o calorie per serving foods-do you track them? and if so how?

Tatarataa

I eat a lot of 0 calorie per serving foods like pickles, traditional shirataki noodles, walden farms products etc. and now I heard they can have up to 5 calories per serving so I was wondering whether I should not track them and if so should I track 1 serving as 5 calories? What do you think-does anyone have a similar problem?

arditarose

Those foods don't have zero calories.

ndj1979

ummm those foods all have calories….

whoops...

SexyKatherine73

if you eat one serving only I would not log it, but if your eating many servings of so called ZERO calorie foods, you would have to as they all do add up ... eg you ate say 2 servers of traditional shirataki noodles and a pickle they have calories.

aaliceinw

Why do you believe they have 0 calories? Noodles are usually made of wheat or rice, both have calorific and nutritional values.

diannethegeek

Personally, I eat some of them and don't track them, but it's not enough to hinder my results. If my results weren't what I was hoping for I would probably take a look at them and start tracking them. Really, this is one of those things that probably depends on the person and how many of the zero calorie foods you eat.

Alatariel75

The only reason they have "0" calories is the FDA says that if a "serving" (no matter how small that serving is) is less than 5 calories, they can round down to 0 on the label. So yup, they have calories, and if you're eating a lot of them, you're probably better off logging 5 cals a serve.

ndj1979

the only zero calorie "food" is air and water

macgurlnet

If you eat just one pickle, I might not bother. But you say you eat a lot....you need to log them.

~Lyssa

myfatass78

Track them. They may have important vitamins and minerals etc

christopherlee147

Track everything that you eat, there's no reason not to. If you have a jar of pickles for example, I'm sure there are some calories listed per serving no matter how few there are. Furthermore, foods like pickles may be very low in calories but they tend to be very high in sodium. I would err on the side of caution if you're trying to loose weight.

ForeverSunshine09

I track some sauces and spices that say they have zero cals because I watch my sodium because of my kidneys. It helps me figure out for next time what is a good combo and what isnt.

MelodyandBarbells

It's the point of diminishing returns for me. I don't track things like sugar free gum, diet soda, etc. At max 5 calories per serving, even if I had 20 per day it still wouldn't be a biggie for me

I did recently find an entry for mustard that was by the cup and so it had more calories. This was because I was doing a honey mustard recipe and using large quantities of the stuff. At that point, the calories can really add up!

In short, tracking low calorie items is an individual decision and you'll need to figure out what's best for you and your sanity

Tubbs216

JaneiR36 wrote: »

It's the point of diminishing returns for me. I don't track things like sugar free gum, diet soda, etc. At max 5 calories per serving, even if I had 20 per day it still wouldn't be a biggie for me

I wonder whether it's circular logic: I ingest a pickle (0.5 calorie). I log the pickle, thus expending the 0.5 calories in keystrokes. Therefore, what's the point in logging.

MelodyandBarbells

Tubbs216 wrote: »

JaneiR36 wrote: »

It's the point of diminishing returns for me. I don't track things like sugar free gum, diet soda, etc. At max 5 calories per serving, even if I had 20 per day it still wouldn't be a biggie for me

I wonder whether it's circular logic: I ingest a pickle (0.5 calorie). I log the pickle, thus expending the 0.5 calories in keystrokes. Therefore, what's the point in logging.

LOL

More like, let's figure out my 750 calorie cheeseburgers 370 calorie mini snickers blizzard and 1000 calorie overages. Then we can worry about the 5 calorie gum. It's worked so far

Merkavar

I track most things but if it's a matter of 10-30kj then I generally don't.

Things like chewing gum or coke zero where you would have to eat a fair bit to get the KJ to add up.

I think both chewing gum and come have like 6kj per serving. Say I drink 2L of coke what's that 50kj, hardly worth tracking, especially since I don't drink 2liters.

marjikaparji

I log everything just in case. Plus other things still come into effet like sodium levels and those would still show. I think it's better to do a complete log if you are going to take the time to log at all!

megandhight

Nope I don't log them. I usually end up over 1000 cals under weekly deficit so I don't see the point in logging them.

Liftng4Lis

I log everything, including gum.

runnrchic

I log any and all drinks except water. I like to see how many non water drinks I'm consuming in case I feel like I should cut back. I never logged gum but I quit chewing it because it just made me hungry quicker. Most definitely pickles. If I log cucumbers, I log pickles. Also lettuce, kale, etc. It all adds up to nutritional value and/or sodium.

Tatarataa

Many thanks for all your helpful answers!

andi_FP

This discussion just made me realize I have been eating mints (one or two every few days) without logging it. Considering how meticulous I am on measuring every little thing, I can't believe that I didn't even think about my mints.

malibu927

I track my can of diet soda every evening (even though I don't track my water) just to remain accountable.

dramaqueen45

So far not logging vegetables hasn't hindered my progress. I looked some up yesterday and I believe a cup of mushrooms has like 21 calories. If I eat one or two sliced mushrooms on my wrap that's maybe 5 or less calories. I'm with whoever said that it takes more time and energy to log something like that than it's worth. If my weight loss slows down a lot (i.e., when I'm close to my goal) I will probably log every single thing, but for now it doesn't make much difference. Also now I'm not really tracking my macros- that may change too.

justsayinisall

[quote="it takes more time and energy to log something like that than it's worth. [/quote]

We can track the logging as exercise then! Surely that would be negative calories lol

kindrabbit

I don't think I could sleep at night knowing I had eaten something and not logged it. The coffee I drink is 2 calories. Spinach in my salad is 3 calories. I log every single thing.

ArkMom35

I log everything. For me 20 or so calories a day of "zero calorie" foods won't change much because I always have calories leftover from exercise, but I like to be accountable.

81Katz

I log everything. Zero calorie diet pop, gum, hard candies (Sugar Free and regular) My reg. Werther's has 23 calories a piece! Gum has 5 calories. I often chew multiple pieces a day. I log greens like spinach and lettuce(s).

It works for me.

Jgasmic

I never even thought about logging gum!

RoxieDawn

Even some vitamins have calories. Everything we chew and swallow has an impact on our bodies one way or the other (rather it is used as energy or not).

However, I do log everything (sugar substitutes, 0 calorie sodas, sugar free gum and mints, cough syrup, and even my vitamins). I have a small window and 5 calories here and there can add up to 100+ calories easy.

Why wouldn't you want to track everything you consume if you are actually participating in a food journal... That's what its for...

ruthordare

I'm not tracking macros or anything, just straight up calories. So no, I don't log things like this. Somehow, it makes me feel like I'm more in control, and not letting calorie-counting control me fully. (I play a lot of mind games with myself.) I don't log gum, coke zero, pickles, if I add some spinach to a wrap or whatever (although if my veggie serving is more sizable, I do log it)- even the creamer I add to my evening decaff coffee (which I only have a couple times a week, my daily morning coffee I drink black). However, I don't eat back exercise calories, so I think that's what saves me. Anything roughly 15 calories or less, I don't log, generally speaking. I'm fully aware that once I'm closer to my goal I'll have to get stricter about this stuff, but for now it's working well for me. (I've lost 17.6 pounds, with 32.4 to go.) I think it just depends where you are in your journey, what you're hoping to accomplish, and how your mind works.