Crazy? Not counting fruit and/or vegetables

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sugarpeas
sugarpeas Posts: 56 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Right now I'm counting nearly everything. However there was a time when I didn't count vegetables or fruit. I wasn't concerned of the vitamins and minerals, only the calories. I lost weight. I know a few other plans use this tactic where fruit and vegetables are unlimited and don't need to be counted even though they both calories...

any thoughts?
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Replies

  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    When I'm trying to create a calorie deficit, I find it helpful to count everything with calories, especially since I eat a lot of fruits and vegetables.

    My body doesn't consider calories to not count if they come from fruits and vegetables, so I don't either.

    I think someone could lose weight not counting them as long as they maintained a deficit. The issue is that if you are trying to pinpoint why you have gained weight or not lost weight, it may be difficult to tell exactly what the issue is. Where if you're counting calories, you'll know if you are meeting your goals much more quickly.
  • girlviernes
    girlviernes Posts: 2,402 Member
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    Whether your program is working or not will be revealed on the scale. If you are losing at a good pace for you then it is working.

    Personally, I think if you are putting in the effort to log everything else, why not complete it by also including fruits and veggies. That just gives you more information and will allow you to make better decisions about your diet.
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
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    Other plans lower your calorie or point goals to allow for this. If you are set on it, I would suggest reviewing your food diary and coming up with an average daily fruit/veggie calorie number. Then reduce your daily goal by that amount.
  • navyrigger46
    navyrigger46 Posts: 1,301 Member
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    Fruit and vegetables have calories, why would you pick and choose what counts and what does not? If that's the case, I say pizza and ice cream doesn't count, it makes just as much sense as not counting fruit and vegetables.

    Rigger
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
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    For someone who doesn't eat many of them it's plausible. It would spell disaster for me though because more than 50% of my calories are fruits and vegetables.
  • segacs
    segacs Posts: 4,599 Member
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    This topic comes up a lot, mostly from people who used to be Weight Watchers members because, as I understand it, the WW points system considers fruits and vegetables to be "free".

    WW did this because its system is a simplified version of calorie counting that basically allots fewer calories to your day, but then allows you to eat unlimited fruits and veggies. It's based on the fact that most people would reach for cookies or chips, and that retraining yourself to reach for fruits and veggies as a snack represents an improvement for most people. It also did this because it was most popular in a pre-internet era when calorie counting was a huge chore, so it was trying to make it as simple as possible.

    The thing is, everything has calories. And while it's unlikely that you'll gain weight because you binged on broccoli. if you're going to calorie count, then calorie count. With apps like MFP, it's so easy. I say if it passes my lips, it goes on my hips... hence I log it. :)
  • DavidMartinez2
    DavidMartinez2 Posts: 840 Member
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    Weight Watchers + gives you zero points for raw fruit and veggies which works fine for their system. If that is what you want to use and it has been successful in the past then go for it. If you are going to use MFP to track your calorie intake though you should log your fruit and vegetables.
  • Jaffsa
    Jaffsa Posts: 93 Member
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    Hello!
    I struggled with this for a while as well.. at the time I was balancing MFP as well as Weight Watchers (which counts veggies as "0" pts)- so my mentality was- "Welp, guess I dont need to count those calories in MFP then!".. Being vegetarian, fruits and veggies are a majority of my calories in a day...however, I found myself gaining- even with tracking everything else and working out daily.
    I stopped using WW, and strictly worked with MFP and counted EVERYTHING.. I mean.. everything.. and the weight began falling off (at a healthy rate!). I suggest counting everything- even the veggies.. they can add up quick!
  • dawnna76
    dawnna76 Posts: 987 Member
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    I eat pounds of vegetables daily. they make the bulk of my caloric intake. if i didnt count them i could easily go over.
  • sweetdixie92
    sweetdixie92 Posts: 655 Member
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    Even if you're only worried about calories, and aren't worried about the vitamins and minerals, you absolutely MUST count your fruit and vegetables as well.

    Unlimited fruit and veggies can be enough to put you well over your calorie limit (along with the other food you eat), and cause you to gain weight. Not to mention, some vegetables are much higher in calories/starch/carbs etc. For instance, 1 cup of corn is around 140 calories. Unlimited to me would be eating 3 cups as it's my favorite veggie.

    Make sure you fit your diet around eating a healthy amount of veggies and fruit, but be sure to count the calories in it if you really want to get to your goal weight.
  • segacs
    segacs Posts: 4,599 Member
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    Corn is a grain, not a vegetable.

    But yes, everything has calories, so everything counts.
  • mls100771
    mls100771 Posts: 125 Member
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    Ya gotta watch out for fruit. There's typically a lot of sugar in there. I'm a low carber so one of the first things I did was cut out the fruit I was eating, which usually consisted of an apple, a banana, and a grapefruit per day. I've heard that berries are good low carb fruits.
  • bajoyba
    bajoyba Posts: 1,153 Member
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    If you can lose weight without counting fruits and vegetables and are satisfied with your results, then I suppose it's personal preference whether you want to count them or not. The smaller your calorie deficit, the more important it might be to be as accurate as possible, and if someone is having trouble losing the weight they want and doesn't count their fruits/veggies, then I would suggest they go about that differently.

    No one is required to go about counting calories any particular way, but accuracy and consistency tend to yield the best results. Many people starting out also don't realize that some fruits and veggies also pack quite a bit of calories - bananas, for instance. An un-logged banana definitely makes a difference in your daily calorie deficit. But again, it's personal preference. If you're happy with the way things are going without logging everything, then I suppose there's no real need to change. If you're not happy, you might want to change something.

    I always count them (especially while I was losing weight) because I don't like to estimate my intake, and I like having a complete picture of my nutrition. :)
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    mls100771 wrote: »
    Ya gotta watch out for fruit. There's typically a lot of sugar in there. I'm a low carber so one of the first things I did was cut out the fruit I was eating, which usually consisted of an apple, a banana, and a grapefruit per day. I've heard that berries are good low carb fruits.

    It's not the sugars. It's the calories.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
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    sugarpeas wrote: »
    Right now I'm counting nearly everything. However there was a time when I didn't count vegetables or fruit. I wasn't concerned of the vitamins and minerals, only the calories. I lost weight. I know a few other plans use this tactic where fruit and vegetables are unlimited and don't need to be counted even though they both calories...

    any thoughts?

    These plans start lower than MFP....at least Weight Watchers does. They assume you won't pig out on fruits & veggies. I could do some serious damage (calories wise) with fruit....this wouldn't work for me.
  • Laurend224
    Laurend224 Posts: 1,748 Member
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    I couldn't do it, but I eat a lot of fruit. Count all the foods.
  • chriscolh
    chriscolh Posts: 127 Member
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    I like to log them, because I am striving to get more of them. I am trying to be more accountable, and writing it down helps me do that. I went from getting sometimes none a day to 3 fruits and 3 veggies each day. I know it may not be perfect, but it's so much better than where I was! Also, as a "less than tall" person (meaning just under 5'!), every calorie counts. I've got to keep my calories at or below 1200 to lose weight, and every bit counts. Not much wiggle room, and so I need to know what's going into my mouth, even the green beans I snack on. I think that if you have a little more room to give when counting calories, it could work, but for me I need to count everything.
    Good luck!
  • leodru
    leodru Posts: 321 Member
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    Agree this comes up a lot from WW people. I actually am doing the same right now because I'm not consuming enough vegetables so this is a way to force them in. That being said calories on WW work out to less than MFP because they have those calories allocated. I normally am at 1800 to lose weight on MFP but on WW the calorie count was around 1500 (when you work it out). Basically you may want to "allocate" your average consumption to fruits and veggies and leave your reminder calories for everything else. Just one man's opinion.
  • BoxerBrawler
    BoxerBrawler Posts: 2,032 Member
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    Especially fruit because you're not only missing those calories but you're not accounting for the sugars. I log everything to a T. Why wouldn't you? If I didn't log my vegetables at the end of the day I'd have a huge deficit (on paper) and would most likely be way over my target.

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