Bananas are killing my macros

amandzor
amandzor Posts: 386 Member
I eat a banana almost every morning. It's delicious, filling, but man does it kill my carb intake for the day.

Fruit constitutes most of my carbs for the day, especially if I eat an apple in the afternoons.

Usual carb additions throughout the day include brown rice, whole wheat tortillas and a fiber granola bar. Usually, I need these to meet my calorie goal.

Just wondering if anyone else has run in to this problem, and want to know if you reduced your fruit in take, or you just said to hell with it.

Edit: Also! I'll add that I'm still losing weight consistently. 2-3 pounds a week, and I'm in the gym 4-5 days after work, and try to do something active on the weekend (ride a bike, go for a walk)
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Replies

  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
    I pretty much quit eating banana's for that reason.

    Plus they are as filling as a cookie- so i'd rather just eat a cookie. I do buy a bunch every couple months to fill my banana craving- but I mostly have phased them out.
  • swalberg0625
    swalberg0625 Posts: 98 Member
    I decided not to worry too much about it. Fruits are complex carbs meaning our body processes it in a different, more efficient way. Keep eating fruits and veggies, and don't worry too much if you go a little over for carb goals. Just keep within caloric range
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
    Your bananas have nearly the same number of carbs as the tortillas and rice. Why do they get the blame for killing your macros?
  • chivalryder
    chivalryder Posts: 4,391 Member
    Banana > Rice or tortillas. Take out the simple carbs and enjoy the bananas.

    Or just stop eating bananas.

    Or just stop eating. That works too.
  • DBoone85
    DBoone85 Posts: 916 Member
    Its less than 18% of your daily goal, according to your diary.

    Maybe just eat half a banana if it worries you that much?
  • amandzor
    amandzor Posts: 386 Member
    Bananas get the blame because they're the most "extra" in my day. I'm probably fine with just yogurt for breakfast. But if I don't eat some kind of rice/carb with lunch, I get light-headed in the afternoon, and it affects my workout.

    Tortillas usually get added to dinner to make my calorie goal.

    I guess I could swap the tortilla for banana....but they just don't wrap around my veggies in the same way.
  • Rogiefreida
    Rogiefreida Posts: 567 Member
    Personally I'd pick a banana over the rice or tortillas, but that's just me. More micronutrients in a banana than rice or tortilla and I can usually use the potassium that a banana packs.
  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
    I use lettuce for wraps and tortilla's... nice substitute.
  • laurenawolf
    laurenawolf Posts: 262 Member
    This is why I hate bananas and apples. I eat them once in a blue moon, but I have to be craving them. I always choose cereal over bananas!
  • amandzor
    amandzor Posts: 386 Member
    I use lettuce for wraps and tortilla's... nice substitute.

    I always forget about lettuce wraps! I'll give that a try, as I love bananas. I think I was an ape in another life.
  • Meerataila
    Meerataila Posts: 1,885 Member
    I eat them two or three times a week by cutting one up and putting it in my salad. My salads are weird, but combining fruit like raisins or bananas with veggies instead of just eating the fruit keeps me from having cravings and being hungry later. And that is all I worry about, not the number of carbs or sugar I end up with in a day. Of course I haven't been doing this long. Maybe it will spell some sort of weird health disaster later. If it does, I'll keep everyone posted on my way to pick out the casket. Or maybe the urn. Whichever is cheaper.
  • amandzor
    amandzor Posts: 386 Member
    Banana > Rice or tortillas. Take out the simple carbs and enjoy the bananas.

    Or just stop eating bananas.

    Or just stop eating. That works too.

    I hear anorexia is great for hair loss too!
  • smn76237
    smn76237 Posts: 318 Member
    I'm by no means a low-carber, but have you looked for a low carb tortilla for wraps and such? I actually really like the ones I use. 60 calories, 7 g carbs, 5 g protein. It may help get your overall carb number down so you can still fit in bananas.
  • greeneyes0809
    greeneyes0809 Posts: 422 Member
    Bananas get the blame because they're the most "extra" in my day. I'm probably fine with just yogurt for breakfast. But if I don't eat some kind of rice/carb with lunch, I get light-headed in the afternoon, and it affects my workout.

    Tortillas usually get added to dinner to make my calorie goal.

    I guess I could swap the tortilla for banana....but they just don't wrap around my veggies in the same way.

    I'd say rather than adding a tortilla at the end of the day to merely meet your calorie goal, add a different snack or food that helps meet both your calorie goal and macro nutrient goal. Something that has more protein and fat and less carbs.
  • AJ_G
    AJ_G Posts: 4,158 Member
    Banana > Rice or tortillas. Take out the simple carbs and enjoy the bananas.

    Or just stop eating bananas.

    Or just stop eating. That works too.

    Haha, not that it matters, AT ALL, but rice and tortillas consist of complex carbohydrates whereas the banana is the one that consists of simple sugars...
  • JoeDenison
    JoeDenison Posts: 18 Member
    I eat a banana almost every morning. It's delicious, filling, but man does it kill my carb intake for the day.

    Fruit constitutes most of my carbs for the day, especially if I eat an apple in the afternoons.

    Usual carb additions throughout the day include brown rice, whole wheat tortillas and a fiber granola bar. Usually, I need these to meet my calorie goal.

    Just wondering if anyone else has run in to this problem, and want to know if you reduced your fruit in take, or you just said to hell with it.

    It wasn't until I eliminated all carbs except low-starch veggies that my fat loss took off running. I eat no grains (i.e., no bread, tortillas, zip), no fruit, just veggies for my carb source. I eat 2 servings of veggies for Lunch and also again at dinner. This keeps my carbs to about 30-40g for the day. And 1g protein for each pound of lean body mass. When I get to my goal weight, I'll re-introduce some fruits to my diet. But they do nothing to hasten fat loss. Check my diary for examples.
  • rhoule76
    rhoule76 Posts: 217 Member
    I make room for a banana a day. Worth it IMO. If it doesn't work for you, try to find something else.
  • Adaniel65
    Adaniel65 Posts: 105 Member
    I eat a half banana with about a tablespoon of peanut butter every morning before I go to the gym and the other half as a mid morning snack later. It's the only thing that has worked to elimate foot cramps while I'm working out.
  • Meerataila
    Meerataila Posts: 1,885 Member
    I eat a banana almost every morning. It's delicious, filling, but man does it kill my carb intake for the day.

    Fruit constitutes most of my carbs for the day, especially if I eat an apple in the afternoons.

    Usual carb additions throughout the day include brown rice, whole wheat tortillas and a fiber granola bar. Usually, I need these to meet my calorie goal.

    Just wondering if anyone else has run in to this problem, and want to know if you reduced your fruit in take, or you just said to hell with it.

    It wasn't until I eliminated all carbs except low-starch veggies that my fat loss took off running. I eat no grains (i.e., no bread, tortillas, zip), no fruit, just veggies for my carb source. I eat 2 servings of veggies for Lunch and also again at dinner. This keeps my carbs to about 30-40g for the day. And 1g protein for each pound of lean body mass. When I get to my goal weight, I'll re-introduce some fruits to my diet. But they do nothing to hasten fat loss. Check my diary for examples.

    If you don't mind me asking, where do you get your potassium from? It's one reason I keep fruit in my diet.
  • TrainingWithTonya
    TrainingWithTonya Posts: 1,741 Member
    In my professional opinion, you aren't eating enough first of all. Second of all, you have your carb % set too low. The recommendation for carbs is 45-65% of total daily energy intake. For those who are exercising, there is also a recommedation of 6-10 grams of carbohydrate per kilogram of lean body mass. The 50% you have your carb intake set at is well below that based on my cursory glance at your logs/profile. So my recommendation is to refigure your intake needs and keep eating the bananas. The vitamins and minerals in them make them well worth consuming.
  • AsaThorsWoman
    AsaThorsWoman Posts: 2,303 Member
    I tried taking fruit out of my diet to go low-carb, it was pretty much the dumbest thing I've ever done.

    Not only did I not lose any weight, I got sick for the first time in years and missed two days of work, had to use two vacation days to lay in bed with a cold.

    Any diet that cuts out fruit is stupid.

    I went back to Paleo and couldn't be happier. Still haven't lost any weight since Jan (all this happened this year) but at least I'm healthy again.

    Low-carb (under 20 net carbs a day for 6 weeks) made me feel weak, fatigued, hungry, hangry, emotional and had no effect on my weight at all. Neither did calorie restriction, in all fairness.
  • establishingaplace
    establishingaplace Posts: 301 Member
    I say if you enjoy bananas, eat bananas.

    I often go over my carbs because of fruit. It hasn't affected me in any negative way.
  • jstout365
    jstout365 Posts: 1,686 Member
    There are a lot of things you can do.....drop the rice at lunch and eat the banana then.....Drop the tortillas at dinner and add something else in (maybe some protein/fat source) to fill out the calories. I know this will sound harsh, but bananas don't kill your macros, you make choices that are not optimal for your current macro goals. You can easily chose to drop one of your high carb sources for another macro source or even that you are going to have a higher carb % and reduce the fat and or protein. Decide what is important to you and what you really want to eat in the day and go from there. Bananas are great nutrition and you shouldn't have to feel like you are sacrificing the things you enjoy for the sake of hitting a macro number. All things can fit if you plan and work them into your goals.
  • AJ_G
    AJ_G Posts: 4,158 Member
    I eat a banana almost every morning. It's delicious, filling, but man does it kill my carb intake for the day.

    Fruit constitutes most of my carbs for the day, especially if I eat an apple in the afternoons.

    Usual carb additions throughout the day include brown rice, whole wheat tortillas and a fiber granola bar. Usually, I need these to meet my calorie goal.

    Just wondering if anyone else has run in to this problem, and want to know if you reduced your fruit in take, or you just said to hell with it.

    It wasn't until I eliminated all carbs except low-starch veggies that my fat loss took off running. I eat no grains (i.e., no bread, tortillas, zip), no fruit, just veggies for my carb source. I eat 2 servings of veggies for Lunch and also again at dinner. This keeps my carbs to about 30-40g for the day. And 1g protein for each pound of lean body mass. When I get to my goal weight, I'll re-introduce some fruits to my diet. But they do nothing to hasten fat loss. Check my diary for examples.

    If you don't mind me asking, where do you get your potassium from? It's one reason I keep fruit in my diet.

    Veggies are packed with potassium
  • Meerataila
    Meerataila Posts: 1,885 Member
    I eat a banana almost every morning. It's delicious, filling, but man does it kill my carb intake for the day.

    Fruit constitutes most of my carbs for the day, especially if I eat an apple in the afternoons.

    Usual carb additions throughout the day include brown rice, whole wheat tortillas and a fiber granola bar. Usually, I need these to meet my calorie goal.

    Just wondering if anyone else has run in to this problem, and want to know if you reduced your fruit in take, or you just said to hell with it.

    It wasn't until I eliminated all carbs except low-starch veggies that my fat loss took off running. I eat no grains (i.e., no bread, tortillas, zip), no fruit, just veggies for my carb source. I eat 2 servings of veggies for Lunch and also again at dinner. This keeps my carbs to about 30-40g for the day. And 1g protein for each pound of lean body mass. When I get to my goal weight, I'll re-introduce some fruits to my diet. But they do nothing to hasten fat loss. Check my diary for examples.

    If you don't mind me asking, where do you get your potassium from? It's one reason I keep fruit in my diet.

    Veggies are packed with potassium

    Okay, thanks. I'm still not eating a wide enough variety, then. I track them and double check other sites in case an entry here didn't get the potassium added, but without raisins and bananas, I still don't get enough for the week. Not saying I'm giving up either for now, since I'm losing weight steadily, but it's still time for me to go do some more research and add some new foods.

    I draw the line at kale, though. Kale is a garnish.
  • xiamjackie
    xiamjackie Posts: 611 Member
    Love bananas. Used to be scared of eating them because it would "throw off my carbs" or calories for the day. Then I realized how stupid I sounded saying I was scared to eat a banana. I love fruit. Don't care how many carbs.
  • tkillion810
    tkillion810 Posts: 591 Member
    If what you are doing is working, why change it? Eat the banana...until you stall out, then consider changes.
  • runfatmanrun
    runfatmanrun Posts: 1,090 Member
    Potatoes have more potassium than bananas...oh wait, there's carbs there too. Carrots are good for potassium too...damn, sugar. Greens it is then.
  • amandzor
    amandzor Posts: 386 Member
    Potatoes have more potassium than bananas...oh wait, there's carbs there too. Carrots are good for potassium too...damn, sugar. Greens it is then.

    Screw it. I'll go on the all kale diet.

    All kale. All the time.
  • JoeDenison
    JoeDenison Posts: 18 Member
    I eat a banana almost every morning. It's delicious, filling, but man does it kill my carb intake for the day.

    Fruit constitutes most of my carbs for the day, especially if I eat an apple in the afternoons.

    Usual carb additions throughout the day include brown rice, whole wheat tortillas and a fiber granola bar. Usually, I need these to meet my calorie goal.

    Just wondering if anyone else has run in to this problem, and want to know if you reduced your fruit in take, or you just said to hell with it.

    It wasn't until I eliminated all carbs except low-starch veggies that my fat loss took off running. I eat no grains (i.e., no bread, tortillas, zip), no fruit, just veggies for my carb source. I eat 2 servings of veggies for Lunch and also again at dinner. This keeps my carbs to about 30-40g for the day. And 1g protein for each pound of lean body mass. When I get to my goal weight, I'll re-introduce some fruits to my diet. But they do nothing to hasten fat loss. Check my diary for examples.

    If you don't mind me asking, where do you get your potassium from? It's one reason I keep fruit in my diet.

    Beef, chicken and low-starch vegetables are all great sources of potassium -- but without the unnecessary carbs. On a calorie restriction it's difficult for anyone to get the 4,700mg minimum rda. I also supplement with a powder potassium citrate, 800mg 3x daily (add it to drinks). Doing this under supervision of a Dr and I perform regular lab tests. Note: MFP food entries rarely have accurate micro-nutrient values...some do, but absence of potassium info doesn't mean the item has none! So it is good you check alternate sources. Most often you can just google "foodname potassium" and it will show you the amount in a serving. (works for other nutrients as well)

    I also do short duration high-intensity strength workouts 3x weekly and HIIT cardio 3x weekly, alternating strength/cardio days. When I was eating fruits, sweet potatoes and whole grain rice, my weight loss had plateaued, even with calorie restriction. After I cut them out, and now get all my carbs from healthy vegetables, the weight loss resumed (at a very nice pace -- 2+ lbs. weekly).

    It takes a couple of weeks to acclimate to a low-carb (ketogenic) diet. Most people have their bodies used to running mostly on glucose, and so they have to constantly eat carbs. If you want to hasten fat loss, you have to switch it over to burning fat instead. When first starting low-carb, people often report a horrible energy crash, even cold/flu-like symptoms and they just give up. But they don't realize that's a normal process during the switchover to burning fat, our bodies were designed to switch to burning fat when under a calorie restriction. And that's exactly what you want to do to lose your fat. Sometimes new things make you feel worse before you feel better ... a similar thing happens when you begin a new workout: you might have some aches and pains. But do you stop? Only if you don't know any better and think that continued workouts will just cause it to get worse. But we all know they don't. I believe the same applies to the low-carb eating.

    Once you are at your optimal weight, you can eat a moderate amount of fruit and other carbs, so long as you don't overdo it in individual servings, and you won't gain fat. Fruits and starchy carbs are good for you in moderation, they have many nutrients that are healthy. But eating them when trying to lose fat is simply subverting the natural fat-burning process...you can still lose weight while eating fruits and other carbs, but it will not hasten the fat loss.

    I've read posts in this thread stating "cutting fruit is stupid" and "it's recommended xx% of carbs...in your daily diet". They believe they are correct, but for me I have proven otherwise with my experience, and my results confirm -- both through weight loss and the positive results revealed in lab tests -- that fruits and other starchy carbs are unnecessary and are counter productive to a fat loss endeavor.