Recently I’ve just been trying to watch what I eat to drop a few more pounds. Keeping the calories lower, watching the sodium, trying to balance the carbs, fat & protein. I’m going to the gym a couple times a week and using a treadmill I keep in my attic. Slow & steady is my mantra for this year.

I keep fruit around as a snack, but I can’t stuff it in a desk drawer because it will spoil so I’ve been using some of the dehydrated stuff. I’ve got some dried apples & apples with cinnamon, banana chips (organic w/ no sugar), peaches, pineapples and apricots. The question is … can I use these as a substitute for real fruit? Or are they just a supplement for the real thing?

Personally, I hate dried fruit so I always have fresh or with berries, frozen as they're too expensive right now. I would treat dried fruit as a treat as the natural sugars are much more concentrated. Also remembes that you need to up your water intake.

Have you thought about bringing a small cooler to work with you. I have an insulated lunch bag that I put a small freezer pack in. It keeps my food chilled for many hours, even in the summer months. Or, depending on your work, maybe invest in a small fridge. They make pretty small ones that you can out under your desk.

My ultimate dream is to own a car where the glove box is a cooler.

Dried fruit has WAY more concentrated calories. For me - a fresh apple fills me up a lot more than a dried one. It won't spoil if you bring it from home in the morning...you should see the size of my lunchbox. :P

Yeah, the dried fruit is full of sugar, calories and carbs. Nothing like the way mother nature intended it.

You can use an online calorie counter, such as Fitday.com to look up calorie counts and nutritional info for most foods. That really is the best way to "watch" what you're eating, otherwise you'll never know just how many calories you're really consuming.

Here is my take on dried fruit...if you are having just plain ol' fruit, dried, with no added preservatives or sugars, it isn't so bad...but you get WAY less volume per calorie than fresh fruit. If you're willing to eat less volume, and the fruit you have is really just dehydrated with nothing added, you're ok...but make sure you keep an EAGLE eye on the portion sizes.

Okay, I've recently gotten into snacks of nuts and dried fruit, so I'll speak to this from the "pro" side. I love the flavor and am using this new snack to replace other snacks that I think are less healthy.

You do need to watch the portions. Right now I'm bagging up 1.5 oz bags that are about 40% nuts and 60% dried fruit. The snacks clock in at 160 calories or so. So, not a bad snack, but it's pretty small.

I try to buy dried fruits that doesn't have as much sugars added, and no high fructose corn syrups. Again, one of my goals is to replace some snacks that weren't as healthy. Your goals may vary.

The other thing I learned is that the nutrition that is present in real fruit may be lost to some extent when its dried!

So, my conclusion is that dried fruit isn't a bad option, especially if it's replacing less healthy snacks. But it doesn't necessarily substitute for the real thing (which I make sure to include) and you have to watch the portions and additives.

I also agree that if you are eating 100% dried fruit (the kind with no sugars or sweeteners added) that you are fine-as long as you are watching the calories.

You are, however, just as mandalinn said, getting less bulk than a piece of fresh fruit would give.

Some fruits, such as raisins and dried apricots-are pure fruit. Other kinds, like banana chips, can have sweeteners or oil added. You simply have to read the label.

I love dried fruit, but since changing my eating habits and getting off the three "C's" (cookies, cakes and candy), I just eat it strictly as my new candy because of its high sugar content along with a handful of nuts. I bring in fresh fruit daily in my cooler.