Measuring greens, fruits , veggies

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sweetiepie781
sweetiepie781 Posts: 75 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Curious to know if you measure/weigh all of your fruits & veggies I normally eat a banana every am and an apple every day with my lunch ( normally eating pretty large apples) ..do you always weigh your fruit before eating it ? Also what about greens i typically eat a salad for dinner or a side salad with my meal, anyone know if you should measure your lettuce and if so whats a good amount for a side salad vs a salad as your meal ??Thanks
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Replies

  • Troutrouter1968
    Troutrouter1968 Posts: 122 Member
    edited October 2015
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    Simple answer is to weigh everything to be accurate. However, are you still losing/gaining (whichever is your goal) without weighing them? If so, don't worry about it until you are no longer losing/gaining and then re-evaluate whether you should or not.
  • Owlfan88
    Owlfan88 Posts: 187 Member
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    I do weigh my fruits as a difference in size can have a pretty big calorie difference. I don't worry about it overly much if I'm out somewhere, though, as I'm getting better with estimating sizes. For salads, I weighed stuff a few times and now just estimate as it really doesn't make much difference. Same thing with most non starchy vegetables. I know how much I usually eat and even if I were to eat twice as much broccoli, it would be only about 15 more calories.
  • Lizzy622
    Lizzy622 Posts: 3,705 Member
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    I tend to measure more accurately on high calorie items like meat and cheese but just eyeball other things like greens. I did measure and weigh everything at one point but that started to get to be too much.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
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    I weigh them all. I've had bananas come up to 80 grams. I've had bananas come up to 160+ grams. An entry that says "medium apple" wouldn't work for me because the apples we get are regularly 200+ grams even after being cored.

    Greens I'm less picky about. When I make a salad I always log it as 85 grams even though it's usually less.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    edited October 2015
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    I weigh if it's convenient, since I find logging easier if I have a number vs. estimating. If I'm out I don't worry about estimating, though.

    For greens I sometimes estimate by cup.

    I don't see any reason not to measure lettuce as you'd be adding it to the same bowl/plate as everything else if making a salad, so it's easier just to take the number for everything as you add it (using the tare feature). But the calories from the greens/lettuce are not going to be significant, so if you'd rather eyeball it, it won't make any difference. As for how much, how much do you want? I tend to make big salads.
  • BackupFridge
    BackupFridge Posts: 105 Member
    edited October 2015
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    Easier for me to just overestimate and know I'm on the safe side. An 85 calorie peach, 2.5 calorie grape, 50 calorie plum, etc.

    Overestimating what I eat and underestimating what I burn is perfect.
  • ASKyle
    ASKyle Posts: 1,475 Member
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    I weigh bananas, peaches, sometimes apples because it says "85 calorie peach" and it's more like 150.

    Greens, berries, melons- I don't bother.
  • tayloralanj
    tayloralanj Posts: 137 Member
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    There is a class of vegetables known as "free veggies" that one may not need to worry about so much because to eat enough to matter would be preposterous. Did I spell that right?

    Examples may include:

    lettuce
    brussel sprouts
    kale
    cabbage
    artichoke
    onions
    celery

    I think if I found myself counting onions in my salad, I would want you all to call the authorities.

    And,,,,,,,,,,drink water people!
  • Linzon
    Linzon Posts: 294 Member
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    I weigh everything because I can eat a looooot of veggies and I have the scale out anyway. I had a salad the other day that had over 150 calories from lettuce, red peppers, onions, cucumber, and tomatoes alone - it can add up!
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    tayloralanj wrote: »
    There is a class of vegetables known as "free veggies" that one may not need to worry about so much because to eat enough to matter would be preposterous. Did I spell that right?

    Examples may include:

    lettuce
    brussel sprouts
    kale
    cabbage
    artichoke
    onions
    celery

    I think if I found myself counting onions in my salad, I would want you all to call the authorities.

    And,,,,,,,,,,drink water people!

    A cup of brussels sprouts has about 40 calories. If someone is eating a vegetable-heavy diet (I do, I've been known to have several cups at once), those calories can certainly make a difference.
  • DaddieCat
    DaddieCat Posts: 3,646 Member
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    I weigh and log all of my veggies, even if they are negligible. The goal is to cultivate the habit of logging accurately, not be lax enough that I end up accidentally sabotaging myself by guesstimating incorrectly. I mean, I can easily turn 10 grams of almonds into 100 grams of almonds just by snacking and that makes a big difference.

    Personally, being lax in one aspect makes me lax in the whole process.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    edited October 2015
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    janejellyroll wrote: »
    tayloralanj wrote: »
    There is a class of vegetables known as "free veggies" that one may not need to worry about so much because to eat enough to matter would be preposterous. Did I spell that right?

    Examples may include:

    lettuce
    brussel sprouts
    kale
    cabbage
    artichoke
    onions
    celery

    I think if I found myself counting onions in my salad, I would want you all to call the authorities.

    And,,,,,,,,,,drink water people!

    A cup of brussels sprouts has about 40 calories. If someone is eating a vegetable-heavy diet (I do, I've been known to have several cups at once), those calories can certainly make a difference.

    Yep, just what I was going to say, and the brussels sprouts stuck out to me too. I frequently have 50 cal or more of brussels sprouts at a time (not a huge serving at all), might as well log them correctly. Heck, last week I made a big side of mustard greens and kale which I ate with lunch and dinner that added up to 80 calories even without including any of the other ingredients. I eyeball greens all the time, true, but I wouldn't call them free.
  • broncos1982
    broncos1982 Posts: 9 Member
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    You don't need to weigh a banana or apple, just choose 1 large apple/banana. Fruit you'll need to weigh to be more accurate. No need to count calories in lettuce.
  • DaddieCat
    DaddieCat Posts: 3,646 Member
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    broncos1982 wrote: »
    You don't need to weigh a banana or apple, just choose 1 large apple/banana. Fruit you'll need to weigh to be more accurate. No need to count calories in lettuce.

    Do you have any idea how many calories are in a banana? You sure do need to weigh it. It can make a huge difference.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
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    Owlfan88 wrote: »
    I do weigh my fruits as a difference in size can have a pretty big calorie difference. I don't worry about it overly much if I'm out somewhere, though, as I'm getting better with estimating sizes. For salads, I weighed stuff a few times and now just estimate as it really doesn't make much difference. Same thing with most non starchy vegetables. I know how much I usually eat and even if I were to eat twice as much broccoli, it would be only about 15 more calories.

    This^
  • mbaker566
    mbaker566 Posts: 11,233 Member
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    simply yes. i measure it all
  • amberlyda1
    amberlyda1 Posts: 154 Member
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    I estimate; but im usually in a hurry. My fruits i try to be more accurate because they have a higher density kcal.

    Anything im pairing my vegetables with; dressings, hummus etc, gets measured

    Honestly I dont worry about most of my raw plain veggies. They are low in calories. For example; I think I can eat 4 cups of spinach for about 60 kcal. There is only so much I can eat before my body decides to hurry things up and make some room.
  • nordlead2005
    nordlead2005 Posts: 1,303 Member
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    Fruits I weigh, as they are calorie dense enough. Greens I sometimes weigh, but often just guess randomly since I'm not always given the opportunity to weigh them even though my wife knows I like to weigh my food.

    If I wasn't losing weight at my expected rate then I would definitely weigh everything.
  • broncos1982
    broncos1982 Posts: 9 Member
    edited October 2015
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    BecomingBane wrote: »
    broncos1982 wrote: »
    You don't need to weigh a banana or apple, just choose 1 large apple/banana. Fruit you'll need to weigh to be more accurate. No need to count calories in lettuce.

    Do you have any idea how many calories are in a banana? You sure do need to weigh it. It can make a huge difference.

    lol, what kind of bananas are you buying that they weigh vastly different? A large banana is around 120 calories. Are you weighing it with/without skin? You can make these things ridiculous. You don't need to weigh a banana, just choose a large banana on any calorie tracking program, it's close enough. Just like eggs, if you weigh your eggs then you're being absurd, especially when it tells you the calories for the eggs on the box. a large egg is a large egg.
  • DaddieCat
    DaddieCat Posts: 3,646 Member
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    broncos1982 wrote: »
    BecomingBane wrote: »
    broncos1982 wrote: »
    You don't need to weigh a banana or apple, just choose 1 large apple/banana. Fruit you'll need to weigh to be more accurate. No need to count calories in lettuce.

    Do you have any idea how many calories are in a banana? You sure do need to weigh it. It can make a huge difference.

    lol, what kind of bananas are you buying that they weigh vastly different? A large banana is around 120 calories. Are you weighing it with/without skin? You can make these things ridiculous. You don't need to weigh a banana, just choose a large banana. Just like eggs, if you weigh your eggs then you're being absurd.

    So... you're saying that the difference between a 4 inch banana and an 8 inch banana is negligible? I can not only find both sizes in the same store, but in the same bunch. And that doesn't take into account cultivars and different types of bananas of which there are many.. some with more starch, others with more sugar.

    While you are right, I could just pick a large banana for both, but why would I not eat the calories that are allotted to me by over-logging? I don't know about you, but the difference here is approx 75 calories for the small banana and 120 for the large. I want those extra 45 calories to eat elsewhere. Also, if you are over-logging one thing, odds are you are over logging others, which means that you end up with no realistic idea of what you are actually eating which can be detrimental to the whole process and your success or failure.

    Accurate logging is the only way I have to control what goes in my face and still make sure I'm within or meeting my calorie goals.

    To me... that is a big deal.

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