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

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.

kaitlinrt

I log almost everything, even 'no' calorie items such as pickles, gum, etc. While a calorie deficit is my first priority, I want to do so while maintaining a healthy sodium intake and proper vitamin intake. Therefore, I count it all.

Angierae75

Since I'm only cutting 1# a week, and often have calories left on the table, I don't log a lot of things - like lettuce and whatnot in my salad. If I were cutting things a lot closer (say I only had a little bit to lose and was only cutting 250 calories a day) I would, but so far it hasn't hindered me. Pickles I'd track for the sodium, though

Dragn77

I log everything I eat and drink on here...except for water, I use a different app to log that. Not only are calories important to me, but also my sodium intake...not for health reasons, more so, just to keep track. Its usually the explanation to why I am gaining / not losing weight, and I know then to drink more water when my sodium intake is high to avoid that.

Anyway, yeah, I log everything, even my tea even though it is 0 all across the board in everything. For me, its a matter of developing a routine and habit to log. If I only track some times, then it will be too easy for me to let things I definitely should track slide between the cracks.

Plus, even though Im not focused on my micros ...macros?! LoL obviously not...at this point, at some point I might be. And I think it would be good to have a legit log of how Ive been eating to know what changes need to be made to how I eat. Just because its not my priority now, doesnt mean it wont be at some point when this data would be useful to have.

CrabNebula

I didn't think about logging zero calorie things like Splenda until I found out Splenda actually had 3 cals a packet and I was using like 10 a day for coffee and oatmeal. I switched to Truvia which has a whopping .2 calories a packet and don't bother logging it.

arditarose

I log my cholula hot sauce. It says it has 0 calories but I find it hard to believe. Regardless, there's tons of sodium in it.

jonrenly

Dont feel like you're doing something wrong if you're not logging <5 calorie foods. jesus christ. when it gets to the point where you're obsessing over a single calorie thats reaching an unhealthy relationship with food. Take this from someone who has suffered with an ED for years and still does, its a living hell when you waste your life worrying about whether you ate an extra half dozen calories or not.

Sassy_xo

From someone who is currently in nursing school and is taking a required nutrition course, there is NO SUCH THING as a zero calorie food. The only thing with zero calories is water. Pickles actually do have a significant amount of calories depending on the type, and they have a very high sodium content which causes bloating and is not great for you. The Walden Farms products are basically chemical soup, and they have been called out for not being entirely truthful on their labels as far as calorie content. Read the ingredients list on one of those bad boys, and I can promise you you won't recognize anything on there. Why would you want to put that in your body? It is much better for you to have a normal sized portion of the real thing, and track that into your daily calorie amount vs. throwing off your body with weird chemical items that you don't even know the nutrition info or contents of.

That being said, I am not perfect either. I use Stevia, which while it is a natural zero calorie sweetener, I'm sure it's still not great for you. But I still log it all. Even though it is zero calories, it is still something I put in my body and consumed that day, so I track it. I even track water and vitamins. That's the whole purpose of keeping a food journal, is to make you aware of what all you really are consuming in a day, so I'd say yes...if you are choosing to consume those things, definitely track them!

crazyjerseygirl

I'll track 0kcal items if I'm eating/drinking a lot. I try to log either way to keep track of Na too

jonrenly

Sassy_xo wrote: »

The Walden Farms products are basically chemical soup, and they have been called out for not being entirely truthful on their labels as far as calorie content. Read the ingredients list on one of those bad boys, and I can promise you you won't recognize anything on there.

This isn't surprising, though. They seem a little suspicious. I've only tried one of their products, but it was kind of gross and I could never figure out if it was vegan or not because the ingredient list was in some made up language, I swear. I'm wary of that entire brand.

CooCooPuff

I track my diet sodas just to keep the sodium count as accurate as I can.

The only thing I don't really log is plain water.