I love fruit. Absolutely adore it. Now that summer is in full swing, and we’ve got fresh fruit coming out the wazoo, I’ve been eating my weight in it on pretty much a daily basis. No shame.
My current obsession? Cantaloupe.
Hello, lover.
I crack one open in the morning, and it’s usually gone by the end of the day.
A slice here, a few chunks there. Poof. Vanished.
And then I do it again the next day…
A bit excessive, perhaps, but how can you say no to such refreshing, juicy deliciousness?
Clearly, I can’t.
And it kind of boggles my mind that there are actually people out there who can…
Story time!
So, I was at the grocery store today restocking on some necessities, which included 2 bunches of bananas, a big bag of apples, a 1 lb. tub of blueberries, 2 cantaloupe, and 2 bags of frozen mango. Just your average haul – I thought nothing of it. But as I was unloading my cart, the lady at the checkout counter looked at me and said, “Do you plan on eating all of that fruit by yourself?”
Errr…?
I bit my tongue, and instead of firing back with some smart-ass answer, I went with a simple “Yes. I love fruit”, and gave her a sweet smile. Without even blinking she came back at me with, “Eating too much fruit is bad for you, you know? I’m watching my weight so I’ve cut fruit out of my diet completely”.
:shock:… 😯 😯 😯
First of all, do I look like I need to lose weight? No. Furthermore, did I ask you for stupid advice? No; I already know where to look if I need some of that. And finally, I’m sure those chemical laden, 100 calorie snack packs that you live on are 100x better got you than an apple or banana.
Mmm… banana.
Err. Wha? Sorry… easily distracted.
Things like this drive me absolutely insane. Not only do I hate it when people feel the need to comment on things that are none of their business, but the idea that fruit is bad for you makes my left eye start twitching uncontrollably, as it tends to do when… oh, you know when.
There are people (fruitarians) whose diets are made up primarily of fruit; and while I don’t advocate that kind of extreme (life without oatmeal and chocolate? no thanks!), going in the polar opposite direction and giving up fruit just because of its sugar content makes about as much sense to me as going on a gluten-free diet when you don’t have any intolerances – in other words, it makes no sense at all.
Greek yogurt with strawberries and honey … Blueberries and peaches in kefir.
I understand that there are people out there with legitimate medical conditions that require them to stay away from fruit, but the other people? The ones who simply suffer from fruitophobia? I just don’t get it. I mean, I do, because I used to be fruitophobic myself when I was in the depths of my ED, but as with any other fear of food, this one just makes no sense. None. Nada. Zip.
Sure there’s sugar in fruit, but there’s also a host of other vitamins and minerals that our bodies need to function. Oh, and the last time I checked, our bodies need sugar (glucose) to function, too. Why do you think that bananas are such popular pre-workout snacks? Because they’re an energy powerhouse! I’ve been having one as part of my pre-workout snack for a few weeks now, and I’ve been absolutely rockin’ my workouts as a result. That and dates… dates are another good one.
So please, please, PLEASE, for the love of Pete and my poor twitching left eye, don’t buy into all the hype that fruit makes you fat. I easily eat 6 servings a day, and I’ve yet to see myself blow up to the size of a whale or experience any other negative side effects. Except for when it comes to apples…
You know how they say that eating an apple before a meal is supposed to help quieten your appetite?
Yeahhhh, no.
Sometimes, when I find myself getting really hungry while preparing dinner, I’ll grab an apple to hold me over until my food finishes cooking so that I don’t end up gnawing off my arm. It never works. If anything, I just end up hungrier… which just goes to show you that all that “advice” is absolute garbage.
. – . – . – .
Fruit: friend or foe? I’d love to hear your thoughts.
I actually recently read an article in the Globe and Mail about how you should cut down on certain high-sugar fruits if you’re trying to lose weight or if you’re diabetic. I guess it sort of makes sense for people with diabetes, but at the same time, I think it’s creating a totally unnecessary fear of fruits. Eating fruit is NOT going to make or break your weight loss. And as you said, reaching for some fruit to snack on is a million times better for you than some of those packaged “diet foods”.
I could never cut down on fruit though – I probably eat about 6 servings a day too, if not more! I just had about 3 servings in my breakfast alone! 😛
Honestly, I can’t stand cantaloupe. I try it once every couple of years just to check if something has changed but nope, I still hate it. If we don’t count this and some other tiny exceptions, I love all kinds of fruit. Right now I’m eating my fourth banana for the day and if this is going to make me fat, OK. But I’m pretty sure that if I get fat, it won’t be because of the bananas, the grapes or the watermelon. I can’t believe there are people who think that eating fruit is bad for you. This world is going crazy!
People make no sense sometimes! There was this e-mail being forwarded around my work that would compare foods and show how much sugar was in each. A lot of people in the office said they were going to stop eating bananas because they had the same sugar content as a can of coke (or something like that.. I can’t remember what exactly). They were saying how they’d rather enjoy a coke as a snack instead of a banana if it has the same amount of sugar anyway. Ugh, it’s. not. the. same!
Okay, I’m done now. Haha. I always eat the entire cantaloupe in a day or two as well. It’s just too good!
oh my gosh I’m in love with this post – really! I agree with every point you made. I too eat at least 6 servings of fruit a day and couldn’t imagine it any other way … saying no to berries/melon in the summer?? That would be torturous! I’ll take my glucose thank you very much 🙂
Oh my it makes me mad when people say things like that. It could very well lead to disorded eating! Think its so rude how people say things like that they certianly wouldn’t say it to someone buying a load of junk food as would very likely get the sack!
I’m a big fruit lover like you I did used to fear it especially bananas and would eat more if it wasn’t so expensive they should start taxing the cheap biscuits and make fruit cheaper.
Xxx
Gah, if we can’t eat fruit then what the hell can we eat for god’s sake?! Fruit is the healthiest thing ever – full of vitamins, minerals and also water for hydration. That woman was just CRAZY!! She should go get her head checked. GRRR it just makes me so angry that these days people just come up with these stupid food rules from things that they read. It’s just madness…the whole world is going MAD.
..Can you tell that this frustrates me lol?
I am not ashamed to say that yesterday I ate 11 pieces of fruit. And I eat roughly around that amount every single day because I am in LOVE with fruit. Ever since I was born I’ve eaten fruit all the time (I was addicted to mushy grapes when I was a baby :P) and I have never ever been the size of whale!
I love fruit! I can eat it all day long, and I don´t care for the sugar content in it. There are much more “dangerous” and less healthier things to eat. Fruit contains sugar, yes, but it also contains vital vitamins and minerals in huge quantities, it tastes great, makes a perfect snack/breakfast/etc… And I am aslo on the cantaloupe-bandwagoon 🙂 I could eat one whole cantaloupe daily all year around 🙂
Thank you so much for bringing this issue up! I have a massive sweet tooth, and am currently trying to lose weight. Eating more fruit has been my life saver for my sweet tooth, but I am loving all the varieties out there-current obsession are doughnut peaches and honey mangoes! whenever I take fruit to work, I usually get some bright spark telling me not to eat too much fruit! these are the same people who usually say “whats that?” when I eat houmous or quinoa!!
WHAT THE HELL! ohhh my gosh, things like this really infuriates me, my own mother told me that you can gain alot of weight from fruit, I was like jeez mum im trying to not think about things like that. ugh silly silly people.
Fruit is so good for you, and not to mention seriously yummy, I literally cannot imagine myself without fruit in my diet, it has benefits, lots of fruit contain antioxidants. Its all about balance.
She is one crazy lady to think she needs to cut fruit out of her diet in order to lose weight.
i’m not sure I could have stood back and not said anything, I need to protect my fruit friends when it comes to people not eating them pahahah.
Hope you have a great day.
Jess xx
Whhhat? Thats crazy! I adore fruit, I used to have a bit of a ‘problem’ (i.e. not a problem for me, just my bank balance) with pink lady apples when I used to eat about 5 a day but they are just so good! I adore fruit so much, especially right now with all the amazing berries in season. So sad to think that someone doesn’t have fruit in their life!
Aj, YEY! When friends talks about fruits like they are bad for you- it bugs me more than anything!! People are so concerned about sugar (Im too, but not the natural ones like the one in fruit) and calories, that they totally forget about vitamins and minerals and health!
Its been a long time since I feard fruits as a food group, that is actually the one (and only :P) thing I can thank Raw Food for! I usually eat 1-3 a day which isnt that much, but I do eat it whenever I crave it 🙂
I hate when other people try to give you bogus health tips. Hahah, this one is so ridiculous it makes me laugh. Fruit is amazing! <3
Oh Goooooood. I just am so sick of people talking about foods and diets and what one shouldn’t eat. Specially when it is directed to me, like, gooosh girl you eat so much carbs! (coming from an severely overweight person). People should stop being so damn afraid of foods, and specially something as good as fruit. Yeah, it has sugar. When was sugar bad? Last time I checked, we need sugar for every cell in our body. Glucose anybody? I know my metabolic science, and I know that without glucose, we would all drop dead. Sure, if you eat three Mc’s hamburgers in a day, followed with some chips, cola and french fries, and then you eat a pound of fruit. you’ll get fat. But not because of that poor banana.
Since the begging of summer, I am stuffing my tummy with so much fruit. A little peach here and there, those tiny pears, watermelons… it’s like drinking water to me. I love it, it’s good for me, and all those vitamins have to be great for my health 🙂
I should get some cantaloupe 😀
Best friend- i adore fruit! This kinda thing you just talked about drives me loco: unwarranted advice that is just crap! Yeah youre (not you personally) really going to get fat after the apple you just ate…nothing to do with the billion trans-fat laden foods you gorge on. Gah talk about ignorance @ its finest!!!
I love fruit!!! And I totally feel you about the apple. It is the same for me. I eat one now with some almonds or a string cheese, some kind of protein and then it makes it a little more filling. I don’t get the anti fruit thing either. Especially with the carb and sugar thing. It’s FRUIT!
hahaha, she can go on thinking that fruit will make you fat, okay… more for me 🙂 It seriously kills me how people think that skipping fruit will make them healthy and opting for a weight watchers dessert pie or hundred calorie pack is the “good option”, ummm what planet are they from? And don’t even get me started on gluten free for no reason, I totally understand allergies and stuff but just doing it because its “cool” is dumb. wow this comment has made me sound bitchy, but seriously I don’t some people
YES!!!!! I have been meaning to do a post about this!!!!!! I read an artlce that said you should “stay away from grapes because they are high in sugar and calories, that’s why they taste so good.” Oh so now we can’t eat foods that taste good. Awesome.
And these low carb people who eat cheese burgers without the bun, but won’t touch an apple. I just want to shake them.
I also eat entire cantelopes, huge apples, and bananas all day long and so far I haven’t died or gained 400 pounds. So I’m going to keep on eating my delicious fruit.
Thank you for another wonderful post. 🙂
i was totally chuckling as i read this becuase i LITERALLY have been going through 1 canteloupe per day as well. i just love eating it with a spoon!!! so delicious.
fruit is nature’s candy, no doubt. i love it so much and my body just craves it.
funny thing is that growing up i was sooo picky about fruit (and still kind of am) – i would not eat mixed fruit (still don’t) – because i hated if the flavors got mixed. i used to not eat strawberries, bluberries, raspberries, cherries – i just didn’t like the way they looked!
now that i’ve grown up and gotten over my weird food aversions, i’ll eat basically ANY fruit – though my faves are apples, bananas, plums, FIGS (both raw and dried), and MELONS!!!
*sweet* post 😉
I love me some fruit, especially in the summer! I don’t understand how people can live without it–it’s like nature’s candy and so much better for you than actual candy. Even in the depths of my ED, I still ate fruit. It was pretty much all I would eat. Now I know that that’s too extreme, but I eat fruit like it’s my job! Life would be so boring without it 😉
RAWR people need to learn to keep their mouths shut!
I used to pretty much live off of fruit (yes, when I was ill of course…) until the acidity of my favourite green apples sizzled through the enamel of my two front teeth. Also I find fruit high in fructose (namely apples, pears etc) have adverse effects on me (*sad face* because apples are my FAV!) so I have to limit them if I want to be able to think straight. They tend to make my brain go all fuzzy and I get a bit *cough* gassy *cough*. I still enjoy an apple everyday though! Just not when I need my brain to be unfuzzed.
I never understood why people are so afraid of fruit. Sure it’s full of sugar but…it’s fruit! I mean gosh darn it!!!!!!! (<—that's a legit explanation, FYI) 😉
xxxx
Ick. That’s so nasty that she said that to you. I’ll get comments like “you’re eating all of that salad by yourself?” Uh, HECK YEAH! It’s terrible that people worry so much about eating too many fruits and veggies- when in reality people should be eating more! Why should I feel guilty for packing in a salad beast? Preposterous.
In other news- I just answer a question in my latest post’s survey about cantaloupe being one of the only foods I don’t eat. EEEEEEEEK DON’T HURT ME!
I love pretty much all fruit, though.
Haha I’ll let it slide… just ’cause I love ya 😉
LOVE this post. I still can’t believe it when people won’t eat fruit because of the “sugar,” but they have no problem eating all kind of processed crap. *sigh*
(btw, first time commenter–discovered your blog about a week ago and I absolutely love everything about it)
Thanks for taking the time to say hello, Hannah 😀
I love fruit. Sometimes I eat more of it than I’m really comfortable with jsut in the sense that I know I”m not eating o the point of satisfaction… I’m eating way more than necessary because it tastes so damn good 😉 lol.
And I feel you on apples. I ADORE apples but I swear they make me even hungrier… not sure why haha! 🙂
<3
n
Fruit is a friend FOR SURE. I eat SO much of it everyday especially now that it’s summer and all my favorite fruits are a plenty.
I’ve heard a couple people tell me that fruit will make me fat due to the sugar but it kinda just went in one ear and out the other. If I enjoy it, I’ll eat it 🙂
OH my gosh, that’s insane. First of all, I HATE when people make comments about what I should or shouldn’t eat. I know WAY more about my body than they do. And secondly, hellllllo! How could you say fruit is bad for you?!
NO FRUIT??? That woman is an idiot!!
Fruit sugar=energy! Not like the nasty processed crap they put in those stupid, nutrition-void 100 calorie packs. Fruit is also full of fiber, vitamins, and minerals that our bodies need, and even more importantly, it tastes delicious! Way better than anything that comes from a package 🙂
Also, I’d like to point out that for people who really are sensitive or alergc to gluten, there is a legitimate reason to cut it out of your diet. I have had an autopsy don on my stomach to prove that I really was because I didn’t want to believe it when my blood test came back positive.Once I stopped eating it however, I saw a HUGE difference! My energy levels improved, I no longer got sick after I ate, the rashes on my arms and legs went away, and I am no longer anemic because the gluten was inhibiting my body’s ability to absorb iron and calcium properly, which was really important in my ED recovery. Cutting out
changed (and potentailly saved!) my life!
I’m glad you were able to figure out what was wrong and that you’re feeling better 😀 I know a lot of people need to avoid gluten, but I was talking about people who aren’t intolerant to it and just do it because they think it’ll help them lose weight.
how funny! there should be a sign in all the aisles of the grocery store for those diet-ridden folks that says, “whole, unprocessed, natural, from the earth foods>pre-packaged, man-handled foods.”
I am beyond obsessed with fruit. I also get painfully annoyed when people comment on whatever I am eating, buying, choosing, etc… myob please 🙂
I love fruit. Love!
I remember after my physiological chemistry class in undergrad we learned about the digestion/ absorption pathway of fructose (the sugar found only in fruit). It’s considered “bad” for dieters because fructose has a different pathway than glucose and digests mostly as fat instead of carbohydrate. There’s a split in the standard glycolysis pathway and the ratio of carb to fat digestion is totally thrown off with fruit. None of us in that class touched fruit for an entire month until we realized how stupid we were being. As long as you don’t over do it, fruit is fantastic!
FRIEND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am SOOOOOO a fruitaholic! 😀
I’m totally with you — fruit is one of the food groups for a reason! I eat at least one banana every day, I can easily clean up a pack of blueberries or a pint of strawberries in a day or two, and don’t even get me started on pineapple. Random checkout lady needs a reality check!
I am a big friend of fruit!! The only reason I don’t like it is because my favorites tend to have a pretty short shelf life, and then I get all stressed out about finishing it before it goes bad. Which basically means … that I eat a lot of fruit. 😉
Once upon a time, I went on a fruit-only diet. (This was sort of pre-ED.) I think I lasted three days. I mean, yes, I do love fruit, but I don’t think I want to live off it exclusively!!
<3 <3
I LOVE fruit. I used to eat at least one of those humongous grapefruits (size of my head) they sell at Costco everyday. And cantaloupes? I would finish one in just two days.
But I started to think that I was over-doing it; not for all the fructose thing like the cashier was probably referring to, but I started to think I was simply trying to fill myself up with watery foods. But I’m not like that anymore – my metabolism is now much higher to be just filled with a just fruits.
BUT recently I have to be really careful when I eat fruits. A lot of sources tell me “fruits alone” for IBS sufferers…but you know…it’s hard. (I mean would you be able to dissociate apple with almond butter?)
Friend. Best friend. I could not imagine summer without stuffing my face with fresh-picked from the farm up the road Ontario strawberries. SO GOOD. Frozen bananas in smoothies are God’s (and the freezer manufacturers) gift to mankind. Actually, frozen fruit in general. Frozen mango: my favourite cold snack/dessert–plus chocolate, and you’re good to go. And I wonder how that woman feels about tomatoes (I’m sure she thinks avocados are the devil incarnate, since they’re “sooooo fattening”.)
Nonsensical nutrition gurus irritate me to no end.
The only time fruit is going to make you gain weight is when you follow the grapefruit diet–and end up bingeing the next day because you’ve deprived yourself so much.
First of all, I want to just say how happy your blog makes me. I’ve not suffered from an ED myself but I interned with a psychologist who specialized in that treatment and things like this drive me crazy as well. Every time I read your blog I smile because I love knowing there is someone out there spreading the good word. My blog is just starting up and nowhere near where I want it to be, but maybe one day I’ll get to your level (-constant beautiful pictures by the way)
Secondly, I feel exactly the same about the apple dilemma! I have an apple a day because I love them so much, but they do nothing to fill me up. I am ALWAYS hungrier after. Weird, but it doesn’t make me stay away 🙂
I love this post!! I admit to being afraid of fruit at one point, but now I eat 4-5 servings a day easily. Somedays I think I could live off fruit, almost. I sometimes snack on apples when I’m really hungry and waiting for dinner. It’ll quiet my stomach for 20 minutes to an hour and then it roars to life again. I do eat them when my blood sugar gets low or I start to feel tired. Now I’m starting to crave those grapes I just got. Mmm
Fruit: friend, brother, secret lover <3 Oh, gosh, the more I think about it, the more and more appealing that fruititarian diet sounds. (Then I remember almond butter and hot chocolate aren't fruit, and I realize balance is better ;P)
I cannot STAAAAND what Atkins and all those phony diet trends have done for so many amazing foods. (Low-fat obsession, much?) Like with ANYthing, of course a person will see results when they nix an entire food group from their diet; are said results healthy or sustainable? NAYY! Besides, who wants to live a life without fruit smoothies, yoghurt-messes or apple pie? Not I. Not I.
izzyy
I usto always think this way years ago, if I ate an entire apple I would ballon up from all the sugar. I do eat more fruit today then I have before, but I always make sure to pair it up with either protein or fat…I have low blood sugar so just eating fruit can cause a crash for me. In no way though to I know consider fruit forbidden, I actually should eat more of it!!
Fruit and me? so tight yo 😉 current obsession? local cherries and blackberries LOVE…so much LOVE