How can I incorporate fruits into my diet

DorothyR87

All my life I have pretty much hated almost all fruits. It's not that I necessarily dislike the flavors, but more the textures. The fruits I will just plain eat are grapefruit and grapes and thats pretty much it so I'm looking for different things. One thing though is I loathe bananas. I can't stand the taste, the texture, the smell, nothing. I was wondering if anyone had any creative ways or recipes for me take in fruits without actually just plain old eating the fruit.

Dave198lbs

there is no rule that you have to eat fruit to be healthy. if you dont like it, dont eat it.

but if you don't like an apple with peanut butter smeared on slices, then you are whack! lol

klynn08

what about dipping fruits in yogurt? Gives them a better taste. I love pineapple, strawberries, and cantalope dipped in it.

You could also try blending fruits into a smoothie

sabinecbauer

Do you have a juicer? You could experiment with fruit/veg mixes.

eating4balance

Banana "Ice Cream": Freeze banana slices and then process them in a food processor until smooth. Voila! Ice Cream!

katiebythebay

Fruits turn into sugar. Take vitamins and supplements and drink lots of water and make sure you get calcium somewhere in there.

Exercise at least 15 min a day, for three to four days out of the week and you can eat most the stuff you want, just in moderation.

Losing weight doesn't have to be the end all to eating what you want. Just have to take what others have experienced (which is what I did) and use it.


katie

Mira710

dried fruit? it has a different texture at least...

OR smoothies (fruit, ice, almond milk)

Dave198lbs

Banana "Ice Cream": Freeze banana slices and then process them in a food processor until smooth. Voila! Ice Cream!

uhh....she said she hates bananas

kimw91

You could make smoothies, incorporate them into your dinner (mango in couscous, pineapple in stir-fries), mix them into oatmeal in the morning, incorporate them in pancake batter, warm them till they start to fall apart and use as a topping on pancakes/yoghurt/toast.. tons of options really.

Schnuddelbuddel

-Fruit smoothies - blend some fruits (berries are nice) with plain or vanilla low or no fat yoghurt
-Chocolate fondue? (use dark choc, it's actually good for you (within reason!) and tasty for dipping)
-finely chop apple or pear and mix it in with your porridge/cereal
-drink fruit juice
-apple puree is nice mixed with potato puree and/or carrot puree
-try dried fruits, they're sweet and full of goodness, especially to combat sweet cravings. Raisins or apricots are great for that!
-low cal baking? low cal apple or berry crumbles?

Hope some of these help. Also, if you try fruit again and again you will develop a taste for it and probably learn to like it.

best of luck!

Juawill

There are so many good fruits available now that I don't think it's necessary to try those you know you don't like. You said you like grapefruit. Well, have an orange occasionally. The texture is basically the same but a bit sweeter. Try clementines sometime. Personally, I think God made clementines to give us all a nice sweet thing to eat without a lot of calories (almost none). Again, very similar texture to grapefruit. Try a fruit salad with a bunch of different cut up fruit, a bit of honey and a splash or two of balsamic vinegar. HmmHmm Good! Focus on what you do like and try to stretch the familiarity zone just a little. Once you've added some new fruits into your diet, then think about going back and giving that banana another try. Here's a good way to eat bananas. Cut up a really ripe banana or two into bite size pieces and put them into the freezer for about two hours or so. Take them out and put them into a blender with a teaspoon or so of a good cocoa, maybe a tad of honey and a splash of cinnamon. Blend just until it's smooth and serve. It's just like ice cream with none of the bad stuff associated. Give it a try!!!!

darlilama

I would never have survived my diet change without fruit! Smoothies is a great idea. Also, if you have a food processor and puree them, then you can easily add it to batters or oatmeal, etc. Another idea that I know people have done is to buy baby food fruits, which is similar to puree without the work.

Best of luck. I'm impressed that you are doing your best to find ways to incorporate fruits in your diet! They are truly nature's nutritious sweets!

eating4balance

Banana "Ice Cream": Freeze banana slices and then process them in a food processor until smooth. Voila! Ice Cream!

uhh....she said she hates bananas

I know, but some people can't even tell that this is made with bananas! Especially if you add cocoa powder and peanut butter. Yum

If she doesn't want to try it, no harm done. Sorry!

dyannajoy

smoothies............:bigsmile:

dyannajoy

or just eat veggies instead.........just as good for you if not better :happy:

DiamondEyes_x

Banana "Ice Cream": Freeze banana slices and then process them in a food processor until smooth. Voila! Ice Cream!

uhh....she said she hates bananas

I loathe bananas too but I love smoothies and milkshakes with it in. Tastes different!

Dave198lbs

Banana "Ice Cream": Freeze banana slices and then process them in a food processor until smooth. Voila! Ice Cream!

uhh....she said she hates bananas

I know, but some people can't even tell that this is made with bananas! Especially if you add cocoa powder and peanut butter. Yum

If she doesn't want to try it, no harm done. Sorry!

oh...didnt know you add peanut butter...everything is better with peanut butter

christina0089

Banana "Ice Cream": Freeze banana slices and then process them in a food processor until smooth. Voila! Ice Cream!

uhh....she said she hates bananas

I know, but some people can't even tell that this is made with bananas! Especially if you add cocoa powder and peanut butter. Yum

If she doesn't want to try it, no harm done. Sorry!

I fully intend to try that thanks! pb/banna/ chocolate ice cream.. yummmy!

debrastorr

Smoothies seem the easiest solution to textures but also I'd suggest rather than tacking say a whole nectarine, peach, apricot or whatever, first cut it into bite sized or smaller pieces. Mix it with fruit you do like - halved grapes etc and treat it as a mini fruit salad. Add a spoonful of yoghurt if you want to think of it as a desert.

Also, many fruits will stew in tiny amount of water very well. perhaps cooked rather than raw?

Eureka175

Fruit "sauce" - peel / chop / core whatever fruits - put in pot, add just a bit of water - cook over med heat until tender - either mash or puree - good either warm or refrigerated.

anberlingasm

If you don't like fruit, you don't have to eat it; just make sure you're getting the right mix of vitamins from vegetables instead.

Blending into juices and smoothies is a great way of getting more fruit, though, especially since it tastes so different once you've mixed a few different things together. You could also try adding dried fruits to granola or other breakfast cereals to get your fruit in the morning.

gerimarriott

The best way to have fruit, other than whole, blend it or use a juicer. taste fab.

dardell77

Hi!

I have just the recipe for you!! I struggle with getting in all my fruits as well even though I actually do like them, they just don't seem to be my first choice unfortunately! I'm making this fruit salad this week so I can get my fruit in as well as curb my nightly snack attacks.

Creamy Dreamy Fruit Fandango

PER SERVING (1 cup): 131 calories, 3g fat, 67mg sodium, 26g carbs, 3g fiber, 18.5g sugars, 1.5g protein -- PointsPlus® value 3*

Is it a dessert? A snack? A side dish? YEP, it's all of the above. And it's gooooooooood! Chocolate chips and slivered almonds invade this sweet 'n creamy fruit salad...

Ingredients:
1 cup Cool Whip Free, thawed
1 tbsp. Jell-O Sugar Free Fat Free Vanilla Instant pudding mix
2 Granny Smith apples, cored and chopped
3 cups seedless red grapes, halved
2 cups chopped strawberries
1/4 cup thinly sliced dry-roasted almonds (like Almond Accents)
2 tbsp. mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:
Place Cool Whip in a large bowl, sprinkle with pudding mix, and stir until smooth and slightly thickened. Add fruit and toss to coat. Add almonds and chocolate chips, and gently stir. That's it. (It's really easy.) Eat up!

MAKES 8 SERVINGS

Coyla

Fruits...bah, almost as boring as vegetables.

My somewhat hard-nosed way of getting fruit into my diet was giving up all sweets. I mean, even fake sweeteners. It's made fruit a lot more appealing when I have a sugar craving, which is pretty much all the time.

Otherwise, eat the fruits you like. Like others have said, you don't have to eat fruit to be healthy.

skshephe

I grab the already cut up fruit ready for smoothies that is in the freezer section of the grocery store (make sure it's the no sugar added variety- check the ingredients) and I use the fruit as ice cubes for plain soda water- it doesn't water down your drink and then they are somewhat defrosted when you eat them and I just think everything is more fun when it's frozen Another fun frozen fruit in the freezer section is frozen cherries!
Ok so you hate bananas and I see everyone trying to talk you into eating them in another form and I have to say I'm also going to tell you frozen bananas made into soft serve is awesome but if you hate bananas you still probably won't like it. I use ripe bananas in my oatmeal to sweeten it and don't use any other sweetener- you don't have to change the water to oatmeal ratio, just add it into your bowl before you microwave and then when they come out "whip" it all together and the bananas basically dissolve into the oatmeal and give it such a yummy creamy texture!! Top with a teaspoon of any nut butter you like and it's perfect for a colder morning.

Recently I have been chopping up kiwi and adding it to a high fiber cereal with fat free cottage cheese- it's so good!!
Bottom line is fruit has tons of sugar and when I eat more than 3 servings a day I definitly can tell in my mid section and when I replace those servings with veggies instead it goes away pretty quickly, so not loving fruit isn't such a bad thing

katzav

i'm allergic to most fruits. all rock fruit (peaches, plums, cherries, etc.) and apples, pears and that type of fruit. i didn't become allergic 'til i was about 14, and i used to love to eat them. now i sometimes eat dried fruit, but mostly i don't eat any. i miss it, but somehow i survive with out eating much fruit.

if you don't mind the texture of citrus, (which i am not allergic to) pineapple has almost the same texture i feel.

i don't have any amazing recipes to 'hide' fruit, but i guess i'm just saying you can live on a diet with out it.

DorothyR87

Thank you everyone so much for your ideas. I'm really going to look into trying some of them, though I still don't know about those banana ideas!

ChrisRN75495

Fruits turn into sugar.

Not exactly. Fruit has sugar in it, but not granulated sugar that is calorie dense and completely lacking in nutrition! Fruit's sugar is fructose, it's more complicated, takes more energy for the body to use. It's a better source of carbohydrate (which is starch, all of which turns into "sugar") than, say, pasta. Plus, you have to have carbohydrates, that's where energy comes from. In addition, fruit has fiber and vitamins and minerals, plus it's interesting to eat, just just have to find some you like, and ways that you will enjoy it. If your goal is to stay healthy, fruit's important, along with vegetables, whole grains, lean protein and healthy fats, and I applaud your wanting to figure out how to eat it.

Take vitamins and supplements and drink lots of water and make sure you get calcium somewhere in there.

Again, I respectfully disagree. It is never, ever better to get the nutrition you need from manufactured supplements. Who benefits most from us using supplements are the people who make them and the people who sell them. Supplements are never pure, they have other stuff connected to the material you are trying to eat, and it wasn't put there by Mother Nature, so no telling what it's going to do once it's inside you! You are absolutely right to want to eat the real thing, even if you don't like it!

Exercise at least 15 min a day, for three to four days out of the week and you can eat most the stuff you want, just in moderation.

Again, I beg to differ. If I ate most of the stuff I wanted, it would be tiramisu, lasagna, spaghetti, cheese anything, cheeseburgers, fries. I know these things are "slippery slopes." Exercising 15 minutes a day, 3-4 days a week is not going to burn off the thousands of calories we can potentially put on just eating in moderation. If you want to lose weight, you have to decrease your calories, eat balanced, exercise enough so that you use up more calories than you take in!

There are a lot of different fruits and as many different ways of seeing if you might like them. Incidentally, I don't like bananas either. I have eaten them occasionally, but generally, ew. And frozen? No way. In a smoothie, I don't think so. If I wanted to eat a banana, I'd eat a banana!

You mentioned grapefruit. Check out a fruit called pomelo. Sometimes it is spelled pumelo. It looks like a grapefruit, isn't quite as juicy (so not at as messy). You peel it like an orange--make a cut in the thick hide and pull it off, or you can cut it off with a knife. The white stuff is not very tasty, but if you like it, it has loads of minerals and vitamins and FIBER!! I used to eat it as a kid, now I pull it off and give it to the dog, who loves it. The actual flesh of the pomelo is inside the same kind of membrane as a grapefruit, but you can open it and take out the edible part and eat it with your hands. Very clean, very neat, and not bitter like a grapefruit can be. It is wonderful without any sugar or other sweetener on it. I think you'll like it. One probably will give four servings, but (being portion control damaged, myself), I usually eat the whole thing at once.

Kiwi. Probably one of the very best fruits you can eat, the paper thin skin comes off by rubbing the edge of a spoon on it, then lifting it right up and off. You can slice it, or, just eat it.

What about dried fruits? There are some new freeze dried fruits that are amazing. I mentioned I don't like bananas either? I liked them freeze dried. I also enjoyed freeze dried apples and berries.

Speaking of berries. All kinds of them are pretty tasty, but if they aren't appealing fresh, try them dried and add them to other foods, like oatmeal. They are also interesting in yogurt (although I like mine plain, frankly). You can also cook dried fruit into rice and grains. AND, if you like curry, you can add fruits with that, like on the top. In Indonesia, that's (sort of) "rice taffel" (aka "rice table").

I don't know if this helps, but I have my hat off to you. I spend a lot of effort focused on what I don't like and don't want (mostly exercise!). You are focusesd on how you can learn to change so you like something you know is good for you.

You're a good role model! Good luck.... :flowerforyou:

Marty_D

there is no rule that you have to eat fruit to be healthy. if you dont like it, dont eat it.

but if you don't like an apple with peanut butter smeared on slices, then you are whack! lol

Apples with peanutbutter is a staple of mine! Some people scoff but it be tasty! Can't imagine someone not liking fruit, allergies I can understand but with as many types and varieties, perhaps its time to give them another try? Tastes change over time.

hiker282

<Gollum> They are sweet, they are juicy, they are nice. Eat them! EAT THEM!!!! </Gollum> Is there really more to it than that? <Samwise> Boil 'em, mash 'em, stick 'em in a stew. </Samwise> Put grapes on salad...a banana sliced up on toast with peanut butter. Wrap an apple in bacon. We all know bacon makes everything better.

JamesonsMommy

take pineapple and dip in some sugar free chocolate syrup and freeze I also like strawberries dipped in yogurt.. put in the freezer until the yogurt is hard.

Some other favorites are apple sauce in brownies instead of oil, You can pretty much puree any kind of fruit and add it to stuff