Fruit... Friend or Foe?

Another month has come to an end. 

Jean Nidetch

It amazes me how quickly the time glides by; which could feel like a negative experience, but in actual fact it makes me realize how good it is to count another month into my journey of keeping myself on track, at goal and feeling motivated.  Like all lifetime members, I watch my weight fluctuate - and sometimes by a little more that the "allowed" 2LBS the prorgam recommends, but when I am able to credit myself for turning it around, I get a true feeling of being a success at this.  There is no such thing as a perfect Weight Watcher, I am sure that Jean Nidetch, Sarah Fergusson, the Duchess of York and Jennifer Hudson would all agree with that statement; there's only doing the very best that we can with what we have today. 

Tomorrow is ahead of us, yesterday is behind us, but we do have today to focus on - that's why it's called the "present".

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This subject came up  more than once this week in the meeting room.  I think it's time to clear it up! The following are responses directly from the experts at Weight Watchers for FAQ's from members.

Free Fruit on Weight Watchers - what does it really mean?

Zero PointsPlus values does not mean unlimited fruit.   Eat to satisfaction. Be careful about grazing...  

Fruit without PointsPlus values, really?
All fruits are healthy. To emphasize this and to make the plan easier and more flexible, we have made all fruits zero PointsPlus values. To do this, we factored fruit consumption into the new daily PointsPlus Target. We verified that people still lost weight in clinical studies. Yes, fruits have calories. But they are always a good choice, and often the best alternative for a snack. Just be sure to pay attention to how much you are eating—eat until you are satisfied.


Is there a limit on how many servings of fruits and vegetables you should eat per day?

No.  We’d like you to eat at least 5, to fulfill your Good Health Guideline requirement.  We’d be happy if you had a few more, too, because they would probably “crowd out” other, less-great choices. 

When do I have to count my fruit? What if I juice it? Blend it? Mash it? Bake it? Shake it?

If you put a banana in a blender, you still have a banana. But what a minute ago looked like a substantive snack, now looks like a tiny shot. So you might be tempted to add another banana and maybe even some raspberries, a few grapes, that leftover papaya from two days ago and a kiwi, just to fill your glass. 

Juices bypass the body's hunger detectors. Smoothies seem to sit someplace in the middle—more filling than a juice, but easier to consume than plain fruit. If you sat down and drank the smoothie we just described, you've just slurped back 5 or 6 servings of fruit in one sitting. 

Should you count it as zero? Its your choice—how exact do you want to be?. You can count it as zero using the Simple Recipe Math described on page 42 of the Getting Started Book. But if you are drinking a lot of smoothies and you aren't seeing the results you were expecting at the scale, we recommend you put those fruits into the Recipe Builder on eTools and start counting and tracking the PointsPlus values. 

When you juice any fruits (ie removing the pulp and feeding through a juicer) no matter if you do it at home, in the car or on the beach, you no longer have fruit; you have juice and you must count the PPVs. Same is true if you dehydrate the fruits, because you have removed the fiber/water that made fruit such a nice low-energy density treat. 

What if you bake the fruit? Boil it? Microwave it? As long as you don't add any ingredients with PointsPlus values, you still have a zero-PPV treat. Count it as zero. 

As with everything on this program, LET YOUR WEIGHT LOSS BE YOUR GUIDE. (Think of Obi Wan Kenobi "Use the Force Luke")

Why does the Recipe Builder on eTools assign PointsPlus values for fruits and vegetables?

The recipe builder can't tell if you've made a baked apple with cinnamon or banana bread with heavy cream. It only knows you've made something with fruit. At Weight Watchers, we want all of our recipes to be consistent with each other. And we want them all to be consistent with any recipe you might have at home with nutritional information. So we calculate every recipe the same way—we add up all the nutritional info and calculate the PointsPlus values from there. 

This gives you the MOST accurate PointsPlus values. And for really tasty items like banana bread with heavy cream, you probably want that information if you want to see weight-loss results. BTW, this is always how the Recipe Builder worked with zero PointsPlus value vegetables, it just wasn’t as obvious before zero PointsPlus value fruits came along.


Carb Counts of Fruit and Other Popular Foods

I hope the information above helps you to put fruit into perspective with regards to how you use it on a daily basis on the plan.  Fruit does have carbs, as we know, and for the sake of edification, below you'll see the average carb values of some summer fruits and some other popular foods for comparison:
Cherries   4oz                                18g
Peach     4oz  (1 med)                   11g
Watermelon 4 oz                           8.5g
Strawberries 4 oz                           8.5g
Grapes  4 oz                                  20g
Banana 4 oz (1 sml)                      26g

Hamburger Roll                            22g
Whole Wh Pasta 1 C Cooked       38g
Choc Chip Cookie 2 oz (1 lge)     38g   
Pretzel Rods 2 oz (6 reg rods)      48g
Shred Wheat Mini Cereal (1 C)    40g
Regular Vanilla Soft Serve 6 oz   38g


(Information from www.calorieking.com)

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~ Savvy snacking can help manage hunger, boost satisfaction level and help to stay on track.  

Is there a difference between snacking for fuel and having a treat or dessert?

Just as they say in tests... "Discuss"!

I'm curious as to what your definition of "snacks" is and what you nosh on at those times?

This week we'll chat about it and give each other ideas and help to make snacking more "productive" and less "triggersome" - if there is such a word...  I can't wait to see you!

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ONE LAST THING:
Since I started with Jean Nidetch - I wanted to end with her words of wisdom.
It was she who said:
"It's choice - not chance - that determines your destiny".



Below is a before picture that I have not shared before - taken at sleep away camp on visting day with my youngest nephew.

Check back on Wednesday to get the latest yummy recipe!
See you at your meeting this week.
Nina

BEFORE (June 2004)