Thoughts on counting vegetables...

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nkelly1020
nkelly1020 Posts: 11 Member
in Getting Started
Having used MFP in the past with great success then falling off the wagon, and multiple short lived re-attempts, I have found that one of the things that resulted in the short lived bouts was that I devoutly enter EVERY single morsel I ingest. This becomes time consuming when, say...eating a salad for instance. Obviously at about 85 lbs overweight, my consumption of calories in turnips NOT the problem. So I was thinking that for at least a while, I am not going to count vegetables. Only vegetables. Dip, dressing, condiments, croutons....anything else added to the veg would be counted. Just not the veg itself. Thoughts??

Replies

  • concordancia
    concordancia Posts: 5,320 Member
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    Turnips have about 50 calories a serving, so if you are eating 5 servings of similar vegetables a day, you could be off by over 200 calories. If you have a 500 calorie deficit, you have eaten almost half of it in vegetables.
  • Firefly0606
    Firefly0606 Posts: 366 Member
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    You might not think your consumption of turnips is the problem (lol!!) but eating more calories than you use in a day is.

    The only way you are going to know how many calories you are consuming is to measure accurately. If you are trying to stay in a deficit, well then the calorie value of your salad IS going to matter. It might not be the salad that pushes you over the edge....if your salad measured accurately and is worth 150 calories at lunch, that might mean you DON'T have room for a little icecream after dinner.
    However, if you don't count the calories in that salad, you are more likely to eat the icecream after dinner anyway - possibly as a little reward for being so good at lunch time and eating salad (example from my own life....). The end result is that you eat 150 calories more than you want.

    Count everything - weight everything!! - to get as accurate as possible with tracking.
  • nkelly1020
    nkelly1020 Posts: 11 Member
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    Yeah, I'm on track with you. I guess my concern is that my over-concern of logging every grape tomato I put in my mouth is going to consume me, I will lose motivation to keep doing this, and quit on myself again. (historically this is the case) And an example of why I'm considering it...everyday that I work...every one...4 days a week, I go to mcdonalds on my lunch break. I get a sausage egg mcmuffin, hashbrown, AND a sausage burrito. If I were to eat that many calories...more than 700 I believe...in turnips and grape tomatoes, at least I am developing a healthier habbit for go-to food. Or maybe not? I just want to set myself up for success, not overwhelm myself.
  • concordancia
    concordancia Posts: 5,320 Member
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    On the other hand, if you fix yourself a salad for lunch every day, you can just copy the meal from one day to the next.
  • traceywoody
    traceywoody Posts: 233 Member
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    Perhaps changing the way you view logging every little thing may help. If you see yourself as worth the effort of logging everything you put in your mouth? When your mind says, "oh this is time consuming, it is overwhelming", try countering with, "even though this is time consuming and overwhelming, I am worth the effort and it will become easier". It is worth a shot - it is what I do and little bit, by little bit, it does become easier. We are worth it!!
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    I don't think logging vegetables is really all that time consuming, but definitely when you start you want to make it seem non burdensome.

    One thing to keep in mind is that as you log foods you will be able to find it again in recent foods, and so the first week is generally the most work and then it gets a lot easier, especially as you will figure out the quirks. Saving some common meals, like a basic salad, can help too.

    I do think that if you are perceiving certain things (like weighing or logging non starchy veg) as burdensome, you should come up with some tricks -- maybe figure out the average calories of your salad and log 50 cal or whatever (plus the dressing and everything) or save a typical salad or even don't log that stuff and see how you do with the understanding that you are eating more than you log.

    When I first started I logged much less accurately than later with lots of estimates. I was more careful with higher cal foods, and I also had enough to lose and a big enough deficit that it didn't matter. I tightened up logging as I went on. So knowing yourself is important, including being aware of what you tend to latch on to as a reason to quit.
  • SergeantSausage
    SergeantSausage Posts: 1,673 Member
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    Everydamnedthing counts.

  • tracefan
    tracefan Posts: 382 Member
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    first of all calories are calories..so it all counts HOWEVER, if you have ever been on WW or know anyone on weight watchers you will see that most vegetables are not "counted" in their point values. They are used as fillers. Most vegetables are not loaded with tons of calories Like a cucumber for example. But a potato is different. Starchy vegetables can add up calories. Everything in moderation. If you have a salad consisting of lettuce, tomato and cukes then no don't log it. The dressing YES and if you add croutons or olives etc. then yes. but if you are wise and know which vegetables are more power foods.. you'll be fine
  • DaddieCat
    DaddieCat Posts: 3,643 Member
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    I count all veggies... even that tablespoon of diced onions I add to wth ever. It might only be 6 calories, but at least I know i've accounted for it.... it's more about building the habit of accurate logging for me than finding short cuts.
  • rpeds
    rpeds Posts: 4 Member
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    I count everything also, and once it's in your recent foods it's super easy to log it all....and let's be real, how much time do you spend say on fb or other social media? I check my fb, ig, log my meals on fitness pal. It's all about routine. I also find that logging something makes me think more about whether I'm eating to eat, or eating to fuel my body. Good luck!
  • BurnWithBarn2015
    BurnWithBarn2015 Posts: 1,026 Member
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    Everything gets weighed, counted and logged except water.

    Maybe some things are not much calories...but on a daily base it adds up, besides that i want to know how much nutrition's i get. For me potassium is important and there are a lot of it in vegetables and spices and coffee .

    But to each there own

    Good luck OP :)

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  • KateTii
    KateTii Posts: 886 Member
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    For me, logging everything isn't about how much salad I eat. It's about how much room I have for chocolate.

    I can easily eat 60-200 calories a day in vegetables/salad. If I didn't log it, I would think I would have an extra 60-200 calories to spend on junk food - this would blow my deficit.
  • Derf_Smeggle
    Derf_Smeggle Posts: 610 Member
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    I am logging everything that passes my lips and has caloric value. Everything I prepare goes on the scale. 97% of all my calories for the past 3 weeks have been self prepared.

    This includes a protein/fruit smoothie that contains 7-8 ingredients. It takes me very little time after my initial entry because the ingredients all appear in my Recent foods.

    The first week it seemed to take a really long time, but in reality something like 30 seconds for previous entries.

    On the phone app, multi-add is my super, awesome friend. If I need to adjust a weight, I simple tap the ingredient to open it up for editing.
  • OhMsDiva
    OhMsDiva Posts: 1,073 Member
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    I don't log my veggies or the cream and milk that I put in my coffee daily. I also know how many calories I am consuming with that. I do log everything else though..
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
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    I think it's fine not to count vegetables, though I would lower my toatl calories by about 200 per day and still count starchy vegetables.
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
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    If you bite it write it...easy.

    Logging is only as time consuming at you make it.

    If you are logging 1tbsp of dressing/butter condiments etc all that takes time too...
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
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    nkelly1020 wrote: »
    Yeah, I'm on track with you. I guess my concern is that my over-concern of logging every grape tomato I put in my mouth is going to consume me, I will lose motivation to keep doing this, and quit on myself again. (historically this is the case) And an example of why I'm considering it...everyday that I work...every one...4 days a week, I go to mcdonalds on my lunch break. I get a sausage egg mcmuffin, hashbrown, AND a sausage burrito. If I were to eat that many calories...more than 700 I believe...in turnips and grape tomatoes, at least I am developing a healthier habbit for go-to food. Or maybe not? I just want to set myself up for success, not overwhelm myself.

    I log enough to know what veggies are what. I can more or less skip celery, cucumber, lettuce.....the very low calorie ones. But most others I log. Make yourself a salad "recipe"....that way you can add it quickly.

    As you get closer to goal you will need to manage a smaller deficit.....logging every bit will become critical.
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,195 Member
    edited November 2015
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    nkelly1020 wrote: »
    Having used MFP in the past with great success then falling off the wagon, and multiple short lived re-attempts, I have found that one of the things that resulted in the short lived bouts was that I devoutly enter EVERY single morsel I ingest. This becomes time consuming when, say...eating a salad for instance. Obviously at about 85 lbs overweight, my consumption of calories in turnips NOT the problem. So I was thinking that for at least a while, I am not going to count vegetables. Only vegetables. Dip, dressing, condiments, croutons....anything else added to the veg would be counted. Just not the veg itself. Thoughts??
    nkelly1020 wrote: »
    Yeah, I'm on track with you. I guess my concern is that my over-concern of logging every grape tomato I put in my mouth ...

    I count everything ... it's not a big deal. Just a "tick" in a box and maybe a change to a weight. Takes a few seconds.

    When it comes to something like those grape tomatoes ... I would weigh a large one and get an idea of how much it might be and enter it, then if I eat 5, I just change the quantity to 5. If I eat 5 more later, I just change the quantity to 10. It's not like I have to enter each one individually. That might not be 100% accurate because I won't have weighed each and every one, but better than not entering anything at all.

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