how important to log "good" calories ?

davers2k
davers2k Posts: 7
in Health and Weight Loss
HI,

What are your opinions on logging "good" calories - as a general rule i never bother weighing salad stuff such as lettuce, tomatos, celery, cucumber etc and the same goes for fresh vegetables ( i do log frozen / pre packed veg)

same goes for milk in coffee, never log it - though do log it with cereals in morning or if i have a glass of milk etc

i realise this is "cheating" the system slightly but justify it by thinking they are better for me lol.

Another question - slightly unrelated but may as well stick it here rather than start a new thread is in order to avoid the dreaded plateau - is it advised to have a free week every month or maybe change your lbs a week lost goal every other week so week one you eat to lose 2lb, week two eat to lose 1lb etc ?

just a few questions floating around in my head
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Replies

  • ElliTree
    ElliTree Posts: 23 Member
    Log EVERYTHING. Avocado is a "good" food, but it's really calorie dense.
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
    In terms of weight loss calories are calories. You should log them and you should give a long hard look as to why you are making this excuse in the first place.

    If I didnt log milk veg and fruit id be off by a good 500 cal a day.
  • DavidMartinez2
    DavidMartinez2 Posts: 840 Member
    I made a salad "recipe" of all the things I normally put in a salad and use that. If I don't use cucumber or add squash I don't think it makes a big difference but at least I am capturing most of those calories.
  • CynthiaT60
    CynthiaT60 Posts: 1,280 Member
    Calories are calories indeed, though lettuce is not really going to break you up. :smile:
    I do log them all, but mostly because they have fiber, and I keep track of that.
  • LaurenBrooke1843
    LaurenBrooke1843 Posts: 73 Member
    A calorie is a calorie. I log every single calorie that I take in, from lettuce to a piece of sugar free gum.
  • jennifer_417
    jennifer_417 Posts: 12,344 Member
    You seem to be missing the point of calorie counting altogether.

    Calories are calories, no matter what they come in. It's too many calories, not so-called "good" or "bad" foods that make a person overweight.

    If it has calories, log it. It all adds up.
  • gabrielleelliott90
    gabrielleelliott90 Posts: 854 Member
    Sometimes I will have a TINY nibble of something, so I don't count it, be basically nothing. This is including sugar free squash which I have often, which is probably a lot of calories in the end, but yeah, it doesn't effect me. Everything else I log.
  • Lizzy622
    Lizzy622 Posts: 3,705 Member
    Like food, calories do not come in good and bad. There are foods we should eat more of to meet our nutritional needs but the other foods(calories) are not good or bad. All calories and all foods deserve to be logged.
  • _KitKat_
    _KitKat_ Posts: 1,066 Member
    In terms of weight loss calories are calories. You should log them and you should give a long hard look as to why you are making this excuse in the first place.

    If I didnt log milk veg and fruit id be off by a good 500 cal a day.

    This^^^^^^
    Also making rationalizations like milk in coffee, fruits and veggies while good for you.....it would seem to be an unhealthy mentality and setting yourself up for confusion and failure.
  • davers2k
    davers2k Posts: 7
    lol - my excuse is i live a busy life and as its usually a bowl of salad made for the family its difficult log exactly how much my portion would be. I generally aim for the biggest lb loss a week amount of calories and dont stress if i only lose half the amount etc

    I do like the idea a couple of posts down of making a general "salad" recipe entry so will give that go
  • dlionsmane
    dlionsmane Posts: 674 Member
    I'm not one to see a difference in foods. They all have calories and protein/carb/fat etc. So I log them all, because they all count to my total. You can easily go way over not counting them... IMO

    Also I looked at your profile. doesn't seem like you have a lot to lose. 2 pounds per week may be too aggressive, stick with 1 pound and don't worry about how long it takes and I'm willing to bet you don't see a 'plateau'* .

    *Unless you continue to not log "good" food and you end up actually eating at maintenance and are not in a deficit.

    Edited to add- I use the recipes a lot since I do all the cooking so I weigh everything and then divide by the number of servings. Works great!
  • perseverance14
    perseverance14 Posts: 1,364 Member
    I log everything, it all adds up. The only exception to that in the past was condiments, as long as they say 0 calories my diet place said I didn't have to add them, but now that I have dropped my diet place and am on my own I am starting to add that stuff too, and I started weighing everything in grams. It may only be an extra 10 or 20 calories a day, but all the calories matter...I even log my Trident gum.
  • brower47
    brower47 Posts: 16,356 Member
    If you're not interested in being accurate and possibly putting yourself in maintenance or a surplus, it's not important to log "good" calories. If you are interested, then log them. They add up and can be the difference between losing, not losing and gaining.
  • serindipte
    serindipte Posts: 1,557 Member
    If you find it too tedious and you are currently losing weight, go for it. If you stop losing, you'll know why.
  • davert123
    davert123 Posts: 1,568 Member
    There are foods with very few calories which I don't bother with but I would bump up another entry a little to make up for it. My take is that if I am there or there abouts I'm doing good. - the important thing is to try and your macros. If you don't book a piece of lettuce and a cherry tomatoes though its not going to change anything - if you don't book milk for other calorie rich food though it will so make sure you are not hiding anything that will change your results.
  • MelisMusing
    MelisMusing Posts: 421 Member
    Don't look for shortcuts. Log everything. If you're really into the "science" of losing weight, you have to track the data accurately. You can't do that if you're eyeballing portion or not logging everything.

    IMHO.
  • MonaLisaLianne
    MonaLisaLianne Posts: 398 Member
    HI,

    What are your opinions on logging "good" calories - as a general rule i never bother weighing salad stuff such as lettuce, tomatos, celery, cucumber etc and the same goes for fresh vegetables ( i do log frozen / pre packed veg)

    same goes for milk in coffee, never log it - though do log it with cereals in morning or if i have a glass of milk etc

    i realise this is "cheating" the system slightly but justify it by thinking they are better for me lol.

    Another question - slightly unrelated but may as well stick it here rather than start a new thread is in order to avoid the dreaded plateau - is it advised to have a free week every month or maybe change your lbs a week lost goal every other week so week one you eat to lose 2lb, week two eat to lose 1lb etc ?

    just a few questions floating around in my head
  • motivatedmartha
    motivatedmartha Posts: 1,108 Member
    I made a salad "recipe" of all the things I normally put in a salad and use that. If I don't use cucumber or add squash I don't think it makes a big difference but at least I am capturing most of those calories.

    Me too. If I leave out radishes - or swap the leaves I use I don't worry too much - unless I add avocado, that gets weighed! A big mixed salad I count as 1 portion of my recipe, smaller garnish I count 0.5.
  • MonaLisaLianne
    MonaLisaLianne Posts: 398 Member
    HI,

    What are your opinions on logging "good" calories - as a general rule i never bother weighing salad stuff such as lettuce, tomatos, celery, cucumber etc and the same goes for fresh vegetables ( i do log frozen / pre packed veg)

    same goes for milk in coffee, never log it - though do log it with cereals in morning or if i have a glass of milk etc

    i realise this is "cheating" the system slightly but justify it by thinking they are better for me lol.

    Another question - slightly unrelated but may as well stick it here rather than start a new thread is in order to avoid the dreaded plateau - is it advised to have a free week every month or maybe change your lbs a week lost goal every other week so week one you eat to lose 2lb, week two eat to lose 1lb etc ?

    just a few questions floating around in my head

    There is NO SUCH THING as "good' or "bad" calories. They all count. It's like saying 1's and 2's and 3's don't count in math. =)
  • MonaLisaLianne
    MonaLisaLianne Posts: 398 Member
    If you find it too tedious and you are currently losing weight, go for it. If you stop losing, you'll know why.

    Yes. This makes a lot of sense.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    I eat very little in the way of "junk" food...I take in roughly 2200 - 2500 calories per day in "good" calories...roughly 200 - 300 of those come from fruits and veg. I can easily make a salad that is 200-300 calories before adding the dressing...
  • lizziebeth1028
    lizziebeth1028 Posts: 3,602 Member
    I log everything!!!!
  • davers2k
    davers2k Posts: 7
    I'm not one to see a difference in foods. They all have calories and protein/carb/fat etc. So I log them all, because they all count to my total. You can easily go way over not counting them... IMO

    Also I looked at your profile. doesn't seem like you have a lot to lose. 2 pounds per week may be too aggressive, stick with 1 pound and don't worry about how long it takes and I'm willing to bet you don't see a 'plateau'* .

    *Unless you continue to not log "good" food and you end up actually eating at maintenance and are not in a deficit.

    Edited to add- I use the recipes a lot since I do all the cooking so I weigh everything and then divide by the number of servings. Works great!

    plenty to lose - 3 stone before i hit "healthy" according to the NHS lol

    I started with the 2lb loss more to see how it goes and figure ive got to over eat by a fair bit to get back to maintenance
  • FireOpalCO
    FireOpalCO Posts: 641 Member
    There is more to logging then calories.

    Are you getting enough fiber?
    ...calcium?
    ...Vitamin A?
    ...Vitamin C?
    ...Iron?
    ...Potassium?

    Are there certain foods that leave you satiated longer? (how can you tell if you don't log them all)
    Are there certain foods that make you bloated or constipated?

    Pineapple is good for you, but if you sat and ate an entire one every morning for breakfast, that would be a huge hit of sugar (and calories) to you daily totals.
  • davers2k
    davers2k Posts: 7
    some valid points made thanks - has made me think

    another question - how do you get your signature with the lbs lost etc in it ?
  • serindipte
    serindipte Posts: 1,557 Member
    some valid points made thanks - has made me think

    another question - how do you get your signature with the lbs lost etc in it ?

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/forums/settings
  • davers2k
    davers2k Posts: 7
    some valid points made thanks - has made me think

    another question - how do you get your signature with the lbs lost etc in it ?

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/forums/settings

    Cheers :D
  • Ready2Rock206
    Ready2Rock206 Posts: 9,487 Member
    Cool - I think my Good calories are now going to be cupcakes and donuts. This diet stuff is fabulous.
  • kikityme
    kikityme Posts: 472 Member
    ( i do log frozen / pre packed veg)

    Milk adds up, especially if you have to track sugar like I do. There is no nutritional difference between frozen veg and fresh, so if you're going to cheat, go all out.
  • Nedra19455
    Nedra19455 Posts: 241 Member
    If you find it too tedious and you are currently losing weight, go for it. If you stop losing, you'll know why.

    This is me. I realize that I am in the minority as far as MFPers go, but I accept that I am responsible for my decision not to log certain foods. The fact is, a goal of mine is to eat more fruits and vegetables and they are tedious to weigh and measure and I know it would be a disincentive to eat them if I was being "good" and accurately logging all of them. So I don't log most of them. Not because they are "healthy" and certainly not because I don't think those calories "count" -- but simply because I have non-weight-loss goals too and having these foods be "free" is part of what has kept me having fun!

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