Do I need to track my fruit and vegetables?

I'm wondering if I can still lose weight without tracking my fruit and vegetable intake. I know people have lots of success with weight watchers and these items are "free". I realize it all comes down to a calorie deficite, but the idea of being able to eat something when I'm hungry and all my calories for the day are used up is really appealing. Any suggestions? Anyone done weight watchers and is now doing this? Thanks!
«13

Replies

  • starrylioness
    starrylioness Posts: 543 Member
    Fruit and vegetables still have calories. Log everything. :smile:
  • butlersoft
    butlersoft Posts: 219 Member
    If it's water - it's free .....

    Anything else is calories and they all add up.

    Track 'em !!
  • ^This^
  • nomeejerome
    nomeejerome Posts: 2,616 Member
    Yes. You need to track your fruits and veggies. (they have calories)
  • Yes, log everything and be honest about it.
  • nineteentwenty
    nineteentwenty Posts: 469 Member
    Fruits are crazy with sugars, and a lot of veggies are chock full of carbs. You'd be surprised at how it all adds up.
  • navyrigger46
    navyrigger46 Posts: 1,301 Member
    Sure, while your at it, you should add pizza to the list of free items, since your just willy nilly deciding what foods do and do not have calories that count.

    Rigger
  • Strokingdiction
    Strokingdiction Posts: 1,164 Member
    So if your calories are all used up, you think you can then eat something with calories in it and not go over just because it's a fruit or a vegetable?

    I'm really not understanding the logic of your question since you already seem to understand the concept of eating at a deficit. Do you think that someone giving you permission to not track your fruits and vegetables will magically make those no longer contain calories?

    Want some fruit at the end of the day? Eat slightly less during the day.
  • samg135
    samg135 Posts: 14 Member
    Definatley log your fruit and veg, every calorie counts.

    I try to have at least one veg at dinner as this helps to fill me up for the evening and means I am generally not hungry at the end of the day.
  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
    An avocado is a fruit and is 355 calories.

    A banana is about 110 calories. An apple about the same.

    That enough to erase a 500 calorie deficit right there.
  • Go_Mizzou99
    Go_Mizzou99 Posts: 2,628 Member
    Weight Watchers and their (stupid) Points Plus system skews the points to force the user towards "certain" foods.

    If you do the math, one WW Points Plus point is between 35 and 45 calories - depending on their view of how good or nasty the food is.

    Count everything...
  • spirit095
    spirit095 Posts: 1,017 Member
    Fruits can have a ton of calories. I would definitely log them and not use them as a "free pass" to eat more.
  • feelin_gr_8
    feelin_gr_8 Posts: 308 Member
    I have had weight loss success twice in my life-with weight watchers, and with calorie counting (here on MFP and on my own). While I count the vegetables, it depends on how strict you want to be. If 10 or 20 calories over your daily goal drives you batty, log them. If you're not that OCD like me and many others, I would suggest tracking them for a while just to get your head wrapped around what calorie content they have. Lettuce and other vegetables have so little that it's almost not worth counting. Avocados have a lot of calories. Fruit probably has more than you think. If you feel counting veggies is too much, maybe just ballpark them and still count the fruit?
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
    I'd track everything. If you want to be lazy about it though you could probably get away with not tracking vegetables. Fruit you should definitely track though. It isn't that hard to eat several hundred calories worth of fruit in a day. It would be pretty hard to do that with vegetables though given their high fiber to calorie content.

    Of course as soon as I say that someone is going to post nutrition information for a vegetable that has like 200 calories per serving but in general, like if we are talking salad, yeah you would be hard pressed to eat enough lettuce to put a dent in your daily intake.
  • ruffnstuff
    ruffnstuff Posts: 400 Member
    ....but the idea of being able to eat something when I'm hungry and all my calories for the day are used up is really appealing.

    No offense, but DERP! All of us who are/were overweight want this phenomenon. However, all calories do count ON A CALORIE COUNTING WEBSITE. Proceed how you wish but expect success/failure to fall in line with how you "count" calories.
  • emkayelle91
    emkayelle91 Posts: 846 Member
    Fruits and vegetables have calories along with carbs and sugars. Log them! :)
  • rebbylicious
    rebbylicious Posts: 621 Member
    this- and I also find that people tend not to log beverages. Often that's why someone is not losing weight.
  • QuietBloom
    QuietBloom Posts: 5,413 Member
    So if your calories are all used up, you think you can then eat something with calories in it and not go over just because it's a fruit or a vegetable?

    I'm really not understanding the logic of your question since you already seem to understand the concept of eating at a deficit. Do you think that someone giving you permission to not track your fruits and vegetables will magically make those no longer contain calories?

    Want some fruit at the end of the day? Eat slightly less during the day.

    I believe some diets (Weight Watchers comes to mind) has free vegetables. They go by a points system, not calories per se. That might be why OP is asking.
  • lemon629
    lemon629 Posts: 501 Member
    ....but the idea of being able to eat something when I'm hungry and all my calories for the day are used up is really appealing.

    No offense, but DERP! All of us who are/were overweight want this phenomenon. However, all calories do count ON A CALORIE COUNTING WEBSITE. Proceed how you wish but expect success/failure to fall in line with how you "count" calories.

    Yes. You can't mix two different systems! If you want to use WW and count points, then do that. If you want to count calories, then do that. And even the WW people will tell you that the fruits & vegetables do count if you have more than just a few. It's not an excuse to over-eat.

    If you count calories, but then don't count fruits & vegetables, then you will go far over your calories.

    Both systems work, but you have to pick one.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,879 Member
    I'm wondering if I can still lose weight without tracking my fruit and vegetable intake. I know people have lots of success with weight watchers and these items are "free". I realize it all comes down to a calorie deficite, but the idea of being able to eat something when I'm hungry and all my calories for the day are used up is really appealing. Any suggestions? Anyone done weight watchers and is now doing this? Thanks!

    These items are "free" with weight watchers because other items have inflated points to make up for it. I would also add that, I believe, only one serving of fruit is "free" with WW...fruits can be extremely calorie dense. My apple today is around 100 calories...a banana can run you a good 110 - 120...don't really know why you wouldn't count that...calorie counting is about precision.

    WW =/.= Calorie Counting

    Fruits and veg have calories...I eat roughly 200 - 300 calories worth of fruits and vegetables per day...why would you think those 200 - 300 calories wouldn't count towards my daily total?