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The Big Shop

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lordburnside

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I shop in Morrisons for the big shop or Lidl for bits - usually their creamy yoghurt.
The big shop is usually the green stuff that is healthy but this week I added 4 pears.
I had my usual evening meal of veg and fish but decided a pear with yoghurt would be nice.
It was and then the cravings re-appeared and I ended up having a bacon sandwich!
My new rule is - don't eat fruit larger than a strawberry!
The less you eat the less you crave! I need to keep remembering that!
Even worse I didn't have my evening walk because it was raining again!
 
I read a lot about eating berries and can totally understand why given their carb content.
I also read advice to avoid "tropical" fruit as it is higher in carbs. I understand this from the point of view of bananas and mangos.
However, no one mentions melons - are these "tropical"? They are grown closer to the tropics than trusty (or not so trusty of you want lower carbs) British apples and pears.
Given the high water content of melons, their carb content is very similar per 100g to strawberries. A quick google of "carbs in ..." gives the same results for honeydew melon and strawberries.

Sorry, a slight tangential thought triggered by your comment about not eating fruit bigger than a strawberry which melons certainly are (but you don't have to eat a whole melon in one go).
 
helli said:
I read a lot about eating berries and can totally understand why given their carb content.
I also read advice to avoid "tropical" fruit as it is higher in carbs. I understand this from the point of view of bananas and mangos.
However, no one mentions melons - are these "tropical"? They are grown closer to the tropics than trusty (or not so trusty of you want lower carbs) British apples and pears.
Given the high water content of melons, their carb content is very similar per 100g to strawberries. A quick google of "carbs in ..." gives the same results for honeydew melon and strawberries.

Sorry, a slight tangential thought triggered by your comment about not eating fruit bigger than a strawberry which melons certainly are (but you don't have to eat a whole melon in one go).
Click to expand...
My thoughts are that there is less fibre in a melon and therefore not so filling and the glucose will release more quickly plus they are not balanced with any acidity which also affects digestion... may be wrong.

As regards pears I think they are generally sweeter than apples and I certainly find they need quite a bit more insulin than berries unless I can find a really crunchy, under ripe one, which is actually my preference. The lack of a walk will have had a significant impact on you as well as the pear, so don't write them off until you have tested them in comparable circumstances.
 
helli said:
However, no one mentions melons - are these "tropical"? They are grown closer to the tropics than trusty (or not so trusty of you want lower carbs) British apples and pears.
Given the high water content of melons, their carb content is very similar per 100g to strawberries. A quick google of "carbs in ..." gives the same results for honeydew melon and strawberries.

Sorry, a slight tangential thought triggered by your comment about not eating fruit bigger than a strawberry which melons certainly are (but you don't have to eat a whole melon in one go).
Click to expand...
I eat tonnes (literally) of melon. Mainly honeydew because it's the lowest carb. It's my go-to breakfast these days, melon and yogurt.............yummy 😉
 
Deb_l said:
I eat tonnes (literally) of melon. Mainly honeydew because it's the lowest carb. It's my go-to breakfast these days, melon and yogurt.............yummy 😉
Click to expand...
I used to buy watermelon and cut it into 4 and eat a quarter each night which was rather excessive!
Its my favourite but BG wise I had better keep off them for now. I am being as good as I can be until a shift some more weight!
 
lordburnside said:
I used to buy watermelon and cut it into 4 and eat a quarter each night which was rather excessive!
Its my favourite but BG wise I had better keep off them for now. I am being as good as I can be until a shift some more weight!
Click to expand...
Watermelon is the highest carb of all the melons so I avoid it. Honeydew is the lowest at about 8g per 100g so technically classed as low carb.
 
Deb_l said:
Watermelon is the highest carb of all the melons so I avoid it. Honeydew is the lowest at about 8g per 100g so technically classed as low carb.
Click to expand...
This is very contrary to what you would expect and I wonder if perhaps your data may be dodgy..... just off to do some surfing....
 
I found this.....

For example, watermelon, a popular summer fruit, contains about 11 grams of carbs per 1-cup serving. Cantaloupe, another common type of melon, contains around 12 grams of carbs per 1-cup serving. Honeydew melon, known for its sweet flavor, contains about 16 grams of carbs per 1-cup serving.
 
PS I appreciate it is an American site and I hate the use of cups for anything other than liquid or powders because it depends on how finely you chop it up as to how much you get in a cup! It does suggest watermelon (edit I meant honeydew melon) has 50% more carbs than watermelon.
 
Last edited:
rebrascora said:
I found this.....

For example, watermelon, a popular summer fruit, contains about 11 grams of carbs per 1-cup serving. Cantaloupe, another common type of melon, contains around 12 grams of carbs per 1-cup serving. Honeydew melon, known for its sweet flavor, contains about 16 grams of carbs per 1-cup serving.
Click to expand...
And when using a US site, you need to subtract the amount of fiber.
 
rebrascora said:
I found this.....

For example, watermelon, a popular summer fruit, contains about 11 grams of carbs per 1-cup serving. Cantaloupe, another common type of melon, contains around 12 grams of carbs per 1-cup serving. Honeydew melon, known for its sweet flavor, contains about 16 grams of carbs per 1-cup serving.
Click to expand...
Oops, I think I might have got dodgy information from somewhere. I am just wondering now what I looked up because I love melon and wanted to make sure it was OK. I shall keep looking because I'm getting the 16g per 100g and that's a food I wouldn't normally touch with a bargepole!
 
melon.PNG
 
Even if it turns out to be 16g per 100g, I won't stop. My melon and yogurt is the highlight food of the day for me :rofl:
 
My carbs and cals says honeydew 6g carb per 80g 1g fibre, watermelon 6g carbs per 80g 0g fibre
 
The fibre/er content looks to be similar for both but searching through other sites, there does seem to be a wide range of values quoted for different varieties.
 
Who eats 100g anyway. My quarter watermelon was probably 500g which is why I stopped buying it. It is delicious chilled.
I have now given up mash, ice cream, chocolate, alcohol, watermelon, custard, bread and more. Started eating lentils and spinach. Prefer the old stuff lol.
 
lordburnside said:
Who eats 100g anyway. My quarter watermelon was probably 500g which is why I stopped buying it. It is delicious chilled.
I have now given up mash, ice cream, chocolate, alcohol, watermelon, custard, bread and more. Started eating lentils and spinach. Prefer the old stuff lol.
Click to expand...
Me too lol
 
rebrascora said:
searching through other sites, there does seem to be a wide range of values quoted for different varieties.
Click to expand...
This is a common problem with every food item, different brands/varieties all give different figures (sometimes a close similarity, sometimes less close).
Using them as a guideline is great, we just shouldn't expect great accuracy 🙂

I haven't tried casaba, but prefer I watermelon or cantaloupe to a honeydew.
 
lordburnside said:
Who eats 100g anyway. My quarter watermelon was probably 500g which is why I stopped buying it. It is delicious chilled.
I have now given up mash, ice cream, chocolate, alcohol, watermelon, custard, bread and more. Started eating lentils and spinach. Prefer the old stuff lol.
Click to expand...
not something i would have that often but yes its really nice chilled, don't like Lentils, the only thing that i don't bother with much is ice-cream.
 
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