Can i really eat this and not count it?!

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  • lifeskittles
    lifeskittles Posts: 438 Member
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    Im going to be the devils advocate here and say listen to your nutritionist. That person has gone to school specifically to help you with your dietary needs. Although as helpful as everyone here could be, a lot of people are on their own journey themselves. People don't gain weight eating nutritional foods, they gain weight eating bad foods. Just be mindful and balanced. If you are eating balanced every day and working out there isn't a need to be so strict with it. Unless you are cutting for a body competition, I hardly think some ketchup and extra veggies are going to put a damper on anything... ;)
  • pinkraynedropjacki
    pinkraynedropjacki Posts: 3,027 Member
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    People don't gain weight eating nutritional foods, they gain weight eating bad foods.


    Ummmmm no. You can & will gain weight eating nothing but 'good' foods if you eat more than you burn off.
  • lynn1982
    lynn1982 Posts: 1,439 Member
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    The purpose of MFP is to log everything. If it has calories, then your body counts it, so why shouldn't you? On the other hand, I understand the mentality of "free" foods and if it works for you, then I say go for it. I make a veggie soup broth that I'll sometimes drink at night if I'm hungry. The calories are so minimal that I don't count it. I also don't log black coffee even though it's probably adding an additional 20 calories a day for me. I'll also eat sliced veggies like cucumber or celery or lettuce with a bit of lemon in the middle of the day if I'm feeling hungry but it's not time for me to eat one of my planned meals or snacks. I'm sure I'll be berated for saying this, but sometimes counting calories can get overwhelming. If you think about minimal calorie foods as "free" and then munch on those rather than things like potato chips or cookies, then I don't see the harm. (I'm not saying don't have chips or cookies - if you fit them into your calories and don't feel gross after eating them, then go for it. If I munch on "free" foods, which I understand are not actually free, then I won't be munching on junk.) Condiments like ketchup, I would probably log - there's sugar in that.
  • Alwayssohungry
    Alwayssohungry Posts: 369 Member
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    Go into settings and make a section called Free Foods and log them there. You can see how they effect your weight loss and easily add or subtract them from your daily total.
  • lifeskittles
    lifeskittles Posts: 438 Member
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    "Ummmmm no. You can & will gain weight eating nothing but 'good' foods if you eat more than you burn off. "

    If you bothered to read the rest of my post I said eat mindful and balanced. Instead of snapping back with a snarky reply to one sentence of my post, you'd realize the two statements go hand in hand. Oh and I have yet to meet anyone who eats too many "good foods" continuously and gains fat by accident. If you fulfill your nutritional needs, your body isn't going to to keep reaching for healthy food for no reason. The only reason some people might eat beyond what their body needs is if their ghrelin production hasn't stabilized to accommodate their new weight yet. Meaning, there is a lapse between your fat loss and your body recognizing this fat loss.
  • BrianSharpe
    BrianSharpe Posts: 9,248 Member
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    The only reason some people might eat beyond what their body needs is if their ghrelin production hasn't stabilized to accommodate their new weight yet.

    The only reason?
  • lifeskittles
    lifeskittles Posts: 438 Member
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    The only reason some people might eat beyond what their body needs is if their ghrelin production hasn't stabilized to accommodate their new weight yet.

    The only reason?

    The MAIN reason. Better? I'm talking about your average person.
  • JeremiahStone
    JeremiahStone Posts: 682 Member
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    20cals is till 20cals, and it adds up, id count it!
  • some_like_it_hott
    some_like_it_hott Posts: 5
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    I too count everything. I feel like it keeps me accountable for my actions. Then again, I am the type of person who is drawn to the word free, so if i had a free food, like carrots or something, I would probably consume an entire bag, and the calories would add up.

    Logging everything helps, especially once you have hit a plateu, because then you have tweeking room.
  • MinnieInMaine
    MinnieInMaine Posts: 6,400 Member
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    I'll be honest and say there are things that I skip counting. Like the handful of lettuce on my sandwich and the squirt of ketchup and mustard on my hotdog and the splash of unsweetened almond/coconut milk in my coffee. On the other end I do things like housework and walking up and down stairs several times a day that probably burn 50 calories or more a day to use up these stray calories.

    But I'm still very conscious of the servings I injest and will count if there's enough used. I'll log that same unsweetened almond/coconut milk if I use more than 1/2 a cup like when I add it to a bowl of cereal. And I would include a half cup or more of ketchup if it was in a recipe (like meatloaf) on the recipe builder.

    OP, I would be curious to know if your nutritionist has you at a low daily calorie goal. If so, these little things probably wouldn't make much of a difference either way. This is how WW makes it work - they set their members at lower calorie goals so a few "free" fruits or veg still technically leave enough of a calorie deficit to allow for weight loss.
  • BrianSharpe
    BrianSharpe Posts: 9,248 Member
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    The only reason some people might eat beyond what their body needs is if their ghrelin production hasn't stabilized to accommodate their new weight yet.

    The only reason?

    The MAIN reason. Better? I'm talking about your average person.

    Better but a more accurate statement would be that "It is hypothesized that one of the reasons......" To ascribe behaviour to being nothing more than a (in this case specific) hormonal response gives lie to the complexity of humans and our behaviour.
  • jennifershoo
    jennifershoo Posts: 3,198 Member
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    3v0uj8.jpg

    :laugh:
  • lifeskittles
    lifeskittles Posts: 438 Member
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    Well currently its a proven science being taught to your doctors and nurses in their anatomy and physiology classes. If you are coming from a psychological standpoint than no doubt there are exceptions with the way people can associate with food, but all in all the main aspect of hunger that impacts overall relations to food is based on Ghrelin.
    The only reason some people might eat beyond what their body needs is if their ghrelin production hasn't stabilized to accommodate their new weight yet.

    The only reason?

    The MAIN reason. Better? I'm talking about your average person.

    Better but a more accurate statement would be that "It is hypothesized that one of the reasons......" To ascribe behaviour to being nothing more than a (in this case specific) hormonal response gives lie to the complexity of humans and our behaviour.

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