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I am trying to lose weight, and have promised myself no fruits to lose that weight along with no nuts. I've promised myself 1100 calories a day (that's why trying to do no nuts, too calorie dense to fit in my diet even though I love them) meats, veggies, some potatoes, but are 1-2 fruits a day really that bad... say a banana and an apple? (i know berries are best but sometimes I want a freakin banana haha) I'm 16, 131 lbs, 5"1. Trying to lose the 15 lbs I gained recently from binging on SAD food.

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Any reason you picked 1100 calories? – Vern Oct 9 at 3:35
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Dont try to limit your calories too much. Youre very young and you need your calories at this age. Keep up your fats. Saturated and MONO fats will never do you wrong. Coconut oil, ghee, butter, cream, olive oil, macadamia nut oil. ALL GOOD FAT SOURCES THAT DONT OXIDIZE LIKE PUFAs. – paleo12 Oct 9 at 3:47
Thanks guys, I picked 1100 calories, b/c accorrding to myfitnesspal that amount would allow me to lose 1.2 lbs per week – Amber Oct 9 at 3:56
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Like paleo12 said, don't stress too much about calorie counting. IMO calorie counting is not sustainable, you should listen to what your body is telling you. If you are hungry, eat until you are satisfied. I used to use my myfitnesspal a couple years ago but it will tell you that you eat too much fat it you put a paleo diet into it. It will not differentiate between good and bad fats. Weight loss is a different journey for all of us. The only true method is to work out what works for you. Unfortunately there is no magic formula :( – Alan Oct 9 at 4:39
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Fruit tends to have a high nutrient density and low energy density while being delicious. Feel free to eat it unless it triggers binge-like behavior. I probably eat about 6+ servings of fruit per day and have never seen it lead to flabbiness. – Travis Culp Oct 9 at 23:03
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10 Answers

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Every person responds to fruits differently, so there's no way to really say how much they may stall weight loss. Robb Wolf states that fruit may stall weight loss, but others differ on the issue. Mark Sisson recommends eating certain fruits if desired, but staying under 150g of carbs per day (the lower, the better). Who's right? Your body, that's who. Listen to it.

Don't bother calorie counting. If you're interested in macronutrient partitioning, consider Zone, but don't bother beyond that. Focus on eating whole foods with lots of nutrients, avoid liquid calories, and stick to the Paleo stalwarts: meat, veggies, etc.

In my opinion, most of the weight loss from Paleo comes from allowing your body to undo the damage (metabolic derangement) that years of poor SAD dieting has done. Once these stresses are removed, your body's baseline adipose storage decreases naturally. This is why excessive caloric restriction is a mistake--it disrupts your body's equilibrium.

I think it's also useful to compare your current Paleo diet with the one you were doing right before. How big was the change? If you switched from a hardcore SAD diet, then maybe it isn't necessary to give up fruit immediately. If you were on a decently Paleo diet but weren't seeing results, maybe it's time to try decreasing the fruit intake.

One last thing: bananas are very sugar-dense. They're nutrient-poor if you look at the total caloric content. See if you can at least replace those with something else.

Cheers!

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To emphasize one of Elunah's points: "excessive caloric restriction is a mistake" - a couple of early studies showed links between calorie restriction and life extension in mice and rats, BUT recent reports coming out show just the reverse in higher mammals, excessive calorie restriction does more damage than good. – cerement Oct 9 at 14:55
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I agree with Elunah on all counts. If your preference is to eat fruits I would say go with it. I can see in my children that my 7 year old loves fruit and wants it a lot. My 5 year old likes NO fruit and when she eats it she gets a tummy ache. I just try and make sure they both get healthy fats and meats--which I need a little coaxing for sometimes. – BaconHealsChic Oct 9 at 17:07
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I have been Paleo for almost three months and I eat lots of fruit, several servings most days and it hasn't effected my weight loss. I'm 5'5 now around 130lbs down from almost 150lbs. I find as long as I'm eating healthy and staying away from grains, dairy and processed foods the weight comes off easily. Some people on here will try to tell you that fruit is evil, but I think its a personal thing, sure its sugary, but its natural sugar and our bodies are easily able to process it.

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No, fruit is not that bad. Sugar and fructose are not evil toxins out to kill you and/or make you fat. Generally a decent source of nutrition, but generally higher in calories than vegetables are. So if you're trying to lose weight, limiting fruit works because it helps you reduce calories (not simply reducing carbohydrate).

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That ignores your issues with weight and random numbers... – Matt Oct 9 at 11:45
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After four years of pondering the question I have come to the conclusion that fruit is good.

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We can give you advice about our own experiences with fruit and weight loss but it's going to be different for each individual and you're just going to have to try it and see. Maybe eat your high carbohydrate fruits for a few weeks and see where you are at with your progress, then reassess your plan. If you aren't where you want to be, switch to lower carbohydrate fruits.

One bit of advice I will give is that ideally you can enjoy a fruit that is very high in carbohydrate like a banana or an apple either right before or right after you exercise. Your body will be looking for sugar to replace what is burned at that point and will be less likely to store that sugar as fat. Also, if you restrict your "treats" to right around your activity it can be motivating to get you moving.

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I am working on loosing weight and this has been what has worked for me.

If I eat fruits or nuts I limit it to one serving a day and preferably melons/berries.

I measure out my nuts to make sure I am not eating too many.

If I decrease my normal workout for any reason I cut the above and just stick to protein/carb/fat based meals.

So far 10lbs down in a couple weeks. Experiment a little and see what works for you.

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smart! Thank you!! – Amber Oct 9 at 22:16
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Fruits are not bad at all if you want to lose fat. Think about it for a moment: you want to lose fat, this means you want to limit dietary fat and force the body to expend its stored fat. Limiting carbs (fruit) on the other hand is a bad idea, because a certain amount of carbs per day of at least 150 grams is quite essential, unless you are doing a ketogenic diet. So you should not worry about fruits if you want to lose fat.

Unrelated to your question: please eat more than 1100 calories! It will take longer to lose the same amount of weight, but it will be a much healthier weight loss. You're only 16 years old and still growing, and you should realize that when you eat so little you're not only limiting calories but also micronutrients, both of which may hinder the proper development of your body and cause health problems later on!

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Limiting dietary fat causes weight loss? Limiting carbs is a bad idea for weight loss? 150 grams a day of carbs are essential? Sir or madam, we disagree on this. – eric Oct 9 at 11:18
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dmi, are you sure you're on the right site? Maybe there's some SADhacks.com site that you accidentally clicked off of? That first paragraph is almost completely at odds with core Paleo concepts. – Elunah Oct 9 at 13:04
Yes, as I said unless you're in ketosis, 100-150 grams of carbs are essential, your brain alone wants around 100g per day: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_brain#Metabolism Starving your brain will not contribute to weight loss in any way. So why do you eric disagree? Please back it up with some science. Elunah, I'm very sure I'm on the right site. – dmi Oct 9 at 19:19
Your body can generate ketones to supply the brain with energy even if you're not in full ketosis. Ketogenesis isn't a binary switch. Here's a couple hits of science (not just inferences from Wikipedia paragraphs): marksdailyapple.com/… and marksdailyapple.com/… – Elunah Oct 9 at 20:26
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Agree with Elunah here, your brain and body work much better on ketones than glucose, what glucose your body absolutely needs it can make itself from other sources including excess protein. There are plenty of essential nutrients out there, there is no essential carbohydrate. – cerement Oct 9 at 22:03
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Eat some fruit if you want your 16 and a metabolic powerhouse!

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thanks Colin. I wish it were true, but maybe I should just limit fruits to once a month or something. And stick to berries on the daily from what others have said. :/ thanks tho!! – Amber Oct 9 at 4:00
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Fruit wont kill you so dont be too discouraged! Just go for lower sugar varieties and be sure that you dont consume them after other foods, especially large meals. You want your fruit to digest, not ferment! – paleo12 Oct 9 at 4:07
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Yes it is

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okay so no fruit is best for optimal weight loss. I will try to stick to potatoes for that starch I need daily and limit fruits to berries. – Amber Oct 9 at 3:59
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@Amber - the only "starch you need daily" is maybe some carbs after a workout and that can come from the "safe starches": sweet potatoes, yams, yuca, white potatoes (if you can handle nightshades), and white rice (if you don't have a rice allergy). – cerement Oct 9 at 6:43
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Yes most modern day fruits are extremely high in fructose. Fructose gets shunted to your liver just like alcohol. Your body truly treats fructose like a poison, not allowing it to enter your blood stream. It gets put in your liver where it raises your LDH and then gets converted into fat. Go for berries which are low in sugar and low in fructose. My favorites are mulberries and goldenberries. Goji berries are also good but do contain some sugar. Berries will generally have more fiber and protein than sweet, watery fruits. THE BEST FRUITS FOR YOU ARE COCONUT, AVOCADO, and OLIVE OIL. ALL high in fats and awesome for weightloss, nutrition, containing antioxidants, Vitamin E, etc.

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yes enjoy your smoothie! Ive been eating lots of eggs for breakfast, i had 4 this morning! One of these days Ill have to carb up and enjoy a similar smoothie for breakfast! – paleo12 Oct 9 at 4:18
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sorry for the !!! haha I just love food and nutrition. In the last three months Ive determined a near optimal diet, getting my bodyfat below 7%. This is a longg ways seeing as Ive lost over 40LBS! I used to be around 20% body fat. Im quite young like you (only 20) and its remarkable what our young bodies can do when given the correct nutrients. – paleo12 Oct 9 at 4:20
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If weight loss is truly what youre after then look no further than fasting. IF is quite powerful if you have a schedule that fits it. Its how Ive lost all my weight, well along with highly nutritious organic food of course :) – paleo12 Oct 9 at 4:21
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Have modern fruits really changed that much? rawfoodsos.com/2011/05/31/wild-and-ancient-fruit I was under the impression that dietary fructose can be converted to glycogen and burned for fuel. So I wouldn't say fruit is poison and I highly doubt moderate amounts of fruit would stall any weight loss. No offense but telling a sixteen year old to fast is probably not the best idea, just sayin. – Colin Oct 9 at 5:00
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Bleh, more fructose phobia… – Matt Oct 9 at 15:32
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