Can I eat as much fresh fruit and vegetables as I want to?

douglasbeale

I’ve always tended to believe the old school adage; you can eat as much fresh fruit and vegetables as you want. I thought it was because fruits and vegetables were packed with vitamins, natural sugar, and all the good and wholesome nutrients that God wanted you to live on. But really it’s because to get the equivalent calories of say a Baconator value meal (1820 calories) you would have to eat a whole wheelbarrow full of salad.

Food Amount Calories
Asparagus 32 spears 106
Avocado 1/3 of the fruit 106
Bell Pepper (green) 4 medium peppers 95
Bell Pepper (red) 3 and 1/3 medium peppers 103
Broccoli (raw) 10 (5-inch long spears) 105
Carrots (baby) 28 98
Cauliflower (raw) 30 flowerettes 98
Celery 18 (8-inch stalks) 101
Corn (sweet white) Kernels from two ears 118
Cucumber 2 (8 1/4-inch cukes) 90
Kale (cooked) 3 cups 109
Lettuce (Romaine) 1 head 106
Mushrooms (raw) 20 large 101
Radishes (raw) 70 large 101
Spinach (raw) 45 leaves 98
Summer Squash (raw) 3 medium 94
Tomato (Roma) 3 medium 105
Zucchini 3 medium 94
total 1828 calories

And if you have a sweet tooth:

Fruit Amount Calories
Apples 2 extra small 105
Bananas 1 medium 105
Blueberries 125 berries (or 1 1/4 cup) 97
Cantaloupe 2 cups, diced 106
Clementines 3 whole 104
Grapes, red or green 30 101
Grapefruit, pink or white 1 1/4 whole 95
Honeydew 1 3/4 cups, diced 98
Mango 1 cup, sliced 107
Nectarine 1 1/2 medium 94
Orange 2 small 90
Papaya 2 cups, cubed 109
Peach 2 1/2 medium 96
Pear 1 medium 96
Pineapple 1 1/4 cups, chunks 103
Strawberries 25 medium 96
Tangerine 2 medium 100
Watermelon 30 balls (or 2 cups, diced) 110
total 1812 calories


So can you eat as much fresh fruit and vegetables as you want? Sure you can, hang on…. I’ll get you a pitch fork.

Food for thought:
Depending on the individual, the digestive system may get as little as ½ of the calories from raw fruits and vegetables as it would from the Baconator. (So can I actually eat as much as double the calories from fresh fruit and vegetables?)

Shadowknight137

But bacon.

geebusuk

I'm good at eating - which means I can easily over-eat calorie wise if I choose higher calorie fruits and veg.

EvgeniZyntx

2 avocados is actually a lot of calories.
I can easily eat 3-4 in guacamole. So no.
5 bananas a day? Easy.

I'd probably die from lack of protein. So balance and moderation.
But yeah - eat lots of fruits and veggies. Kinda basic, don't cha think? Except it isn't - good reminder.

And if you ate all that papaya, mango, etc... You'd have another problem.

bonitacarmel

:laugh: Yeah love my fruits and veggies and it always beats out that snickers bar or a slice of cake...

SkimFlatWhite68

I'm not sure what a baconater meal is, but it would probably be easy to eat again in half an hour after one of them but probably not after all those veggies. It's a good example of calories.

SunKissed1989

But bacon.

:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

haha, love that

Whatever happened to the classic "Five portions of fruit and veg a day"? I know it's only a guideline and you can go as over and as under as you like but I don't think people are going to go as far as to eat 1800 calories of fruit and/or veg a day. Has anyone out there every done that?

douglasbeale

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"I don't think people are going to go as far as to eat 1800 calories of fruit and/or veg a day. Has anyone out there every done that?"
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Ya I think people do, I was actually reading about a guy who said he was eating 4000 calories a day fruit veggies & nuts.

I'm not sure, but I think Vegans and Vegetarians may be able to eat more calories.

vorgas

At approx 200 calories per handful, it's not hard to get 1800 calories from nuts.

tekwriter

On Weight Watchers Most fruits and vegetables are free, so you can eat all you want. What I discovered when I came to MFP is that everything counts and you should balance the foods. Although you can pretty much eat all the vegetables you want since they are so low in calorie.

litatura

But bacon.

You could always wrap a piece of bacon around a banana.

douglasbeale

On Weight Watchers Most fruits and vegetables are free, so you can eat all you want.

I didn't know that.......that's interesting because I believe Weight Watchers point system must ultimately be based on counting calories (but they do it for you).

douglasbeale

But bacon.

You could always wrap a piece of bacon around a banana.

You might be on to something here. Can you deep fry a banana?

caribougal

My doc always says, "No one gets diabetes from eating too many vegetables".

That's why I replace grains and legumes with veg and fat. I can consume a whole lot more tasty food for the calories.

jbruced

If butter can be deep fried then it would be easy to wrap a banana in bacon dip it in batter a nd deep fry. Might
have to tooth pick the bacon in place though

icimani

:laugh: Yeah love my fruits and veggies and it always beats out that snickers bar or a slice of cake...

I'm learning to love fruits and vegies - but they still don't come close to beating out a Snickers Bar. If it did, I wouldn't be in the position I'm in now (or was, 5 years and 100 pounds ago!) :laugh:

rileamoyer

suelegal

The other caution about fruits is that for some who are insulin sensitive, they maynot be an option. Low-carbers also need to choose fruits wisely, since sugars are carbs and add up very quickly!

daniellealys

I limit my fruit to 2 a day because I am trying to loose weight (I will increase to 4 when Ijust want to maintain. I eat as many vegetables as possible. no limitations there!!

bcattoes

:laugh: Yeah love my fruits and veggies and it always beats out that snickers bar or a slice of cake...

Always? :huh:

JenMc14

You can overeat fruits and veggies just like anything else. I definitely count them because the calories can add up quicker than you think. Let's say you eat a large banana, a medium apple and an avocado, that's pretty darm close to 500 calories and very little (if any) protein. That's almost a meal's worth of calories for many people. So, let's say you do that twice, that's 1000 calories. TO not count those calories at all simply because they're fruits/veggies isn't really all that wise, imho. If you're tlaking about a couple of cups of mixed greens here and there, ok, I get it, but other things, should be tracked. I mean, let's say you ate those 500 calories in fruits/veggies and didn't track them, but still ate your calorie allotment, plus maybe ate back some exercise calories, you'd be over, possibly at a maintenance level, and if this was a regular thing, at best you'd maintain, at worst, you'd start to gain.