Blending Diets Strategies???

jgm8land · January 2011

I feel like since I have started counting calories that I omit foods that are good for me because of the calories. Such as milk, fruit and veggies. I feel like this is wrong and I should eat these items no matter how many calories I have left for the day.

I am thinking of blending WW with MFP. On weight watchers all fruits and veggies are no points, so I would not count them as calories on MFP.

Has anyone else tried something like this? Results?

crystal_sapphire · January 2011

i say you should still log them. A calorie is a calorie. Who cares if it makes you go over your calorie amount for the day? you know you're following WW.

luv2ash · January 2011

if you are going to do WW, you still need to count the calories here, if you want to use MFP. No matter what.... with WW they give you a points range, and here its a calorie range, they are not too far from each other, from what I have done in the past with WW. A

I am not sure I understand why you would omit milk, fruit and veggies. You can eat all of these with lean protein and healthy carbs and still meet calorie requirement.

Laceylala · January 2011

Vegetables have little to no calories so I would never cut them out. I usually eat one banana per day and at least one cup of some sort of milk per day in my morning smoothies.

This change to lose weight, feel better, etc. in my opinion will never really work well if you completely cut out something you like to eat. IT can cause you to binge or just give up.

You are talking about cutting out healthy things...I'd worry more about the processed white crap foods and such than milk, fruits and veggies.

The good thing is that you ARE thinking about what goes into your body...so good for you! As for WW and MFP..I think you could get away with doing that with vegetables. Fruits have higher calories and so you have to watch that.

Mindful_Trent · January 2011

I don't know about the whole blending WW and MFP - seems like it would make it more complicated than necessary, and some veggies/fruit have enough calories that they *should* be counted.

Veggies in general are very low calorie - not sure why they would cause you to not want to eat them. Starchier veggies are higher calorie - but they're good for you in moderation.

You may need to just change your perspective a little - instead of seeing milk/fruit/etc. as having too many calories, realize that you have a certain calorie budget each day. You NEED to spend your calories to fuel your body, so you might as well spend them on healthy, worthy food!

Split your calories into 3 meals and several snacks, and determine what healthy foods add up to those calorie splits. I aim for 300-400 calorie meals and 100-200 calorie snacks. That's more than enough to eat healthy, higher calorie foods in each meal/snack, and I KNOW that I'm going to be fine for the day because I planned to eat that many calories for each meal/snack.

ailysys · January 2011

I totally understand what your saying. I feel the same way. I feel that ever since I started doing MFP, I have been eating within my calorie range, but not necessarily making the best food choices. I have started doing WW with my fitness pal this week. I am logging my points on the bottom where the notes are. I have signed up for the 7 day free trial of WW (make sure you cancel or they will auto charge you), so I can see what the new "points plus" system is all about. I also asked a friend of mine (that goes to meetings) to buy me the new Points Plus calculator (the old card board one that used to count points is not being used any more). I'm hoping that using both will help me choose better foods, and reach my weight loss goal. Good luck to you

crystal_sapphire · January 2011

if you are going to do WW, you still need to count the calories here, if you want to use MFP. No matter what.... with WW they give you a points range, and here its a calorie range, they are not too far from each other, from what I have done in the past with WW. A

I am not sure I understand why you would omit milk, fruit and veggies. You can eat all of these with lean protein and healthy carbs and still meet calorie requirement.

They've revamped the whole WW system so that bananas and other fruits and veggies are all 0 points because they now include protein and carbs ( i think) into their points. I find it bizarre tbh (the whole fruits and veggies have no points), but I've never been on WW.

lessertess · January 2011

The problem with weight watchers is the concept that certain foods are "free". Those free foods do have calories and if you eat enough of them, they can put you over on calories and stall weight loss. Here's an example:

If you have a goal on MFP of 1500 calories a day to lose a pound a week (500 calories a day deficit) and you log 1500 calories (not including fruits and veggies because they're "free"). So say you eat your 5 (daily recommended servings for nutritional purposes) free servings for the day

1 serving of corn 80 calories
1 small apple 80 calories
1 small banana 80 calories
1 serving carrots 50 calories
1 serving squash 25 calories

You've just added an additional 315 calories. You're daily deficit has now gone from 500 calories to 185 calories. Instead of a pound a week, you'll lose a little less than 1/2 a pound a week. There's nothing wrong with that, as long as you're ok with the slower loss. But, you could have done the same thing by setting your goals for 1/2 pound a week, given yourself more calories, logging your veggies so you can track your nutritional goals, and not pay for weight watchers.

And yes, I realize that there are veggies with much lower calorie counts but I wanted to demonstrate the point that there are no "free foods". Even if you did this with tomatos and lettuce you're still reducing your deficit.

Blending Diets Strategies???

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