Is fruit making you fat?

This post was inspired by a Facebook thread on one of my friends pages. She is, like most of us, working on that bikini body for the Summer. Anyway, someone posted about smoothies for breakfast and adding fruit and all that. Now keep in mind (DISCLAIMER: I am not, nor do I claim to be a nutritionist, dietician , or personal trainer) everything that I share with you are things that I have read, researched, and tried on MYSELF first. But, I can speak about this from experience. As I tell people all the time, there is a difference between a weight loss diet and a maintenance/health diet. A REAL weight loss diet will highly limit things like flavored yogurt, pita chips and hummus, FRUIT or FRUIT JUICE or any other kind of juice at that! WHY? Because although these things may be healthy, they are either high in sugar (carbs) or fat (ugh). So they have little or no place in my diet when I am trying to lose weight/cut fat. But the choice is yours.

Let's examine what it would take us to burn 1 cup of orange juice off...

 1 cup = 80 fl oz of 100% orange juice:
Carbs 27g x 4 cals per carb = 108 calories needed to burn off
Sugars 24g / 4.2 g per tsp = 5.7 teaspoons of sugar in 1 cup

So in order to burn that cup of juice you have to add an EXTRA
- 1 mile
- 20 minute brisk walk
- 7 minutes non-stop jump roping or non-stop swimming 
to your workout. Now keep in mind this is aside from your normal workout. So the choice is really up to you. Moderation when it comes to fruit or adding extra time in the gym?

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No Workout - but the legs are sure grateful for the rest day! :)
My Meals:
7:30 am Breakfast: Cereal bar
9:30 am Snack: Low Carb shake
12:30 pm Lunch: Grilled chicken (yesterdays left over) w 1/2 c Uncle Ben's brown rice (microwaveable)

Chicken from yesterday

3:30 pm Snack: mini rice cakes w/1 sm tangerine

6:30 pm Dinner: Shrimp Alfredo over spaghetti squash, 1/2 c steamed green beans

Literally my FAVORITE meal!!!

How to bake Spaghetti Squash:

Peheat oven at 375F

Pierce the squash all over so it won't burst in oven

Place squash in and cook for 25-35 minutes

Slice down middle and scrape out vertically using a fork

Spaghetti squash (after baking)

Alfredo recipe (can be made with chicken or shrimp):

Serves 2:

*If you are using chicken, pre grill/cook it

18 oz shrimp

4 The Laughing Cow cheese wedges (any flavor) I used swiss

4 tbsp 2% (or less) milk

4 tsp reduced fat parmesan cheese, grated

1/4 tsp butter sub or margarine

Combine all ingredients in a medium sized sauce pan over medium heat. Once the cheese wedges start to melt, add your shrimp. Stir until sauce thickens and shrimp turn pink. Serve over hot spaghetti squash. *Top with a little more parmesan cheese and salt and pepper to taste, optional. 

Enjoying today's rain

Oh to be a kid again...!

~wL