Don't count salad

jen_zz

I track everything, but maybe not celery,since I won't ever have more than one bite of it since I hate it so much!:laugh:

ELEANOR43da

I stay on track and keep the discipline when I count all calories I eat. A calorie is a calorie no matter where it comes from.

nikkohli

I estimate on lettuce only. 2.5 cups is 15 cals so even if I double that it, it isn't anything that is going to crush my efforts. I do track/weigh/measure everything else.

rml_16

I count fruit and vegetables, but have never counted salad ingredients, i.e. lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, celery. Works for me. Anyone else do the same?

I count them, but really it's so few from those specific ingredients, you probably aren't hurting yourself.

I don't know how close to goal you are, but if you plateau, you may want to start counting those calories.

SmallestGoal

I didn't count salad for many years. I still just estimate on the iceberg lettuce, but boy do I count dressing now! I thought, because I was eating fat free Italian, that it was what, 15 calories? No big deal!

N O P E

There's apparently a big difference between how much dressing I put on when I'm measuring it out with a tablespoon, and how much I put on if I just pour. Checked one day by weight, and it turns out, on a dinner-sized salad, I'd put 3+ servings of dressing on there. Sometimes twice a day, so ~90 cals I was totally ignoring. Oops!

darrensurrey

These bunnies don't count their salad:


This squirrel logs his nuts:

Some of those bunnies are pretty chubby...

Exactly. Don't follow the bunnies' mistake of not counting salad!

kathymhardy

I am guessing OP is not worried about tracking things like fiber and micronutrients, either. If I didn't track the salad, I'd be 14 g off on my fiber count for the day. And I tend to like to know how much fiber I'm eating. Then there's iron, vitamins, and everything else I like to keep track of.

I have never tracked the macros, just glancing at them from time to time. Too much science for me, I'm afraid. Calories in and calories out are what matters to me. I can't be doing with obsessing about vitamins and everything like that. I think my diet is varied enough and I am healthy (touching lots of wood

Let's clarify that when I say I don't count salad, I ONLY mean lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes, cress and celery. If I had dressing, mayo, avocado, nuts, etc. etc. of course I count.

kathymhardy

These bunnies don't count their salad:


This squirrel logs his nuts:

But the bunnies look happier, lol :laugh:

kayemmgee5

I could everything, even salads & toppings.

obrientp

I'm a bit of a slacker. I measure and log the dressing and things like olives, tomatoes, carrots, beets, and garbanzos, but I don't normally log the lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower and cucumbers. I usually try to leave a little bit of deficit everyday, anyway. Haven't had any problems doing it this way yet.

lyndausvi

I count everything. Some of my salads are up to 400 calories.

If you are going to count nuts and dressing I don't find counting lettuce and tomatoes to be that much of a hassle.

That said, do what works for you.

phatguerilla

I have found it hard to bring myself around to logging things like greens but I think I need to start getting stricter in this regard. However people who are saying they make 500 calorie salads are surely including more than just lettuce and tomato and I don't think the op was suggesting that dressing or cheese become 'free' once they are in contact with lettuce.

kathymhardy

I have found it hard to bring myself around to logging things like greens but I think I need to start getting stricter in this regard. However people who are saying they make 500 calorie salads are surely including more than just lettuce and tomato and I don't think the op was suggesting that dressing or cheese become 'free' once they are in contact with lettuce.

Thank you - finally someone sees what I was trying to convey

pluckabee

when I have a salad I just log some amount of lettuce and dont bother weighing and counting things like leaves, celery and cucumber. It just has so little calories that an estimation is fine. Of course I log the cheese, nuts and dressing though, no one was suggesting not doing that.

I do look everything up before I choose not to log it though, some things can be surprising so it's always worth checking first.

kelseyjane1105

Am I the only one who counts my salads less for the calories and more for the visual pat on the back of "yay I managed to eat a salad"????

Dang. Nerd alert.

yaseyuku

I don't think the op was suggesting that dressing or cheese become 'free' once they are in contact with lettuce.

I wish that all foods became 'free' when in contact with lettuce.

The_Enginerd

I track everything, but I am tracking micro nutrients as well. Plus calories from carrots, tomatoes, peppers, etc. can add up.

I also sometimes add some pretty caloric ingredients to my salads.

HardcoreP0rk

Ya know, that might be a pleasant strategy. I don't log often, but I would probably log more if I didnt have to spend 10 mins building an effing salad in MFP. I guess I could just quick add the veggies and log only nuts and oils that go into the salad.

cwolfman13

I have a salad once or twice per week...clocks in usually around 600 calories...so yeah...I log that.

ninjakitty419

I guess weigh/cups but still track the salad, and tend to overestimate. If I dont track everything, I start rationalising not tracking more and more things.

This.
I dont measure out 1 cup lettuce, 2 tbsp dressing or 1/4 cup shredded cheese but I estimate. I at least want everything accounted for. For the same reason the other poster I quoted mentioned, I also track zero cal beverages like tea because if I start skipping even small things I will start skipping bigger things.