Wednesday 5 February 2014

Diet, casually - Fruits. The original Candy.

Let's talk about fruit, shall we?

I know there are many people who tend to avoid fruit, saying they have too much sugar. And I absolutely agree that you should try and avoid having too much sugar in your diet. But in the case of fruit-calories there's something to take into account: A calorie is not a calorie. I will explain this in a future post in more detail, but for now all you need to focus on is: The calories a fruit gives you are wayyyy better than the calories - let's say - a cookie will give you.



Dessert and sweets: Fruits
Wow, big shocker here, right? But just hear me out!

I don't know about you but I tend to overeat. I'm only full when I'm REALLY full. 'Mentally satisfied' is what I call that moment when I don't crave more food. We're all taught to ignore the signals our body gives us. After all there is no real reason to have something like "dessert", right? You just had a big ass meal, why eat the same amount of calories you just consumed again, but this time in form of a piece of cake?

A couple of months ago I started bringing more fruit to work than usual. After lunchtime I go into the kitchen and cut up some really sweet fruits: maybe half a Mango or one persimmon, a couple of figs or a banana. Here's the fruit stash I have at work right now. A mango for dessert plus a banana and some mandarins to munch on over a period of 2 to 3 days in case I want to grab one of those evil cookies in the company kitchen.

 Tipp: While citrusy fruits like Oranges or Grapefruits are great throughout the day, they shouldn't necessarily be your first choice for dessert. Your stomach is full after a proper lunch. Piling acidy fruits on top of that may cause acid reflux. 
I make a point in bringing a little bowl with the fruit and a cup of tea to my workplace after I finished my meal, take a couple more minutes to enjoy my dessert and allow my head to become 'mentally satisfied'. For me it helps to silence the little voice in my head that screams for something unhealthy.
But keep this in mind: Just because fruits are awesome and healthy doesn't mean their calories don't count. 
The pile on the picture above, if I ate all of this at once, would contain around 450 to 500 calories. That's around 4  Pepperidge Farm Milk Chocolate Macadamia Cookies. A couple of pieces of fruit throughout the day will keep you full of energy and satisfied - but go easy, okay? As long as you're not a Raw Vegan, eating 30 bananas a day will lead to disaster. Just listen to your body. If you feel like you had enough fruit you probably had. I trust you on that ;)

But nonetheless: Always have at least one piece of fruit at work. I keep mine within eyeshot.



Hopefully this inspired you to buy some fruits when you head out for lunch today.

Until next time and be sexy,
Anna

6 comments:

  1. Fruit as a dessert is a great alternative.

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    1. It sure is! Do you have a favorite fruit?
      (You're my first none-RL-Friend comment, wohoo :) )

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  2. Hello, i also like some fruits as dessert or as a snack. Much more i prefer cumcumber or carrots as a snack before lunchtime. I have the feeling it is a kind of freshmaker. If i eat some sweets or cereal snack (corny something like that) it feels more heavy in the stomache, but you always want more.

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    1. I know what you mean! There are some kinds of food that just feel heavy or make you hungry. This is why I like fruit. They give you en energy boost :)

      I also like Carrots or Cucumber but somehow it's the sweet fruit that is more satisfying for me. Having a huge plate of snack-vegetable and some dipp sounds awesome though ...

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  3. I am happy, that i am now able to comment your blog posts, but it feels strange to write in english. X-D maybe it is a good training for me.

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    1. Haha yes together we can get your English Skills back on track :D

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