Curb Your Sweet Tooth with Fresh Fruit

Hello, my dears! It’s Alla Sem here. Summer is in full swing, and the local produce market is booming. The wide variety of fruits available is a nice change of pace from winter fruits, such as apples, citrus, and bananas. Now fresh peaches, plums, nectarines, cherries, berries, and melons abound.

If you have a sweet tooth, now is the time to curb it by adding more fresh fruit to your diet. Eat it as is, or spend a little time cutting a variety of fruits for a fruit salad to munch on all week long. Add variety to your routine by picking up some blueberries to add to your morning cereal or choosing some ripe fresh apricots for a beta-carotene boost.

On my journey from 110 kg to 80 kg, learning to satisfy my sweet cravings with fruit instead of processed sugar was a game-changer. Let me share some wonderful ideas to help you do the same.

Creative Ways to Add Fruit to Your Meals

Add fruits to your main dishes. While pineapple is a favorite with ham, try it with other meats, such as poultry too. Put sliced pineapple on the grill just before your meats are finished cooking. Let them sear for a few minutes on each side, and then serve with your meat or poultry. The caramelized sweetness is incredible!

Try grilled nectarines. Fresh free-stone nectarines are great for grilling too. Be sure they are ripe, and then split them in half to grill. Sprinkling a little bit of sugar on each half beforehand and letting them rest for about an hour before grilling will ensure a juicy side dish. You may also serve them for dessert. Add a scoop of light vanilla ice cream with a drizzle of honey for a healthy treat.

Make fruit salsas. In addition to fruits on the grill, chopping fruits into salsas is a refreshing change to the taste of your favorite salsa. Make your salsa as you normally would (chopped tomatoes, onions, cilantro, etc.), then add some chopped peaches or mango to it. The sweet flavor of the fruit with the tang of the onion and tomato creates a nice contrast. Mango salsa flavors fish such as salmon or tuna wonderfully. Serve these salsas at room temperature on the side, or top your cooked fish with them.

The Health Benefits of Eating More Fruit

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends eating at least 5, and up to 10, servings of fruits and vegetables daily. Cooking with fruit is another way to reach your “5-a-day” goal. Start by adding two extra servings of fruit to your daily diet.

Incorporating more fruits into your daily diet and cooking will increase your intake of healthy antioxidants as well as boost your fiber intake. Both are part of a heart-healthy, cancer-fighting diet. They can help keep your digestive system in check, not to mention your waistline.

Understanding Food Cravings

Did you know that food cravings occur for many different reasons? They can be biological or psychological, or a combination of both. As a matter of fact, sometimes past conditioning from childhood can make us hardwired to crave the wrong things.

This can become difficult and frustrating to deal with if you don’t know why they are happening. It takes time to determine if your food cravings are physical or conditioned. Working regularly with a dietitian can help you with this process, as well as provide useful strategies to help you make better choices.

The Bottom Line

So the next time you hear a chocolate chip cookie calling your name, reach for a ripe nectarine or some sweet grapes first. Enjoy the natural sweetness they have to offer. Your body will thank you, and your waistline will too.

Remember, my dears, that small swaps add up to big changes over time. I didn’t give up sweets overnight, but gradually replacing processed sugar with fruit made all the difference in my 30 kg weight loss journey.

With love and belief in you,
Alla Sem