Unlimited Greens

itsmandible
itsmandible Posts: 88 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I'm just curious, I've heard Jillian Michaels suggest many of times to people on her podcasts to count all calories, except green, non-starchy vegetables are "free," because they basically even out to being no calories. I do find it annoying to log in my salad when two cups of greens is 20 calories, but on the contrary, I've tried googling this kind of method and haven't found much of anything. I'm not necessarily thinking about adopting this method, I'm just curious about what everyone out there thinks about this! Thoughts?

Replies

  • AJ_G
    AJ_G Posts: 4,158 Member
    I'm against it, solely because I log absolutely everything to be 100% accurate. If you eat enough vegetables, all those little calories can easily add up to over 100 calories a day that you're not counting. I also think the weight watchers method of not having to count any fruit is completely stupid. An apple, an orange, and a banana are together over 300 calories that you're not counting...
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    Weight Watchers had (still has?) something like this...... it's been around for years
  • nomeejerome
    nomeejerome Posts: 2,616 Member
    I do not believe that there are foods that are "free." I believe everything consumed should be counted....
  • Calliope610
    Calliope610 Posts: 3,783 Member
    I log my 20 cals of spinach not because I think that 20 calories is gonna make or break me, but because I want to see how that affects my other nutritional goals, such as Vit A, Vit C, potassium, iron, etc.
  • SJVZEE
    SJVZEE Posts: 451 Member
    I estimate log greens/veggies-I'm not too concerned about a couple handfuls of mixed greens, when the whole container has like 20 calories! I'm in maintenance though, so I'm pretty laid back about tracking :)
  • nomeejerome
    nomeejerome Posts: 2,616 Member
    I log my 20 cals of spinach not because I think that 20 calories is gonna make or break me, but because I want to see how that affects my other nutritional goals, such as Vit A, Vit C, potassium, iron, etc.

    yep.
  • 81Katz
    81Katz Posts: 7,074 Member
    No food is a free food. I eat A LOT of spinach. In protein shakes, eggs, salads, on wraps, etc. Even if I only eat let's say 50 (example) calories of spinach a day, that would be 350 calories a WEEK not accounted for if I didn't log it. Same with other foods (cucumbers, bell peppers, asparagus, SUPER low cal but I still log it all.
  • HollisGrant
    HollisGrant Posts: 2,022 Member
    I log everything, plus like to see other factors.... collard greens have an enormous amount of calcium, for example.
  • LJSmith1989
    LJSmith1989 Posts: 650
    No food is a free food. I eat A LOT of spinach. In protein shakes, eggs, salads, on wraps, etc. Even if I only eat let's say 50 (example) calories of spinach a day, that would be 350 calories a WEEK not accounted for if I didn't log it. Same with other foods (cucumbers, bell peppers, asparagus, SUPER low cal but I still log it all.

    Oh no!!! lol
  • bbbgamer
    bbbgamer Posts: 582 Member
    its not ALL about the calories...
  • Mslmesq
    Mslmesq Posts: 1,000 Member
    It also may depend on your reason for logging. I honestly probably have different reasons for logging than some people. I do not need this site to keep track of the calories of the food I eat. But I do log everything. I like to see what I'm eating and it helps remind me to get a variety of foods and vegetables in my system. Same old, same old gets boring and also may not vary the different nutrients found in food.
  • Leather_N_Lace
    Leather_N_Lace Posts: 518 Member
    No food is a free food. I eat A LOT of spinach. In protein shakes, eggs, salads, on wraps, etc. Even if I only eat let's say 50 (example) calories of spinach a day, that would be 350 calories a WEEK not accounted for if I didn't log it. Same with other foods (cucumbers, bell peppers, asparagus, SUPER low cal but I still log it all.

    ^^^ This ^^^ I track everything. Not only for the calorie intake but for other nutritional facts as well.
  • DebbieLyn63
    DebbieLyn63 Posts: 2,654 Member
    I think one reason WW has this feature to their plan, is to encourage people to eat more green veggies. For some people, if they only have x amount of calories, they aren't going to 'waste' 50-100 calories on veggies that they hate, when they can have chocolate instead. Of course to someone who is educated about healthy eating, this doesn't make sense, but to them, it does.
    And at the end of the day when they are out of points, but hungry, they can have some food without going off plan.

    I agree, however, that when they added fruits to their 'free' list, it was a huge mistake, because you can easily overeat on fruit, whereas you really can't on spinach and broccoli very easily. Unless you are juicing, but don't get me started on that! lol
  • twinketta
    twinketta Posts: 2,130 Member
    1 +1 = 2

    20 +20 = 40

    so on and so forth, if you don`t add your calories up then why be on a calorie counting website?

    All calories add up, don`t they??
  • shanniepk
    shanniepk Posts: 98 Member
    I log it all. Important for me to see protein, carbs, sugar, fiber, fats....everything. It gives me a baseline to where I need to throttle because everyone is a bit different. Plus nutritional intake should be just as important as calorie count, but that's just me:smile:. I perform "everything" better with better food in my body.
  • arl1286
    arl1286 Posts: 276 Member
    I don't always count leafy greens-- spinach, lettuce, kale-- because you would have to eat a truck full for it to amount to more than 20 calories. I log all other veggies and fruits, though.
  • celestrine
    celestrine Posts: 2
    I log it all but go easier on myself if I've eaten vegetables all day until dinner.
  • AZ_Danny
    AZ_Danny Posts: 50 Member
    As someone that used to be on weight watchers, which has a similar philosophy, I can say that it's likely that they aren't "free" per se... but if you're someone that would rather have a baked potato with your meal instead of a green salad, it's a good incentive to make better dining choices. Obviously you wouldn't keep doing it for entire time you're on the program
  • Veggiebeat
    Veggiebeat Posts: 26 Member
    I also log them to keep track of my nutrients. Plus, greens are so low in calories, why not? If it came down to my last 50 cals for the day and I was deciding between 50 cals of greens and 50 cals of chocolate (which would probably amount to what, one square?) I would probably just eat both. I don't think a cup or two of greens over calories is going to make or break me. Besides, I can't recall ever being in this situation. Greens don't put me over, junk does.
  • celadontea
    celadontea Posts: 335 Member
    If you're bothering to count, then count them. Also one day it might be interesting to you to see how much iron and calcium they contribute.
  • magerum
    magerum Posts: 12,589 Member
    All calories count
  • navyrigger46
    navyrigger46 Posts: 1,301 Member
    The reason they do it that way is to encourage people to eat more veggies, seems to work. In my book though, I log everything, because everything counts. If I swallow a bug while I'm out on a run, I'd log that too.

    Rigger
  • linsey0689
    linsey0689 Posts: 753 Member
    When I first started I logged everything no matter what it be. I have a piece of gum I try and log it. This is because before MFP I had not a clue what I was eating how much and when really. Just eat whatever whenever and that clearly wasn't working I was 285 pounds 6 and 1/2 months ago. Now I am around 240-245 somewhere in there and I can say I am still obese but have came a long way. I am not as worried about measuring everything as I was because I have learned how eat and what my food needs and my mind thinks it may need (want). So do I log everyday no but am I somewhat keeping track of everything yes because I need to. Do I think you not logging 20 calories a day of something healthy will effect you. No but if it's okay 20 calories because if I don't log the lettuce then I forget about my salad so I forget about my salad dressing and then it's just bad. Log it all if you can :)
  • agdyl
    agdyl Posts: 246 Member
    I log them but I wouldn't worry about eating too many fresh greens, that's for sure.

    I allow myself to snack freely on raw veggies. I record them - I want to know what I was eating and track the fiber and nutrients and everything else, but a lot of days I'll sit down and eat a pound of raw green beans as a snack. And I'm not ever going to stop myself from eating something like that because I'm worried about the calories. Plus, things like that tend to fill me up enough that I'm not likely to be eating extra calorie dense foods and my calories tend to work out.

    I'm not saying the calories don't actually count, but I've found that if I treat them like they don't count (eat as many as I want but still record them), it all works out well for me.
  • corgicake
    corgicake Posts: 846 Member
    I usually log everything for the benefit of anyone who may be skimming my log for food ideas. If it were just me, I would log everything but iceburg lettuce and pickles - the prepackaged goodies typically paired with them are allowed to be more off than the calories in those two things.

Categories