not counting fruit or veg

hi im trying to ease myself back into calorie counting so im gonna try a sort of weight watchers approach and have most fruit and veg as free foods with except of potatoes sweetcorn sweet potato pulses parsnips and yams i do have question marks as whether to count banana?? anyone else try this approach and had success?
«1

Replies

  • personally I find bananas really high bulk food and a block to weight loss unless you are doing loads of excersise
  • nettleboo
    nettleboo Posts: 177 Member
    i love banana have atleast one a day but i have alot too lose so i can live with it for now im sure fruit and veggies is better than chocolate cake crisps and all other junk i was consuming
  • holly273
    holly273 Posts: 84 Member
    I'm no expert but I'm fairly sure WW has a slightly larger deficit built in to accommodate for having 'free' foods. I personally can sometimes consume about half of my daily calories in fruit and veg (I'm a massive pineapple/banana monster) so if I just didn't count them and still hit my daily target with other foods, I'd entirely undo any deficit, and probably also create a surplus, resulting in gain rather than loss...not exactly what I'm wanting from this site!
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    hi im trying to ease myself back into calorie counting so im gonna try a sort of weight watchers approach and have most fruit and veg as free foods with except of potatoes sweetcorn sweet potato pulses parsnips and yams i do have question marks as whether to count banana?? anyone else try this approach and had success?

    i would end up without a calorie deficit if i ate to my goal but didnt include fruit or veg...
  • nettleboo
    nettleboo Posts: 177 Member
    thank you for replies im gonna give it a go for a week or two andf see how i go
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    i love banana have atleast one a day but i have alot too lose so i can live with it for now im sure fruit and veggies is better than chocolate cake crisps and all other junk i was consuming

    noone would deny that fruit is better for you than chocolate. but if you eat more calories than you need you will put on weight... whether those calories come from bananas or crisps!
  • jetlag
    jetlag Posts: 800 Member
    I don't eat a lot of fruit, but I find it high-ish in calories so do count it. I have a lot of veg, but it tends to be low calorie so don't bother unless I'm close to my calorie limit. It usually amounts to about 100 calories a day max, even less if I have a salad. Considering I usually eat around 2000 calories, I don't bother.
  • benol1
    benol1 Posts: 867 Member
    hi im trying to ease myself back into calorie counting so im gonna try a sort of weight watchers approach and have most fruit and veg as free foods with except of potatoes sweetcorn sweet potato pulses parsnips and yams i do have question marks as whether to count banana?? anyone else try this approach and had success?

    Really, you should be counting fruit and vegetables.
    Its not hard and you'll be tracking your calories far more accurately.
  • Mads242
    Mads242 Posts: 5 Member
    I do count most fruit but I don't count salad vegetables just the dressing/olives etc. Anything starchy I count. Do whatever works for you. You can always adjust over time, just keep an eye on your deficit. Good on you for taking the first steps.
  • trogalicious
    trogalicious Posts: 4,584 Member
    They count, whether you choose to count them or not. You're only cheating yourself by not counting them... but that's your choice, right?
  • Ainar
    Ainar Posts: 858 Member
    I think that it's better to count fruits because they have quaite a lot f sugar in them, therefore pretty many calories. But then again it depends how much of fruits you ate and how consistant you are with them. I for example some days ate a lot of fruits what sums up to like 600 cals, what is a lot. And some days I might not ate fruits at all. So I need to count it cos 600 cals is a lot and could effect your weight loss.
    As for green veggies like cucumbers or cabbage, same thing. If you ate a lot of them it can make quite a lot of cals, less than fruits cos there are like no sugar, but still. And if you ate like one small portion a day then it's like no cals, maybe like a 100 or 200 (some people think it's a lot of cals, for me, on 2.5 - 3k cal diet, it isn't), so might as well not count them. It depends how much you ate them and how much total calories you ate.
    Dense veggies like potato, of course you should count them. They have tons of calories...

    Personally I count everything. Simply because I want everything to be perfect. I'm kinda freaky like that with everything I do. And I think you should too if you want the most optimal results.
  • robabob3
    robabob3 Posts: 79 Member
    I don't count them either, but then again I don't eat them.
  • Ninkyou
    Ninkyou Posts: 6,666 Member
    I would count them. 150 calorie apple here, 120 calorie banana there... it all adds up. I'm pretty sure my deficit would be nonexistent if I didn't count them. Seems like a good way to fail quickly, but I guess to each their own? Not for me though.
  • nettleboo
    nettleboo Posts: 177 Member
    well ive counted all my fruit from breakfast today using database details i may count fruit and miss veg
  • YaGigi
    YaGigi Posts: 817 Member
    I eat a lot of veggies and fruits and if I don't count it, I'd lose half of my calories!

    I count them but I ignore the sugar intake it affects.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    Quite sure I'd be eating at TDEE if I ate my goal but didn't count veggies and fruit.
  • flumi_f
    flumi_f Posts: 1,888 Member
    Somewhere I have read something about this before...The 'new' WW approach. You get less points and don't count veggies or something similar.

    That guy set his deficit at 300cals less than recommended and didn't count the veggies (with your stated exceptions). Can be done, I guess.

    I would count fruit. Some is quite high in cals with exception of some berries or melons. I would definitely count apples and bananas.
  • SkimFlatWhite68
    SkimFlatWhite68 Posts: 1,254 Member
    I count absolutely everything, and I think that has been the secret to my success. It all adds up, the good and the bad.
  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
    If you are counting calories- count everything.

    If you don't count- then don't count.

    You can't count half the food you eat then ignore the rest- it's totally worthless for the purposes for which you are attending it.
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,267 Member
    If you are counting calories- count everything.

    If you don't count- then don't count.

    You can't count half the food you eat then ignore the rest- it's totally worthless for the purposes for which you are attending it.

    ^^^^This....besides WW has most fruit at 1point and some veggies like carrots cooks, corn etc. at 1 point so even they consider them to have a value
  • HealthyVitamins
    HealthyVitamins Posts: 432 Member
    Why would you not count fruit or veg if you are calorie counting? I don't get it?
  • MissKitty9
    MissKitty9 Posts: 224 Member
    Fruits & veggies are great for you, but some are more caloric than you'd think--- I'd count them. Plus it's fun to include them & then look at your daily nutrition, & see how much vitamins/potassium you've added :smile:
  • staplebug
    staplebug Posts: 189
    Count fruits!!! I always thought that was crazy that on WW you could eat unlimited fruits. What if someone just ate bananas or grapes or pineapple all day? I mean, they're full of vitamins and are so good for you, but eating them in unlimited quantities will not help weight loss. That is so much sugar, even if it's natural sugars.
  • obrientp
    obrientp Posts: 546 Member
    You should count them. Apples and bananas can have lots of calories, so can other fruits, including tomatoes. 10 cherry tomatoes has 20 calories. It adds up.
  • HideyoshiKinoshita
    HideyoshiKinoshita Posts: 46 Member
    I don't see a point in not counting them.. Calories are calories. Food is food. You'll end up only hurting yourself by limiting your information of what you put into your body..
  • MinnieInMaine
    MinnieInMaine Posts: 6,400 Member
    As someone else already pointed out (maybe more than one person, I just skimmed the replies), the reason this works for WW is they give you a lower daily limit to allow for the uncounted fruits and veg. This is not WW, this is MFP and using this method means you really should log everything, otherwise you're just fooling yourself. Sure fruits and veg are good for you but they still have calories that add up (especially larger fruits and bananas), sometimes enough to prevent you from losing weight. In the long run, it's no different than not logging half a brownie or a can of regular soda. Log everything.
  • Carmella9
    Carmella9 Posts: 171 Member
    Just because it is good for you does not mean that it will not make you put on weight 3,000 cals of fruit/veg a day Vs 3,000 cals of junk a day will still make you put on the same amount of weight the difference is you'd feel a bit more healthy after the fruit and veg.

    I tried slimming world a few weeks back as I got a bit bored of calorie counting (even though iv lost 20lbs from it) and I did not loose anything as it turns out I was consuming a lot more calories on slimming world that I would be by sticking to my usual 1,200 cals.

    On slimming world you are aloud as much fruit and veg as you want, I really struggled with it as I couldnt help but notice how many calories I was consuming from this. It also didn’t help that the mentor was a good few stone overweight (contradictory much?!)
  • maffff
    maffff Posts: 72 Member
    I count every gram, it's not exactly difficult.
  • trogalicious
    trogalicious Posts: 4,584 Member
    I tried slimming world a few weeks back as I got a bit bored of calorie counting (even though iv lost 20lbs from it) and I did not loose anything as it turns out I was consuming a lot more calories on slimming world that I would be by sticking to my usual 1,200 cals.

    22 years old with only 10 lbs to go... and 1200 calories?

    Lemme guess. Sedentary / 2lbs per week?
  • I guess I do not understand why you would not count them, You are already logging other foods in. There really is not such thing was "free" food. With the average banana at 110 calories and an medium apple at 90 calories, Even if you only ate one each, that is 200 calories that you would not count. Making your weight loss slower and in my mind more frustrating. If you are worried about easing into things, I would start with a higher total calories for the day, so it is not such a huge shift for you