nutritionist says not to count veggies & gfruit???

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linalovekitty
linalovekitty Posts: 187
in Food and Nutrition
Has anyone heard this?

I go to a wellness spa where they have a vegan bar that has a nutritionist on hand who creates different smoothies. An example of a smoothie there is organic fresh Kale, Spinach, Parsley, celery, grapefruit, chia seeds in 16oz cups.

The nutritionist says I can drink as many of these as I want and its impossible to gain weight from those calories...basically for weight loss she says the calories dont count in these- and if anything are negative calories. I talked to another nuttritionist and she said the same.
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Replies

  • thevegankelly
    thevegankelly Posts: 85 Member
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    Has anyone heard this?

    I go to a wellness spa where they have a vegan bar that has a nutritionist on hand who creates different smoothies. An example of a smoothie there is organic fresh Kale, Spinach, Parsley, celery, grapefruit, chia seeds in 16oz cups.

    The nutritionist says I can drink as many of these as I want and its impossible to gain weight from those calories...basically for weight loss she says the calories dont count in these- and if anything are negative calories. I talked to another nuttritionist and she said the same.

    I've heard that about green veggies. It's because they're so high in water and fiber and low in calories that you'll break even. It also encourages people to eat way more greens!
  • Timshel_
    Timshel_ Posts: 22,834 Member
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    Depends on ingredients. My 16oz morning smoothies range from 150 to over 300 calories per serving, so I would bet if I drank enough of them *something* would happen. If I could ever get off the toilet.
  • RobinV_Seattle
    RobinV_Seattle Posts: 191 Member
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    It's simlar to the Weight Watchers philosophy where most fruits and vegetables are free. I tried that for a while and I did lose a good amount of weight pretty fast, but with WW, there was no way (or incentive) to track macros so I switched to MFP.

    I certainly don't think fresh spinach, kale, etc. is what we need to be worried about, but I track that stuff anyway just for accountability and to see nutrient/macros...
  • tsh0ck
    tsh0ck Posts: 1,970 Member
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    Has anyone heard this?

    I go to a wellness spa where they have a vegan bar that has a nutritionist on hand who creates different smoothies. An example of a smoothie there is organic fresh Kale, Spinach, Parsley, celery, grapefruit, chia seeds in 16oz cups.

    The nutritionist says I can drink as many of these as I want and its impossible to gain weight from those calories...basically for weight loss she says the calories dont count in these- and if anything are negative calories. I talked to another nuttritionist and she said the same.

    yeah ... no. just, no. calories count, whether they come from carrots or chocolate.

    also, there is no such thing as a negative calorie.
  • mandypizzle
    mandypizzle Posts: 633 Member
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    I believe this. I use to never count fruits and veggies. They were freebies. I had no problem losing weight. I am counting them now though. It's easier now that I don't write it all on paper. lol
  • Helloitsdan
    Helloitsdan Posts: 5,564 Member
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    Free veggies include:


    Asparagus
    Okra
    Brussel Sprouts
    Onion
    Cabbage
    Peppers
    Cauliflower
    Radish
    Cucumber
    Snow Peas
    Eggplant
    Spinach
    Lettuce
    Tomato
    Mushroom
    Zucchin
  • mandypizzle
    mandypizzle Posts: 633 Member
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    Yes, when I didn't count them, I was doing WW. It worked very well for me!
    It's simlar to the Weight Watchers philosophy where most fruits and vegetables are free. I tried that for a while and I did lose a good amount of weight pretty fast, but with WW, there was no way (or incentive) to track macros so I switched to MFP.

    I certainly don't think fresh spinach, kale, etc. is what we need to be worried about, but I track that stuff anyway just for accountability and to see nutrient/macros...
  • staceyd90
    staceyd90 Posts: 43
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    I know weightwatchers and slimming world follow similar things, that have "free" foods that you can have as much of as you like, however after starting the keto diet i know know a single small pear has 14 carbs, and i think with high carb fruit eating loads must make you gain weight? Im not 100% sure though..
  • SweetlyVague
    SweetlyVague Posts: 172 Member
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    I dunno. I believe calories are calories. I mean, I'd still feel less guilty eating a ton of veggies and fruits over other foods, but I still count them.
  • staceyd90
    staceyd90 Posts: 43
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    yeah ... no. just, no. calories count, whether they come from carrots or chocolate.

    also, there is no such thing as a negative calorie.

    Actually i believe celery is a negative as it burns more calories chewing it than it contains...
  • KenosFeoh
    KenosFeoh Posts: 1,837 Member
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    It depends on what weight loss plan you are following. Here we count everything. Weight Watchers doesn't count fruits or vegetables (except for certain starchy exceptions) up to the recommended 5 servings per day. After that, they should be counted .
  • BB13LB
    BB13LB Posts: 2 Member
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    A calorie is the energy needed to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water through 1 °C. The source of the calorie is irrelevant!
  • mrskperry
    mrskperry Posts: 24 Member
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    I agree that many vegetables are "negative calories", but I wouldn't lump any fruits into the "free" category. The ONLY thing that fruits do for you is raise your insulin levels. It's straight sugar in the form of fructose. You need to count sugar calories because the more foods you eat that your body recognizes as sugar the more your insulin levels are gonna go crazy. Veggies, yes, fruits, probably not.
  • UncleRiotous
    UncleRiotous Posts: 69
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    Has anyone heard this?

    I go to a wellness spa where they have a vegan bar that has a nutritionist on hand who creates different smoothies. An example of a smoothie there is organic fresh Kale, Spinach, Parsley, celery, grapefruit, chia seeds in 16oz cups.

    The nutritionist says I can drink as many of these as I want and its impossible to gain weight from those calories...basically for weight loss she says the calories dont count in these- and if anything are negative calories. I talked to another nuttritionist and she said the same.

    I've heard that about green veggies. It's because they're so high in water and fiber and low in calories that you'll break even. It also encourages people to eat way more greens!

    Exactly what you've said here sounds perfectly logical and I could see it being right however there is a big difference between a smoothy based largely on Kale and celery and all fruit and veggies not counting towards your total intake. Fibre contains calories but it's really hard for your body to get to and there has long been a discussion about how many calories your body burns in order to get calories from raw celery. Equally someone is trying to sell you something by claiming that there are no calories in it so I'd tend to be cynical about the claim.

    My advice would be try it and see if it affects your weight loss. From the sound of these even if they aren't calorie free they could be very low calorie and therefore may well just get lost in the noise in the same way that I don't count walking to the garage to get my bike out as calories burned due to exercise.
  • aliceb39
    aliceb39 Posts: 84 Member
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    The nutritionist in my doctor's office told me not to count most veggies, either, but this was in connection with counting carbs for my diabetes. Guess she didn't want me to feel deprived of fruits and a little starch if I used all my carbs on veg.
  • FitandFab33
    FitandFab33 Posts: 718 Member
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    Please get her credentials. NO.
  • Mutant13
    Mutant13 Posts: 2,485 Member
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    Are they getting their Nutrition degrees from cereal boxes?
  • GoTeamMeaghan
    GoTeamMeaghan Posts: 347 Member
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    Smoothie can be a code word for fruity milk shake. If someone hears "smoothie" they automatically think healthy. Be wary when someone says "it's impossible to gain weight on________"
  • nz_deevaa
    nz_deevaa Posts: 12,209 Member
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    Has anyone heard this?

    I go to a wellness spa where they have a vegan bar that has a nutritionist on hand who creates different smoothies. An example of a smoothie there is organic fresh Kale, Spinach, Parsley, celery, grapefruit, chia seeds in 16oz cups.

    The nutritionist says I can drink as many of these as I want and its impossible to gain weight from those calories...basically for weight loss she says the calories dont count in these- and if anything are negative calories. I talked to another nuttritionist and she said the same.

    I had 15gms of chia seeds in my breakfast this morning and the calorie count on them is about 70cals.

    They count. You can still overeat on 'healthy' foods.

    However, when I log my foods I'm less concerned about being accurate about logging my spinach (very low calories by volume) vs say cheese (which has high calories, by volume).
  • fitnessmare
    fitnessmare Posts: 117
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    In her topic heading she said veggies & gfruit... so she's not asking about all fruits, just grapefruit, right???

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