Heartburn, bloating on my fruit diet

Dear Donovan,

I am 25 years old and I am 5ft 8in tall. Since last year I’ve been on a fruit diet and it’s been working well. Before the diet I weighed 245 pounds and since I started last November I came down to 175 pounds, but gained 15 pounds last month, which now has me at 190 pounds. I also exercise for one and a half to two hours daily, doing mostly cardio. Along with the fruits, I drink a lot of coconut water, green juice and natural juices like orange, pineapple and otaheite apple juices without sweetening them. Since lately I’ve been having heartburn and feel bloated. Am I losing weight the healthy way and what could have caused the additional 15 pounds?

Congratulations on your weight loss. However, I have also noticed that you are putting on back the weight, which is all of 15 pounds in one month. What this means is that something is going wrong with your weight loss programme. In simple terms, if you are not getting the right results, it means you are not doing something right. I am wondering if you have made some changes in your weight loss programme in the last month, for example, are you doing more muscle building type exercises than before or are you incorporating more fruit juices and fruit than before?

My simple rule is usually to eat your fruits and drink your vegetables, especially when you are on a weight loss programme. It is easier to drink than to eat, so drinking can pack in a great amount of calories. For example, let’s say eating one orange amounts to 30 calories, and drinking a glass of orange juice with six oranges would be roughly 180 calories. Therefore, one can put on weight by drinking lots of fruit juices.

My simple rule is usually to eat your fruits and drink your vegetables, especially when you are on a weight loss programme. It is easier to drink than to eat, so drinking can pack in a great amount of calories. For example, let’s say eating one orange amounts to 30 calories, and drinking a glass of orange juice with six oranges would be roughly 180 calories. Therefore, one can put on weight by drinking lots of fruit juices.

The other thing is that you have started to feel bloated and you are now getting heartburn. I think what is happening is that your foods are fermenting rather than digesting properly. The combination of fruits, fruit juices and vegetables is not doing well with you and you will have to make some changes.

How you are doing your programme is producing too much gas in your system, hence the heartburn and bloated feeling. My suggestion is that you do a nine-night detox programme to clean the digestive system. I would also suggest that you space out your fruits, fruit juices and vegetable juices. For example, you could have fruits at breakfast, then your green juice at mid morning. For lunch, you could have more fruits or a fruit juice. You could have 12 ounces of coconut water for mid-afternoon snack, and have more fruits for dinner. Based on how your stomach is feeling, you could have more alkaline fruits. These include, papaya, apples, melons among other things.

However, since you are on a weight loss programme, there is no need to eat more than two to three types of fruits at each meal. Additionally, some other fruits could be incorporated into your diet without derailing your weight loss programme. When one is on a weight loss programme you want to make sure you are healthy and at the same time reduce your calories. Fruits and fruit juices can pack a lot of calories, thus reducing your weight loss results.

In addition to the suggestions I have given before, breakfast could include small amounts of steamed vegetables or a yogurt, plus one or two fruits or six to 12 ounces of a shake. Lunch could be a salad or a light soup or even a shake. With you exercise it is important to stay as much as possible with cardio exercises. If you build lots of muscles this could affect your weight loss programme.

Good luck!

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