Can i really eat this and not count it?!

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Replies

  • Mystic_Potato
    Mystic_Potato Posts: 57 Member
    3v0uj8.jpg

    LOL!

    me too!
  • djfldjfl
    djfldjfl Posts: 26 Member
    There are no free foods. Some foods are essentially calorie-neutral in that your body burns more energy processing the food than is actually in the food. However, all food-burning requires energy, so all foods should be tracked.
  • brower47
    brower47 Posts: 16,356 Member
    If it has calories in it, log it. This isn't weight watchers, this is a lifestyle change.
  • BarackMeLikeAHurricane
    BarackMeLikeAHurricane Posts: 3,400 Member
    There are a few things I don't bother logging. Things like a piece of gum or half a tsp of cinnamon won't make or break my weight loss. I do log vegetables and stuff though. I just let gum and spices slide.
  • Tiffa0909
    Tiffa0909 Posts: 191 Member
    I don't log Black Coffee or Lettuce , I log everything else.

    I only drink about 3/4 of a cup of black coffee a day and that's only around 5 to 7 calories. As for lettuce , a cup has 5 calories and I rarely have a full cup. But I make sure to be at least 20 to a 100 calories under to provide some padding for some inaccuracy .
  • BrianSharpe
    BrianSharpe Posts: 9,248 Member
    That's why there are nutritionists and registered dieticians.....

    If you're counting calories they all count. Think about it this way..........if you had 10lbs to lose you could accomplish this (assuming you were eating at maintenance before) in a year through a 100 cal / day deficit. On the other hand (and this is probably true for may of us who have had our weight creep up over the years) it only takes a 100 cal / day surplus to put on 10lbs in a year.

    Very poor advice......condiments can add up very quickly on a daily basis.
  • Mom2Lizzy
    Mom2Lizzy Posts: 23
    Even when I did WW, they recommended that you limit free (non-nutritional) foods to 3 servings per day. Ie., fat free cool whip, sugar free jello, salsa... Otherwise, you need to count them.
  • TNTPete
    TNTPete Posts: 701 Member
    I would say it's the tracking that is important so do whatever is necessary to track your intake (and if you mentally add 20 cal to your end of day count who cares?). Outside of that Ketchup is a big calorie addition because who eats just a tablespoon and what are you eating it on or with? Unless you are no kidding only doing a tablespoon then add otherwise, don't. I tend to add them I don't have a laundry list of food to input. Otherwise I make note of it mentally.

    Of course.. I am just getting back into logging... so, I could be setting a bad example. :tongue:
  • sterven
    sterven Posts: 12
    Log everything. 2000 calories is 2000 calories so if you are eating 900 carrots a day it wont do any good lol
  • HeidiCooksSupper
    HeidiCooksSupper Posts: 3,839 Member
    Everything counts but everything is an estimate. You are aiming for a diary of reasonable estimates that gives you a good record of what you ate so you can assess its effect on you. A diary is also a memory aid even if you don't look back at it. So, the fact that I logged the cinnamon I put on my cottage cheese this morning is more to reinforce in my head that a good alternative way to "dress" my morning cottage cheese is with raisins (which I also logged) and cinnamon. I used less than the 1/4 tsp. that added up to two calories but those two calories, more or less, will not make or break my aim for the right amount of calories today so I didn't worry about exact measuring the cinnamon but I weighed the raisins & cottage cheese.
  • lifeskittles
    lifeskittles Posts: 438 Member
    Im going to be the devils advocate here and say listen to your nutritionist. That person has gone to school specifically to help you with your dietary needs. Although as helpful as everyone here could be, a lot of people are on their own journey themselves. People don't gain weight eating nutritional foods, they gain weight eating bad foods. Just be mindful and balanced. If you are eating balanced every day and working out there isn't a need to be so strict with it. Unless you are cutting for a body competition, I hardly think some ketchup and extra veggies are going to put a damper on anything... ;)
  • pinkraynedropjacki
    pinkraynedropjacki Posts: 3,027 Member
    People don't gain weight eating nutritional foods, they gain weight eating bad foods.


    Ummmmm no. You can & will gain weight eating nothing but 'good' foods if you eat more than you burn off.
  • lynn1982
    lynn1982 Posts: 1,439 Member
    The purpose of MFP is to log everything. If it has calories, then your body counts it, so why shouldn't you? On the other hand, I understand the mentality of "free" foods and if it works for you, then I say go for it. I make a veggie soup broth that I'll sometimes drink at night if I'm hungry. The calories are so minimal that I don't count it. I also don't log black coffee even though it's probably adding an additional 20 calories a day for me. I'll also eat sliced veggies like cucumber or celery or lettuce with a bit of lemon in the middle of the day if I'm feeling hungry but it's not time for me to eat one of my planned meals or snacks. I'm sure I'll be berated for saying this, but sometimes counting calories can get overwhelming. If you think about minimal calorie foods as "free" and then munch on those rather than things like potato chips or cookies, then I don't see the harm. (I'm not saying don't have chips or cookies - if you fit them into your calories and don't feel gross after eating them, then go for it. If I munch on "free" foods, which I understand are not actually free, then I won't be munching on junk.) Condiments like ketchup, I would probably log - there's sugar in that.
  • Alwayssohungry
    Alwayssohungry Posts: 369 Member
    Go into settings and make a section called Free Foods and log them there. You can see how they effect your weight loss and easily add or subtract them from your daily total.
  • lifeskittles
    lifeskittles Posts: 438 Member
    "Ummmmm no. You can & will gain weight eating nothing but 'good' foods if you eat more than you burn off. "

    If you bothered to read the rest of my post I said eat mindful and balanced. Instead of snapping back with a snarky reply to one sentence of my post, you'd realize the two statements go hand in hand. Oh and I have yet to meet anyone who eats too many "good foods" continuously and gains fat by accident. If you fulfill your nutritional needs, your body isn't going to to keep reaching for healthy food for no reason. The only reason some people might eat beyond what their body needs is if their ghrelin production hasn't stabilized to accommodate their new weight yet. Meaning, there is a lapse between your fat loss and your body recognizing this fat loss.
  • BrianSharpe
    BrianSharpe Posts: 9,248 Member
    The only reason some people might eat beyond what their body needs is if their ghrelin production hasn't stabilized to accommodate their new weight yet.

    The only reason?
  • lifeskittles
    lifeskittles Posts: 438 Member
    The only reason some people might eat beyond what their body needs is if their ghrelin production hasn't stabilized to accommodate their new weight yet.

    The only reason?

    The MAIN reason. Better? I'm talking about your average person.
  • JeremiahStone
    JeremiahStone Posts: 682 Member
    20cals is till 20cals, and it adds up, id count it!
  • some_like_it_hott
    some_like_it_hott Posts: 5
    I too count everything. I feel like it keeps me accountable for my actions. Then again, I am the type of person who is drawn to the word free, so if i had a free food, like carrots or something, I would probably consume an entire bag, and the calories would add up.

    Logging everything helps, especially once you have hit a plateu, because then you have tweeking room.
  • MinnieInMaine
    MinnieInMaine Posts: 6,400 Member
    I'll be honest and say there are things that I skip counting. Like the handful of lettuce on my sandwich and the squirt of ketchup and mustard on my hotdog and the splash of unsweetened almond/coconut milk in my coffee. On the other end I do things like housework and walking up and down stairs several times a day that probably burn 50 calories or more a day to use up these stray calories.

    But I'm still very conscious of the servings I injest and will count if there's enough used. I'll log that same unsweetened almond/coconut milk if I use more than 1/2 a cup like when I add it to a bowl of cereal. And I would include a half cup or more of ketchup if it was in a recipe (like meatloaf) on the recipe builder.

    OP, I would be curious to know if your nutritionist has you at a low daily calorie goal. If so, these little things probably wouldn't make much of a difference either way. This is how WW makes it work - they set their members at lower calorie goals so a few "free" fruits or veg still technically leave enough of a calorie deficit to allow for weight loss.
  • BrianSharpe
    BrianSharpe Posts: 9,248 Member
    The only reason some people might eat beyond what their body needs is if their ghrelin production hasn't stabilized to accommodate their new weight yet.

    The only reason?

    The MAIN reason. Better? I'm talking about your average person.

    Better but a more accurate statement would be that "It is hypothesized that one of the reasons......" To ascribe behaviour to being nothing more than a (in this case specific) hormonal response gives lie to the complexity of humans and our behaviour.
  • jennifershoo
    jennifershoo Posts: 3,198 Member
    3v0uj8.jpg

    :laugh:
  • lifeskittles
    lifeskittles Posts: 438 Member
    Well currently its a proven science being taught to your doctors and nurses in their anatomy and physiology classes. If you are coming from a psychological standpoint than no doubt there are exceptions with the way people can associate with food, but all in all the main aspect of hunger that impacts overall relations to food is based on Ghrelin.
    The only reason some people might eat beyond what their body needs is if their ghrelin production hasn't stabilized to accommodate their new weight yet.

    The only reason?

    The MAIN reason. Better? I'm talking about your average person.

    Better but a more accurate statement would be that "It is hypothesized that one of the reasons......" To ascribe behaviour to being nothing more than a (in this case specific) hormonal response gives lie to the complexity of humans and our behaviour.

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