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Slim
down by filling up on fruit
June 02, 05
Suzanne Havala Hobbs
The
big push is on to lose a few more pounds before the swimsuits
come out. What can help? Try fruit.
It may seem obvious to some readers, but most of us don’t
take advantage of a simple weight loss strategy that’s
easy to stick with during the summer – filling up on
fruit
It’s a smart thing to do. Here’s why:
For starters, summer’s heat puts us in the mood for
light, cool foods. Fresh fruits – watermelon, honeydew,
strawberries – are about 90 percent water, so they refresh
and hydrate.
All of that water is bound up in fiber. The combination of
fiber and fluid makes fresh fruits filling but low in calories.
The result: You fill up before you fill out.
Add to that the fact that richly colored fruits – blueberries,
cantaloupe, papayas, mangoes – provide liberal amounts
of vitamins, minerals and health-enhancing phytochemicals,
and it’s easy to see why the focus on fruit makes so
much sense.
So all that’s left for you to do is to eat more of them.
To do that, you need to keep fruit in the house. That means
frequent trips to the supermarket, since ripe summer fruits
only keep for a few days.
Once you’ve got it, you have to eat it. Ways to ensure
you do:
* Spike fruit salad with fresh mint leaves from the garden.
Top it with nonfat yogurt and a little granola, or toss the
salad with nonfat plain yogurt mixed with a tablespoon of
honey and quarter teaspoon of nutmeg. If you want to get fancy,
cut a pineapple in half lengthwise and scoop out the inside.
Chill the pineapple shells in the freezer then fill with fruit
salad before serving.
* Use fruit liberally as an edible garnish. Add a slice of
pineapple or a thin wedge of melon to the side of the plate.
* Eat fruit-based meals and snacks. Slice a papaya in half,
scoop out the seeds and serve with lime wedges (squeeze the
juice over the fruit). Cut a cantaloupe in half, scoop out
the seeds and fill the middle with blueberries. Add a dollop
of nonfat yogurt if you’d like and call it lunch. Yes,
it’s mostly one fruit group and, no, it doesn’t
matter. You do need more than fruit in your diet, but frequently
filling up on fruit isn’t likely to drive you into nutritional
imbalance.
* Keep ready-to-eat fruits handy. Cut fruit up and store it
on the top shelf of the refrigerator where it’s easy
to spot when you’re trolling for a snack. Nonfat yogurt
makes a good dip.
* Add fresh fruit to other foods. Fruit salad is good on a
bed of greens or mixed into a tossed salad. Stir fresh pineapple
pieces into coleslaw.
Experiment with fruits you haven’t tried before. You
know: the knobby melons and oddly shaped exotics that you
see in the supermarket but never buy. Go for it – what’s
the worse that could happen?
For the greatest weight control benefit, eat fresh fruits
in their whole form. Freshly squeezed juices and fruit smoothies
are nutritious, but they’re concentrated in calories
compared to the solid forms of the fruit.
If you’re looking for new ways to fix fresh fruit, browse
through cookbooks. Do fresh mango chutney, green papaya salad,
or tropical fruit salad made with a little rum and crystallized
ginger pique your interest? If so, you might enjoy The Food
of Paradise: Exploring Hawaii’s Culinary Heritage by
Rachel Laudan (University of Hawaii Press, 1996), winner of
a Julia Child Cookbook Award.
But recipes aren’t really needed where fresh fruit is
concerned. Fruit in its simplest form is the most convenient
way to eat it. Eat it whole, eat it often.
Take advantage of what the season has to offer.
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