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Don't count salad

kathymhardy
kathymhardy Posts: 267 Member
edited January 29 in Food and Nutrition
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?
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Replies

  • HMVOL7409
    HMVOL7409 Posts: 1,588 Member
    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
    ken_hogan Posts: 854 Member
    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
    Alatariel75 Posts: 18,656 Member
    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
    grrrlface Posts: 1,204 Member
    Tomatoes you should definitely log, they have more calories than lettuce, cucumber or celery.

    Personally I log everything.
  • _Zardoz_
    _Zardoz_ Posts: 3,987 Member
    So food without calories! What a discovery!!
  • phieaglefan
    phieaglefan Posts: 107 Member
    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
    Alatariel75 Posts: 18,656 Member
    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
    kellehbeans Posts: 838 Member
    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
    kathymhardy Posts: 267 Member
    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 :wink:
  • angelique_redhead
    angelique_redhead Posts: 782 Member
    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
    futuresize8 Posts: 476 Member
    I count it all. Part of the discipline! And I know I'm never kidding myself about just what I'm eating.
  • caramelgyrlk
    caramelgyrlk Posts: 1,112 Member
    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
    alpine1994 Posts: 1,915 Member
    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
    yaseyuku Posts: 871 Member
    Considering I love salads and have them often, of course I track.
  • siqiniq
    siqiniq Posts: 237 Member
    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 :wink:

    I agree- do what works for you. I too, track everything. With lettuce, instead of weighing, I use a measuring cup.
  • JesterMFP
    JesterMFP Posts: 3,596 Member
    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
    bumblebums Posts: 2,181 Member
    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
    fmouco Posts: 100 Member
    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
    darrensurrey Posts: 3,942 Member
    These bunnies don't count their salad:
    fat_fluffs_rabbits_470x312.jpg

    This squirrel logs his nuts:
    rippedsquirrel.jpg
  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 18,656 Member
    These bunnies don't count their salad:
    fat_fluffs_rabbits_470x312.jpg

    This squirrel logs his nuts:
    rippedsquirrel.jpg

    Some of those bunnies are pretty chubby...
  • jen_zz
    jen_zz Posts: 1,011 Member
    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
    ELEANOR43da Posts: 166 Member
    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
    nikkohli Posts: 311 Member
    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
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
    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
    SmallestGoal Posts: 20 Member
    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
    darrensurrey Posts: 3,942 Member
    These bunnies don't count their salad:
    fat_fluffs_rabbits_470x312.jpg

    This squirrel logs his nuts:
    rippedsquirrel.jpg

    Some of those bunnies are pretty chubby...

    Exactly. Don't follow the bunnies' mistake of not counting salad!
  • kathymhardy
    kathymhardy Posts: 267 Member


    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 :smile:

    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
    kathymhardy Posts: 267 Member
    These bunnies don't count their salad:
    fat_fluffs_rabbits_470x312.jpg

    This squirrel logs his nuts:
    rippedsquirrel.jpg

    But the bunnies look happier, lol :laugh:
  • kayemmgee5
    kayemmgee5 Posts: 86 Member
    I could everything, even salads & toppings.
  • obrientp
    obrientp Posts: 546 Member
    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.
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