SUN16JUL2017
my weight is 62Kg again.  i'd have expected another 1.5Kg drop, based on passed weeks, however, obviously not.  i'd still say that i'm carrying some fat, however, perhaps that's a consequence of having a diet that's high in avocados.  my life has also been very stressful over the past few days.  consequently, i've not exactly been restraining myself in terms of eating them.  i bought some sweet peppers a few days ago, which made a nice change.  i'm also drinking about 1.5L of freshly squeezed orange juice a day.  so, overall, i think my food consumption is increasing, as might be expected now that i've used up most of my fat reserves.  this is stretching my food budget, which is only £50 per week, even though i buy as much discounted fruit as i can.  i have to admit that any pretensions of being organic have very much succumbed to this reality.  it just isn't possible on such a meager budget.  and i'll just add that my hand fruit press is working well.  i still have my qualms but it's far more efficient than trying to grind the juice out.  i've also had a fairly good look at the modifications that i need to make to the adaptor for my food mixer.  these seem straightforward enough.  it's just a matter of finding the time to do them.  and finally, one of the lemons that i squeezed had a seed in it that appears to be sprouting, so i'm trying to coax that into life.  if i'm successful, i'll plant it in my garden and hope for some lemons!

SUN02JUL2017
my weight is now 63.5Kg.  i'm expecting it to level off at about 62Kg, so that will probably happen next week.  at the moment my life is unbelievably stressful, mainly with family problems.  i'm finding it very difficult to cope.  everything has become very uncertain indeed.  keeping a journal here just isn't a priority at the moment.  the next couple of weeks will be critical.

FRUITARIANISM - THE PATH TO PARADISE by ANNE OSBORNE (ISBN 978-0-646-50585-5)

this is a really beautiful book that is bursting with the author's infectious enthusiasm for the fruitarian diet.  i particularly liked the chapters on individual fruits, which give the reader the  the opportunity to discover these for themselves.

this book is also very notable for the author's advice on child rearing with a fruitarian diet.  so far, i haven't come across anything remotely similar.  and the illustrations included just add to what is a really lovely ambiance.

i was lucky enough to get my copy directly from the author.  it has to be said that this book is rare and many people that sell second hand books ask silly money for it.  if you can get a copy at a reasonable price, grab it with both hands and don't let it go.

MON19JUN2017
it's been another very hot day here, and despite not having gone out yet my poor nose is twitching badly.  i suppose it'll be interesting to see how bad my hay fever is next year, when i'll have been fruitarian for 15 months, however, for now i'm just going to have to grin and bear it.  i managed to get a pair of open sided trainers from a charity shop for £9 recently, so i'm trying them out whilst the weather is good.  in theory a bit of fresh air will be good for my feet.  in practice i'm not so sure it'll make much difference, however, i'm willing to suspend my disbelief and just see if this is an agreeable experience.  this is actually a product of having read 'destination eden' by mango modzac.  i won't, however, be taking all my clothes off - the world isn't quite ready for that yet!!!

TUE13JUN2017
i've been trying to reduce my avocado consumption a little, not least of all because of my very tight food budget.  but also, i do suspect i'm not getting an adequate balance between them and other fruits.  now, i know that their fat content is having no meaningful affect on my weight loss, as i'm still fairly rapidly loosing weight, however, what concerns me a little is that i've never heard of another fruitarian that relied so heavily on avocadoes as a staple of their diet, whereas i have heard of fruitarians that are a little wary of avocadoes because, allegedly, too much fat affect the uptake of nutrition.  so, i'm down to 4 a day instead of 6 to 8.  this is still rather a lot, i think.  i must admit that i've always found avocadoes to be slightly addictive, though i really don't know why.  i certainly like sweet and juicy fruits as well.  there's just something about avocadoes that really hits the mark for me.  it's summer now, or what passes for summer.  and i've started to notice my nose twitching as the pollen levels increase.  so, i hope that i won't get hay fever too badly this year, as being fruitarian usually reduces the symptoms significantly.

WED07JUN2017
just of late my provisioning has gotten a little out of control.  i've been buying fruit very much on a whimsical basis, probably because of a desire to be instinctive about my eating, and, not too surprisingly, some of it has been getting over-ripe and going to waste.  now, it has to be said that i hate wasting food, and not just because i've paid for it,  it's one of those ingrained attitudes.  consequently, i've been scavenging what i can.  however, a few days ago i went much to far and ate quite a lot of over-ripe pineapple.  this act of folly led me to get a burnt mouth, mainly the lips.  i'm not quite sure what it is that does this.  i suspect it's the alcohol from the fruit fermenting.  that said, i'm not going to do this again, if i can help it.  so, i'm trying to organise my fruit storage better.  really, i need a bigger fridge, in order to keep fruit for longer in better condition, especially during the summer months.  but the other problem is simply visibility.  i buy fruit, put it somewhere and then i sometimes forget that i've got it, until i find it again in a rather degraded state.  very frustrating.  at the moment i only have one window sill for displaying my fruit.  i'm trying to optimise this with fruit trays that can be stacked.  i've sort of done my avocadoes this way.  i've got a 30 avocado capacity, in other words plenty to provision for ripening.  i intend to keep this topped up on a daily or bi-daily basis.  and, on the subject of avocadoes, i've been reminded of late how difficult it is to shift avocado stains from clothing.  you really have to wash it off immediately with cold water.  failing that, when it dries it leaves an ugly dark brown stain.  the problem i find is that i don't always realise that i've got it on my clothes until it's too late.  i'm trying to get such a stain out of a pair of buff stone coloured trousers.  after more washes than i can now count, it's still there.  aaagh!!!  i'm trying lemon juice to see if that'll shift it, since the commercial stain remover that i have has, so far, failed.  and that brings me on to preparation of said avocadoes.  i used to just cut them in half, take out the stone, fill the hole left with lemon juice, mix it in with a spoon and then eat it.  however, mixing it in the avocado skin has proved to be rather haphazard.  the beauty of this is it minimises washing up, as there's no bowl to wash.  but post my latest experience, i'd rather it was a bowl than clothes that i can't get clean, so i'm now using a bowl.  i suppose, for completeness, i should mention that my favourite place to eat my fruit is in the bath, as there's nothing for the fruit to get on.  this may sound a bit weird but it works for me.  i can relax in a nice warm bath and really enjoy eating my fruit.

FRUIT: THE ULTIMATE DIET by REJEAN DURETTE (ISNB 0-9679515-1-8)

this is my favourite book on fruitarianism.  i've actually read it many time now.  it's also the book that i always recommend to people.  it's basically a down to earth and common sense approach to this diet.  it doesn't try to guilt-trip the reader.  it simply states that all animals have a natural diet, that mankind is no different and, for us, fruit is that natural diet.

this certainly accords with my own beliefs.  mankind, partly through ingenuity and partly through necessity, had deviated substantially from this diet and the consequences aren't difficult to see.  unfortunately, we live in a world where this deviation is the norm and people are, thereby, blind to these consequences.  however, we also live in a world where we can make choices about our diets.

also, this isn't just a book about what you eat.  it's also about how you obtain what you eat.  it advocates breaking away from the consumer driven culture of supermarket dependency back to growing your own food.  i have to say that i greatly admire the author for his self-sufficiency.  this is something that i hope one day to aspire to.

i could continue heaping praise on this book for quite some time.  hopefully, it'll be sufficient for me to say that if you're looking for a good book on fruitarianism, start here.  you won't regret it.

SAT27MAY2017
it's hot here.  really hot.  just the kind of weather for enjoying sweet juicy refreshing fruit.  now, my recent musings over my diet have led me to think about supplements.  when i was previously fruitarian i was taking a high quality multi-vitamin.  this time i've decided not to supplement.  ultimately, i just don't feel i ought to need supplements if a fruitarian diet is an adequate one.  however, i do think that supplementing can be very helpful when transitioning to a fruitarian diet, especially if doing so from a significantly less refined diet, for want of a better expression.  part of the reason for this is that it takes time for the body to rid itself of toxins and regenerate, and this is the time when supplements can be beneficial.  but after such a time they shouldn't be necessary.  when i last looked at this issue i found an utterly baffling number of opinions, primarily on the internet.  the subject of vitamin B12, in particular, is quite scary, with people telling you that you must supplement or risk nervous system damage.  my own opinion is that provided you're aware of the symptoms of vitamin B12 deficiency, you can quite happily not supplement until such symptoms arise, if ever.  i actually believe that the body does have the ability to create and absorb sufficient vitamin B12 for its needs, however, this isn't apparent because most people have lost this ability through their dietary choices.  that said, i do suspect that the way we fail to re-cycle our own waste is not ideal.  if we used it as fertiliser to grow our own fruit, that fruit would absorb the vitamin B12 that we produce in our gut but don't absorb and we would then consume it.  my dream is to have a smallholding sufficient to meet my own needs, and do just this.  maybe one day.