Do you count your fruit calories?

AlsDonkBoxSquat

My friend was telling me that the new Weight Watchers plan allows you to have as much fruit as you want without counting the points. Do you guys count your fruit and raw veggies?

I'm on myfitnesspal not weight watchers, which means that I count everything with calories by logging everything I consume.

bcattoes

I always count my fruit and veggies. They are high in sugar so I am always over on my sugar count, but that type of sugar is good for you

Um, no. Sugar is sugar. The sugar in fruit is fructose (linked in studies to obesity and weight gain,) glucose (too much can cause insulin resistance,) and sucrose (a 50/50 mix of fructose and glucose, and also what people around here like to demonize as "refined sugar.) So no, sugar in fruit is not "good for you." It's sugar, it's no different than eating any other kind of sugar.

That's not exactly true. If you remove the sugar from fruit and ate only it then yes, that sugar would be bad. But the sugar in fruit comes along with soluble fiber, which has been shown to raise HDL levels and also slow digestion, which causes the sugar in fruit to be absorbed more slowly than straight fructose. Plus fruit contains many valuable vitamins and nutrients. Unless you have a medical condition for which you've been advised to limit fruit, eating it, sugar and all, is a good thing.

And if I put a table spoon of refined sugar on a piece of whole grain bread with high fiber, or on oatmeal with fiber, the fiber in the bread and oatmeal will also slow down the absorption of the sugar, and have the same effect. My statement wasn't anti-fruit so much as explaining that the human body processes fructose, glucose, and sucrose in the exact same way, regardless of whether it comes from agave nectar, maple syrup, table sugar, fruit, high fructose corn syrup, or any other sugar source.

Fair enough, though I think this statement - "So no, sugar in fruit is not "good for you." It's sugar, it's no different than eating any other kind of sugar." - is misleading. The sugar "in" fruit is different because of the packaging. You seem to have meant the sugar from fruit (as in, if it were removed from the fruit).

dobarber

I agree with the other posters here. Count them. I also think of it this way as well. Which is better for you, a starburst fruit chew which can have more calories than an apple or many many other nutritious foods or a piece of fruit that not only gives you sugar but other vitamins and minerals that you need.
Doug

wannabesexymama

I count everything. My body isn't going to not count them - it's going to treat a calorie as a calorie.

This is me!! The only ones I dont count is if I am cooking and I snag like a couple of grapes (2-3) I burn while cooking but I dont add that to exercise cuz being a mom of 5 its something I have to do!

tisamg

Yes, I count my fruit calories. I also try to eat fruit with some sort of protein, even if that is just 4-5 almonds (recommendation from my trainer).

Also, I think that the "eat all the fruit you want" on Weight Watchers is a misunderstanding. I am a lifetime member and have been through several of their program changes. Currently, all fruit has a points value of 0 (zero). It is still to be recorded and one of the recommendations is to not have more than a certain number of zero point foods in any given day. It used to be 5, but I am not sure if that has changed. There are other foods that have 0 (zero) points, too.

The thing with WW is that you can play games with the points. MFP is pretty straight foward. Eat a calorie, record a calorie. I think WW changed fruit to 0 (zero) to encourage healthy eating. Increase fiber intake with foods that people are more likely to eat.

Don't get me wrong, I think that WW is a great program... I just think that MFP takes it to the next level.

FitNadj

Thanks! Helpful.

maura5880

Of course! They're still calories, regardless where they come from

walkerz14

The reason WW did that was to encourage their members to eat more fruits and veggies. We really should be eating more fruits and veggies than anything else. In changing their points on fruits and veggies they also changed the points on other items to make them worth more points. So making you chose a banana over something that might be less healthy and is also 3-4 points, it makes you chose that banana which use to be 1 point but now is 0 making it more enticing with the point system.

CAHRD

Yes. Definitley. If something has calories it should be counted. I'm not a fan of WW and I think it's silly to encourage someone to eat "all they want" of any food. Everything in moderation.

Grokette

My friend was telling me that the new Weight Watchers plan allows you to have as much fruit as you want without counting the points. Do you guys count your fruit and raw veggies?

I no longer count calories, but if I were............then YES I would count them.

I don't understand why you wouldn't count them, they do contain calories!!

SnowWhite824

The new WW plan is a joke. I've had more people tell me that they are doing nothing but gaining weight with it. Its a shame, used to be a good program to follow.

Pebble321

Of course - there is nothing magic about the calories in fruit that make them invisible!!

Butterfly3730

I love fruit so Weight Watchers did not work for me cause I always ate more and more fruit daily. lol Well now that I count all my calories on here, I now have a realistic view of what I was really consuming. I have refined my eating and losing weight weekly.

CMmrsfloyd

If it has calories, it needs to be counted. Calories are what count in weightloss. Your body doesn't ignore calories just b/c the food is healthy. People can get fat off of healthy food, too, if they eat too much of it, b/c too much healthy food = too many calories.