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

13

Replies

  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 9,281 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?

    I dont think there is any right or wrong abut it - you should log to the level of accuracy that works for you. I have always been a fan of lazy logging for myself - and estimating, skipping logging things like lettuce etc works fine for me

    I also highly doubt that the reason you are not losing is not logging spices and vitamins
    Seasonings like sauce (ketchup) , if you use a lot could be a logging issue.

    if it is not working as you expected, perhaps start a separate thread asking for help and we will ask for more detail and try to pinpoint your individual problem.

  • PeakLiving17
    PeakLiving17 Posts: 27 Member
    edited August 2017
    Vegetables. Namely lettuce, cucumber, peppers, onions, kale, broccoli, spinach, mushrooms etc. I don't eat any of those vegetables in super large amounts at any one time so I decided against tracking it. It has no negative effects on my weight loss results whatsoever. For me, tracking to the gram is a means to an end. I assume most people would eventually like to be free from the crunch of counting calories to the gram.
  • newheavensearth
    newheavensearth Posts: 870 Member
    Vinegar, herbs, spices. Bites of food get a 100 calorie quick add.
  • ambie0817
    ambie0817 Posts: 9 Member
    Seasonings and salt and vitamins.
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    cmtigger wrote: »
    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.

    Nope.
  • Cbean08
    Cbean08 Posts: 1,092 Member
    I usually don't count or track seasonings. But I bought TJs Everything but the Bagel seasoning for the first time and noticed it has 5 cals per 1/4 tsp. So I tsp is 20 cals and 1 tablespoon would be around 80 cals. That could actually add up considering I love how it tastes.
  • Psychgrrl
    Psychgrrl Posts: 3,177 Member
    I eat one Brazil nut a day for the selenium to help with my hypothyroidism. Don't log it, just nosh it.
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    edited August 2017
    Cbean08 wrote: »
    I usually don't count or track seasonings. But I bought TJs Everything but the Bagel seasoning for the first time and noticed it has 5 cals per 1/4 tsp. So I tsp is 20 cals and 1 tablespoon would be around 80 cals. That could actually add up considering I love how it tastes.

    Yes, that's why I log larger than usual servings of spices and seasonings. A word of wisdom: if you go through a lemon and poppy seed flavored oatmeal phase, log the poppy seeds if you're going to be dumping 2 tbsps in :(
  • cmtigger
    cmtigger Posts: 1,450 Member
    earlnabby wrote: »
    cmtigger wrote: »
    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.

    Nope.
    According to https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/seasoning
    It's anything that seasons your food. I wouldn't consider artificial flavors in there.
  • SisepuedeLinda
    SisepuedeLinda Posts: 132 Member
    If I eat a bite, I don't count it like a lick of my sons ice cream (I mean come on it's melting
  • mazdauk
    mazdauk Posts: 1,380 Member
    Seasonings (including salt and pepper), lemon juice. That handful of rocket leaves I put in my sandwich for lunch. I don't measure the milk I pour on my granola, but I weigh the granola in the same bowl so I know how much to put in as I did weigh it the first few times (it comes up to a particular squiggle on the pattern!)
  • yondaime8
    yondaime8 Posts: 103 Member
    The olive oil I use on my salad because I use 1 table spoon at best, also the seasoning because it's really useless.
  • vha2
    vha2 Posts: 64 Member
    I don't bother logging non-starchy veges - salad, steamed veg etc. Meh.
  • Keapix
    Keapix Posts: 92 Member
    Just herbs and spices for me.
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    edited August 2017
    cmtigger wrote: »
    earlnabby wrote: »
    cmtigger wrote: »
    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.

    Nope.
    According to https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/seasoning
    It's anything that seasons your food. I wouldn't consider artificial flavors in there.

    I am retired after working for a long time for a well known spice merchant. There is a difference between something that seasons food and a "seasoning". One is a generic term describing usage and the other is a term that describes a specific type of product. We are going to have to agree to disagree on this because we are coming at it from totally different experiences.
  • bizgirl26
    bizgirl26 Posts: 1,795 Member
    vitamins and seasonings/spices .
  • Mary90Mary
    Mary90Mary Posts: 59 Member
    I usually don't log spices unless its something thats high in calories or I want to check my sodium intake
  • kristen8000
    kristen8000 Posts: 747 Member
    Sriracha, hot sauce, pickles, pickled jalepenos, water enhancers, spices, sugar free gum/mints, tea. I log mustard, because I eat a ton of it. I don't weigh lettuce - usually put 5 ounces for all salads (eye ball it). No one ever got fat by eating too much lettuce.
  • kristen8000
    kristen8000 Posts: 747 Member
    MollyJE19 wrote: »
    Today hubby and I went to Wendy's. I behaved and ate a salad. But I also ate 2 of his fries and I'm not logging that.

    My BF gave me a bite of cake at a friend's B-day party the other day. I decided if it comes off his fork, it doesn't go in my food diary!
  • DX2JX2
    DX2JX2 Posts: 1,921 Member
    I don't log spices, black coffee, or tea, and I usually forget to log ginger and garlic. Which can add up!

    Ginger and garlic won't add up to anything significant unless you're eating amounts that would probably kill most mortals.
  • skymningen
    skymningen Posts: 532 Member
    DX2JX2 wrote: »

    Ginger and garlic won't add up to anything significant unless you're eating amounts that would probably kill most mortals.

    Or vampires?
  • aeloine
    aeloine Posts: 2,163 Member
    DeweysMama wrote: »
    Coffee creamer! It is my one guilty pleasure, and it's not daily.

    I'm going to be honest, I do this too.

    But only if it's the ONE type of creamer I use, on a weekday.

    "Extras" like Starbucks runs, are always logged.

    This isn't the best, but it's the same amount every single day.
  • rheddmobile
    rheddmobile Posts: 6,840 Member
    DX2JX2 wrote: »
    I don't log spices, black coffee, or tea, and I usually forget to log ginger and garlic. Which can add up!

    Ginger and garlic won't add up to anything significant unless you're eating amounts that would probably kill most mortals.

    Aloo gobi uses about half a cup of ginger garlic paste! A lot of Indian food uses significant enough amounts of spices that the calories should really be counted.
  • Juniper210
    Juniper210 Posts: 77 Member
    edited August 2017
    I log everything but there's a lot of stuff that I don't bother to weigh out on my scale. Veggies, frozen burger patties, microwaveable meals. I log them all from either eyeballing (veggies) or based on the packaging for packaged stuff.

    For me, that's what I use my exercise calories for, taking care of the potential fluctuations in things that I don't bother weighing out.
  • nvpixie
    nvpixie Posts: 483 Member
    Herbs and spices, but if they contain a lot of sodium, such as garlic salt, I log it. This way I know if I went way over in sodium and notice I'm retaining water.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    Herbs and spices, except for mustard and curry powder, those 2 have quite a few calories. I have a spinach/rocket salad mix regularly, i just log 50g every time i have it, i don't weigh it anymore. I don't log pickles and mustard, both of which i don't eat often anyway.

    I weigh and log low cal veggies, because i like my macros/micros, especially fibre to be accurate.
  • Tabbycat00
    Tabbycat00 Posts: 146 Member
    Gummies vitamins & dill pickles
  • MelanieCN77
    MelanieCN77 Posts: 4,047 Member
    Herbs and spices except curry powder, that one can be 50 cals easy for a couple spoonfuls. Sugar free gum, Truvia sweetener, "zero cal" stuff in general. The one thing that truly has cals that I won't bother with is my cup of afternoon tea with tea and two sugars. It's not very often but I feel like it's my right as an English person.
  • pancakerunner
    pancakerunner Posts: 6,137 Member
    I count everything but things like dried spices or hot sauce, etc. I don't measure or weigh. I just approximate. usually just do a quick-add of 5-10 calories.
  • zdyb23456
    zdyb23456 Posts: 1,706 Member
    I don't log coffee, diet soda, hot sauce, jalapeños, regular mustard, white vinegar, and gum (which I rarely have).

    I do log ginger and garlic because those add up when adding to a recipe. Other dried spices I don't bother.

    I try not to take bites or tastes of things because they are hard to track, but I've been known to snag a few French fries from my kids and I don't log them. Since it's only about once a month I'm not too worried.
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