Can I eat more grapes to lose weight?

[Bobdabuilder1]

Hi, I'm making my first serious attempt to cut weight and one of the big considerations was how I can stop eating chocolate and crisps and found that the best way for me seems to be replace them with healthier alternatives.

I am now lightly snacking on 20 - 25g salted peanuts throughout the day and no longer crave crisps so that seems to have solved the crisp problem at a cost of about 100 - 150 calories a day in nuts. This might not exactly help with the weight loss but at least these calories provide lots of nutrients that crisps don't.

The bigger problem was replacing chocolate where I'd probably normally eat about 300 - 400 calories a day in chocolate, fudge, yoghurts etc I've started eating about 300g grapes and 200g strawberries each day for a total of 300 calories.

The question I'm trying to get to is that I keep reading that 300g grapes is a lot and that the sugar content is too high meaning that I will probably actually put on weight eating that many grapes but the way I see it is that 300g grapes and 200g strawberries is actually very filling and means I'll eat less alternative foods that have much higher calories so the 300 calories I'm eating in grapes and strawberries should actually help me lose weight pretty quickly.


Does what I'm thinking make sense or are the people suggesting that you will gain weight from eating that many grapes making more sense?

[xsquid99]

When it comes to weight loss the only thing that matters is calories. Yes 300 calories of fruit would technically be more nutritious than 300 calories of chocolate, but the net calorie difference is 0 and therefore likely wouldn't impact weight loss at all unless the fruit happens to make you feel more full than the chocolate does, which could help keep you satiated for longer.

The best thing to do is to eat a diet high in protein, which will not only provide better satiety, but will help deliver the nutrients you need to build muscle. Get plenty of fruits and vegetables and high quality complex carbs, and keep the treats to just occasionally.

[Bobdabuilder1]

When it comes to weight loss the only thing that matters is calories. Yes 300 calories of fruit would technically be more nutritious than 300 calories of chocolate, but the net calorie difference is 0 and therefore likely wouldn't impact weight loss at all unless the fruit happens to make you feel more full than the chocolate does, which could help keep you more satiated.

The best thing to do is to eat a diet high in protein, which will not only provide better satiety, but will help deliver the nutrients you need to build muscle.

Thanks for the reply. I already eat a diet very high in protein with lots of eggs, chicken, tuna and protein powder most days and I have built up enough muscle now that I am happy to maintain whereas I still have a bit of a belly and would now like to work on losing that and getting leaner in general. Unfortunately despite eating a lot of protein and mostly eating quite healthy I am struggling to lose weight so I need to change up my strategy somehow.

TBH that's kinda why I think the high fruit strategy should in theory work well due to the satiety from the 300 calories being higher than the satiety achieved from other foods (not only chocolate but substantial foods as well as far as I can tell).

I feel like the 300 calories worth of fruit not only fills me up more than 300 calories worth of chocolate would but possibly more than 300 calories of chocolate plus 300 calories worth of say tuna and rice so it seems to remove the cravings for the chocolate and fill me up more than a combined 600 calories of chocolate + a meal would if that makes sense.

Maybe I'm wrong about how filling the fruit is and a small portion of tuna and rice would provide more satiety for the calories but considering 100g strawberries = 32 calories / 100g grapes = 67 calories whereas 100g tuna or rice both = 132 calories the strawberries and grapes seem to cancel out the cravings and replace the calories from substantial food as well.

[xsquid99]

Whatever works for you, if you're stalled out then the only real solution to fat loss is that you need to be taking in less calories overall on a weekly basis. Whatever you find helps get you there without feeling hunger is going to be up to you, although some hunger is to be expected when in a calorie deficit.

For me I usually turn to protein and high fiber foods that provide good volume. Lean beef, chicken breast, potatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, greek yogurt, legumes, quinoa, fruit, eggs, rice, and oatmeal are some of the staple foods in my diet. Protein bars, diet soda, and other zero calorie sweeteners help me when I'm craving something sweet but don't want a ton of calories.

[Bobdabuilder1]

Whatever works for you, if you're stalled out then the only real solution to fat loss is that you need to be taking in less calories overall on a weekly basis. Whatever you find helps get you there without feeling hunger is going to be up to you, although some hunger is to be expected when in a calorie deficit.

For me I usually turn to protein and high fiber foods that provide good volume. Lean beef, chicken breast, potatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, greek yogurt, legumes, quinoa, fruit, eggs, rice, and oatmeal are some of the staple foods in my diet. Protein bars, diet soda, and other zero calorie sweeteners help me when I'm craving something sweet but don't want a ton of calories.

Thanks man, appreciate the ideas. Thinking about it, I could probably find ways to add some more broccoli into my diet and maybe get some low fat greek yogurts in as well, cheers.

[air2fakie]

You're not going to lose weight if you continue snacking throughout the day... whether it be chocolate, nuts or grapes. This idea of finding something to eat constantly throughout the day is not a winning strategy. You just need to break out of the habit of constantly eating.

Schedule your meals, shakes & a couple of snacktimes throughout the day (& have a light snack of whatever you want), and develop the discipline to leave it at that.

[Bobdabuilder1]

You're not going to lose weight if you continue snacking throughout the day... whether it be chocolate, nuts or grapes. This idea of finding something to eat constantly throughout the day is not a winning strategy. You just need to break out of the habit of constantly eating.

Schedule your meals, shakes & a couple of snacktimes throughout the day (& have a light snack of whatever you want), and develop the discipline to leave it at that.

Yeah, that's a valid point and probably what I needed to hear. I have made a couple of half assed attempts at intermittent fasting between 10pm and 1pm over the last few days but had started to allow myself fruit and mushrooms between those hours on the basis that they are low calorie anyway. I do realise it's not intermittent fasting if I'm eating anything though so I'll give it a proper go now. I've just had my last meal tonight so I'm going to see how I get on tomorrow morning trying to live on water until 1pm. I have never really attempted to starve myself before so will have to see what happens. I'll still have the snacks nearby from 1pm to 5pm but I feel like I can self moderate well enough to justify that luxury if I'm going to suffer a 15 hour stretch without eating every day.

[BBryan098]

There's a huge misconception that you cannot lose weight unless you eat healthy, or that you cannot lose weight eating processed foods, and that's not really how it works. At the end of the day what really matters are calories in and calories out. Sure, eating healthy is better for your body obviously, and I wouldn't recommond anyone to try losing fat eating junk food, but if you were to eat 500 calories at McDonalds vs 500 calories in apples, the end result in terms of fat loss would be the same. The best approach in my opinion is that of balance. You love chocolate so much? You don't have to eliminate it. Just eat less of it. Lower your calorie intake. Focus on getting your daily protein intake of the day, and fill the rest of your calories with whatever you want. Remember, not only you want to lose fat, but also keep it off. Are you gonna stop eating chocolate for the rest of your life? Probably not. Again, balance is key. Weight yourself weekly, and if you're not losing weight lower your daily calorie intake by 100 ( or you can just add more physical activity). Repeat until you start losing weight.

[Bobdabuilder1]

There's a huge misconception that you cannot lose weight unless you eat healthy, or that you cannot lose weight eating processed foods, and that's not really how it works. At the end of the day what really matters are calories in and calories out. Sure, eating healthy is better for your body obviously, and I wouldn't recommond anyone to try losing fat eating junk food, but if you were to eat 500 calories at McDonalds vs 500 calories in apples, the end result in terms of fat loss would be the same. The best approach in my opinion is that of balance. You love chocolate so much? You don't have to eliminate it. Just eat less of it. Lower your calorie intake. Focus on getting your daily protein intake of the day, and fill the rest of your calories with whatever you want. Remember, not only you want to lose fat, but also keep it off. Are you gonna stop eating chocolate for the rest of your life? Probably not. Again, balance is key. Weight yourself weekly, and if you're not losing weight lower your daily calorie intake by 100 ( or you can just add more physical activity). Repeat until you start losing weight.

Thanks for the reply. I get what you are saying but if I'm trying to cut down on calories each day then I can eat 10 apples at 50 calories each (or 500 calories of assorted fruit equivalents) and that would fill me up enough that I probably wouldn't have much need to eat more than 1000 calories on top of that for the day whereas if I scoffed down a big mac meal I could quite easily eat another 2000 - 3000 calories throughout the day on top of that.

I really do love chocolate, caramel, fudge etc, I also love going out and getting pi$$ed at the weekend but these are things that get in the way of the goals and challenges that I've set myself and I am happy to try to severely moderate or even temporarily remove them from my life if it helps me improve myself. For me it's as much about self control and discipline as it is about the health benefits as I am trying to condition myself to have control over my urges, which is something that I have seriously lacked in the past.

After looking into the supposed benefits of intermittent fasting, it seems to be well worth having a go and it's started off really well. When I'm breaking my fasts about 12 - 1pm with some fruit I feel like I'm able to enjoy that fruit in the same way that I'd enjoy a galaxy caramel bar or something that I'd usually eat when I'm not particularly hungry. I believe you can train yourself to like certain foods, for example I never used to like wholemeal bread but now I see it as a bit of a treat, which admittedly sounds weird.

[dbmata]

Hi, I'm making my first serious attempt to cut weight and one of the big considerations was how I can stop eating chocolate and crisps and found that the best way for me seems to be replace them with healthier alternatives.

I am now lightly snacking on 20 - 25g salted peanuts throughout the day and no longer crave crisps so that seems to have solved the crisp problem at a cost of about 100 - 150 calories a day in nuts. This might not exactly help with the weight loss but at least these calories provide lots of nutrients that crisps don't.

The bigger problem was replacing chocolate where I'd probably normally eat about 300 - 400 calories a day in chocolate, fudge, yoghurts etc I've started eating about 300g grapes and 200g strawberries each day for a total of 300 calories.

The question I'm trying to get to is that I keep reading that 300g grapes is a lot and that the sugar content is too high meaning that I will probably actually put on weight eating that many grapes but the way I see it is that 300g grapes and 200g strawberries is actually very filling and means I'll eat less alternative foods that have much higher calories so the 300 calories I'm eating in grapes and strawberries should actually help me lose weight pretty quickly.


Does what I'm thinking make sense or are the people suggesting that you will gain weight from eating that many grapes making more sense?

Stop all the added sugar, cold turkey. Do that for 3 weeks. You'll find your desire to eat chocolate and other sweets is gone. 300gr of grapes is excessive. But will it cause you to gain weight? That's between you and your entire caloric intake.

[fitnessgiraffe]

Yes, grapes can be a great part of a healthy weight loss plan. Grapes are low in calories and high in fibre, which can help you feel fuller for longer. Eating grapes can also help to prevent overeating and promote weight loss. However, it is important to remember that grapes should be eaten in moderation as part of a balanced diet.

[Bobdabuilder1]

Stop all the added sugar, cold turkey. Do that for 3 weeks. You'll find your desire to eat chocolate and other sweets is gone. 300gr of grapes is excessive. But will it cause you to gain weight? That's between you and your entire caloric intake.

Thanks for the tip. I've actually cut most of it out over the last couple of weeks anyway and on Saturday I decided to have a cheat day to treat myself and bought a pack of 2 GU zillionaire cheesecakes which I normally love but when I actually ate them I was a little bit disappointed after each one, I think my taste buds are actually adapting and starting to get as much enjoyment from the strawberries and grapes as I do from my favourite chocolates.

Yes, grapes can be a great part of a healthy weight loss plan. Grapes are low in calories and high in fibre, which can help you feel fuller for longer. Eating grapes can also help to prevent overeating and promote weight loss. However, it is important to remember that grapes should be eaten in moderation as part of a balanced diet.

Sounds about right, I've probably got my grape intake down to about 200g a day now + ~200g of strawberries which are lower in sugar and calories, I think this works out to a total of about 200 calories of fruit a day which doesn't seem like a lot to me.