Fruit and Vegetables; calorie counting

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eqp1
eqp1 Posts: 10 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hi just wondering do people calorie count their fruit and vegetables? Would it be a more accurate representation of daily calorie consumption?
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Replies

  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 9,998 Member
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    Well, if you counted them then it would represent a more accurate assessment, right?
  • Valrotha
    Valrotha Posts: 294 Member
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    Yes, I do count my fruit and vege calories, along with almost everything else short of supplements.
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
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    Yes I log everything. Fruits/vegetables contain calories. Some of them contain a lot of calories. This morning I had a green smoothie for breakfast, which has:

    100 g banana-- 89 calories
    100 g pineapple-- 48 calories
    140 g blueberries-- 70 calories
    30 g spinach-- 7 calories
    50 g celery-- 7 calories

    If I hadn't logged those I'd be eating an extra 291 calories that I wasn't logging.
  • Talkradio
    Talkradio Posts: 388 Member
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    ILiftHeavyAcrylics wrote: »
    Yes I log everything. Fruits/vegetables contain calories. Some of them contain a lot of calories. This morning I had a green smoothie for breakfast, which has:

    100 g banana-- 89 calories
    100 g pineapple-- 48 calories
    140 g blueberries-- 70 calories
    30 g spinach-- 7 calories
    50 g celery-- 7 calories

    If I hadn't logged those I'd be eating an extra 291 calories that I wasn't logging.

    Yup. If you want to count accurately, you have to count everything you eat. Some fruits and vegetables pack a wallop. A large apple could easily have 100 calories. I only have 1350 a day, so that's a big deal for me.
  • Driagnor
    Driagnor Posts: 323 Member
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    Yes. The calories from fruit and vegetables can easily make your deficit disappear.
  • Laurend224
    Laurend224 Posts: 1,748 Member
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    Count all the foods. Always.
  • melimomTARDIS
    melimomTARDIS Posts: 1,941 Member
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    i wish fruits and veggies had no calories, I'd live on friggin' banana smoothies and jethro salads. unfortunately they do, so log them.
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
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    If YOUR approach to weight loss is calorie counting, then yes, count the fruits and vegetables. If you're using weight watchers or the like, use their system. But don't combine the two and stop counting fruits and vegetables.

    By all means: eat your fruits and vegetables though!
  • VeryKatie
    VeryKatie Posts: 5,950 Member
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    Laurend224 wrote: »
    Count all the foods. Always.

    Including cornstarch. Man it's annoying including cornstarch. All it does is change the texture, it doesn't even add to the flavor.
  • KimF84
    KimF84 Posts: 18 Member
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    What would be the benefit to not counting them? Count all foods, always, or you are only cheating yourself :)
  • DeliVibes
    DeliVibes Posts: 67 Member
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    Yep definitely! It all adds up. I eat a lot of bananas so makes a huge difference to my overall calorie consumption. I log every single little thing I eat, even if it's just a bite of someone else's food.
  • ladygreylovestea
    ladygreylovestea Posts: 6 Member
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    i count everything also...good luck
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    Yes, of course. If you are counting, count everything.
  • eqp1
    eqp1 Posts: 10 Member
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    thanks everyone :)
  • FitPhillygirl
    FitPhillygirl Posts: 7,124 Member
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    I no longer calorie count, but when I was, all fruits and vegetables were counted as well. I know weight watchers doesn't count these as points and I don't agree with that.
  • Beth_in_Mpls
    Beth_in_Mpls Posts: 2 Member
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    I'm questioning this too in regards to MFP. I lost 130 pound on Weight Watchers and ate a TON of fruit/veggies. I've been logging both MFP and WW to compare where I land on each system and go over on MFP if I log fruit/veggies (so far anyway, I will try some slight adjustments in my diet while still logging everything). I think every body is different, not counting them worked for me on WW (I lost an entire person!) but that might not be the case for others.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    edited July 2015
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    I don't think you have to count them to lose. If you eat a consistent amount you can simply have a lower calorie level that doesn't include your average amount. (That's basically how WW works, as I understand it--the points are lower to account for the "free" fruits and vegetables.) However. I always wonder why someone wouldn't want to have the correct number, if possible. Also, I like seeing my real diet reflected and being able to see whether I was eating fewer vegetables than intended in a particular week or if my variety isn't as good as I'd like. It helps me see what I'm doing as simply keeping data and encouraging myself to eat a more nutritious diet overall, and not merely keep calories as low as possible or some such.

    But I'm kind of a data nerd, which is why I enjoy the MFP approach and would dislike WW.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
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    I count everything, even my 9 calories of spinach I put in my smoothie.
    I like to keep an eye on my micros too, if I didn't count my fruit and veggies I'd have no idea how much or how little vitC and A etc etc I was getting.
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
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    Of course. I weigh my dang spinach. I eat so many 10-20 calorie things, I'd be off by 100 calories or more if I didn't log them. And fruit is not really low cal-at least when I choose to eat it.
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,626 Member
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    If you're going to count calories, you might as well count them all. I just don't see the point in counting some of the calories. Not for me, anyway.

    If you're doing the Weight Watchers thing, though, then you don't have to count them.

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