Not counting fruit & veges as calories?

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jayjay3251
jayjay3251 Posts: 13
in Health and Weight Loss
I know weight watchers points plus considers fruits and veges as free-bees & I think thats great. Thats what I have been doing. However, do you think it will make a difference in my weight loss since I am just counting calories now?
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Replies

  • Duck_Puddle
    Duck_Puddle Posts: 3,237 Member
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    Yes.

    Count everything.

    This.
  • JenMc14
    JenMc14 Posts: 2,389 Member
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    Sorry, there's no such thing as a "free" food. I could easily eat 500 calories of fruits and veggies a day, especially if i considered them free and didnt count them. id be popping grapes all day. So, if I'm eating my normal calories, plus 500, I will probably end up at maintenance at best.
  • Jenni129
    Jenni129 Posts: 692 Member
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    You need to count everything.
  • Ed98043
    Ed98043 Posts: 1,333 Member
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    Yes, it will make a difference. Fruit calories add up really quickly and the body doesn't treat them any differently than candy bar calories when it comes to energy. I don't know why WW does it that way - I guess they figure people won't eat that much fruit? I can easily down 2 lbs of grapes in a day...that's over 600 calories and you can bet it would impede weight loss if I didn't count it.
  • _Zardoz_
    _Zardoz_ Posts: 3,987 Member
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    An average banana is around 100 calories so add that plus other veggies and the calories soon easily add up. If it goes in your mouth track it.
  • leapsonbounds
    leapsonbounds Posts: 77 Member
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    Not only do you need to count all fruits & veggies (nothing in life is free, right?), but by counting them, you'll learn what an appropriate portion size is. An apple that's the size of a small pumpkin is actually not one serving. (I hope that's not coming off as snarky - not meaning it to.)
  • m76b
    m76b Posts: 1,498 Member
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    yes!
  • randomtai
    randomtai Posts: 9,003 Member
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    If it goes in your mouth... you count it... Wait a minute...
  • shadesofblue02
    shadesofblue02 Posts: 3 Member
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    I believe there are two reasons weight watchers counts most fruits and veggies as 0 points.

    Reason one they are trying to encourage you to choose those as snacks over less "Good for you" foods.
    Reason two, they claim that they have included some fruits and vegetables in your points target, so they aren't free so much as pre-paid. I was also told if you find on the WW points plus program you are not losing weight because you tend to over indulge in the fruit department you need to either cut back or talk to someone about assigning them a points value. I'm not in on the formulas they use but that is what I was told when I asked the question.

    If you are following mfp, I'd log everything you eat, fruit, vegetable or candy bar :)
  • Ready2Rock206
    Ready2Rock206 Posts: 9,488 Member
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    Count them. WW gives you a much lower calorie count to account for the fact you're supposed to eat a large amount of fruit & veggies.
  • lcfairbairn74
    lcfairbairn74 Posts: 412 Member
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    Although WW allows you to eat unlimited fruit and vegetables, the expected calories from them are actually built into your daily points total. So you have that buffer already built in. When calorie counting, you need to count everything including fruit and veges. The calories, especially in fruit, can add up quickly!
  • FlaxMilk
    FlaxMilk Posts: 3,452 Member
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    Yep, count them. Sometimes I don't count my veggies (like baby spinach or other very low calorie vegetables) but that's laziness, and I'm still aware of them when logging everything else.
  • subsonicbassist
    subsonicbassist Posts: 117 Member
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    Your body treats fruit quite a bit differently than candy bars, that's not true at all... The fiber helps slow digestion, absorption of nutrients and promotes satiety (feeling full) as well as a much better nutrient microprofile. That being said, you should count the calories into your normal goals but fruits are a great choice, veggies an excellent choice!
  • DebbieLyn63
    DebbieLyn63 Posts: 2,650 Member
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    IMO the dumbest thing WW ever did was make fruits free. The second dumbest was when they switched away from exchanges and went to the point system. The exchange system was so much better and more healthy. It kept your macros in check. With the points,you could eat donuts all day, as long as you had the points! So now, people make huge smoothies out of bananas, or bowls full of yonanas and wonder why they aren't losing weight. Fruits have a lot of calories in them. they are not 'free'.

    That said, I don't write down every slice of cucumber I eat, or weigh every piece of lettuce, because the calories there are so low that you can't really overeat on them. Unless you are juicing them. And I can eat a whole lot of cauliflower 'mashed potatoes', so I definitely count those accurately.
  • kirkor
    kirkor Posts: 2,530 Member
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    I count all fruit, but I don't count green veggies of the leafy and cruciferous type: spinach, kale, broccoli, cabbage, celery, cucumber ... I do count carrots, green beans, and other "starchier"-type vegetables.
    Reason being is I never wanted to be in the situation of being close to my daily calorie cap and avoiding green veggies as a result.
    The calorie limits I have set for myself I see as "xxx counted calories + zzz green uncounted calories" ... like anything, I watch my results over time: if the scale is moving in the wrong direction, I change my targets.
  • lexibelk
    lexibelk Posts: 83 Member
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    If it goes in your mouth... you count it... Wait a minute...

    hehehehe :laugh:
  • benol1
    benol1 Posts: 867 Member
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    Yes.

    Count everything.

    Seconded. You need to count fruit and vegetables. They do contain calories, they contribute towards your macros and many of them are packed with micro-nutrients.

    If I didn't count fruit and vegetables - I wouldn't be counting anything at all.
  • benol1
    benol1 Posts: 867 Member
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    Your body treats fruit quite a bit differently than candy bars, that's not true at all... The fiber helps slow digestion, absorption of nutrients and promotes satiety (feeling full) as well as a much better nutrient microprofile. That being said, you should count the calories into your normal goals but fruits are a great choice, veggies an excellent choice!

    Agree. And there is an emerging body of peer-reviewed literature which supports this.
  • 27toheaven
    27toheaven Posts: 30
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    There are calories in fruit sometimes a fair few too. Its much harder to eat 1000 cals of fruit than it is 1000 cals of refined carbs. But it is still possible and possibly why some who eat a ton of fruit on top of there meals arent losing. Green leafy veggies can pretty much be counted as free though very very few cals in those.

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