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MyFitnessPal Community

VEGETABLE CALORIE HELP???

ltbl1988

so vegetables are really good for you. And its like the one thing that you can eat as much as you want and not kill your body in the process....their generally very low in calories...except for avocados i found out!! So in your calculations do you put all the vegetables you eat too? i cant see veggies hindering weight loss?!! ive been putting everything i eat in the salad in my diary, but is veggies really worth calculating? input? advice? just curious

Replies

Branstin

It's about calories and not veggies. If you go over your calories maintenance level with veggies then you will gain weight. You have to reduce the amount of calories your body needs to maintain your current weight in order to lose weight.

diannethegeek

I include all of my fruits and veggies. But I'm also tracking macros and my micronutrients, so I'd be missing information if I skipped my veggies.

jkwolly

Branstin wrote: »

It's about calories and not veggies. If you go over your calories maintenance level with veggies then you will gain weight. You have to reduce the amount of calories your body needs to maintain your current weight in order to lose weight.

Ding ding ding!

And yes, track every single thing that goes into your mouth.

Laurend224

Log everything. Vegetables absolutely will hinder weight loss if you are eating a surplus of calories.

Kat_Winchester

Yup, calories in calories out BUT you gotta remember, an entire head of romain lettuce only has 100 calories. In one salad I usualy only use 1/3 or a half of a head at the most. My point is, its really hard to go over with calories if your loading up on veggies ( with the exception of Avocado's and such)

I say load up on all the veggies you can eat, because of the fiber in them they will fill you up, AKA you wont have room for desert

Christine_72

I track them, for the calorie count but mostly for the macros, specifically fibre. I could probably eat 100 lebanese cucumbers and still be under my tdee.

quinwannet

If you're using dip and stuff I'd track. You might as well track everything but if you forget it's no big deal. Your body usually burns more calories digesting vegetables then you get from consuming them.

ltbl1988

thanks

BarbieAS

I log everything, including vegetables. However, with most vegetables (non-starchy non-avocado ones) I might allow myself to eyeball the portion rather than weighing them. But they still get logged. I typically eat maybe 60-70 calories in non-starchy veggies per day, plus another 100 or so in fruit, so that adds up.

MelodyandBarbells

ltbl1988 wrote: »

so vegetables are really good for you. And its like the one thing that you can eat as much as you want and not kill your body in the process....their generally very low in calories...except for avocados i found out!! So in your calculations do you put all the vegetables you eat too? i cant see veggies hindering weight loss?!! ive been putting everything i eat in the salad in my diary, but is veggies really worth calculating? input? advice? just curious

Salads can be tough! I try to estimate the things I get in my work salads. The main calorific items are chunks of meat, boiled egg, any cheeses, and of course the dressing. I've thought about better accuracy on the salad calories and decided that my assortment of vegetables, extra colorful plate and abundance of micronutrients was more important than that. So I have a day where I've tried to break it down (try to over estimate a bit) and just copy it whenever I have the salad. The only thing I might do is buy my own mayonaise so I can add and weigh it at my desk

SoDamnHungry

I log them. While they generally aren't high in calories, some are a bit higher than others and everything adds up. Not to mention it's nice to see the fiber and look back at how many vegetables you've been consuming

Numberwang22

I eat a lot of veggies to fill me up. I'm a bit slack logging leafy veg, but cauliflower, roots etc you'd probably want to log.

bwogilvie

You can definitely wipe out your calorie deficit, and thus stall your weight loss, and even gain, with vegetables. It wouldn't be easy, but it can be done.

On the other hand, I figure that with logging most veggies, it's OK to be in the ballpark. If I log 3 medium carrots (75 calories), and the carrots actually have 80 calories, I'm not too worried about the difference. I figure that, at best, my logging is only 90% accurate.

SnuggleSmacks

ltbl1988 wrote: »

so vegetables are really good for you. And its like the one thing that you can eat as much as you want and not kill your body in the process....their generally very low in calories...except for avocados i found out!! So in your calculations do you put all the vegetables you eat too? i cant see veggies hindering weight loss?!! ive been putting everything i eat in the salad in my diary, but is veggies really worth calculating? input? advice? just curious

Avocado is a fruit, not a vegetable. It's full of healthy fats, and smooth, creamy texture, and lots of delicious flavor. Well worth making room in your calories.

But as far as the rest of the veggie world, definitely weigh and log your veggies. Starchy veggies like potatoes can pack a lot of calories. Sweet veggies like carrots and winter squash are fairly low in calories per serving, but if you eat a plateful, that's more than a serving. You can end up with an extra hundred or two of calories by the end of the day, and if you have a small deficit, you could wipe it out. If you add butter or oil to your veggies, or cheese, or any seasoning with extra calories, then you've compounded the problem and can end up overeating.

psmd

I do add everything including vegetables, though lately I have been estimating. The calories are so low for raw lettuce, cabbage, etc. that it probably doesn't make a huge difference. I definitely weigh avocado. I used to eat a whole avocado but now I am okay eating just part of one and saving the rest for later.

The one thing about veggies though, is how you prepare them, raw is best, or steamed for the least calories; if you're adding oil or butter as PP stated, your calories will add up. I do like roasting some vegetables in olive oil, but then you want to measure how much oil you use.

lemurcat12

Don't think of this as logging foods that are bad for you or bad for weight loss. That's not a good way to think of food or this process. Think of it as trying to understand your diet, the calories you are eating, and the calories you need to eat to maintain. Further, it's a diary to see what things make you feel better and worse and what you are doing well and can improve. Given all that, include everything.

I love logging veggies, because I can see I'm getting an adequate number of servings and variety and it makes me feel like I understand my overall diet. I also like logging chocolate or whatever else I eat--it's knowledge.

simplydelish2

Eat whatever you want - veggies included. Just count the calories and have a deficit if you want to lose weight. BTW, avocados are a fruit.

ajcamber

If you bite it, you write it.

segacs

Log ALL your veggies.

Also, avocado is technically a fruit. Log your fruits too.

Just log everything. Calories are calories, regardless of whether you get them from fruits, veggies, meats or sweets. Log them all, track them all, stay under your goal and you'll do fine.

gamerguy123

I do log my veggies, even though most tend to be low in calories. Especially mine since I don't dip them in anything and eat them raw (maybe just boiled in plain water). I understand, they are low in calories so why log, but on the other hand, which I tend to look at it, is why NOT log them. The downside is only that it takes a bit more time.

Caution with fruit, it can be much higher in calories.

I log both but fruit to me is especially important.

liftingandlipstick

I do log my veggies, because many of them can add up. Corn, sweet peas and carrots, for example, can set you back a fair bit if you have a lot of them. If you eat a big bowl of peas, it's easily 200 calories. So I do log them. My only exception is lettuce on my hamburger, or if I make a big and widely varied salad, I may combine some things- 1 cup of spinach plus 2 cups of lettuce all gets logged as lettuce. I'm okay with the very slight variation in calories that will come from either of those.

sympha01

ltbl1988 wrote: »

i cant see veggies hindering weight loss?!!

Eating too many calories of any food will hinder weight loss. Just because a food is
"healthy" doesn't mean it won't make you fat if you eat too much of it or if eating it makes you go over your calorie balance.

Both "healthy" and "unhealthy" foods have calories. If you're counting calories to lose weight, then you should count all your foods that have calories. Choosing to be blind to the calories of a "healthy" but calorific food is a terrible idea.

Eat the avocados by all means. Just count them in your calorie budget.

dawnna76

i eat a ton of veggies most days if i didnt count them i would be over by hundreds! count everything, there is no free food.

avskk

I log them because I eat a LOT of them. I don't log things like a single paper-thin slice of onion or tomato on a sandwich, and I eyeball raw leafy greens -- I use a little more than a cup (AKA a giant handful) of leafy greens for my lunch salads and always just log it as 50g spinach. And like someone upthread said, if I mix leafy greens I just log it all as spinach so, for example, right now I'm going through a tub of spinach/arugula blend and still just logging Spinach - raw - 50g. I also tend to estimate my broccoli and cauliflower blends; I eat a lot of them for dinner and, while I logged by weight at first, I'm now so familiar with the serving size that I feel comfortable eyeballing it. But I do log it all in some fashion, and for items other than leafy greens and broccoli/cauliflower, I log the same way as anything else: by weight.

candywestre

In my opinion, if you are over by 50 calories and those calories are vegetables, why sweat it? This helps you digest, etc. And why not just trade other food for veg if you are concerned?

janejellyroll

candywestre wrote: »

In my opinion, if you are over by 50 calories and those calories are vegetables, why sweat it? This helps you digest, etc. And why not just trade other food for veg if you are concerned?

FYI, this thread is over two years old.

kenyonhaff

Veggies are good for you. But they are not zero calories. And MFP is all about the calories.

Also there are some veggies surprisingly high calorie....I have to be real careful about lima beans...yes I love them....healthy as heck but quite a bit of calories in them!

GrandOccultistt

Log it all, if you are strictly counting calories, i often cant have some of the sweeter, tastier veggies like Corn, Peas, Carrot etc, as they are healthy, but higher on calories than some of the more bland veggies. You have to find a balance.

That being said, if all you were eating is veggies, you could eat much more of those than you could other foods.

HeidiCooksSupper

quinwannet wrote: »

If you're using dip and stuff I'd track. You might as well track everything but if you forget it's no big deal. Your body usually burns more calories digesting vegetables then you get from consuming them.

This is an old myth. There is no veggie that takes more energy to chew and digest than it provides.

Count the veggies to help you celebrate eating more of them and more overall. For weight, 100 extra calories is 100 extra calories whether it's carrots or Milky Way. Difference is, carrots are loaded with micronutrients and fiber and you have to eat a lot of them (about 4 medium-sized carrots) to hit 100 calories whereas a Milky Way candy bar lacks nutrients, and you only get to eat about 4/10s of one to get 100 calories.

AnnPT77

I eat hundreds of calories of veggies most days, even without hitting the avocados. Why would I not log them?!?!!??