Fruitless Pursuits

For the last ten days I have been on an interesting journey. I was given the opportunity to participate in a marketing research study in which I was required to abstain from fruit for ten days! I knew I was chosen for the study because I like fruit and eat it often; I had no idea going in that I would be asked to reduce my consumption of fruit, much less eat none at all!!!

I am used to eating fruit with my breakfast everyday: oatmeal with blueberries and toated nuts. I drink tea with lemon, or water with lemon, throughout the day. I often make yogurt smoothies with frozen fruit, which is more like eating frozen yogurt. I toss apples and craisins into salads on a regular basis. When I grab a snack, it is usually -- you guessed it -- fruit! During this fruit challenge, all of this had to change.



It was very difficult, but I complied with the rules and persevered. The fact that I had to create and upload daily videos and interact in an online forum definitely helped me to be accountable. The process caused me to focus on fruit and its place in my life. Each day I had a number of essay questions to answer, and even some creative activities to complete. In addition, I had the opportunity to respond to what the other 15 members of my group had uploaded and written.



I learned a lot about the importance of fruit in my life! I found it very difficult to make substitutions in places where I would normally eat fruit. Without fruit, I was having intense cravings for sweets and carbs. Even worse, I was indulging those cravings! But I knew that if I had been allowed to eat a piece of fruit, I would have been satisfied. When eating chips and cookies and popcorn, I still was left wanting something more. I also craved more water during the challenge. I don't think I usually drink enough water, but without fruit in my diet, I needed extra hydration and found myself reaching for water more often. And without fruit, I tended to be lacking in fiber, which caused its own set of issues! Yes, I definitely missed my fruit!

Participating in this challenge made me realize that eating two or more servings of fruit everyday is really important, not only for me, but also for my kids. I always make sure they have fruit in their lunches (and I am trusting that they eat it!). Now, I am on a mission to make sure that fruit is offered much more often throughout the day. I don't like it when my family chooses the junk food they so often eat. However, if I craved it so much when I didn't eat fruit, maybe giving my family more fruit will cause them to want the junk food less. Definitely, this was an interesting experience. I am so thankful for fruit! I am going to go have some right now!!!