Lose 25 Pounds FAQ:
I have now replaced all the snack food with fresh fruit. Only thing is, I am eating 5 or even 6 pieces of friut (Apples, oranges) each night. Is this too much? Will I still be able to lose the weight?
I have now replaced all the snack food with fresh fruit. Only thing is, I am eating 5 or even 6 pieces of friut (Apples, oranges) each night. Is this too much? Will I still be able to lose the weight?
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
That’s too much. Try cutting down gradually, maybe only 4 tonight, then 3 tomorrow.
You could also start making a fruit salad (just cut up fruit), and only use maybe 3 or 4 of the fruits - work your way down that way too. The salad with 20+ small pieces might seem more filling than actually eating 6 whole pieces of fruit.
eating tons of fruit wont make u gain weight but u should try ro run 30 mintues a day to burn some of the calories
You will lose weight if you decrease the amount of calories you are eating. So if you usually snack on calorie loaded food after dinner and are replacing them with your less calorie fruit, you should lose weight still.
I would try drinking 16 ounces of water before you snack. Eating a lot of fruit, even though it’s low cal and virtually fat free, can raise your blood sugar which leads to diabetes in most people over time. The water will help to curb the appetite. Some people confuse thirst with hunger.
I have this same problem. I got used to eating dinner late so even if I eat dinner early, I’m still hungry late at night. it’s great that you have switched to only fruit. If you can’t cut down the number of fruits you are eating, try swapping some of them with vegetables. Less sugar, less calories. Not to mention, most people don’t eat enough vegetables anyways. Try baby carrots, celery, cucumbers, and any other raw vegetables you like.
well how many are you eating through out the whole day? I think its 5 fruits and veggies max per day for proper nutrition, but if your trying to lose weight i don’t know. Fruit contains sugar so if your eating that many in a row, I bet your blood sugar level is getting pretty high, and you feel pretty bad when you come down from that. Balance is the key.
How many meals are you eating during the day? Try 3 small meals and 3 healthy snacks, with the last one being after dinner.
Here are some healthy snack options (I borrowed this from the book “Diet is a Dirty Word” by Stephanie Partridge - with her permission)
Snacks and Lean Eating
Eating lean and finding healthy snacks is easy once you learn the ropes. Many things that are traditionally thought of as “fattening” are not necessarily unhealthy to eat and can be incorporated into your diet as long as it is in moderation. These are some basic guidelines, but the best thing that you can do is read labels and follow your determined caloric, fat, sugar, protein and carb requirements. Even cookies can be a snack as long as you pay attention to the serving size and nutritional information. True, you may not get as many cookies as you would, say, fruit or berries, but if you are having a craving, it is OK once in a while.
These are some good snack ideas. These are things that my family and I enjoy for snacks. Most are good sources of complex carbohydrates (energy and fiber) and many have lots of protein. They are all relatively low in fat (the fat they have are the “good” fats) and are healthy alternatives to sugary, fatty (saturated and man-made fats) foods. There are many low fat, low sugar alternative snack foods on the market and are OK occasionally. There are some really good low and no sugar ice cream that is low in fat as well and makes a great smoothie when mixed with fresh fruit, protein powder and vanilla soy milk.
Use your imagination and don’t be afraid to be creative when you fix your snacks or even your recipes. You should most definitely put your own mark on the recipes; make them your own. Add your favorite spices and personal touches to the foods you cook. Experiment and have fun. Eating healthy does not have to be boring or tasteless. I have developed a whole new appreciation for spices. Cut back on the salt that you put on food. Start by cutting it in half and reduce it even farther. It won’t be long and you will find that you are hyper-sensitive to the taste of salt and you won’t be able to tolerate much on your food. You will just lose your taste for it. Plus, it is so much more fun and satisfying to actually taste your food and the different spices instead of just salt.
When you choose a snack, don’t just look at calories and fat, check out the sugar content. The sugar can sneak up on you and most people don’t think to check it when reading labels. Just keep it in mind while choosing snacks. You should also pay close attention to the fat content of foods. Some so-called “low fat” foods are really not that low fat. Keep your daily requirements in mind when you select a snack. When I select a snack, I choose snacks that have 10 grams of fat or less per serving and 12 grams of sugar or less per serving because I know that I will have one serving for the snack and I won’t go over and have to juggle fat or sugar in other meals or snacks. I like to keep it as simple as possible because I just don’t have the time (or the patience!) to count a bunch of calories or fat.
Healthy Snacks
This is a brief list of snack ideas. You can (and should) come up with some of your own. These are just some things that we grab for snacks and eating on the run. Most of these can also double as a quick meal because they require little or no preparation. There are days when I have needed to grab something quick and don’t have time to prepare a meal. My personal favorite is Swiss cheese and Triscuit crackers. I can run into the grocery store, grab it and go. No prep, no cooking, I can even eat it in my car! If I am making it a meal, I grab a bag of raw vegetables (I love sugar snap peas!) and maybe some fruit like blueberries or melon and I have a great, quick meal.
•Whole wheat bagel
•herbed cream cheese
•yogurt cheese (you can make this yourself – there is a recipe in the chapter, “BONUS-Recipes”)
•peanut butter and honey (2 tablespoons peanut butter with 1 tablespoon honey)
•Cheese Dip (you can make this yourself – there is a recipe in the chapter, “BONUS-Recipes”)
•Low fat yogurt
•berries
•cereal (bran or our favorite - Kashi Crunch)
•Raw vegetables with dressing (low fat or non-fat)
•Fruit (preferably fresh)
•Quaker Chewy Granola Bars
•Kashi Crunch cereal
•Fresh berries (blueberries, strawberries, etc.)
•Wheat crackers and low fat cheese
•Good for You Apple Bake (you can make this yourself – there is a recipe in the chapter, “BONUS-Recipes”)
•Blueberry Muffins on Steroids (you can make this yourself – there is a recipe in the chapter, “BONUS-Recipes”)
•Italian Cappuccino Dessert (you can make this yourself – there is a recipe in the chapter, “BONUS-Recipes”)
•Natural Almonds
•Spicy Pumpkin Seeds
•Spiced Walnuts (or pecans)
•Rice Cakes
•Soy Crisps
•Bean dip with lite chips (you can make this yourself – there is a recipe in the chapter, “BONUS-Recipes”)
Try to replace the excessive eating with something else. Is there a reason for compulsively eating after dinner?
It sounds like it is just a habit for you, which is hard to break. Changing the after-dinner eating to fruits was a good idea, but consider vegetables as well. Also, maybe find an activity for yourself to keep your mind elsewhere. You are very apt to eat if you become bored.
Crosswords, games, or even going out for a jog will hopefully prevent you from the need to get up and get more food.
As a last resort, you could replace the fruits with diet sodas. Or chew gum. A lot of the time, the habit becomes the need to chew, because you are not actually hungry, just used to having something in your mouth. Drinking no-calorie drinks or low-calorie gum can help satiate this.
I don’t think you can eat too much fruit, it is very healty and low in calories, however that will get boring fast and it never holds my hunger long. Try other low cal. snacks such as popcorn, pretsels, soy nuts are good(there are many More). But don’t deprive yourself of your favorite snack at least once a week. Mine is a chocolate candy bar. They say dark chocolate is acually good for you yea! but everything in moderation is the key.Also drink lot of water, Tea,sometimes your not really hungry but thirsty.
I would suspect you would lose some weight as there are definately less carbohydrates and fat in fruit then snack foods like potatoe chips. Fruit however contains natural sugar (oranges are very high in natural sugar) and therefore carbohydrates, and should be eaten with that kept in mind. A general guideline to healthy eating is to consume 5 to 8 servings of fruit and vegetables in a day (not all at night). Perhaps in the evening you could try eating leafy salads with a fat-free vinegrette. There are many flavourful fat-free vinegrettes available with less than 2 grams of carbohydrates per serving. Or try eating something like celery sticks. The habit of eating is hard to break so if you must eat, eat as light and healthy as possible. Another thing you may want to consider trying is replacing eating with drinking a hot green or herbal tea. The water does fill you and the heat ensures you can’t gulp it down quickly. It can be quite satisfying and fills the hand to mouth to stomach desire. Good luck!