Don't count salad

kathymhardy · July 2013

I count fruit and vegetables, but have never counted salad ingredients, i.e. lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, celery. Works for me. Anyone else do the same?

HMVOL7409 · July 2013

Nope, it still has calories. Some have a very narrow deficit so everything matters and frankly some make ridiculous sized salads topped with stuff that should be counted.

ken_hogan · July 2013

I try my best to count everything. I may be a little 'picky' at times trying to be as close as possible, but do try to be as accurate as I can.

Alatariel75 · July 2013

I guess weigh/cups but still track the salad, and tend to overestimate. If I dont track everything, I start rationalising not tracking more and more things.

grrrlface · July 2013

Tomatoes you should definitely log, they have more calories than lettuce, cucumber or celery.

Personally I log everything.

_Zardoz_ · July 2013

So food without calories! What a discovery!!

phieaglefan · July 2013

I always count tomatoes and carrots. I have at times been guilty of not counting a slice or two of cucumber, not weighing my lettuce, etc. As HMVOL7409 said, it kinda depends on how close you are to your deficit.

Alatariel75 · July 2013

So food without calories! What a discovery!!

Fingernails, man! Seriously, they are already a part of you, so by eating them you are consuming yourself and burning calories gnawing at them. The only true negative calorie food!

kellehbeans · July 2013

I track all of my salad items - as a lot of people say, they still have calories. With lettuce, I do tend to estimate how much I have used, but with tomatoes I weigh them and add them to my diary. I try to overestimate my lettuce.

kathymhardy · July 2013

So food without calories! What a discovery!!

Lol, but I never said salad stuff didn't have calories! Each to their own - if it works, good. If not, change it

angelique_redhead · July 2013

I track it all. I have been known to have a 500 calorie salad before so I TRACK, TRACK, TRACK! If it works for you though then go for it.

futuresize8 · July 2013

I count it all. Part of the discipline! And I know I'm never kidding myself about just what I'm eating.

caramelgyrlk · July 2013

I log everything. That is the only way I can continue to hold myself accountable and have a visual view of what my intake is.

alpine1994 · July 2013

I guess weigh/cups but still track the salad, and tend to overestimate. If I dont track everything, I start rationalising not tracking more and more things.

This exactly

yaseyuku · July 2013

Considering I love salads and have them often, of course I track.

siqiniq · July 2013

So food without calories! What a discovery!!

Lol, but I never said salad stuff didn't have calories! Each to their own - if it works, good. If not, change it

I agree- do what works for you. I too, track everything. With lettuce, instead of weighing, I use a measuring cup.

JesterMFP · July 2013

I count everything, but what's important is that it's working for you. I'm all for more flexibility where possible. I think that learning to manage your weight (whether you're losing or maintaining or whatever) while not being completely rigid in your counting is a really good thing. It's not something I can do (yet) but good for you!

bumblebums · July 2013

Hah, well, I had a salad yesterday, and counting everything, it came to about 340 calories. It had 77 kcal's worth of dressing on it, and 168 kcal of avocado. But even if I left those out, that still means about 100 calories' worth of salad. Maybe not much if you are a lifter dude eating 3000 calories a day, but could be the difference between a deficit and a surplus for a 4'10" woman who is slightly overweight.

I am guessing OP is not worried about tracking things like fiber and micronutrients, either. If I didn't track the salad, I'd be 14 g off on my fiber count for the day. And I tend to like to know how much fiber I'm eating. Then there's iron, vitamins, and everything else I like to keep track of.

Plus it is nice to see how filling a salad can be at only 340 calories, compared to an equivalent amount of, say, cheese and crackers or whatever your favorite go-to snack is. Tracking allows me to see the numbers right in front of me.

fmouco · July 2013

So food without calories! What a discovery!!

Fingernails, man! Seriously, they are already a part of you, so by eating them you are consuming yourself and burning calories gnawing at them. The only true negative calorie food!

LOL

darrensurrey · July 2013

These bunnies don't count their salad:

This squirrel logs his nuts:

Alatariel75 · July 2013

These bunnies don't count their salad:

This squirrel logs his nuts:

Some of those bunnies are pretty chubby...

jen_zz · July 2013

I track everything, but maybe not celery,since I won't ever have more than one bite of it since I hate it so much!:laugh:

ELEANOR43da · July 2013

I stay on track and keep the discipline when I count all calories I eat. A calorie is a calorie no matter where it comes from.

nikkohli · July 2013

I estimate on lettuce only. 2.5 cups is 15 cals so even if I double that it, it isn't anything that is going to crush my efforts. I do track/weigh/measure everything else.

rml_16 · July 2013

I count fruit and vegetables, but have never counted salad ingredients, i.e. lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, celery. Works for me. Anyone else do the same?

I count them, but really it's so few from those specific ingredients, you probably aren't hurting yourself.

I don't know how close to goal you are, but if you plateau, you may want to start counting those calories.

SmallestGoal · July 2013

I didn't count salad for many years. I still just estimate on the iceberg lettuce, but boy do I count dressing now! I thought, because I was eating fat free Italian, that it was what, 15 calories? No big deal!

N O P E

There's apparently a big difference between how much dressing I put on when I'm measuring it out with a tablespoon, and how much I put on if I just pour. Checked one day by weight, and it turns out, on a dinner-sized salad, I'd put 3+ servings of dressing on there. Sometimes twice a day, so ~90 cals I was totally ignoring. Oops!

darrensurrey · July 2013

These bunnies don't count their salad:

This squirrel logs his nuts:

Some of those bunnies are pretty chubby...

Exactly. Don't follow the bunnies' mistake of not counting salad!

kathymhardy · July 2013

I am guessing OP is not worried about tracking things like fiber and micronutrients, either. If I didn't track the salad, I'd be 14 g off on my fiber count for the day. And I tend to like to know how much fiber I'm eating. Then there's iron, vitamins, and everything else I like to keep track of.

I have never tracked the macros, just glancing at them from time to time. Too much science for me, I'm afraid. Calories in and calories out are what matters to me. I can't be doing with obsessing about vitamins and everything like that. I think my diet is varied enough and I am healthy (touching lots of wood

Let's clarify that when I say I don't count salad, I ONLY mean lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes, cress and celery. If I had dressing, mayo, avocado, nuts, etc. etc. of course I count.

kathymhardy · July 2013

These bunnies don't count their salad:

This squirrel logs his nuts:

But the bunnies look happier, lol :laugh:

kayemmgee5 · July 2013

I could everything, even salads & toppings.

obrientp · July 2013

I'm a bit of a slacker. I measure and log the dressing and things like olives, tomatoes, carrots, beets, and garbanzos, but I don't normally log the lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower and cucumbers. I usually try to leave a little bit of deficit everyday, anyway. Haven't had any problems doing it this way yet.

Don't count salad

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