Hey everyone! So I was watching the biggest Looser last night and the part where the contestants were ordering lunch and talked about how they couldn't have bananas and grapes and could only eat barries confused me because isn't the natural sugar in fruits not the same as table sugar? are bananas and grapes ok to eat? Thanks!

Using the Biggest Loser for weight loss information is pointless. Very little on that show applies to real people in real life.

Whether bananas and grapes are "ok" to eat depends on you, the diet plan you're following, and a zillion other details. There's no food that is magically "ok" or "not ok". Food isn't inherently bad.

Bananas and grapes are perfectly healthy, if somewhat high in calories.

OTOH, you're far better off eating a banana than a bag of chips. So it's all in the perspective. Very few people got fat eating bananas and grapes.

I think that moderation is a factor to take into account.

Certainly many diets suggest some sort of limit for bananas - so it might be better to have no more than one a day...

They are however a great source of potassium so can be very beneficial to have. I know people who have always been slim that insist on having a banana every day to prevent cramp...

Fruit and veg are a central factor in a healthy diet and we should all try to hit the 5-a-day target - hitting different colours if possible. Naturally they all bring calories - but they do help to fill us up.

As Kara says - there are plenty worse snacks. Fruit provides sweetness - but they do provide vitamins too.

Thanks a lot guys! Yeah so many things are exaggerated on the Biggest Looser and I'm getting to the point where I don"t even like the show anymore, so that"s good to know that bananas and grapes are not the root of all evil lol.

Yeah - Biggest Loser is completely useless as far as providing useful weight loss information goes - either for diet or exercise. It is purely an 'entertainment' show.

The Biggest Loser teaches you about weight loss about as well as Survivor would actually help you survive on a desert island - which is not at all.

Bananas and grapes are fairly high-calorie, but they are healthy foods. I get a banana every day if I can.

I don't think it's that the sugar is different, it's that some have more fiber than others. Berries are the highest fiber, I think bananas might be the lowest, and possibly highest glycemic index (I don't know the GI of grapes.)

If the intent of the Biggest Loser is a low calorie, low GI diet, that'd be a reason to ban bananas at least. We can only hope that the trainers are also monitoring their diets closely enough to be sure they're getting enough of the right nutrients as well.

The Biggest loser is like most reality shows- It exploits real people in order to get ratings....

I personally do not have any fruit in my diet. I stay away from all sugars as much as possible. I know they say you probably should have some serving of fruit, but I have done without it for 14 months and have done just great. To be honest I do not get very much veggies in.

So if a banana is "high calorie" (I suspect we are talking calories per gram) what type of food is "normal calorie"?

GrobanLover90, if fruit is not healthy what in the world is!? Go bananas!!!!!!!

One of the blogs I feed had this article recently, talking about how people get fixated on whether or not they should eat bananas or carrots or bananas or peas ... or some healthy fruit or vegetable ... because someone somewhere said that those things had too much sugar and might cause them to not lose weight.

The Carrot Train to Crazytown

The entire post is well worth reading, especially for someone who is starting to lose perspective and ... well, is thinking about boarding the carrot train to Crazytown

I suppose if you ate bananas and grapes all day and had way too many calories than your body needs for that day, then I suppose you would gain weight.

Before joining this forum, and in diet despair, my head was spinning because I was trying to remember all the stupid little tricks or methods some random person at work or at school told me was the magic way to losing weight.

When joining this forum, I just wanted clear information on what my body does with what I feed it and how it would respond to exercise.

Out of everything I've managed to read, hear, witness and so forth about weight loss before hand, the only patterns that emerged from it all, and that made sense, were:

-Reducing overall calorie intake based first from one's own caloric needs and activity level
-Making the calories you do eat count for something (meaning natural, whole foods that provide nutrients, vitamins and minerals that we need to be healthy humans--not "junk" foods that have no benefit other than providing calories)
-Exercising in a way that your body can handle, but is just outside the comfort level to so that it is challenging and leads to fitness growth, and
-Tracking progress so that progress can be measured for oneself, something that is hard to see when you're obviously around yourself 24hrs a day.

I've learned more on this forum in a few weeks than I have in a decade of nonsense, get-slim-quick tips.

In terms of fruit, what better sweet snack is there when you're trying to boycott junk food? In high school, we'd always have bananas before our soccer games. In my twenties, I thought that was a bad idea for losing weight. KaraCooks brought the idea back to me a few weeks ago about eating some carbs before my exercise, and now I see it makes sense. I have a banana before I exercise and the difference in my performance is remarkable IMO. Of course, that may not be the case for everybody, but for me it is. And, I'm still losing weight. I used to not eat bananas, grapes, oranges, etc. because they were considered high glycemic foods, but I've found them to be more beneficial to me health-wise than detrimental to my diet. I can't lie to myself. In the past, I'd boycott the high glycemic fruits because my diet "told me so", but wouldn't think twice about cheating that "one time" on a sliver of cake at an office birthday party. Out of frustration and just totally being fed up with diet do's and don'ts, I've learned to trust the basics: smart, healthy calorie control and more exercise than I'd need to maintain my weight. The confirmation of this came from the smart people here.

This is all so general, I know, but continue to use this forum as you're currently doing to seek out the truths for yourself, and you'll find out some things that will really make sense for you. Good luck, and don't drive yourself too crazy!

Liza - I read your post and just smiled all over.

You nailed it so perfectly and I'm so glad that we were able to help!

Bravo, Liza!

You've got it exactly right.

I'm happy you learned that, and even more so that you learned it here, and this site was able to help.

yes with this one

KC and CTS,

Thank you ( ^,^)> I'm blushing now ...

I got solid advice here (KC especially), unmatched with anything else. Thank you!!

On another note, added the weight training 2-3 weeks ago and WOW what a difference! It's still early, I know, but the difference is in the mirror, my clothes, performance and how I feel. Glad you two talked me into it :-)

Lizabell