To count or not to count...

UnikittyRocks
UnikittyRocks Posts: 30 Member
edited November 10 in Health and Weight Loss
I'm new to MFP and am on a 1200 a day plan. I actually didn't go over my limit yesterday although I didn't count the fruits and veggies I ate throughout the day. My brief time in Weight Watchers taught me that in moderation, F&V are "free."
What is the general opinion on this? Am I right or am I cheating?? :o
«1

Replies

  • blankiefinder
    blankiefinder Posts: 3,599 Member
    You have to count everything.
  • elphie754
    elphie754 Posts: 7,574 Member
    If you are going to count, you have to count EVERYTHING. That includes fruits and veggies.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    veg has calories, count it all!
  • 47Jacqueline
    47Jacqueline Posts: 6,993 Member
    Everything counts. Even eating while standing up.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    fruit and vegetables have calories and are not "free" …so yes, count everything...
  • Ooci
    Ooci Posts: 247 Member
    Yes absolutely you must count. 1200 would mean you lose, 1300 might mean you plateau (though actually I don't think 1200 or 1300 really enough for most people)

  • TimothyFish
    TimothyFish Posts: 4,925 Member
    The reason fruits and vegetables are "free" on Weight Watchers is because they are providing a big enough margin of error that you aren't likely to eat enough free stuff to go over it. If you want to do something similar here, set your daily calorie goal lower. But some people have their goal set at something like half a pound per week. For them, those free foods could prevent them from losing weight.
  • Keladelphia
    Keladelphia Posts: 820 Member
    Half of my daily calorie allotment frequently comes from fruits and veggies. Count them.
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,423 Member
    UnikittyRocks wrote: »
    I'm new to MFP and am on a 1200 a day plan. I actually didn't go over my limit yesterday although I didn't count the fruits and veggies I ate throughout the day. My brief time in Weight Watchers taught me that in moderation, F&V are "free."
    What is the general opinion on this? Am I right or am I cheating?? :o

    This is not Weight Watchers. Log everything you consume. Fruits and vegetables have calories that add up. Some fruits and vegetables are not as low calorie as you might think. A banana can be 100 calories for example.
    1200 a day is really low to start with. You might reconsider that number.
  • mymodernbabylon
    mymodernbabylon Posts: 1,038 Member
    Everything counts - but unless you have a LOT to lose and are really small and old, you probably don't need 1200 calories but a lot more. If you have less than 20 lb to lose, then put your weekly loss for 1/2 lb, for 50-20 put it at 1lb. Faster is not better.
  • TimothyFish
    TimothyFish Posts: 4,925 Member
    Lounmoun wrote: »
    UnikittyRocks wrote: »
    I'm new to MFP and am on a 1200 a day plan. I actually didn't go over my limit yesterday although I didn't count the fruits and veggies I ate throughout the day. My brief time in Weight Watchers taught me that in moderation, F&V are "free."
    What is the general opinion on this? Am I right or am I cheating?? :o

    This is not Weight Watchers. Log everything you consume. Fruits and vegetables have calories that add up. Some fruits and vegetables are not as low calorie as you might think. A banana can be 100 calories for example.
    1200 a day is really low to start with. You might reconsider that number.

    Even so, if a person were to eat 12 bananas in a day, they would probably be pretty stuffed, and that would keep them within their calorie goals.
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,151 Member
    Everything counts. How do you know if you didn't go over? One banana averages 105-135 calories.
  • KarenJanine
    KarenJanine Posts: 3,497 Member
    1200 is a pretty low calorie plan, so on this amount you can probalby afford to have some 'free' fruit and veg and still be in a deficit overall. However, it would be advisable to re-check your goals - most people can lose weight eating more than 1200 calories, and then log everything you eat/drink.
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,423 Member
    edited January 2015
    TimothyFish wrote: »
    Lounmoun wrote: »
    UnikittyRocks wrote: »
    I'm new to MFP and am on a 1200 a day plan. I actually didn't go over my limit yesterday although I didn't count the fruits and veggies I ate throughout the day. My brief time in Weight Watchers taught me that in moderation, F&V are "free."
    What is the general opinion on this? Am I right or am I cheating?? :o

    This is not Weight Watchers. Log everything you consume. Fruits and vegetables have calories that add up. Some fruits and vegetables are not as low calorie as you might think. A banana can be 100 calories for example.
    1200 a day is really low to start with. You might reconsider that number.

    Even so, if a person were to eat 12 bananas in a day, they would probably be pretty stuffed, and that would keep them within their calorie goals.

    :D The banana diet! Lol bustle.com/articles/40290-the-banana-diet-involves-eating-30-bananas-a-day-sounds-like-absolute-insanity
    My point was that some fruits and vegetables do have a good number of calories and can make a difference when you are trying not to exceed your calorie goal. If a person eats realistic meals with lots of different foods, they might underestimate what they are eating if they skip logging their fruits and vegetables.
    You can fill yourself up with bananas and lose weight of course. That isn't a very realistic scenario for many people though.
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    If you're counting calories as your approach to lose weight, you need to count all of them.
  • UnikittyRocks
    UnikittyRocks Posts: 30 Member
    Thanks for all the replies - I hadn't thought of the reason why WW could allow for the free F&V before. Makes sense.

    My goal is 20lbs, I'm not overweight according to the Dr. but close. 1200 cal is what MFP set for me with 1.5 lbs per week.

    I'll count everything from now on and revisit my calorie allotment in a few days.

    Thanks again!
  • AmandaHugginkiss
    AmandaHugginkiss Posts: 486 Member
    Weight Watchers and calorie counting are two entirely different plans. If you pick counting calories, you have to count your fruits and veggies.
  • darrensurrey
    darrensurrey Posts: 3,942 Member
    edited January 2015
    What they said!

    I don't know how WW account for it if you can eat as much fruit and veg as you want. Perhaps the typical WW customer tends to avoid such produce so it's a non-issue?

    And I suppose it would be cheating if you could get your fruit and veg to be zero calories. And I'd extend whatever cheat code to see if you could make burger and chips zero calories, too. IYSWIM. :D
  • higgins8283801
    higgins8283801 Posts: 844 Member
    UnikittyRocks wrote: »
    Thanks for all the replies - I hadn't thought of the reason why WW could allow for the free F&V before. Makes sense.

    My goal is 20lbs, I'm not overweight according to the Dr. but close. 1200 cal is what MFP set for me with 1.5 lbs per week.

    I'll count everything from now on and revisit my calorie allotment in a few days.

    Thanks again!

    If you don't have much to lose, your goal is too aggressive. I would reevaluate and shoot for half a pound a week. 1.5 pounds a week with 20 to lose, you risk losing more muscle than fat.

  • lishie_rebooted
    lishie_rebooted Posts: 2,973 Member
    TimothyFish wrote: »
    Lounmoun wrote: »
    UnikittyRocks wrote: »
    I'm new to MFP and am on a 1200 a day plan. I actually didn't go over my limit yesterday although I didn't count the fruits and veggies I ate throughout the day. My brief time in Weight Watchers taught me that in moderation, F&V are "free."
    What is the general opinion on this? Am I right or am I cheating?? :o

    This is not Weight Watchers. Log everything you consume. Fruits and vegetables have calories that add up. Some fruits and vegetables are not as low calorie as you might think. A banana can be 100 calories for example.
    1200 a day is really low to start with. You might reconsider that number.

    Even so, if a person were to eat 12 bananas in a day, they would probably be pretty stuffed, and that would keep them within their calorie goals.

    Most bananas I buy tend to weigh about 120g.
    Per USDA database, that's 107 calories.
    1284 calories in bananas.

    http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/search/list

    I wouldn't be full. At all. Granted your mileage may vary but there isn't much staying power in bananas which is why people suggest adding PB or other items with fat/protein to add in satiety.
  • WaterBunnie
    WaterBunnie Posts: 1,371 Member
    My fruit and veg amounted to 450 calories yesterday. I'd be wasting my time here if I wasn't counting them.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
    Since you are only eating 1200 a day, you should be fine not counting leafy vegetables, but other fruits and vegetables can have significant calories. Not counting a banana or a sweet potato or an avocado doesn't make much sense.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    TimothyFish wrote: »
    Lounmoun wrote: »
    UnikittyRocks wrote: »
    I'm new to MFP and am on a 1200 a day plan. I actually didn't go over my limit yesterday although I didn't count the fruits and veggies I ate throughout the day. My brief time in Weight Watchers taught me that in moderation, F&V are "free."
    What is the general opinion on this? Am I right or am I cheating?? :o

    This is not Weight Watchers. Log everything you consume. Fruits and vegetables have calories that add up. Some fruits and vegetables are not as low calorie as you might think. A banana can be 100 calories for example.
    1200 a day is really low to start with. You might reconsider that number.

    Even so, if a person were to eat 12 bananas in a day, they would probably be pretty stuffed, and that would keep them within their calorie goals.

    so that would be 1200 calories in just bananas…

    assuming they had some other stuff they could easily hit 2000 and if their calorie goal is 1500 then that would be a one pound gain per week …

  • Unknown
    Unknown
    This content has been removed.
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    This content has been removed.
  • Spocky
    Spocky Posts: 62 Member
    Thanks herrspoons!
    I just wanted to ask the average calorie value of an apple. Of course it depends on the size of the apple too.
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    ndj1979 wrote: »
    TimothyFish wrote: »
    Lounmoun wrote: »
    UnikittyRocks wrote: »
    I'm new to MFP and am on a 1200 a day plan. I actually didn't go over my limit yesterday although I didn't count the fruits and veggies I ate throughout the day. My brief time in Weight Watchers taught me that in moderation, F&V are "free."
    What is the general opinion on this? Am I right or am I cheating?? :o

    This is not Weight Watchers. Log everything you consume. Fruits and vegetables have calories that add up. Some fruits and vegetables are not as low calorie as you might think. A banana can be 100 calories for example.
    1200 a day is really low to start with. You might reconsider that number.

    Even so, if a person were to eat 12 bananas in a day, they would probably be pretty stuffed, and that would keep them within their calorie goals.

    so that would be 1200 calories in just bananas…

    assuming they had some other stuff they could easily hit 2000 and if their calorie goal is 1500 then that would be a one pound gain per week …
    Gain?
  • teecee60
    teecee60 Posts: 47 Member
    edited January 2015
    I also want to comment on your calorie goals. I struggled with this concept for a long time. I thought if you want to lose, you had to really restrict calories. Like you, I have less than 20 lbs to lose and wanted to lose 2 lbs per week. I saw a nutritionist last year and she told me 1200 calories was too low...I didn't believe her. Six weeks ago I started with a personal trainer. He told me that I should be eating 1800 calories. I thought he was nuts. Low & behold, he is right. I am eating now in the 1500 calorie range (slowly ramping up to 1800) and I am losing more steadily than I was on 1200 calories or less. Plus, I feel fantastic. This is what I call sustainable. I am never hungry and I am losing steadily.
  • jkal1979
    jkal1979 Posts: 1,896 Member
    darrensurrey wrote: »
    What they said!

    I don't know how WW account for it if you can eat as much fruit and veg as you want. Perhaps the typical WW customer tends to avoid such produce so it's a non-issue?

    And I suppose it would be cheating if you could get your fruit and veg to be zero calories. And I'd extend whatever cheat code to see if you could make burger and chips zero calories, too. IYSWIM. :D

    It is a way to encourage people to reach for those fruits and veggies instead of using up precious points on another item. It's also not a free for all where you can have as many as you want, they recommend 5-9 servings and the higher calorie items like avocados and starchy veggies you still had to count points for.

    I did WW a few years ago and double tracked on here for a month while on it. It really didn't take much fruit and veggies to hit my calorie goal on here when comparing points to calories.
  • queenliz99
    queenliz99 Posts: 15,317 Member
    UnikittyRocks wrote: »
    Thanks for all the replies - I hadn't thought of the reason why WW could allow for the free F&V before. Makes sense.

    My goal is 20lbs, I'm not overweight according to the Dr. but close. 1200 cal is what MFP set for me with 1.5 lbs per week.

    I'll count everything from now on and revisit my calorie allotment in a few days.

    Thanks again!

    Since you only have 20 pounds to lose, your logging will have to be more precise. Weighing all food(liquid or solid) and selecting the right entries from MFP is your best bet. And like others have said, .5 to 1.5 pound per week is better. Anything else is too aggressive and will likely be tougher to achieve. Best wishes!!
This discussion has been closed.

Categories