Daily fruits?

andyluvv
andyluvv Posts: 281 Member
edited November 24 in Food and Nutrition
Hi there,

I work in an office over the telephone.
I have 2 15 mins breaks and 1 hour lunch so I try to use them strategically so I'm not super hungry by lunch.

So I have a piece of fruit with every break and one when I arrive/leave the office.
That's about 4 pieces of fruit a day - I'm rading in lots of places that you should stick to no more than 2 pieces of fruit a day. So I'm wondering, what else would you use as a convenient and portable snack?

How do you manage at your workplace and do you have any tips worth sharing? Thank you! :D

Replies

  • cnbbnc
    cnbbnc Posts: 1,267 Member
    I take nuts, cottage cheese, plain Greek yogurt, hard boiled eggs, string cheese. Things higher in protein keep my belly full so that's what I usually go for.
  • Unknown
    edited September 2015
    This content has been removed.
  • ilovecereal1982
    ilovecereal1982 Posts: 1,194 Member
    Along with pockets full of pears. I also have like a plastic baggie...like a ziploc bag...of crumbled up bacon...
  • andyluvv
    andyluvv Posts: 281 Member
    cnbbnc wrote: »
    I take nuts, cottage cheese, plain Greek yogurt, hard boiled eggs, string cheese. Things higher in protein keep my belly full so that's what I usually go for.
    I eat a LOT of dairy so I'm trying to avoid it a bit (hence all the fruit!)
    Eggs are stinky so it'd be a no no in the office I think. I like volume so things like cheese don't tend to fill me up (high fat, small serving)
    23 almonds
    1-2-3
    One ounce = 23 almonds = one serving
    Oh I do that! But I count 25 almonds as a serving...(of around 25g lol)
    It's the only way I can get my healthy fats - plus if I have them in the house I end up overdoing it or reaching it as a snack. I find that having in the office keeps me under control.
    Along with pockets full of pears. I also have like a plastic baggie...like a ziploc bag...of crumbled up bacon...
    That's an...interesting idea, but isn't it stinky? O.o
  • kkarcher94511
    kkarcher94511 Posts: 196 Member
    fruit is perfect and the perfect portable snack, just make sure you're buying organic. why on earth would you limit it?
  • andyluvv
    andyluvv Posts: 281 Member
    fruit is perfect and the perfect portable snack, just make sure you're buying organic. why on earth would you limit it?
    That's what I thought! But most websites say it's unadvisable to eat more than 2 servings a day, that it can raise blood sugars and etc...
    I have about 4 pears/peaches/apples a day (in between breaks) so it's all very annoying advice haha

    huffingtonpost.com/life-by-dailyburn-/are-you-eating-too-much-fruit_b_7640514.html
    Craving your fourth piece of fruit today? Back away.
  • Patttience
    Patttience Posts: 975 Member
    Its about 2 pieces of fruit a day when you are at a healthy weight. But i would say four pieces of fruit will not hurt and if its working for you carry on.

    But if you want to consider something else you could also eat bigger meals so that you do not need so many between meal snacks. By bigger meals, i mean of healthy food. There's is no point eating more refined carbs because these will not sustain you.

    Let me explain this demonstrate this a little further. I once was on a 10 day meditation retreat. We had only two meals a day. Breakfast and lunch and we ate nothing else after that. I was fine. I did not suffer the slightest bit of hunger. The food was all vegetarian. It was wonderful. Of course we weren't very active but we still had a long time to go between meals.
  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
    I have to work and talk to people during my very short lunch time most days. I take two cups of garbanzo beans because they have protein and fiber, they do not need to be heated up, and they do not smell or make much noise. Sometimes I also take applesauce -- faster to eat than fruit and a lot less messy.

  • kkarcher94511
    kkarcher94511 Posts: 196 Member
    dont buy into it..fruit is perfect. its natural, full of vitamins, fiber and carbs you need. honestly.....google "fruitarians" and raw vegans......how many obese ones can you find? you wont. keep eating 4+ pieces of fruit a day, the only thing illl stress again is organic, you dont need pesticides and chemicals in your food, plus it tastes soooooooooo much better
  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
    andyluvv wrote: »
    fruit is perfect and the perfect portable snack, just make sure you're buying organic. why on earth would you limit it?
    That's what I thought! But most websites say it's unadvisable to eat more than 2 servings a day, that it can raise blood sugars and etc...
    I have about 4 pears/peaches/apples a day (in between breaks) so it's all very annoying advice haha

    huffingtonpost.com/life-by-dailyburn-/are-you-eating-too-much-fruit_b_7640514.html
    Craving your fourth piece of fruit today? Back away.

    Some people find snacking on fruit during the day makes them hungry so they have bigger breakfasts and lunches with more protein and skip the snacks.
    If fruit is working for you, I do not see a reason to limit it.
  • Faithful_Chosen
    Faithful_Chosen Posts: 401 Member
    fruit is perfect and the perfect portable snack, just make sure you're buying organic. why on earth would you limit it?

    Okay, I would say to check with your doctor every once in a while for adverse effects but in general, fruit is good. Feel free to take a look at my diary to see for yourself but I am at about 2100 cal a day average as I am in maintenance and I would say that about 30 - 40 percent of those calories are from fruit every day. Just today, I have had:

    - a pear
    - a nectarine
    - a clementine
    - a kiwi
    - a hand full of red currants
    - a hand full of blue berries
    - lots of cherries
    - an apple
    - a banana
    - an avocado

    I will probably have more for my evening snacks as I don't pre-plan those. Exercise calories are eaten back after dinner. But to give you an idea, yesterday I had after dinner:

    - half a small cantaloupe melon
    - an apple
    - a clementine
    - a hand full of grapes

    My health has never been better (doctor confirmed). And you can check my diary for gram weights on what I just listed). Fruit calories of the above list: 769 (roughly 37% of total).

    TL;DR: aim for variety in eating but don't fear fruit!
  • staticsplit
    staticsplit Posts: 538 Member
    I eat a ton of fruit. Honestly, 4 pieces of fruit still have fewer grams of sugar than, say, a big brownie, yet it'll have more vitamins/minerals/fiber.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,428 MFP Moderator
    dont buy into it..fruit is perfect. its natural, full of vitamins, fiber and carbs you need. honestly.....google "fruitarians" and raw vegans......how many obese ones can you find? you wont. keep eating 4+ pieces of fruit a day, the only thing illl stress again is organic, you dont need pesticides and chemicals in your food, plus it tastes soooooooooo much better

    1. Organic has pesticides and other chemicals (it's a misnomer that they don't). 2. You can find overweight/obese people following every single diet out there. 3. Wash your fruit as it will get rid of the pesticides.

    OP, fruit is fine, the only issue with eating a ton of fruit is that you may take away from other important nutrients like protein. I eat 2-4 servings of fruit a day, but I also eat plenty of foods higher in protein as that is a more important goal to me. You can add a protein bar if you want convenience food.
  • lulucitron
    lulucitron Posts: 366 Member
    My fav snack is a banana with some natural peanut butter or some almonds. I'll shove a couple almonds (pointy ends shoved into the banana) and take a bite. Nothing wrong with eating fruit IMO, especially when there's many good ones in season. The winter of apples and citrus can get tiring. I'll just lower my other sugar sources (like avoid carrots that day to balance things out) to keep my macros at the levels I like.
  • amphilion
    amphilion Posts: 89 Member
    I eat three fruits a day (nutrional plan with my nutrisionnist)
    One with breakfast, one during morning snack (close to lunch since fruits open up your appetite), and one with my afternoon snack.

    To alternate, you can use no added sugar fruit sauces (i make them myself), also add them to a smoothie. I often add my breakfast fruit to my oats.

  • Michael190lbs
    Michael190lbs Posts: 1,510 Member
    Organic .lol Osmosis+chemicals= its getting inside you no matter what but the positive side is we have an amazing filter system in our bodies I do agree washing everything but more for salmonila than anything else
  • andyluvv
    andyluvv Posts: 281 Member
    Thanks guys! Yeah I try to keep the servings low but I tend to feel hungry every 2 hours I don't go overboard with fruit.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,428 MFP Moderator
    andyluvv wrote: »
    Thanks guys! Yeah I try to keep the servings low but I tend to feel hungry every 2 hours I don't go overboard with fruit.

    Greek yogurt might be a good replacement snack if you need one.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    edited September 2015
    Fruit is great, but yeah I stick to 2 a day max, otherwise it's tougher to hit my protein and fat goal (which keep me fuller too).

    About almonds, whoever mentioned that 25 almonds is 25g... that's why it's better to weigh. 23 almonds is close to 28g.
  • KarenJanine
    KarenJanine Posts: 3,497 Member
    Nothing wrong with fruit as long as you're accounting for the calories, but if you wanted to cut down you could replace some of your snacks with veggies, e.g. baby carrots with hummous, celery with peanut butter dip or cottage cheese, sugar snap peas, etc.
  • advisingwench
    advisingwench Posts: 53 Member
    I bring a 200g bag of baby carrots in every day and open 'em up when I get the 3:00 munchies. The crunch gets me through the cravings.
  • andyluvv
    andyluvv Posts: 281 Member
    I did think about that...a whole bag of carrots can be quite fulfilling and low in cals - besides I LOVE the taste and crunch.

    @franci27 that was me! I can't take a scale to work (that'd be a bit much) so depending on the almonds size it'd make a difference. I estimate as close as possible as they tend to be around 1g per nut. The 3g won't make a huge detriment in the long run. As much as I wouldn't find it convenient to weigh every little apple I put in my mouth at work.
  • This content has been removed.
  • andyluvv
    andyluvv Posts: 281 Member
    dont buy into it..fruit is perfect. its natural, full of vitamins, fiber and carbs you need. honestly.....google "fruitarians" and raw vegans......how many obese ones can you find? you wont. keep eating 4+ pieces of fruit a day, the only thing illl stress again is organic, you dont need pesticides and chemicals in your food, plus it tastes soooooooooo much better

    andyluvv wrote: »
    Along with pockets full of pears. I also have like a plastic baggie...like a ziploc bag...of crumbled up bacon...
    That's an...interesting idea, but isn't it stinky? O.o

    Here's a less smelly alternative:
    Epic-Nutrition-Uncured-Bacon-Jerky-Bites-858284002506.jpg
    andyluvv wrote: »
    @franci27 that was me! I can't take a scale to work (that'd be a bit much) so depending on the almonds size it'd make a difference. I estimate as close as possible as they tend to be around 1g per nut. The 3g won't make a huge detriment in the long run. As much as I wouldn't find it convenient to weigh every little apple I put in my mouth at work.

    I preweigh my snacks and bring them in single serve baggies.

    Hmmmm I love jerky but it's loaded with salt :/

    And in regards to making snack packs - I used to but I'm serious snacker/grazer.
    I can keep my diet in chek pretty much until I get home and a bad habit I have is cooking whilst eating.

    So I try to keep celery and carrots at hand for those occasions but with nuts - I find myself seeking the bag and going "oh yum!". That's why I've been keeping it in the office so I can help myself to one "serving" (a handful) a day :s

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