Eons ago (ok, read - in February or March 2008), at the beginning of my weight loss journey I questioned JayEll's rationale of having just half an apple. It seemed kinda (yes, I will say it) foolish) to cut an apple into two halves and save one half for later or for tomorrow.
Fast forward to the present time. These days, I routinely cut my apple in half, wrap each half with Saran wrap and one half goes into my lunchbag and the other one goes to the fridge.
Every time - and it never fails - I put half of the apple into the fridge, I think warmly of JayEll and say a silent 'Thank You'.
awww...that's so nice. JayEll is a very smart cookie. I looked to her post quiet often when i was losing weight last year. We were very close in stats then and height and stuff. She's done a great job and has many good ideas. Maybe since i am stalling (or i feel like i am), maybe i should go to her for some advice. She'd probably tell me to quit eating single serving popcorn and have a real snack..something with protein in the afternoon.
Cute Tomato. I'm sure she'll appreciate the thread thanking her. She
IS one wise woman. Obvioulsy it's perfectly fine to eat, other wise she wouldn't have told you and you wouldn't be thanking her. So let me ask you, does the apple turn brown? And how long can you keep it in the fridge for? I'd love to know.
And Lumifan4ever, Jay *may* tell you to make sure you're really, REALLY tracking your calories, for starters.
Hey Tomato, thanks for thinking of me in a good way! Yep, halves of apple do just fine, I find. I rarely want more. Apples can be so big these days! You have done really splendidly with your weight loss, BTW!
lumifan4ever, yeah, I was gonna catch up to you on weight loss, way back when we were first doing this... but I just couldn't make it then!
Protein snack. Yeah. You got it! Popcorn is fine, but how about one of those half-apples with some lowfat string cheese? MMmmmm.
Are you SURE about those calorie counts?
rockinrobin, as long as the cut surface of the apple is completely covered with the wrap, so there's no air, it shouldn't turn very brown. These days I use a sandwich baggie, but I also have been known to use Press & Seal. It's good for a couple of days at least kept in the refrigerator.
Not only that, but I've been known to eat only half a banana! Bananas seal themselves at the cut end, and they don't need refrigeration. Later, you just cut off the end and peel as usual.
Although I don't split apples, I have gotten in the habit of buying much smaller apples. In the past, I hardly ever bought apples in prepackaged bags because I usually thought they were too small. I liked huge apples.
I do still buy and eat some large apples, but I weight them and count the appropriate servings. Not long ago, I found some apples in a variety I really like and they were HUGE. I bought the hugest one I could fine, just to see how much it weighed - it was over 15 ounces, so nearly 1 lb of apple, 4 whole servings. I did fit it into my exchange plan. I only have two to three fruit servings alotted, but I used a "flex exchange" so I stayed on plan. That's probably about 250 calories of apple. It was definitely a meal, not a snack. Don't plan on doing that very often, but it was fun and eye-opening.
There were times in my life when I would have counted that apple as one or at most two fruit servings. That kind of self-denial can really add up.
I seek out the smaller apples. I slice an apple and put it in a baggie. Then I eat pieces of it when I want it. I just finished off an apple that had been in slices in the fridge for three days. It was a little brown, but tasted just fine.
I am thinking that half an apple would fit just right in one of my containers that I take to work...
I look for smaller (or normal-sized, really!) fruit - I can eyeball an 80-calorie apple pretty well. I am not much good at saving part of ANYTHING for later!
Jay taught me well too! I do half-fruit servings all the time! I like the press-n-seal wrap too - it is fairly re-usable I'm a clementine fan too, since oranges can be so large.
Like gail, I look for smaller fruits, but sometimes they are hard to find.
And Robin - if the wrap isn't viable - dipping the cut edge of the apple in lemon juice will slow the browning considerably. It does affect the taste a bit though
And for the record - Jay is one very wise woman. I feel very blessed to have received so much good advice and encouragement from her throughout my journey! Very blessed indeed!
Last edited by CountingDown; 01-27-2009 at 10:37 PM.
I get those pre sliced apples that come in little individual packets! I love them! It gives me the feeling like I'm eating something chip or naughty like because it's prepackaged but it's totally fresh fuit..LOL they use citrus juice to keep it form browning! the chiquita red apple bites are only 30 cals!
Thanks so much to all of you who have said such kind things! I'm totally blushing here!
I've had some excellent small apples--one of the best was out of a free bowl at a motel outside of Petersburg, VA. I think they must have been locally grown. Small "delicious"--and very sweet and crisp.
Yeah, portion control! I started eating half-apples when I realized that I didn't have to eat a "whole" anything. This idea has wide applications!
JayEll, you taught me well
I'm totally blushing here! 
I started eating half-apples when I realized that I didn't have to eat a "whole" anything. This idea has wide applications!