Do you add raw fruits to your calorie count?

SabrinaLovesPandora

I'm confused if I should be adding the raw fruits/veggies to my daily food count.

I know fruits have sugar, but aren't they the good sugars?

So do I NEED to count them?

IDK, I might just be looking for an excuse to snack and if I replace my snacks with fruits and veggies it might be better.

elphie754

Of course you should. They have calories don't they? If you are counting calories you need to count ALL calories.

scrapbookingtm

Of course. Doesn't matter if you consider it good or bad, if it has calories, you need to count it.

Mycophilia

Does it contain calories?

If the answer is yes, then no matter what it is, you should log it.

Machka9

Yes ... if you're counting calories, you need to count fruit. Fruit can be quite high in calories.

A banana, for example, might be 100 calories. If you're going for a 1200 calorie limit, that's 1/12 of your total.

Some fruit is lower, but I was actually a bit surprised how high pears are.

Veggies tend to be lower in calories, but they still have calories.


Before I started here, I was eating a lot of fruit rather than other snacks. When I started here and started tracking how many calories were in all that fruit, I cut back a bit.

LiftAllThePizzas

Fruits have enough calories to make a difference, so yep you need to count them.

You can still replace other snacks with fruit, they tend to be more filling for longer periods of time compared to stuff like chips or candy.

Phoenix_Down

Count everything.

slucki01

Everything you eat counts and fruits and veggies, although good choices, still have calories.

arditarose

I've been seeing so many threads like this lately. Yes, fruits have calories. Weigh them on a food scale and log.

carolynmo1969

I record everything. Today for example, I am over my daily sugar limit and I've had only fruit.

ForeverSunshine09

Yeah my lunch was a banana and it was 111cals all by its lonesome.

PeachyCarol

Today I ate 143 calories worth of raw veggies and fruit. With a calorie goal of only 1240, that's over 10% of my total intake. It would have been a significant portion of my calories had I not logged it and really eaten into my deficit had I eaten that many additional calories because I still thought I had calories left to consume.

Log EVERYTHING.

lisawinning4losing

Some people say that it's ok not to count veggies. Weight Watchers lets you eat veggies for "free". I do count veggies, but I'm pretty lax when it comes to measuring them out exactly, because they're just veggies. But fruit you should absolutely count because fruit is quite high in calories and sugar.

amusedmonkey

Look at it this way.. if you have 3 snacks a day: a banana, an apple, and an orange. That's roughly 100 calories each and 300 calories you aren't counting. If your deficit is 500 calories and you expect to lose a pound a week you will end up losing less than half a pound (or hardly any weight if you eat more fruits than that). If your deficit it 250 you will actually gain weight if you fail to account for calories from fruits!

You count foods not because they have sugar, you count them because they have calories. Natural or not, if you eat more calories than you burn you will end up gaining weight.

CooCooPuff

If I didn't count my fruits and veggies for today, I'd have 310 calories unaccounted for.

Merkavar

I think I have seen this question a few times now.

Do you think they are former weight watchers? They don't allocate points to fruit and veggies do they?

Seems odd question to me. Imagine counting anything but deciding not to count specific things.

How many people are on the bus?
20, so we can fit 6 more on.
Yeah 20 but I didn't count the 5 people with red hair.

SabrinaLovesPandora

Oh goodness! This is difficult, haha!

I'm one of those people who grazes on snacks in between meals all day long, so this transition is a little difficult for me.

I'm definitely going to continue counting them then. I can't say I'm not a bit bummed though.

SabrinaLovesPandora

Merkavar wrote: »

I think I have seen this question a few times now.

Do you think they are former weight watchers? They don't allocate points to fruit and veggies do they?

Seems odd question to me. Imagine counting anything but deciding not to count specific things.

How many people are on the bus?
20, so we can fit 6 more on.
Yeah 20 but I didn't count the 5 people with red hair.

I don't really know if this is a Weight Watchers thing. This is my first time trying to diet.

arditarose

SabrinaLovesPandora wrote: »

Oh goodness! This is difficult, haha!

I'm one of those people who grazes on snacks in between meals all day long, so this transition is a little difficult for me.

I'm definitely going to continue counting them then. I can't say I'm not a bit bummed though.

I snack too. You just have to log them!

ILiftHeavyAcrylics

My morning smoothie has 300 calories. 100 of that is greek yogurt and milk, and the other 200 is fruit/veggies. If you add in the veggies from the rest of my day we're probably talking about at least 400-500 calories today, which would wipe out the average person's deficit (assuming they're trying to lose 1 lb per week).

SarahECSpragg831

Yeah, you have to count everything. I feel like such an anti-social person at parties when I'm going on my phone periodically to keep things up dated, but everything counts. (Do I stress over every chip and bit of hummus no, do I try to account for it yes and usually over count on purpose)

Phoenix_Down

SabrinaLovesPandora wrote: »

Oh goodness! This is difficult, haha!

I'm one of those people who grazes on snacks in between meals all day long, so this transition is a little difficult for me.

I'm definitely going to continue counting them then. I can't say I'm not a bit bummed though.

Can you prepare them the night before in baggies or containers? I usually prepare everything for the week at the beginning (okay not meals but I at least chop up veggies and fruits). That way when I get them out, I put a bowl or plate on my food scale, zero it out and then put my stuff on individually and add that to my diary.

Sometimes, with meals, I actually write them down on a piece of paper handy until I can go to the recipe builder

On that note, I had a little over 400 calories today of just fruit and veggies.

urloved33

yes

ILiftHeavyAcrylics

Merkavar wrote: »

I think I have seen this question a few times now.

Do you think they are former weight watchers? They don't allocate points to fruit and veggies do they?

Seems odd question to me. Imagine counting anything but deciding not to count specific things.

How many people are on the bus?
20, so we can fit 6 more on.
Yeah 20 but I didn't count the 5 people with red hair.

It's a weight watchers thing, but to compensate for it they give everyone a super low goal (I think I've read it's like 1000 calories per day if you convert the points into calories).

Merkavar

SabrinaLovesPandora wrote: »

Merkavar wrote: »

I think I have seen this question a few times now.

Do you think they are former weight watchers? They don't allocate points to fruit and veggies do they?

Seems odd question to me. Imagine counting anything but deciding not to count specific things.

How many people are on the bus?
20, so we can fit 6 more on.
Yeah 20 but I didn't count the 5 people with red hair.

I don't really know if this is a Weight Watchers thing. This is my first time trying to diet.

SabrinaLovesPandora wrote: »

Merkavar wrote: »

I think I have seen this question a few times now.

Do you think they are former weight watchers? They don't allocate points to fruit and veggies do they?

Seems odd question to me. Imagine counting anything but deciding not to count specific things.

How many people are on the bus?
20, so we can fit 6 more on.
Yeah 20 but I didn't count the 5 people with red hair.

I don't really know if this is a Weight Watchers thing. This is my first time trying to diet.

Yeah count everything. Maybe not chewing gum and things like that. Pretty sure they are like zero for everything except for like 2 cal.

But definitely fruit and veg and lollies and meat and bread etc

flomic

SabrinaLovesPandora wrote: »

Oh goodness! This is difficult, haha!

I'm one of those people who grazes on snacks in between meals all day long, so this transition is a little difficult for me.

I'm definitely going to continue counting them then. I can't say I'm not a bit bummed though.

Know the feeling. Hang in there! Grabbing a cell phone app really helped me log the little stuff...

D_squareG

elphie754 wrote: »

Of course you should. They have calories don't they? If you are counting calories you need to count ALL calories.

Agree. You know this.

SabrinaLovesPandora

Another question?

(I'm vegetarian btw)

What should I eat to not feel so hungry in between meals?

D_squareG

fat and protein

elphie754

SabrinaLovesPandora wrote: »

Another question?

(I'm vegetarian btw)

What should I eat to not feel so hungry in between meals?

Find protein packed snacks (at least that is what keep me full). Do you eat cheese? Cheese and apples as a snack really help me stay full.

ILiftHeavyAcrylics

SabrinaLovesPandora wrote: »

Another question?

(I'm vegetarian btw)

What should I eat to not feel so hungry in between meals?

Can you open your diary? Or give us a run down of what you're eating now.

Without that-- make sure you're loading up on fat/protein. Do you eat any dairy or eggs at all? Fiber also helps some people. So think beans, nuts, legumes, etc.