly surprised to find that i could eat pineapple without it being too acidic.  i also now realise that a partial reason for this acidity is due to a lack of ripeness.  and i've found that the end of the kitchen knife that i broke the tip off is handy for digging under nectarine stones, as it doesn't dig into the stone.  i'm thinking about doing a wet fast one weekend.  i don't want to rush into this, as i feel that i want to ease myself back into being fruitarian as much as possible.  nevertheless, the temptation is certainly there.  at the moment i'm drinking boiled tap water, which isn't ideal.  in theory boiling removes any chlorine and fluorine present.  i should definitely buy some low residual mass spring water, however, lugging it home is a bit off-putting.  i'm having to carry quite enough shopping as it is, as i now shop for my parents too.

EDEN FRUITARIANISM by MANGO WODZAK (ISBN 978-1-940184-25-8)

it had been many years since i'd last read a 'new to me' book on fruitarianism, so i was eagerly looking forward to reading this one.  i wanted to like it.

yet, from the beginning i found it just a bit too 'edgy' for my liking.  now, i've no doubt that to most people 'edgy' will be lost in translation, and i'm a little reluctant to pin my colours too firmly to the mast here.  nevertheless, i'll try to explain tactfully.  having been lacto-ovo-vegetarian for 27 years now, i was a little dismayed at how easily my efforts at an ethical diet were dismissed as virtually meaningless.  at the time i took this choice i was dependent on pre-prepared food.  being vegan just didn't seem practical to me.  i'm sure that the criticisms leveled at this diet are perfectly valid, however, it was the best that i felt i could do at the time.  indeed, i've never been vegan, per se.  i've always oscillated between being lacto-ovo-vegetarian and an interpretation of fruitarian, previously including nuts and seeds.  if i were to hit this nail more squarely on the head, there is undoubtedly an air of moral superiority to it.  perhaps that's inevitable given that the case for fruitarianism is based almost exclusively on moral arguments.

but it's not just this that i found a little disturbing.  there are aspects of the vision presented of a fruitarian future that just don't ring true to me, and the underlying reason for this seems to be the almost total rejection of science in favour of what seems to me to be a somewhat wishful view of reality, no doubt based on what i would consider to be an over-reliance on faith.

now, having stated all that, i feel it worth pointing out that there are some very good aspects here too.  if what you want is your horizon expanding a little, or possibly even a lot, this could indeed be for you.

but the bottom line for me is that this isn't so much, as the sub-title suggests, a book on explaining fruitarianism as it is a book that takes fruitarianism as its foundation and extrapolates that concept to what i would consider to be beyond the bounds of credibility in certain places.

WED12APR2017
since my last post, i've realised that trying to be fruitarian on a budget is just adding to the risk of failure.  it creates a psychological pressure to eat as cheaply as possible.  a mistake i made on a previous attempt was to eat too many vegetable fruits, namely tomatoes and courgettes (zucchinis), which aren't very nutritious.  at the moment i'm avoiding vegetable fruits for just that reason.  i'm also not trying to eat organically, primarily because of availability but secondarily because a lot of organic produce is now ironically inferior to non-organic.  for me, just at the moment, i think it's more important to succeed at being fruitarian than have the added issue of trying to be organic too.  perhaps later, when i'm confident that i've succeeded in that goal, i'll aim to be organic too.

FRI07APR2017
i had some cherries and raspberries recently.  these are quite expensive for their weight.  nevertheless, a nice change from my usual fruit.  i'm sure i'm spending well over my £50 per week budget.  i think it's nearer £70 per week, or £10 per day.  4 avocadoes are £1 each.  6 nectarines are £2 for 3.  red or black grapes are £2 for 500g.  so, that's £10, excluding lemons.