The question I get asked most is, “How did I stick to an all fruit diet for so long?”
When I became chronically ill and couldn’t walk or stand, I lost a lot of control in my life. I had to depend on my family to do things for me most people don’t give a second thought about doing. Daily tasks like going to the bathroom, feeding and bathing myself were now hard to maintain. When you’re solely dependent on others, you cant help but feel like a burden and it leaves you feeling so out of control—like it’s not even fully your life anymore. When you have to double check with someone else to do anything, go anywhere, buy food, carry and reach things—your grip on your own life is fractured. I’ve always been very independent and self sufficient so it definitely bruised my ego to have others take care of me.
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Chronic illness had taken over my life completely and there was no way I was going to let it win.
Feeling this kind of low is instrumental in a healing journey. I heard this line in a song and I’ve never felt such resonance with a lyric before, “you can’t rush your healing, darkness has it’s teachings”, (by Trevor Hall). It’s from this depth of darkness that you will pull the fire from your belly and dance around it. The drive pushing you to gain that control back and claim your life again. My disease robbed me of my freedom and often left me feeling helpless but I grasped at the things left that I could control—what I put in/on my body and the thoughts and attitudes in my head. This fueled my drive to heal myself as it was the only thing I could do to make any contribution to getting out of this situation.
Fortunately for me, my introduction to Dr. Robert Morse came two months before my health really hit the fan and I had already begun my transition to a wholefood vegan diet. From him I learned how the body worked and how fruit fasting was the fastest way to clean the body…my ticket out. When you think of it in terms of “what would you give to get your life back”, the answer for me was clear. ANYTHING. I’d trade months on a fruit diet for my legs back. I’d trade a year. I’d trade five. I’d give up anything and everything. I knew it was going to take time to heal but you really have to look at the big picture here; one to two years (ish) of hard work to have the rest of your life back. The logic is simple.
I just had to do the work.
There are a number of things I did to help me stick to an all fruit diet detox. The truth is, nothing I tell you is going to make you forget about potatoes. There are no words for that. However, there are mindset adjustments and strategies you can do to get over your cravings. The key to doing this type of serious self work is to stay on the positive side of perspective, and I’ll show you some of the things I did to maintain this.
IMPORTANT NOTE:
Fruit fasting isn’t something you should jump into coming from the Standard American Diet. This is something you need to work yourself into, by first transitioning from SAD, to whole food plant based vegan, to raw vegan (and hang around here for a while) before you decide to jump into something like this. Without this transition, the shock to your body is going to be extremely unpleasant and you’re likely to have reactions while you create a shit storm of toxin recirculation. THE TRANSITION IS NO JOKE and should be taken very seriously, DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP! Fruit fasting is NOT what I would suggest for someone looking to improve their diets, lose weight, or even heal moderate symptoms of disease, and truthfully doing so and adopting these methods below without proper education and motivation for it can help feed an eating disorder, and that’s not the message that I’m trying to send across.
Fruit fasting is extreme. It is for the chronically ill, for those like me who’s lives have been overrun by serious disease. Many milder symptoms of disease and illnesses , while certainly a major impairment to ones life, can be solved by adopting a raw vegan diet, high in fruits and veggies. It is a much more balanced approach and is often all that is needed for healing as it is very detoxifying in itself. But for the ones who are suffering from life threatening and altering diseases, fruit fasting is there for you to kick it up a notch. I highly suggest working with a Detox Specialist (hello there, I’m one of these people🙋🏻♀️) or doing your own research to see if this is good for you.
Living with chronic illness is extreme and sometimes we need to do extreme things to get out of it. While this isn’t the only way to heal, it is a way of healing that has worked for thousands of people, myself included. While I don’t recommend eating only fruit for the rest of your life, use it as a tool to get back to living a healthy, vibrant one.
Let’s go!
Sticking to All Fruit:
1. Educate Yourself
The most important thing I constantly did when detoxing was learning about it. I was always reading and watching things about detox and health and it would fuel my drive to continue with it. I made a deal with myself; if ever I was down and wanted to give up, I’d watch a Dr. Morse video, read health blogs, books, or anything to remind myself why I was doing this very hard thing. I found it very motivating to learn about detox because it was a constant reminder of why I had to do this. Not only was it motivating for me, it gave me the knowledge of how to do it. If I didn’t know the nature of the body and what a healing crisis might look like, I would have quit at the first sign of one and deemed this to “not work for me”. For the chronically ill, this kind of intense detox can often make things worse before they get better, that sure was the case for me. But it does get better, and knowing the why’s and how’s of detox allowed me to see these uncomfortable healing crisis’ as the blessings that they were. These signs, while unpleasant at the time, meant that this was working! To others, I looked like I was dying, but because I knew how regenerative detoxification worked, I knew this was just part of the process. This is the number one point I want to stress to you as it was my number one driver to stick with this!
2. Wellness Routine
Do other wellness practices too. I centered my life around healing and my daily activities always contributed to this goal, whether it was to help with physical symptoms or just keep myself happy and busy. Such things included mindfulness exercises (meditation, visualization, affirmations etc.), steam sauna, music, enemas, movement, stretching, etc. Healing is not only about food—it is mind body and soul in harmony with one another. Keeping yourself happy and positive is equally as important as eating fruit. Self care practices encourage you to love yourself and detoxing is the ultimate act of self love. I had a list of things and everyday I would choose a few of them to motivate me and make me feel like I was bettering myself. And I was. There’s now an app that can help you do this called Envol from @julieshealing that is awesome!
3. Parasite Cleanse
One physical thing that made a huge difference for me was the Parasite M tincture by Dr. Morse. I took a ton of his tinctures and this one was always being cycled through, I’d do two weeks on, two weeks off. There was a month where I was off of all herbs and the starch cravings were driving me insane. I started taking just the Parasite M and there was a noticeable difference in the intensity of the cravings. Get those critters out!
4. Always be Prepared
This is the most important part of healthy eating in general. If you don’t have ripe fruit ready to go then you’re most likely going to result to something else. With some fruits needing to spend some time on your counter to soften/ripen, you need to account for that time and plan accordingly with ready to eat fruit, like grapes or apples. Frozen fruit is always a good backup in case your melon is a dud! Always leave the house with more fruit than you think you’ll need!
5. Quality Fruit
I couldn’t do my own shopping, so I relied entirely on my dad for supplying me with fruit. Let’s just say this was a new territory for him so it was bumpy at first. If this is you, please take the time to explain to your caretaker how to properly pick ripe fruit. Unripe fruit is very unappetizing and won’t help you on your healing journey as it is actually acidic. It is best to go with the seasons. Buying quality fruit makes a huge difference in wanting to eat something and eating it because you have to. If you are not the one shopping, have a conversation about it and really explain how fruit ripens. I always have frozen fruit stocked up as a backup!
6. Be Mindful When You Eat
A lot of days I was very grateful for this way of life—for this great knowledge and the healing that would come from it. Other times I felt like I was in a detox prison and I had to sift through this punishment in order to get to the other side. You have a choice in your perspective and being mindful while eating helped me choose the right way to look at things. What I mean by mindful eating is:
-Focus on eating and not whatever else you were doing before it
-Take time to appreciate the good you are doing for your body
-Imagine your food going inside of you and wrapping you in a nourishing hug
-Visualize this fruit breaking up toxins and congestion within you
-See your organs celebrating this vibrant healing energy you are providing them
-Honour your food—this is your ticket to a vibrant life!
-Set healing intentions as you prep and eat your food
Instilling these habits every time you eat will become a helpful custom to keep your perspective on the positive side. Plus, we’ve all seen the experiments where two of the same plants are grown; one with words of love and the other with words of hate. The one with words of love always grows beautifully while the one with words of hate tend to die. Intention is more powerful than you think!
7. Consciously Shift Your Attention
At times, this kind of discipline had me writhing and seething. I just wanted to indulge, feel normal, feel warm, to crunch on something damnit!!! If you keep focusing on the lack, that’s all you will feel. Pick something up, do something else, you need to shift your attention elsewhere. If you instil this habit every time a craving comes on, you can move on from it.
8. Create a New Instagram Account
I created a new Instagram account for the sole purpose of looking at appetizing fruit, other fruitarians, spiritual posts, and motivating quotes. I didn’t follow anyone I knew or anything that didn’t pertain to uplifting me. I wouldn’t even follow people who posted salads and stayed away from any raw or vegan food pages because it made me want it! Keep this account strictly for a pick me up when you need it. I can’t tell you the amount of times I wanted to quit fruit fasting and eat something else for a change when I’d pop onto the gram and read about someone’s healing experience, good mood, or motivating quote and feel my own perception shift for the better. With a touch of one button you can switch between Instagram accounts so it’s easy to have multiple accounts.
9. Have an End in Sight
Not an end to your detox, that can take a long time and it’s best not to focus on that end, but a temporary end. A reward for your hard work. I started doing this after about 4+ months on all fruit when I felt I needed some new motivation. Once a month I would have a “cheat day” (that sometimes turned into two) where I would indulge in raw and cooked food. When I got that craving for potatoes, I’d pull out my phone and tell myself that in 14 days, 21 hours, and 37 minutes, there’d be a Caribbean sweet potato in the oven waiting for me. It started off cheating with unhealthy food (Indian takeout is my fav) but I quickly learned this was an extreme shock to the system and resulted in horrible digestion, pain, and unpleasant elimination from both ends. This is truly a horrible thing to do to your body and I strongly advise you not to find that out for yourself. Learn from my early mistakes and indulge in some guacamole, beautiful raw salads, and some steamed/roasted veggies and maybe a mucuslean meal. Throughout the month I’d even have fun planning what I’d have on my cheat day. Sometimes you need to get it out of your system in order to find balance and move on. I really don’t think this hindered my healing any and I think having a reward day was instrumental to my mental health.
*there’s a right and a wrong way to break a fast..break with raw veg before anything cooked or heavy! Avoid anything processed or high in protein as this will be hard to digest, nuts & seeds included.
10. Countdown App
I used a countdown app on my phone to show me how many days I’ve accomplished and how many more until I reach my goal (in which there is a reward, and yes it is food!). There have been countless times where I’d be close to giving into my cravings when I’d pull out my phone and see that I’ve made it 18 days on fruit, and then be like “damn girl you’re killing it don’t mess it up now” Honestly, having to reset this app made me feel shame and failure, and knowing I’d feel that shame when I’d reset my countdown and ruin 18 days of killing it would keep me in check. It’s the physical act of resetting it that did it for me. Having this day to look forward to, and knowing how many weeks, days, and minutes until it happens (thanks to the countdown app) really helped me stick to my goals.
11. Tea Time
Teas are a great way curb cravings because making it occupies you and drinking it takes a while so you can forget about your craving. It makes me feel a little more satisfied, I do this at night when I’d normally get peckish.
12. Reflecting
I would have several journals to write and reflect in, but one in particular was exclusively for when I was on a high. Basically a book that I wrote in whenever I was feeling like the bad ass detox warrior I am, stoked on life and the healing that I knew was coming. I would fill it with gratitude, hopes and plans for the future, detox accomplishments, and reasons to keep going. When I got sucked into the darkness of depression I would reread this and it’d help me shift my perspective.
I also made a vision board (I had a lot of time on my hands ok?) I went snipping through magazines and created a fold out vision board covered in raw food, people running, nature, travel, etc. I pasted affirmations and encouraging bits all over it and while I kept it hidden, I looked at it every day to remind myself of what I was working towards.
Seeing my hopes, dreams, and encouraging words of wisdom would wrap me in gratitude for the life I knew I was building.
13. It’s ok to say no
For my own healing, I was isolated and I liked it that way. Family gatherings would stress me out beyond words because of the judgment I would face and having to try to explain something that most people don’t and probably won’t ever want to understand. I looked like I was dying and I can’t blame them for seeing that and being worried so it was easier for me to skip these events. Now for me this wasn’t hard because I was 26, single, and bedridden, but I understand this is a major stressor for many detoxers as they have more responsibilities. When embarking on this kind of journey, you start to really see the corruptions in the food and health industry, and you wonder how others don’t see this too. And you might feel like they need to know, you might wanna shout it on the rooftops, I know I did. Take it from me, don’t explain it unless asked. Avoid situations that you feel will stress you out or send you back into old behavioural patterns, like social friend gatherings. Ask your friends and family to please hold faith that you know what you’re doing, and while they might not understand it, to have respect that you know what’s best for you. Ask your loved ones for space to heal and for their support, whether or not they agree with you. It’s ok to remove yourself from these situations as they can be triggering, and low stress is imperative on this journey!
So that’s it. I’m sorry there is no easy answer other than it basically comes down to your mindset, will power, and ability to maintain a positive perspective. After the first few days of all fruit it starts to become habit, I call it the three day hump because it gets easier after that. Take pride in knowing that by doing this you are doing all that you can to heal. That you are putting in the work and even if you can’t see it right now, it is working inside of you. Remember, it took years to build up to this level of toxicity it’s going to take some time to get it out. There is no good or bad, only perspective and lessons. While you might feel like you’re in hell right now, one day you will look back on this as being the greatest thing that ever happened to you, because you now shine brighter than you ever have before.
Stay Fruity Friends 🥭
Other Blog Posts
About Katie
Hi I’m Katie and welcome to my blog! I am a walking testimony to the healing power of natural foods and lifestyle. Going from wheelchair to walking, I have conquered debilitating chronic illness and I’m here to prove that you too can heal!
At only 26 I had a slew of health problems that hindered my freedom in life—the biggest being that my ankles would no longer support weight on them without excruciating pain. Logging over a year on crutches and 6 months completely bedridden, I have walked right on out of that hell through Regenerative Detoxification.
When no other doctor could diagnose me, Dr. Robert Morse’s teachings on regenerative detoxification explained everything—that all disease is cut from the same cloth of an acidic diet & lifestyle. Following his protocol & wisdom, I turned my health around and it is now my life mission to help others do the same!
About Katie
Hi I’m Katie and welcome to my blog! I am a walking testimony to the healing power of natural foods and lifestyle. Going from wheelchair to walking, I have conquered debilitating chronic illness and I’m here to prove that you too can heal!
At only 26 I had a slew of health problems that hindered my freedom in life—the biggest being that my ankles would no longer support weight on them without excruciating pain. Logging over a year on crutches and 6 months completely bedridden, I have walked right on out of that hell through Regenerative Detoxification.
When no other doctor could diagnose me, Dr. Robert Morse’s teachings on regenerative detoxification explained everything—that all disease is cut from the same cloth of an acidic diet & lifestyle. Following his protocol & wisdom, I turned my health around and it is now my life mission to help others do the same!
You are AMAZING! Just WOW!
I’ve just found you and your story has lifted my spirit and encouraged me to dig deeper! Thank you so much for sharing so much detailed information with all of us looking to heal naturally 😊
Thank you so much for reading my story and blog!! It gives me such joy to help others heal with the knowledge I learned through my experience!
I do have a couple questions: You say you looked like you were dying ….why? Because of weight loss? Is is because the fruit is breaking down the body? And at what point do you begin rebuilding? Thank you again!!
Hey Jenny! Yes the fruit did break down my body, this definitely doesn’t happen to everyone but I was in a very chronic condition at the time. I experienced tremendous weight loss due to a) being unable to move my lower body (severe muscle atrophy) and b) malabsorption as my colon was in a chronic condition (confirmed by iridology and life long constipation). Having bad acne my whole life and losing considerable amounts of hair before I even started my detox, I knew I had a very lymphatically congested head… hair loss and an eruption of acne was honestly expected in my situation, but it was a secondary concern to me as I was focused on walking again more than anything. So with the extreme acne, hair and weight loss, I did in fact look deathly. But while I lost those things, I also started to lose the pain that plagued my legs/feet/ankles. I lost the nerve pain, my asthma, my endometriosis and many other symptoms!
The rebuild is going to be different for everyone, I started mine when my main symptoms of painful walking went away. However when I added salads back, some of those symptoms returned as well and I knew I had to do all fruit & herbs for a while longer (ended up being 2 months). Then I added salads again and it was very welcomed by my body and I gained weight back. Depending on ones case, rebuilding can be cycled through with detox so it’s more of a balanced approach and works better with peoples lifestyles as emotional balance is extremely important in healing. This would look like shorter fruit fasts followed by high fruit, low-fat raw food periods, and repeat. It really depends on the severity of disease. Being bedridden was honestly such a blessing because my only job was to heal, I didn’t have to participate in other life activities but that is hardly the case for most. Dr. Morse always says detoxification is an art, and I truly understand that now because while the same principals apply to all (clean the lymph system, fruits being the strongest!), it is an art of pushing through and pulling back, and knowing when to do so!
Thank you so much for your response and happy healing to you!!