calories in fruit- to count or not to count?

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  • bethfartman
    bethfartman Posts: 363 Member
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    I count them, but I don't worry about going over my sugar budget. The only sugar I really count is from added sugars to foods. I wish there was a way to separate it in MFP. 60 Minutes just had a really interesting segment on sugar, I highly recommend it.
  • meeper123
    meeper123 Posts: 3,347 Member
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    I am curious so I count them all lol Note being cherries have so few calorie and are a great sweets craving kicker :) mmmm cherries
  • Csitri
    Csitri Posts: 132 Member
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    I count anything I eat.
  • BetterCrazyThanLazy
    BetterCrazyThanLazy Posts: 336
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    If you bite it then write it !!

    If you lick it you write it down too! :tongue:
    Absolutely log every bite!
  • kzcortes
    kzcortes Posts: 208 Member
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    Count them - they always add up
  • infamousmk
    infamousmk Posts: 6,033 Member
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    Its not the calories themselves that are the problem. It's the sugar and carbs that they tend to be a bit high in.


    False.


    Fruit can be really high in calories. If you eat say... six apples in a day, that's like 600 or more calories. I don't know about you, but that's a pretty large chunk of many women's calories on MFP (say, about a third). I guess you could eat apples for a third of your daily intake, but you're gonna miss out on other important nutrients.

    Long story short: If you're counting calories, you need to count fruit.
  • somesuchsayer
    somesuchsayer Posts: 20
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    I count everything. Even a dash of salt or a squeeze of lemon juice. I'm tracking a lot of different numbers such as sugar, fiber, sodium as well as the big 3 (carbs, fat, protein).

    Leaving out fruits and vegs from your diary is like trying build a puzzle with 30% of the pieces missing.

    ^ Exactly why we should count fruit
  • BetterCrazyThanLazy
    BetterCrazyThanLazy Posts: 336
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    I am curious so I count them all lol Note being cherries have so few calorie and are a great sweets craving kicker :) mmmm cherries

    Those sweet suckers are soo good but a cup is 75 calories, that's like a nice thick slice of cheese! :wink:
  • SerenaNatasha
    SerenaNatasha Posts: 246
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    Yup. I count everything that goes in my mouth. :)
  • TrinaTW
    TrinaTW Posts: 88
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    If you are doing the WW program they have the points set up to account for the extra calories consumed from the 0 point fruits/veggies if you consume in moderation as the plan was designed for. If you are counting calories though as on MFP, you need to account for the fruits and veggies or you most likely will not lose weight. Plus with fruit you need to track the sugar as well because it can really add up. I've done both plans with success. You just have to be consistent with each plan you are on.
  • chimpy_chimp
    chimpy_chimp Posts: 106 Member
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    If you bite it then write it !!

    Well said!
  • takehimaway
    takehimaway Posts: 499 Member
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    I've always counted them, and make room in my diet for them. What I don't bother about is trying to stay under in the sugar category when it comes to fruit.

    This.
  • viduradasa
    viduradasa Posts: 1
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    I don't count calories directly, I use them as a basis for calculating my carb/fat/protein ratios per day. So I shoot for 2,500 calories (since I workout 3 times a week), and I do 25% carbs based on the 2,500 calories. I am less concerned about extra protein or extra fat (as long as it's good fat), such that if I go past the 2,500 calories but I do it by eating extra protein or fat, I'm ok. I just try not to exceed my carb ratio.

    MFP lets you break it down however works best for you in the goals section. I am concerned about excess carbohydrates, so at this ratio I try to stay right around 160 carbs per day. As such I count all my fruit and vegetables, and try to get all my carbs from either complex grains or fruit (no man-made sugar when I can avoid it).
  • bauerluv
    bauerluv Posts: 4
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    For the most part I wouldn't really be counting anything then since my diet consists mostly of fresh fruit and veggy's. I say count them.
  • happythermia
    happythermia Posts: 374
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    I could eat a BILLION calories in fruit!!! LOL so I definitely count them. If it has calories, it gets counted
  • ItzPSGina62
    ItzPSGina62 Posts: 99 Member
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    I agree, I did WW and did not count fruits or veggies because they were "free foods." I am having much more success with MFP!!!!
  • RitaSantoss
    RitaSantoss Posts: 986 Member
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    I always count the fruit and vegetables in my food log. i think it's indespensable.
  • giggitygoo
    giggitygoo Posts: 1,978 Member
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    Definitely count them! Even if the calorie content is negligible, it's important to have an accurate record of what you've been eating. It helpful to be able to go back and look at successful periods when you reach a stall, and examine what has changed.

    Plus, I can eat about 1000 bing cherries. That adds up quick.
  • Faye_Anderson
    Faye_Anderson Posts: 1,495 Member
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    Diet companies like WW don't want you to lose weight quickly, they want clients lining their pockets so they're going to tell you that the bit of fruit your going to have is negligible, you lose weight slower and stay with them for longer.
  • emotionalharlequin
    emotionalharlequin Posts: 83
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    I'd count it if it's more than 100 calories (2 apples, for example).

    Also, if you're counting macronutrients then definitely count them! They contain a lot of carbs (and sugars too!).

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