fruit and veggies

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kmc979
kmc979 Posts: 99 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I am fairly new at this veggie eating thing, basically i hate them all. I know fruits and veggies are important and i am now snacking on carrots and snap peas,etc and starting to add in broccoli. Occassionally i will have an apple or orange or banana. However, this is where I get confused. If i enter them into MFP i suddenly go over on carbs/sugar/calories. seriously? you don't get fat eating carrots and peas. I limit fruits and consider veggies unlimited. granted, i am mainly eating the sweeter veggies (mmmmm bell pepper) but I have stopped entering them into MFP. Am I doing something wrong? What is every one elses's thoughts on this.
I'd like to add that all these snacking veggies are fresh/raw veggies, not dipping them in anything either.

Replies

  • JenniTheVeggie
    JenniTheVeggie Posts: 2,474 Member
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    Hi! I look at the fiber count too. I subtract the fiber from the carbs (net carbs).
  • Songbird1104
    Songbird1104 Posts: 210 Member
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    Nope, you're not doing anything wrong. Fruit is way sweeter and more caloric than veggies. In such trends as Paleo-Primal diets/lifestyles, they limit fruit and focus on vegetables because today's fruits are artificially grown, sweetened, colored, and ripened to expedite processes and make them more visually appealing to the consumer. Focus on eating veggies with smaller portions of fruits, and your numbers will look better.
  • kmc979
    kmc979 Posts: 99 Member
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    I hardly eat any fruit. In fact i think the last time I ate a piece of fruit was 4 days ago and it was a clementine.
  • sandradev1
    sandradev1 Posts: 786 Member
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    Using a calorie counter like MFP you are best to record everything that passes your lips. As far as sugar from fruit and veggies, unless you have a medical condition where you have to watch your sugar levels, there is no need to worry too much about the natural sugars from foods.

    I did used to eat more fruit than vegetables before stating on MFP and have to admit that I changed over to eat more veggies, but still have fruit in my diet.
  • meeemy
    meeemy Posts: 26 Member
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    Carrots and peas do contain quite a lot of natural sugar.
    Anyhow u should try to not get over 36 gr of sugar a day as it can rise ur risk of getting diabetes.
    I include carrots and peas in my diet but i try to not use them too much and instead use veggies like zucchini, cauliflower and pumpkin.
    I eat fruits about 2-3 times a week and see them as treats. I get all the vitamins i need from veggies :)
  • Dahllywood
    Dahllywood Posts: 642 Member
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    seriously? you don't get fat eating carrots and peas.

    This. Don't worry about the sugar content. Eat your fruits and veggies. I have each with every meal
  • tekwriter
    tekwriter Posts: 923 Member
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    I am a diabetic and I do not watch the sugar levels. watch my carb level and try not to have more than 45 to 60 at one sitting. I eat plenty of fruit. I realize I am quite heavy, so would also add that I didn't eat fruit prior to losing weight.
  • Ninatoots
    Ninatoots Posts: 192 Member
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    I have to say vegitables are not my favorite food to eat but I'm 68 years old and have descovered how to make things taste better. It may take some time to learn. I think a little bit of cheese on vegies helps. Green beans I buy frozen, cook up with canned chopped tomatoes, onions, garlic, Italian herbs, and tiny bit of Balsmic vinigar, salt and mabe a bit of either Splenda or a teaspoon of sugar. I do love all kinds of fresh greens cooked and add some salt & vinigar after it's cooked. I eat blueberries every day in my protien shake with Fage Greek yougurt most mornings. Blueberries are the lowist in sugars of fruit. I also like strawberries frozen by Dole in my smooties. I don't eat many bananas but they are good in Fage yougurt. I think carrots taste better if they are roasted and I love roasted parsneps. They taste much better roasted.

    All for now. I hope you find some more information. Try Ministroni soup. It's very tasty! Home made of course and home made tomatoe soup also. A blender I use is sort of like a moter boat thing right in the pot.

    Nina
  • toddis
    toddis Posts: 941 Member
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    Going over is going over, regardless of source.(calorie wise)

    How far over is over?
  • katevarner
    katevarner Posts: 884 Member
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    If you are going over, it's not just because you have added veggies. You have to take some other carbs away to balance. Can't see your diary, but I'm betting you either eat lots of processed stuff that's loaded with carbs and sugar or you eat lots of bread/grains/pasta. I'd cut back on any or all of those before I cut back on veggies if I were you. Or even fruit.

    And if you don't have diabetes or some other health issue that requires you to watch sugar, I'd switch to fiber or sodium, both of which are much more important to weight loss.
  • kmc979
    kmc979 Posts: 99 Member
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    If you are going over, it's not just because you have added veggies. You have to take some other carbs away to balance. Can't see your diary, but I'm betting you either eat lots of processed stuff that's loaded with carbs and sugar or you eat lots of bread/grains/pasta. I'd cut back on any or all of those before I cut back on veggies if I were you. Or even fruit.

    And if you don't have diabetes or some other health issue that requires you to watch sugar, I'd switch to fiber or sodium, both of which are much more important to weight loss.

    I am not having any bread/grains/etc but boy do i want some. I am using some atkins products (the frozen meals are good) so most of what I consume is low carb (but they have a lot of sodium which is kinda ok since I don't take in much sodium from other sources). I actually struggle to hit even 1200 calories most days. I eat mostly chicken breasts with veggies for lunch and dinner (i swear i'm gonna start clucking soon). I do not have any health issues other than needing to lose weight. I am also always way under cholesterol except for days i have eggs (which is not often) so i'm thinking i need to stop looking at that and driving myself nuts.
    i don't plan on cutting back on any veggies and in fact i am trying to consume more. some days if i enter in all the fruits and veggies i can be around 300 calories over.
  • sandradev1
    sandradev1 Posts: 786 Member
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    If you are going over, it's not just because you have added veggies. You have to take some other carbs away to balance. Can't see your diary, but I'm betting you either eat lots of processed stuff that's loaded with carbs and sugar or you eat lots of bread/grains/pasta. I'd cut back on any or all of those before I cut back on veggies if I were you. Or even fruit.

    And if you don't have diabetes or some other health issue that requires you to watch sugar, I'd switch to fiber or sodium, both of which are much more important to weight loss.

    I am not having any bread/grains/etc but boy do i want some. I am using some atkins products (the frozen meals are good) so most of what I consume is low carb (but they have a lot of sodium which is kinda ok since I don't take in much sodium from other sources). I actually struggle to hit even 1200 calories most days. I eat mostly chicken breasts with veggies for lunch and dinner (i swear i'm gonna start clucking soon). I do not have any health issues other than needing to lose weight. I am also always way under cholesterol except for days i have eggs (which is not often) so i'm thinking i need to stop looking at that and driving myself nuts.
    i don't plan on cutting back on any veggies and in fact i am trying to consume more. some days if i enter in all the fruits and veggies i can be around 300 calories over.

    I think that you are right and that you should just keep this simple. Log everything, all the fruit and veggies, and just watch your numbers including the carb, protein & fat and just get as near as you can. I think that you are saying that you are on 1200 cals a day. If you exercise you also need to eat back the calories that you burn during exercise as this if how MFP is set up (check the stickies on the forum). Therefore, even if you are going over by 300 you are likely then just about eating the right amount of calories for a very healthy weight loss.

    Good luck

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