Fruit and Calories

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ronronronj
ronronronj Posts: 474 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi everyone! I am new here and have what may be a simplistic question. I eat things like bananas, pears (or whatever is in season) and drink orange juice. However, when I enter these food items in the MFP calculator I notice that they are high in calories and carbs! Is it better to keep these foods or dump them for other things?
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Replies

  • Jagerin
    Jagerin Posts: 68 Member
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    If you like them, eat them. Weigh them and enter in the weight to get an accurate calorie count (cause a medium banana is a vague measurement). Fit them into your calories. No reason to dump foods you like unless you have a medical reason to.
  • astrampe
    astrampe Posts: 2,169 Member
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    Carbs are not evil, and you are getting vitamins and fibre in... Just keep an eye on how much you eat of it, in order to keep track of the calories, but no reason to dump fruit.....
  • LAWoman72
    LAWoman72 Posts: 2,846 Member
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    Eat them if you like them. :) Count the macros, obviously.
  • Alyssa_Is_LosingIt
    Alyssa_Is_LosingIt Posts: 4,696 Member
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    There is nothing wrong with eating those foods. You shouldn't worry too much about sugar intake if you don't have any health issues, such as diabetes. Just make sure you log all of your fruit and make sure you're getting enough protein and fat.
  • SkinnyWannabeGal
    SkinnyWannabeGal Posts: 143 Member
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    Eat your fave healthy foods (fruits for this matter) in moderation. I've cut back a bit on my orange juice intake because of all the sugar and calories in it, but I haven't cut it out completely. I like to save my calories for food :smile:
  • ronronronj
    ronronronj Posts: 474 Member
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    Thanks much for the guidance. Can you please explain macros in a bit more detail please? I am not sure of the context here.
  • 999tigger
    999tigger Posts: 5,235 Member
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    Fruit better than fruit juice imo. Still all calories, eat them if its in your allowance.
  • LAWoman72
    LAWoman72 Posts: 2,846 Member
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    ronronronj wrote: »
    Thanks much for the guidance. Can you please explain macros in a bit more detail please? I am not sure of the context here.

    Oh, I'm sorry. I meant calories and if you keep track of them, carbs and protein. If you're eating other carb-y foods you really shouldn't be afraid of the carbs in fruit though, IMO. There's no reason to.

  • Vidarsbane
    Vidarsbane Posts: 30 Member
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    Fruits may be high in calories for what you're eating but they are packed full of wonderful minerals and nutrients and vitamins that are essential for a healthy body.
  • Alyssa_Is_LosingIt
    Alyssa_Is_LosingIt Posts: 4,696 Member
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    ronronronj wrote: »
    Thanks much for the guidance. Can you please explain macros in a bit more detail please? I am not sure of the context here.

    Macronutrients are carbs, protein, and fat. You want to have a healthy mix of all three.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,139 Member
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    ronronronj wrote: »
    Thanks much for the guidance. Can you please explain macros in a bit more detail please? I am not sure of the context here.

    macros = percent of protein/fat/carbs in your diet….

    you want to keep protein high when cutting/losing weight so that you minimize muscle loss.

    a pretty standard split is 40% protein/30carbs/30 fats….you can also break it down in grams, but as you are in the beginning I think the percentages I listed would work out well for you. YOu can change the default setting by going to "custom settings...
  • LAWoman72
    LAWoman72 Posts: 2,846 Member
    edited May 2015
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    Vidarsbane wrote: »
    Fruits may be high in calories for what you're eating but they are packed full of wonderful minerals and nutrients and vitamins that are essential for a healthy body.

    I don't see them as being high in calories as compared to other foods, except non-starchy vegetables...? And even then, it's not like non-starchies have no calories at all.

  • ronronronj
    ronronronj Posts: 474 Member
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    Vidarsbane wrote: »
    Fruits may be high in calories for what you're eating but they are packed full of wonderful minerals and nutrients and vitamins that are essential for a healthy body.

    That's what I always thought. My initial reaction to the MFP analysis is that I should use the calories in fruit and juice to replace what I get from other food items.
  • LAWoman72
    LAWoman72 Posts: 2,846 Member
    edited May 2015
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    ronronronj wrote: »
    Vidarsbane wrote: »
    Fruits may be high in calories for what you're eating but they are packed full of wonderful minerals and nutrients and vitamins that are essential for a healthy body.

    That's what I always thought. My initial reaction to the MFP analysis is that I should use the calories in fruit and juice to replace what I get from other food items.

    Just my opinion, but...no need for juice if you're already eating fruit. Keep the fiber and bulk of the fruit, skip the juice. Again, JMO and I don't know what your plan is, nor whether you have any dietary considerations and so on.

    But of course, if you like juice, and want juice...work it into your calorie goals.

    What do you feel MFP wants you to "replace" fruit with? Not understanding that...?



  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,150 Member
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    I would bag the juice, (like to chew my calories), but there's nothing wrong with eating fruit.
  • sllokkem
    sllokkem Posts: 2 Member
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    Eat raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, watermelon, other melon.....much less calories than bananas
  • mathjulz
    mathjulz Posts: 5,514 Member
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    High in calories and carbs as compared to what? 100 g of most fruits (I checked apples, bananas, pears, grapes, and berries) are under 100 calories, many around 50. Other than vegetables (which are great, btw), I can't think of many foods that have that few calories, especially for as many nutrients you are getting. There's nothing wrong with having 2 or 3 servings a fruit a day, as long as it fits in your goals.

    Make sure you're getting adequate protein and fat, and getting the vitamins and minerals you need. After that, you can fill what's left of your calories with anything you want. Also, I wouldn't track sugar, it's just part of the carbs, and if you eat fruit it'll play with your brain :lol:

    As far as the OJ ... I am not personally a fan of drinking calories. I'm more satisfied, usually, from eating an orange instead, and it has fewer calories. But again, if it fits into your daily calorie needs, there's nothing wrong with it!
  • ronronronj
    ronronronj Posts: 474 Member
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    ndj1979 wrote: »
    ronronronj wrote: »
    Thanks much for the guidance. Can you please explain macros in a bit more detail please? I am not sure of the context here.

    macros = percent of protein/fat/carbs in your diet….

    you want to keep protein high when cutting/losing weight so that you minimize muscle loss.

    a pretty standard split is 40% protein/30carbs/30 fats….you can also break it down in grams, but as you are in the beginning I think the percentages I listed would work out well for you. YOu can change the default setting by going to "custom settings...

    I looked at my count for today (what I thought was a good day), and here's what I have:

    Totals 1,355 224 34 61 245 125
    Daily Goal 1,500 188 50 75 2,300 56
    Remaining 145 -36 16 14 2,055 -69
    Calories Carbs Fat Protein Sodium Sugar

    (Sorry about any formatting issues.) Am I way off track here?
  • TiffanyR71
    TiffanyR71 Posts: 217 Member
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    I love fruit, but I eat a little less than I did before counting calories... I tend to eat more vegetables than fruit now...
  • TiffanyR71
    TiffanyR71 Posts: 217 Member
    edited May 2015
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    .

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