Bothering to calorie track veggies...

tacey21

Does anyone track calories with their veggies?
They have such few calories I dont think it should matter...
But that could be me being ignorant...

I just dont want to track "I had one tomato, a cucumber stalk, a mini pepper, and a fistful of raw spinach."

Thoughts? :flowerforyou:

Mindful_Trent

I track everything I eat, including veggies. Most are pretty low cal, but they do add up, especially if you eat a lot. Plus, I can make sure I've eaten enough veggies each day.

I have tons of items in my food diary but I'd rather know that I'm tracking everything, then wonder how much the stuff I'm missing adds up to. Lunch today was wrap with 1 cup of spinach and 1/2 a tomato (among other things) and I added both of those.

Some veggies have more calories than others - if you eat a lot of broccoli or the starchier veggies, those certainly should be added. The "waterier" ones like lettuce and cucumber, you could probably get away with not adding... but personally I'd add everything.

I just dont want to track "I had one tomato, a cucumber stalk, a mini pepper, and a fistful of raw spinach."

My food diary does look like that (on my good day)... but it doesn't bother me. :laugh:

thedreamhazer

I certainly do, but, then again, I eat a HIGH quantity of veggies, especially in comparison to other food groups. You're the best judge --- but like account_boi said, they can add up.

So I would say, try to, and DEFINITELY do if you're eating meals made almost entirely out of veggies.

Max_Power

I don't worry about it if I forget to add 5 calories worth of celery or something, but I try to pay attention to fiber and nutrients too, so it's definitely worth entering.

antiadipose

i eat about 1400 cals.... 1000 of them are veggies. soooo ya id say yes! lol
sometimes it gets soo annoying i know. my salads are crazy so i have to be like ".5c cucumber, .5c green peppers, green onion stalk, 10 cherry tomatoes, 5 carrots, 2 cups spinach, one cup romaine.....etc" u get the point. lol
but i suggest yes.

TheKitsune6

I add everything, but it's also to track how much fiber, carbs, etc I'm getting each day. Not to mention, but you'd be surprised how much 10 calories "here and there" might add up. Vegetables are great for you, but they're far from nothing in the calorie department.

Ryhenblue

I track mine as well. I don't worry that they will make me go over my calorie limit but they have fiber and other nutrients in them. It's always good to track what nutrients you are getting in your diet.

Holton

i eat about 1400 cals.... 1000 of them are veggies. soooo ya id say yes! lol
sometimes it gets soo annoying i know. my salads are crazy so i have to be like ".5c cucumber, .5c green peppers, green onion stalk, 10 cherry tomatoes, 5 carrots, 2 cups spinach, one cup romaine.....etc" u get the point. lol
but i suggest yes.

Ditto this. I eat a lot of items in my salad and it does get tedious, but those calories do add up. That is how I got to the point of where I needed to lose weight - eating too many calories.

xarrium

My food diary looks *so* freakin' full because of this! I log everything because I track fiber, but in terms of calories, I'm not overly concerned if I miss 5 calories worth of cucumber or something like that. It also helps me figure out what I use if I make a really awesome salad or stir-fry. I've found that since I eat a lot of the same veggies every day, they're coming up on my "Most Used" tab, so it's not too inconvenient to add them now. Good job for eating lots of veggies, though!!

MacMadame

I track them but I fudge. If I'm eating a salad with 5 ingredients, I'll pick the one with most calories/worst stats and just say it was all that one type of veggie. Or maybe I'll put in the top 3 ingredients and fudge the rest. I also have built meals around my typical salad bar salads so I can just add the meal and then make any necessary adjustments, if it's too far off from how I built my salad that day.

SusanChambers

Excellent point. I think the whole point of MFP is awareness. Thinking about what you put in your mouth BEFORE you put it in. As you say it's the excess calories that got us in this position in the first place. Eventually the training we get from MFP will be the natural thing to do.

Cheers, Susan

Scncartist

Though I know I should, I don't eat all that many veggies. The veggies I eat tend to be pretty much the same: broccoli, bell peppers, fresh spinach...etc. I used to count calories for them all, and for spices too (they add up as well).

Now I just do the quick add calories and add a generous amount to include both spices and veggies. I am vaguely aware of how much they cost (calorie wise) and figure this should work fine for me until I stop loosing. At that point I will go back to being more strict and trouble shoot the problem. :-)

tacey21

You guys are making me paranoid
If I cook them I track them... but veggies in the raw cant really be that bad. I'm going to add 'em up and see what happens.

tacey21

59 calories in raw veggies O.o

I'd have to eat 36 tomatoes to reach my daily caloric intake.
Or 171 cups of spinach O.o
or 60 banana peppers.

I think I'm going to lump it all for now.

jacksonalan

Does anyone track calories with their veggies?
They have such few calories I dont think it should matter...
But that could be me being ignorant...

I just dont want to track "I had one tomato, a cucumber stalk, a mini pepper, and a fistful of raw spinach."

Thoughts? :flowerforyou:

How about making your veggie meal consistent and make a recipe out of it... and save it in your food section. That way, you only have to count once and from then on, you only have to check a box to add it to your dinner? I do that with a cole slaw salad I have at least once a day (for lunch or dinner). It has cheese, dressing and some cherry tomatoes. Instead of entering each item every day, it's a "Cole Slaw Salad"... where the nutritional value is already calculated. :happy: