A Fruit and Vegetable Diet

The Key to Weight Loss Success

Before you think I am asking you to become some sort of Vegan and only eat plants for the rest of your life—stop!! The last thing in the world that I want you take away from this article is that my fruit and vegetable diet means that meat—oh, that sweet, juicy and oh so tasty meat!!—needs to be excluded from what you eat. No, in fact, that would actually be a bad idea because we need the proteins and nutrients found in meat to succeed in our “Total Fitness Plan”.

Equally true, however, is that we need other vitamins and nutrients from fruits and vegetables in order for everything to work properly. Unfortunately, because plants just don’t seem to taste as good as meat, we slack on our fruits and vegetables. So, I am now going to say a few things about my fruit and vegetable diet so that you have a better understanding of what I mean and how it can help you attain your weight loss goals and lead a healthier life.

Establishing a fruit and vegetable diet simply means to eat a minimum of 2-3 servings of fruits and 4-5 servings of vegetables each day. Sticking to these minimum requirements is an essential component to your weight loss success. They have fewer calories and tend to leave you satisfied so that you are not as likely to “pig out” on a bunch of foods that are bad for you. They’re also loaded with nutrients as they contain water, vitamins, fiber and minerals.

Keep in mind these recommendations are minimum requirements to your successful weight loss. For optimum health and maximum weight loss, you should strive for a fruit and vegetable diet with nine or more servings of fruits and vegetables. Eating nine or more servings will not only fill you up and prevent you from overeating unhealthy foods, but will also reduce the risk of several forms of cancer. If the thought of eating nine or more servings overwhelms you, start out slow and aim for the minimum requirements when you begin.

Fruits

You may have heard that fruits aren’t the best to eat when following a weight loss plan because of their sugar content. While it’s true fruit contains fructose, a simple sugar that is easily converted to body fat, the benefits of eating fruit far outweigh their sugar content. Some fruits, however, are better than others in terms of their fructose content and overall nutritional value. The best fruits to include in your fruit and vegetable diet are:

• strawberries
• apples (green contain the least sugar)
• blueberries
• grapefruit
• pears
• oranges
• boysenberries
• papaya
• cranberries (including cranberry juice)
• blackberries
• guava
• cantaloupe

The following fruits contain the most sugar and should be eaten less frequently:

• grapes
• bananas
• dried fruit
• coconut (also contains a fair amount of fat)
• dates
• canned and processed fruit

Final notes on fruit...Raw fruit is always the best in terms of nutritional value. If you need to "alter" fruit in anyway, cooked, baked or steamed is better than boiled. Boiling lowers the nutritional value. Fruit juice does count as a fruit but contains less fiber than fruit itself so fruit is preferred over fruit juice.

VegetablesVegetables, like fruits, are rich in nutrients. They have one main advantage over fruits: they are a complex carbohydrate. Your body doesn't convert complex carbohydrates into fat as easily as fructose (or simple sugars). Vegetables also tend to be lower in total calories than fruits so you can eat to your heart's content without any affect on your weight loss goals. Vegetables also lower your risk of various cancers and heart disease. Finally, like fruit, vegetables are best eaten raw or steamed (without oil or butter). Some vegetables are better than others. The best vegetables to incorporate in your fruit and vegetable diet are:

• green beans
• broccoli
• carrots
• mushrooms
• celery
• cabbage
• lettuce
• onions
• tomato
• zucchini
• turnip greens
• turnips
• artichokes
• alfalfa sprouts
• brussels sprouts
• collard greens
• leeks
• eggplant
• kale
• okra
• scallions
• summer squash
• spinach

Avocado should be limited or avoided as a part of your fruit and vegetable diet due to its high fat content. You should also avoid canned and processed vegetables.

Now see, none of that was too painful now was it? Honestly, the fruit and vegetable diet is like anything else that is good for you but not necessarily exciting or rewarding: it just takes some getting used to. Work is good for us but we don’t really like it. We have to condition ourselves to get up every day and put our time in. And, if we stick at it and keep plowing forward, our income improves and our lives get better. The same is true of a fruit and vegetable diet. Good things will come of it and you will feel better about yourself and your life if you stick with it!