Do you log zero calorie foods in your dairy?

bradXdale

I track everything that goes into my mouth...

Multivitamins, fat burner, pre-workout, sodas, pickles, mustard...etc

It's good to see the spectrum of things outside of calories like sodium, sugar, vitamins, etc.

only1bones

High sodium intake can increase your weight from 5-10lbs.

JoelleAnn78

I log everything because I need the accountability. If I eat too many things that are not logged it becomes too easy to not log. I need to log it all to stay in the habit. In my mouth = in my diary. It's different for everyone. I don't log it because I am concerned about the 4 calories -- it is the habit.

kbmnurse

Most have sodium,please log.

beccamh

I usually don't log spices, diet pop, tea/coffee etc. I understand there are some good reasons for wanting to (ie:sodium) but if your main concern is calories I wouldn't bother. Even at its best calorie counting is not a precise science. Most food labes are rounded to the nearest 5 calories so if you have 20 items in your diary thats a possible swing of 25-50 calories at the end of the day. Not to mention your BMR or TDEE are not EXACTLY the same every single day. It's all about the averages and the trends.

Basically, do your best to be accurate and weigh as much as possible but don't obsess over it if that's not like you. I just accept that weight loss is not exact and it will happen if I keep at it.

sunny4art

A lot of good info and variety of styles of logging here. I guess I'm not that OCD either but I'll have to think about it. Don't log coffee, Diet Sierra Mist, etc.

gkauf744

I don't log coffee (drink it black). And I only sometimes log raw or boiled veggies. If it has sauce, I log that. My understanding of a "free" food, is not that it doesn't have *any* calories, but that the amount of calories it has does not compensate for the amount of calories it takes your body to digest it.

michelledusik

I log everything, even my daily multivitamin.

seltzermint555

Pickles and hot sauce aren't zero calorie, just low calorie. I'd log both of those because of the sodium if not the calories, but I agree that it is probably not that important.

The only stuff I don't log is most spices. Especially since my husband cooks a lot of our food with a huge variety of different spices. I often sprinkle cinnamon or a bit of vanilla in things and do not log that.

I don't log sugarfree gum or my morning fish oil supplement. I have friends who do, but it's one of those cases where I don't feel it's that important.

mamadon

I never log things like pickles, hot sauce or spices.

JoyeII

I log everything. Even my daily vitamin supplements, water, spices, etc.

illuvatree

Yeah, I do. Sometimes just to remember what I had, in case I want it again!

sillyvalentine

There are calories in pickles and hot sauce.

I leave spices and herbs out but I log everything else. Jalapenos are only 4 cals but I through it in there. I find that leaving out little things leads to leaving out bigger things.

2dogzrule

Yes, I always log them - it helps me keep on track with other things in my diet, like salt, iron, etc.

Blacklance36

I don't bother. I don't log things like sodium so I'm not going to waste my time with zero calorie stuff.

My diet is very low in sodium so I don't track it anymore. I know this from 500 days of logging in a row.
I log anything that has even 1 calorie. I don't log zero calorie items like green tea though.

susie3g

Yes, I log all of it. It's helpful to me to see how other things like sodium, fats, etc. affect my body.

cwolfman13

If I'm just tossing a few dashes of hot sauce on something, I don't bother...it's not going to make or break anything. Things like pickles do have calories, but they get away with saying zero by using small serving sizes. If you actually ate a full sized dill pickle it would have about 15-20 calories or so. Not really a big deal unless you're eating a lot of pickles...but I eat a lot of veg in general which is low in calories like that but ultimately add up to around 150 - 200 calories per day or so.

Nickih4619093

I log everything so that I can keep track of my sodium, fibre, etc.

CaitlinW19

I don't. I don't log anything super low calorie either...like my cup of black coffee or a shake of salt over my food. It's so small, it really doesn't matter, in my opinion. Ok, so I don't log coffee and I end up 5 calories over for the day? Big deal. In fact, I think you burn more calories that you take in with most of these zero calorie or very low calorie foods through the chewing or whatever when the calories are that negligable. But I don't log that as exercise either

Now if I was a person that really ate or drank a lot of something like that, than I would log it...like if I was drinking a gallon of coffee a day instead of 8-16 oz. Sometimes I'll log zero or very very low calorie items to have a more accurate picture of the overall nutrition of my diet. A lot of those zero calorie or trace calorie foods/drinks can have a lot of sodium for example. In general though, I eat mainly home cooked meals and don't use much salt, etc. so I don't have trouble with too much sodium or anything in my diet, so I don't worry about the extra sodium in a can of diet soda. If you are watching sodium intake carefully then you would want to log those types of food/drink.

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amy8400

If it goes in my mouth, it goes in the diary. I drink at least 2 cups of green tea every day. 2 calories but it's an important part of my dietary picture.

mccindy72

it's a personal decision. For myself, being that I'm in maintenance, usually under my calories, have low blood pressure ,and rarely eat pickles and hot sauce(the typical zero cals), I usually don't log them. it's pretty rare when i come near or go over my sodium anyway. For someone who's watching their blood pressure or sodium intake, it would be important to log them.

sheepysaccount

I don't add spices at all, everything else, yes. I shoot to be around my calorie goal, a bit over or under doesn't matter to me as log as I am good overall

cpcoursec

If you are logging solely to count calories, there is no reason to post zero calorie foods.

wren337

I don't log pickles, hot peppers, diet soda... it's just noise. anything 10-20 calories is margin of error anyway. if you think food labels etc are that exact you're mistaken.

debrakgoogins

If I eat it, I log it. Pickles and hot sauce can pack a high amount of sodium and that is something I am trying to keep low.

erialcelyob

I do, I log green tea which is 0, it keeps track of what I'm taking in calories or not

lmr0528

I log everything that goes into my mouth.

tedrickp

I don't log hot sauce, spices or dill pickles or diet pop. Counting calories is such a unexact science, Id find it a bit nit-picky.

I also don't track sodium to be honest. I am personally not sold on it's "evils".

JoyeII

Sorry to burst people's bubbles but, diet soda, depending on the flavor and brand, has 4-7 calories per 12 oz serving. Green tea/herbal tea has 2 calories per 8 oz (unsweetened).