Should I ban fruit from my whole30??

[jcress]

Hey all,

 

Im on day 7 of my whole30, and Ive been doing pretty well, except for yesterday, when I had a full on fruit binge. I ate a grapefruit that I hadn't planned on eating and then it snowballed into dried figs I had in the house, to a persimmon, to some (a lot of) pecans, to a lot of root veggies (parsnips, carrots, turnips).

 

I was bored I think? Lonely...A little anxious. But I know I wouldn't have reacted the way I did if I hadn't gave myself that grapefruit as a "treat". I was NOT hungry when I ate that grapefruit. I wanted to feed the entertainment/sugar dragon..I was not in touch with my stomach or my feelings. 

 

So the only trouble Ive had so far is with fruit. They are pleasure foods for me with no brakes, and are definitely emotional crutches. Should I eliminate them from my whole30??

[LadyM]

You don't need to ban fruit, but you might consider choosing to eat a proper template meal whenever you do eat, even if it's small, in accordance with the program. That will make it impossible to go off the rails with fruit and nuts (both problem trigger food for lots of us) and will help you get to balanced hormones, proper nutrition, and fat adaption.

[Tina R]

You might want to try eating fruit at different times. Sometimes if I eat it in the morning I am craving sweets all day. You do not need to eat fruit on your whole30. I would try to only eat fruit that is in season or berries because the have the lowest amount of sugar. Good Luck!

[jcress]

@Tina R and @Lady M

 

I think I might try to not have fruit for the next 30 days just to cement my habits. 

 

So the 7th of January will be it. 

 

(Except for a whole30 apple crisp SWYPO my mom is making for christmas eve. I think I'll be able to handle myself)

 

Has anyone else every done a whole30 with no fruit? or limited fruit? 

[GFChris]

Some folks have chosen to do Whole30 without fruit, or without dried fruit, or use fruit only as a garnish at meals (e.g., chopped apples on salad).

[jess_ar]

Wow, had the same problem, I was on day 6th of my whole 30 and ate a banana as a snack/treat. I knew I shouldn't have done that at first, but I was starving, I didn't have any protein, veggie near me so I opted for a banana, that lead me to eat 4 apples, 1 pear, 1 more banana and some grapes the same day. Fruit screwed my beautiful week of compliant clean eating. I am thinking of starting a whole 30 without fruit too. I used to control fruit portion, but being on a whole 30 makes me binge fruit now. I am working on this. I have heard the best fruits to eat are berries, papaya and pineapple, less sugar, less craving. I might do 2 weeks without fruit and 2 weeks with fruit, limiting it to 2 times a week.

[Physibeth]

Wow, had the same problem, I was on day 6th of my whole 30 and ate a banana as a snack/treat. I knew I shouldn't have done that at first, but I was starving, I didn't have any protein, veggie near me so I opted for a banana, that lead me to eat 4 apples, 1 pear, 1 more banana and some grapes the same day. Fruit screwed my beautiful week of compliant clean eating. I am thinking of starting a whole 30 without fruit too. I used to control fruit portion, but being on a whole 30 makes me binge fruit now. I am working on this. I have heard the best fruits to eat are berries, papaya and pineapple, less sugar, less craving. I might do 2 weeks without fruit and 2 weeks with fruit, limiting it to 2 times a week.

 

For what it's worth eating all that fruit didn't destroy your compliant week. None of those foods are non-compliant. While we recommend limiting fruit to 2 servings a day with meals you have not broken the rules if you eat more.

 

That said you might want to re-examine your meals from the week to see while you were so starving. To me this sounds like you may be severely under eating and over constricting your carbs. If that is the case banning fruit isn't going to make it easier. 

[MeadowLily]

If fruits and nuts are shoving the vegetables off of your plate, time to reevaluate.

[Sleeve]

Your honor, the soapbox is a bit dusty...

 

I stand here for the defendants who state that they were not hungry when they chose to eat fruit, they were bored and the mere thought of the taste of their domino effect fruit became so firmly planted in their mind, they couldn't concentrate on anything else.  They felt they deserved it after being so good.  They knew that snacks are off plan, they read that a mini meal is the way to solve hunger, they knew the steamed fish and broccoli test.  But none of that was in play here.

 

Since this is the troubleshooting forum, I'll put on my uber compliant hat and mittens: the only real advice is to deny the fruit its victory.  If you're not hungry, you don't need fruit, fish, or a bushel of steamed broccoli.

 

Failing that, when you want a food or snack that you will regret enough to come to these forums the day after, make it a conscious thing.  Step outside yourself and become an onlooking skeptic.  Now convince that person that you need a piece of fruit.  Plead your case that you won't domino into a ping pong match between the sofa and the fridge.  Close with your sworn statement that you won't regret it tomorrow.  An hour later, when your insulin surfing is over, resisting is going to be that much more difficult, but alas the apple core is already in the trash.  As you get up to go to the fridge, open it, and marvel at how high def the pixels are inside, remind yourself that it's only a movie.  Once you've succeeded, breakfast is going to be great with a huge side order of pride.

 

If this doesn't work, go to the market and buy a can of spray cheese.  The next time you want something after that piece of fruit, you are required to spray factory cheese in a can all over it.  You cannot eat it unless you have it with the cheese.  Substitute something you find more repulsive than factory cheese if this is a win-win for you.

 

I am an admitted freaking fruit freak beyond the wildest imagination of most people.  Even when I strap in for this most joyful skydive of Whole30, I have a few berries in my jumpsuit pocket and I imagine that my parachute is an enormous grapefruit half.

 

I proactively deal with my fruit affair.  I happen to like raw fruit, alone, not in my meal and not melange with this or that.  So technically, I have a dessert with meal 3 of 1-2 servings of fruit 4-5 days a week within about 10 minutes after finishing the hot food. This provides that flavor diversity of one or two distinct tastes not mixed into the flavor of my hot meal, and it is soon enough after the meal that it mixes in with the meal to reduce the glycemic index, glycemic load, and insulin response to eating the fruit.  I consider sweet potato to mark a no fruit night.

 

I eat from the low fructose end of the fruit world, raspberries, kiwi, citrus, blackberries, strawberries, and an occasional barely ripe banana or an apple.  I have to watch apples, for all my life they have been a refrigerator avalanche trigger.  Every past yo-yo has been apple-driven.  I avoid mango, grapes, and pears.

[MeadowLily]

      A rose by any other name....