What is your 'I'm not measuring that'/'free food'?

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Replies

  • narspips
    narspips Posts: 48 Member
    Like many others, I don't count seasonings of any kind (herbs, spices or added salt) but I do count condiments like barbecue sauce, mustard and balsamic vinegar (usually put some on lettuce). Sometimes I don't count the lettuce itself because it's got so few calories in it it doesn't matter unless I'm close to my goal for the day.

    I also don't count water. I know there's a space to on the diary, it just seems excessive to me. I drink so much of it and leave unfinished glasses lying around all the time.
  • sofchak
    sofchak Posts: 862 Member
    I've stopped weighing most of my non-starchy veggies unless they are going into a recipe which requires a certain volume, though I do log an approximate weight. I do the same with condiments now, too.

    As for not logging at all: sugar free gum, diet soda, and pickles (keep a jar of petites in the door of the fridge for when I feel snacky). I also weigh all my bulk food like trail mix into single serve portions as a habit - any bits left over that won't go into a full portion, are pleasantly discarded into my mouth with no logging to account for the portion. I consider it my reward for dutifully putting food into single serving bags rather than eyeballing a serving size on the fly (which leads to my being lazy and eventually wondering why I only got 3 servings from a 6 serving bag).
  • abi111
    abi111 Posts: 50 Member
    i sometimes estimate veg and fruit depends if I can weigh them or not at the time, herbs and spices, vits, low calorie drinks, occasional mints, low sugar jelly, random things that have negligible calorie contents etc. it doesn't seem to affect my weight loss, if I does I will tighten up my logging.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    Coffee, garlic, most herbs and spices.

    I weigh leafy greens when making a salad near the scale, since it's usually just as easy, but I also sometimes eyeball and don't worry about it.
  • rheddmobile
    rheddmobile Posts: 6,840 Member
    I don't log spices, black coffee, or tea, and I usually forget to log ginger and garlic. Which can add up!
  • Kullerva
    Kullerva Posts: 1,114 Member
    Sometimes zucchini. If I'm starving and away from the food scale.
  • MichelleWithMoxie
    MichelleWithMoxie Posts: 1,819 Member
    Coffee + the unsweetened cashew milk splashed in. And spices and all that jazz obviously.
  • ChelzFit
    ChelzFit Posts: 292 Member
    I have been maintaining for years and when I log I tend to log everything but Diet Coke, sugar free syrups, ice tea, tea, and coffee.
    As for weighing, I dont weigh cucumbers, celery, tomatoes, and lettuce (I usually just a few of each every day). I also dont take time to weigh my protein bars or prepackaged Heatlhy Choice meals. If I started to gain weight I would probably be a little more strict with my weighing.
  • jennyf55
    jennyf55 Posts: 24 Member
    Wow, no wonder I'm not losing a lot of weight. Gotta log my seasonings and spices? And my vitamins? Never even considered that stuff. I wonder how I should log my medications....haha. I guess if it isn't plain water, and you put it in your mouth, you should be logging it, right?
  • HeidiCooksSupper
    HeidiCooksSupper Posts: 3,831 Member
    edited August 2017
    katadx wrote: »
    I log spinach lettuce and cucumbers, but I don't worry about weighing them. I just eye ball those. Lemon juice, lime juice, the splash of almondmilk/light coconutmilk I put on my cereal.

    I think if you're off by half a cup of spinach, that's a whopping 3 calories.

    ^^^THIS^^^

    I do measure the unsweetened soy milk I put on cereal but not what I put in coffee -- again, I use the "eye ball" method. Works for me.
  • scarlett_k
    scarlett_k Posts: 812 Member
    edited August 2017
    I don't currently log tea with semi skimmed milk, unsweetened almond milk in my coffee, sugar free polos, diet coke, or any kind of sugar free squash.

    I will probably have to start at some point along the way but right now I still have enough weight to lose that a few polo mints and a cup of tea aren't affecting my weight loss, and I'm not driving myself bonkers measuring how much milk I have in my tea. Yet!
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    jennyf55 wrote: »
    Wow, no wonder I'm not losing a lot of weight. Gotta log my seasonings and spices? And my vitamins? Never even considered that stuff. I wonder how I should log my medications....haha. I guess if it isn't plain water, and you put it in your mouth, you should be logging it, right?

    If it has calories, it should be logged. That "splash" of creamer in your coffee can add up quickly.

    Most who log vitamins do so in order to see the daily amounts of micronutrients, not for the calories.

    Herbs and spices have few if any calories so most don't log those. Seasonings, on the other hand, often have salt and/or sugar in them so people watching their sodium or carb intake should log them.

    FYI: herbs are the leaves of a plant, spices are any other part of the plant, seasonings are a mixture which can be anything from lemon pepper to Mrs. Dash, to Old Bay, to chili powder (not powdered chili pepper, that is a spice).
  • jaci66
    jaci66 Posts: 139 Member
    I log the 'eh, close enoughs' like spinach and tomatoes, etc. I don't bother with spices and salt, but.... I do log my sugar free syrup and 0 calorie drinks because I just love seeing that big fat 0 on the boards.
  • jaci66
    jaci66 Posts: 139 Member
    narspips wrote: »
    Like many others, I don't count seasonings of any kind (herbs, spices or added salt) but I do count condiments like barbecue sauce, mustard and balsamic vinegar (usually put some on lettuce). Sometimes I don't count the lettuce itself because it's got so few calories in it it doesn't matter unless I'm close to my goal for the day.

    I also don't count water. I know there's a space to on the diary, it just seems excessive to me. I drink so much of it and leave unfinished glasses lying around all the time.

    I do log my water. For a while, it was because I wasn't getting enough water intake and I needed to see what I was doing. Now, it's habit. I'm glad I do now. I was just diagnosed as diabetic and I can see any patterns of too much or not enough.
  • cmtigger
    cmtigger Posts: 1,450 Member
    earlnabby wrote: »
    jennyf55 wrote: »
    Wow, no wonder I'm not losing a lot of weight. Gotta log my seasonings and spices? And my vitamins? Never even considered that stuff. I wonder how I should log my medications....haha. I guess if it isn't plain water, and you put it in your mouth, you should be logging it, right?

    If it has calories, it should be logged. That "splash" of creamer in your coffee can add up quickly.

    Most who log vitamins do so in order to see the daily amounts of micronutrients, not for the calories.

    Herbs and spices have few if any calories so most don't log those. Seasonings, on the other hand, often have salt and/or sugar in them so people watching their sodium or carb intake should log them.

    FYI: herbs are the leaves of a plant, spices are any other part of the plant, seasonings are a mixture which can be anything from lemon pepper to Mrs. Dash, to Old Bay, to chili powder (not powdered chili pepper, that is a spice).
    Technically anything that flavors your food is a seasoning. Herbs and spices are subgroups. Extracts are another subgroup. As well as blends.
  • VeronicaA76
    VeronicaA76 Posts: 1,116 Member
    katadx wrote: »
    I log spinach lettuce and cucumbers, but I don't worry about weighing them. I just eye ball those. Lemon juice, lime juice, the splash of almondmilk/light coconutmilk I put on my cereal.

    I think if you're off by half a cup of spinach, that's a whopping 3 calories.

    ^^^THIS^^^

    I do measure the unsweetened soy milk I put on cereal but not what I put in coffee -- again, I use the "eye ball" method. Works for me.

    I just log 1 cup of my unsweetened soy milk as a daily if I add it to my coffee. Mine has a whole 30 calories per cup, so if I'm off a bit, it's not going to make much of a difference.
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,182 Member
    I've got another one. Cinnamon. When I brew a pot of coffee, I put a stick of cinnamon in the coffee pot. I don't log the whole stick of cinnamon, and I don't log a guess of how much cinnamon moved from the stick to the coffee and thence to the gut.

  • macchiatto
    macchiatto Posts: 2,890 Member
    I rarely weigh spinach or lettuce. I'm not as careful with spices and seasonings either.
  • kellyjellybellyjelly
    kellyjellybellyjelly Posts: 9,480 Member
    I don't weigh my Diet Mountain Dew 12 ounce cans, but I do weigh the ones that show the calories (16.5 & 20 ounce sodas).