Cheats, or "Freebie" foods

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animemoon5
animemoon5 Posts: 55 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I am wondering, if anyone has any foods that they consider either "Freebie" foods, because they're healthy, or perhaps have certain foods they don't count if they are below a certain amount of calories (10 or 15)

I know some programs, like weight watchers, has "0 point" foods, that apparently you can eat as much as you want of, even though they aren't calorie-free.... things like veggies or some fruits are usually among this list... I have seen bell peppers listed as a "0 point" food....

I've always been a picky eater, fruits and veggies have been very difficult for me to eat, and I come from a junk-food background.... I've been making a great effort to add veggies to my meals whenever possible.... This morning, while feeling pretty hungry, I decided to add in 1 cup chopped bell peppers to my meal, it was a lot, but since I recently took a liking to them, and seeing that they are a veggie, I was encouraging myself to have at it...

Only to find that 1 cup chopped bell peppers are 120 calories! it really raised the count....... But they're a veggie o.O; Should I really worry about the excess 120 calories or shrug it off? It may not seem like much but when I have been trying to keep my calories down to around 300-400 for meals, well this boosted it up to a 600 cal. meal... I cut it down to half, but thinking on those "0 point" weight watchers foods (I'm don't do WW but know some people who have) I'm wondering if I should just call my veggies freebies, to encourage myself to eat and fill up on them instead of carbs...

Also I find things like parmesan cheese, which can add in only 10-15 calories per serving, (I use those pizza hut packets that are pre-measured and ready to go, just 1 per meal) those were lifesavers when trying to get off of eating so much cheese, Since they are only 10-15 if I have just 1 a day I don't count them...

Does anyone have any things like this? Or do you think this will backfire in the end?

Replies

  • SteveJWatson
    SteveJWatson Posts: 1,225 Member
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    I would query 1 cup of raw peppers actually being 120 calories myself...
  • prdavies1949
    prdavies1949 Posts: 326 Member
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    1 cup of raw red pepper is only 39 cal acording to MFP database, and a whole cup of chopped raw red pepper is a large portion. Eat as much veg as you can but I log it all
  • BurtHuttz
    BurtHuttz Posts: 3,653 Member
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    One cup of chopped bell pepper is definitely not 120 calories - something is wrong with that entry or maybe you clicked the wrong thing.

    I don't consider any calorie-bearing food "freebies", per se, but I don't log things that I know are negligible. I don't use a ton of ketchup on a burger, so I don't bother logging it to know that it added 10 cals. We won't gain or lose based on a couple ten calories.

    However, some things might surprise you - a banana is like 100 calories. On weight watchers, with 'free' fruits, you could really sabotage yourself.
  • pjcapps
    pjcapps Posts: 63 Member
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    The data base on MFP shows green peppers 1 cup for 29 calories. Woo I was worried for a minute, I use alot of peppers also for breakfast with egg whites for a quick omlete. I count everything that goes in my mouth. That is the only was to truely know the amount of calories consumed.
    Weight Watchers may say the are 0 points but it is built in the program for the actual total calories. They also suggest if you eat more than 5 portions a day that you add the points.
    So truely there are no cheat foods they all show on the scale.

    Good luck with adding more veggies to the meal plans.
  • Firefox7275
    Firefox7275 Posts: 2,040 Member
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    Measure your foods by weight not by volume, cups make no sense in calorie or macro counting. Also check the listings your use when logging on MFP some are incorrect. 100g or roughly one whole pepper is 30 kcals, did you chop up four?
  • Kynzmomma09
    Kynzmomma09 Posts: 25 Member
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    yeah idk where you found 120 calories but i just checked, 1/2 cup chopped is 20 calories. so i think your good with eating a whole cup :) eat lots of veggies :)
  • billsica
    billsica Posts: 4,741 Member
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    I don't count water tea or diet soda. I should, but I don't. I do count coffee and anything that is "low calorie".

    in the end the 10 calories I'm off with tea is offset because I don't know really what "homemade lasagna" might really be.
  • GoddessG
    GoddessG Posts: 175 Member
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    I like the ketogenic diet precisely because there is no room on it for those awful veggies (though sometimes, on a lark, I will have half-an-ounce or so of lettuce. If I go out to dinner, I might even order a a lettuce-only salad But I only do that a few times a year)

    On this type of diet, there are tons of freebies - as long as you don't eat when you aren't hungry (which you rarely are because the ketogenic diet makes hunger go away). Eat meat, fish, and eggs until you are full as often as you want. 0 carbs (except the eggs have a piece of one each).

    I don't "cheat", so erase the word from your vocabulary. You can only cheat yourself. But eating "freebie" foods is not cheating - as long as I'm hunger, I may as well eat to my stomach's content.
  • JULIEdance
    JULIEdance Posts: 139 Member
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    Measure your foods by weight not by volume, cups make no sense in calorie or macro counting. Also check the listings your use when logging on MFP some are incorrect. 100g or roughly one whole pepper is 30 kcals, did you chop up four?

    This.
    I don´t get the cup measurement thing.

    I don´t log cals from gum, sugar-free mints, diet coke etc., but I count all the fruits, vegs, soy sauce, ketchup etc.
    On the other hand... close to impossible to know the exact amounts in many foods and meals but still trying to log everything makes sense to me.
  • animemoon5
    animemoon5 Posts: 55 Member
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    Ah thank you everyone! It was a bad entry.... I chose an entry for "Bell Peppers - Bell or Sweet" and that showed it at 120 calories, I changed it again, to "Bell Peppers - Raw Chopped, All Colors, 1 cup" and that showed 20 calories! I guess whoever made that entry must have accidentally added a "1" .... I guess I need to start being more careful and checking before hand , I feel a bit silly now....

    Yeah 20 calories isn't so bad! honestly I am glad there's no excuse not to log those now, I think it'll help actually "Seeing" the veggies start to show up on my menu....

    I don't log my diet soda either.... I really really should since I drink so much... And lol@ homemade lasagna .... That's been the hardest thing for me to track, is when I eat something, someone else cooks, or I go to some small-town unheard of homestyle restaurant, and I have to somehow look up a "Homemade" recipe in the database which could be anything!!! What I do is I find the highest count, and the lowest count for that item and just assume it's somewhere in the middle o.O luckily I don't need to do this too often, so hopefully it doesn't cause too much damage...

    Thanks everyone for your thoughts and input! ^_^

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