I’m trying to lose weight. My strategy is to eat an actual serving of one of the “healthier” cereals (Raisin Bran, Shredded Wheat etc) with skim milk for breakfast. For lunch and dinner I’m trying to stay around 600 calories apiece. In between my regularly scheduled meals, I eat fruit whenever I feel a hunger pang. Is it possible (assuming that I’m not eating fruit all the time) for my fruit consumption to have an adverse affect on my weight loss goals? I believe (not sure though) that Weight Watchers doesn’t even count fresh fruit in its point counting system anymore. I assume that the answer might vary from fruit to fruit. For the most part, I’m just talking about bananas, apples and oranges.
I put this in IMHO because I want people’s opinions and not a GQ “A banana contains XX calories. If you eat 10 of them you will have consumed 10XX calories in a day” type answer.
But “A banana contains XX calories” is highly relevant to answering this, not people’s ‘opinions.’
Yes, if you eat too much fruit, you may get too many calories every day, and hamper weight loss. It’s harder to do than with cookies, but easier than if eating (non-starch) vegetables for snacks.
[I am a WW member] WW is not ‘counting’ fruit because an assumption of average fruit consumption is already baked into the point system. But, as long as people are eating fruit when they are truly hungry, and stopping when satisfied a key point, not getting hungry and over-stuffing oneself with 3 bananas, most people shouldn’t have to worry about fruit consumption.
I try to vary snacks for hunger - fruits, veg, protein, something with whole grains, and not lean on any one food group, for rounded nutrition and variety.
This may not be relevent for you but fresh raw fruits (and vegetables) can be hard to digest especially if you have IBS or similar digestive issues. In those cases, you should limit your intake.
If you’re legitimately hungry and want a snack, fruit is a good way to go, but it is high in sugar. Good alternative lower-sugar snacks could be some nuts (although I find nuts hard to NOT overdo calorie-wise), carrots with hummus, peanut butter on whole wheat crackers, a hardboiled egg, or a greek yogurt. Yum! Mix it up!
I know you didn’t ask about this, but even “healthy” cereal contains a lot of added sugar… unless, you know, you’re eating plain shredded wheat (which is actually rather good with some fruit thrown in!)
One of my rules of dieting thumb is to avoid cereal for breakfast on days I’m not exercising, and have eggs instead. Then I get the extra carbs when I need it, but not when I don’t.
A lot of people find that fruit is great when they have a lot to lose, but has too much sugar and calories when you’re trying to lose the last few pounds. It does have a lot of fiber and water to help sate you and control hunger, so at least it’s better than some other high-sugar snacks.
I did WW for many years and ate a lot more fresh fruits (and veggies) (lost 40lbs). I suppose you could eat too much fruit but it’s a bit of a challenge - fruit has lots of water and fiber and it’s not a “calorically dense” food, meaning that there’s a lot of bulk and mass for a relatively small amount of calories.
Which is a good thing - you can have something sweet and yummy and crunchy (say an apple) that will fill you up and take away the urge to eat more, and it doesn’t come at a great cost.
From a pure calorie-counting standpoint, it’s hard to eat “too much” fruit. I just looked up some numbers online and as an example, a 225g apple has about 115 calories.
One packet of a common granola bar has two bars, 42g total, and it’s 190 calories. So at a fifth the weight you get nearly twice as many calories and as we all know, eating a couple of granola bars doesn’t exactly fill you up.
Yes there’s a fair amount of sugar in fruit but compared to many other packaged snacks I think you come out way ahead and it’s self-limiting; how many granola bars (cookies, etc) can you scarf down? Now think about trying to eat several full-size apples, which would you stop earlier?
Yes, you can eat too much fruit. Even though it’s healthy, it still has calories and calories count. I am a Weight Watcher and fruit has no points, but the Good Health Guidelines say 5 servings of fruits and vegetables a day if you weigh under 350. I applaud you for snacking on fruit, but I have discovered it is not necessary to eat every time I feel a hunger pang. If your meal is an hour or two away, you can live with the pang.
I don’t find most fruit all that filling and some of it like apple burns off like paper leaving me craving more sugar. I keep carrots and other salad veggies at the ready for snacking and keep fruit to 2 serves a day.
Here is Australia they recommend 2 fruit servings and 5 veggie serves a day, they are not interchangeable. Interesting that it is different elsewhere. http://www.gofor2and5.com.au/
Pairing the fruit with a piece of cheese or hard boiled egg or greek yogurt (something with protein and maybe a little fat) keeps you satisfied longer. Fat and protein are the last to leave the stomach, while carbohydrates are the first.
That is interesting. I wonder if it is a reflection of the relative strengths of the lobbying groups in our respective countries. IIRC, Florida and Texas both grow more fruits than vegetables. I would guess that California is more evenly split.
ISTM that here in the states, fruits are less likely to be refrigerated than most veggies and so they might be considered more snack friendly. A fruit bowl is not all that uncommon. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a veggie bowl although “relish trays” are somewhat common. They’ve usually been refrigerated as well. I wonder if that’s actually necessary or is just a cultural thing.
This is a politically fraught topic. USDA food guidelines are drafted and revised based on a number of sometimes competing factors. In particular, US agricultural lobbies make it very difficult for public health officials to tender recommendations that urge the public to decrease their food intake. Words like “limit,” “less,” and “avoid” are eschewed in favor of entreaties to the public to “add” healthy foods to their diet, despite the fact that overconsumption is by far the most pressing problem in American nutrition.
It’s funny you mention bananas in your OP. Bananas are a very calorie dense fruit and the only one I know of that actually has protein in it.
Yes, you can gain weight eating fruit. I would stay away from those bananas (100 calories apiece) or at least count them however you are counting things (and you should be counting things).
I would, personally, limit my fruit intake to one fruit between meals. Otherwise there will be gastrointestinal side effects that no one wants.
I think it’s a good point that not all fruits are created equal. A *pound *of strawberries has 140 calories, a pound of apples has 230, a pound of grapes has over 300, and a pound of bananas have over 400. You can pretty much eat strawberries all day, but not bananas.
Some of it is personality, too. I am a big eater, if given the chance. I will keep eating grapes long after I am full just because they are delicious. If you told me I could have all the fruit I wanted, and cost was no object, I could easily overeat it.
Berries and melon are remarkably low in sugar for the sweetness you taste. There is a huge variance the amount of calories in “fruit.”
IMHO, usually vegetables or a 1 oz slice of cheese (digestion permitting) are a better choice.
It sounds like you really don’t know much about what your food contains, in calories or nutrition. Try journaling your food for one week. Measure everything. You might learn some interesting things. There are plenty of free sites, nutritiondata.com and fitday.com are two I’ve used, I know some people like livestrong.com as well.
If you are actively trying to lose weight, I’d cut back on the fruit and make the fruit you do eat the lower sugar, higher nutrient varieties. These include berries (blueberries esp), melons, some citrus fruits (grapefruit esp). As mentioned already, bananas are not an ideal weight loss tool (but of course they can work if used in the right context). Nuts, legumes, veggies and a bit of these fruits should make up the bulk of your between meal snacks.
I think fruit gets hailed as a “can’t go wrong” health food incorrectly many times. Sure, if your only options are a Twinkie or a banana, eat the banana and you will be making the healthier choice. But those shouldn’t be the only two options in a “weight loss” strategy. Fruit is basically sugar and a bit of fiber (as far as macronutrients are concerned) and should make up just a small bit of one’s overall diet. IMO at least.
Since the fruit question has been thoroughly answered, let me just add that Raisin Bran is one of the worst cereals out there. High calorie, high fat, high sugar, high sodium…except for a little extra fiber and iron, you’d be better off with Lucky Charms.
My doc told me cherries, anything with berries in the name, and oranges only. No grapefruit as it has a bad reaction with cholesterol meds. Melons and grapes he mentioned as being high in sugar, as well as pineapple, and he said to avoid bananas.