I would venture that 200 cals for the fruit bowl is an UNDERestimate!! I wouldnt be suprised if it was closer to 400 or more! Remember the OP bought this off a vendor...
Also, if the OP isnt counting Fruit as part of her 1500 cals/day, than what ELSE isnt she counting? Also if she isnt weighing all of her food on a scale, that you know there is a decent margin of error there as well..... couple those caloric errors with the foods she wasnt even counting, i would not be at all suprised is she is eating at maintenance, unknowingly. 2000+ a day would not suprise me. This is not a jab at the OP. This is merely pointing out how incredibly easy it is to underestimate calories, and how, even with the best of intentions we cn sabatoge our efforts

I agree- no way mango is a negative calorie fruit- 1 mango is over 200 calories. 1 cup of mango is like 110 calories. I LOVE mango but it's full of carbs and sugar so I rarely eat it now.

Instead of loading up on fruits add more veggies. I eat a lot less fruit than I used to because it hindered my weight loss- my biggest "fruit" consumption is tomato. I would add protein to my oatmeal if you must have oatmeal (maybe add some peanut butter in it?) and then for lunch I'd turn sandwiches into salads or soups with lots of protein, go easy on things like cheese cuz they can make the calories increase quickly. Also I don't eat croutons in my salad anymore.

My daily menu:
Breakfast:
1 wheat bagel, 1 laughing cow wedge, 1 poached egg (270 calories- this is my largest carb meal usually.

Lunch:
1 cup Split pea soup with ham, cucumber/tomato/onion salad (275 calories)

Snack 1: 1 serving deli bites (90 calories)

Dinner:
South Beach Diet Meatloaf (has ground zucchini in it) and some baked beans (for a treat) (510 calories)

Snack 2: 1 cup cauliflower, 2 TBSP ranch (165 calories- yeah I use full fat ranch)

That's 1330 calories, 142 grams of carbs (high for me) 57 grams fat, 70 grams protein :)

A lot of my carbs today are coming from my beans/peas.

I disagree that a serving of fruit, fresh fruit, not canned, on top of 1500 calories will hinder weight loss.

At the end of the day, it really is calories in and calories out. If you are eating 100 calories maintenance or above, even if it's just fruit (heck, even broccoli), you are eating more than you burn.

Fruit is not calorie free and it can hinder weight loss. It's nothing to do with the sugar or GI or whatever scares people away from fruit - it's simple calories not being counted by her.

I dont't count fruit either. I eat maybe 3 pieces of fruit a day. not loads and loads. from someone who is used to eating many fast food meals a week and snacks of chips and cookies, fruit is leaps and bounds better than that.
I maintain that moderate amounts of fresh fruits with exercise does not hinder weight loss.

Yea I've been packing in the fruit every day. Medium salad from the fruit stand is pretty big *hangs head in shame* I haven't been counting them at all! Definitely way more than a 1/2 cup serving. I was so proud of myself for eating so much fruit. I just will need to balance out something else to accommodate the fruit or cut back on how much I eat of it daily.

Moderate anything doesn't hinder weight loss. The question is whether or not her food consumption, including the fruit, is moderate enough to lead to weight loss. Fruit is water + sugar + fiber + vitamins. Too much of the sugar will effect weight loss, and it is really easy to overeat fruit.

I forgot my lunch today so I bought 2 lbs of grapes at the grocery store. I ate the whole two pounds throughout the day. That's over 600 calories, and it wasn't even that tough. If I didn't count those 600 calories, I'd be way overeating.

What is an OP? And yes I calorie count everything else. Otherwise, I don't think I would have lost 10 lbs to begin with if I was eating 2000+ daily. I just started adding the fruit on a daily basis.

Thank you all for your input. I think I will keep on my current eating habits----minus the entire medium fruit salad munching all day at work and just go back to what I was doing in the beginning of my diet, since that seemed to work best for me. The oatmeal is good for me because it fills me up. Causing me not to munch and crave candies and other junk food. Sugar content or not, as stated above, calories in/out is most important. I'm trying to maintain lifestyle changes to better me, so it doesn't FEEL like im dieting, so that way when I reach my goal, I wont "relapse" and gain it back. I don't want to crash diet and lose weight. I don't want to deprive myself either and end up breaking my diet because I get to the point where I HAVE to have something I've been keeping myself away from. Or I feel like I'm eating tasteless cuisines all for the sake of losing weight. I definitely value each and every opinion, and you guys have given me a lot to take into account. Thank you so much! The journey of losing weight, is alot easier when I have someone to discuss it with. Thank you.

There's nothing wrong with fruit but too many calories (and therefore not enough of a deficit) prevents weight loss. Calories in, calories out. She can eliminate some other calories (bread, meat, whichever) and substitute the fruit if she likes but if she's eating maintenance or over she will not lose weight.

An OP just refers to the original poster (or original post).

Yeah, I agree about counting the fruit, it all has to be counted so you have the most accurate number of what is going in and out. I myself love fruit, i could plow through a carton of strawberries no problem! Don't get me wrong, fresh fruit is loads better than some other stuff I used to consume, and it's really fantastic for maintaining my weight.

But, I have noticed that too much sugar, even from natural sources, can stall weight loss. When I first started out I was just focusing on eating whole foods and counting calories, starting at 2000, and I lost about 10lbs pretty quickly too. It was when I noticed a consistent stall on the scale that I switched it up to low-carb, high-protein, low-calorie and I haven't really hit this kind of snag since. Now I know that if I follow that, it will come off. Not really sure why it matters, but I know that I can eat more calories on low-carb/high-protein than I can on high-carb and still lose weight. Even if I restrict cals quite a bit, if I am eating high-carb the weight loss slows to a crawl. This is where the fruit might not be helping in this instance, too much sugar perhaps? Try reducing sugar and carbs and amping the protein up for a few days and see if it doesn't get you moving in the right direction again. Most people don't even realize how many carbs they eat per day, and it can cause frustration, in my experience. I stick with fibrous, low-sugar (minimal) carbs and protein when I am losing weight, and it consistently works for me.

Oh and also, OP means 'original poster', as in, you are the one that started the thread. At least I think I have that right...

Well, why wouldn't it hinder weight loss if one is not creating a calorie deficit? If it's 100 calories over what will produce a calorie deficit, than it can and will hinder weight loss.

Fruit calories add up just like chips and cookie calories add up. Sure fruit has more nutrients than cookies and chips, but it still has CALORIES and if you take in too many calories, whether those calories come from celery, juice, cookies, cakes, grapes, string beans or fill in the blank, makes no difference.

For me, I stopped thinking that giving up certain foods was depriving myself. I finally realized that EATING them was the real deprivation. I was depriving myself of optimal health, self confidence, energy, stamina, productivity,femininity, joy, happiness, choices, and an incredible wardrobe!

As far as eating tasteless cuisine - that too was very important to me. I was/am not willing to eat horrible, boring, bland foods. That's why it's essential for me to have found delicious, incredibly tasty - yet healthy - lower calorie foods. I figure if the on plan food that I'm eating is yummy, then there's no reason to go off plan.

I think those fruit salads were definitely doing you in. Everything counts and everything matters. Your body keeps an accurate journal regardless of what you write down.

Be open. Find out what works for you and what doesn't. Keep on tweaking and tweaking as need be. You will see that your food choices will evolve as you go along.

This journey is a process. You will learn a lot!! It's a wonderful time of growth and self discovery as well. :smug:

One other thing about fruit--it's not all created equal. Melons and berries, for example, are surprisingly low calorie--a pound of strawberries has only 145 calories and a pound of honeydew is only a little more, whereas a pound of grapes has more like 300, and a pound of bananas has 400!

Fruit is a great thing to have in a diet, but go to the grocery store and pick whole fruits that you both like and that are lower in calories.

I don't know what member said this, but I really disagree that one should have to take out a meat, bread, or whatever else just to be able to have a bit of fruit. The OP didn't say she was eating gobs and gobs of fruit.not counting fruit has worked for me--otherwise, I would be hungry much of the time. If I've already eaten my alloted 1400 or 1500 calories for the day, and I still find myself wanting something to eat, I don't think I should have to white knuckle it the rest of the evening because having a peice of fruit or two would do me in.

onherweighdown-

The title of the post is "what am I doing wrong"? The OP wanted honest input as to what could be stalling her weight loss. Since she herself admitted that her weight loss didn't stall until she started adding the fruit, that would seem the most likely thing to cut out for a week or two and see if the weight starts moving back down again.

If she cuts out the fruit, and her weight still remains the same, then, by process of elimination, she should look at other items. IMHO