Veggie calories
Angie_au
Posts: 42 Member
Hi everyone, I have been on the weight loss journey for a while now and have tried many diet programs and calorie counting. From what I learnt from some of these programs,is that there are some so called ‘zero calorie foods’ that you can eat unlimited amounts of such as carrots, celery, cucumber, spinach, lettuce, bok choy, broccoli, cauliflower, tomato, most green low starch veggies actually and some of these are even negative calorie food which means you consume more calories to burn it off than the calories you consume. For this reason, I haven’t been weighing these vegetables or entering them into mfp but I found that I haven’t been losing any weight and am thinking this might be one of the reasons? What are people’s thoughts on low calorie vegetables and whether it makes a big difference on whether to log them or not. Does it matter if I don’t? Eg for something like a tuna salad (tin of tuna +lettuce/baby spinach/cabbage) I only record the calories in the tuna. Am I not being accurate enough? Or are the calories in the veggies negligible?
(Obviously for starchie veggies like potato/sweet potato/pumpkin, I try to avoid or weigh them if I do eat them, but I’m talking about leafy green/ low starch veggies mainly).
Thanks!
(Obviously for starchie veggies like potato/sweet potato/pumpkin, I try to avoid or weigh them if I do eat them, but I’m talking about leafy green/ low starch veggies mainly).
Thanks!
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Replies
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Veggies have calories, and the idea that there are some that take more calories to burn than you take in is a myth. Think about it logically, if they had that effect - someone eating only those vegetables would starve to death *faster* than someone eating nothing at all, and the more they ate, the faster they'd starve.
If you're not losing weight, you're not in a calorie deficit. The first thing to do when you suspect you're not in a calorie deficit is to log as accurately as possible, and that means logging EVERYTHING you eat, including veg.
I can and do put away 300-400 calories a day in veggies, not including the starchy ones.15 -
seeing as i often log 200+ calories in veggies frequently (and many log even more)... yes, they are logged! the veggie soup i made yesterday has 120 some calories per serving, and i typically have a serving or two of that for a meal. and its ALL veggies, aside from the chicken broth base and a can of black beans thats mixed into the whole thing for some added protein (so not many per serving)2
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Oh wow, I specifically remember a weight loss program saying I can eat unlimited amount of those veggies with salsa. Wow didn’t realise there could that many calories in them!3
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Oh wow, I specifically remember a weight loss program saying I can eat unlimited amount of those veggies with salsa. Wow didn’t realise there could that many calories in them!
Weight Watchers and the like say that veggies are 0 points, but they account for the fact that you're eating them into your points goal. So the points they allocate you assume you will also be eating at least some veg as well.4 -
Right ok, wow for a lot of meals eg where I made a batch of stir fry I would only record the calories in the meat..0
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Oh wow, I specifically remember a weight loss program saying I can eat unlimited amount of those veggies with salsa. Wow didn’t realise there could that many calories in them!
if im eating one carrot, im not gonna worry about it. if im eating a side of veg or a soup or salad - it all gets logged.3 -
callsitlikeiseeit wrote: »Oh wow, I specifically remember a weight loss program saying I can eat unlimited amount of those veggies with salsa. Wow didn’t realise there could that many calories in them!
if im eating one carrot, im not gonna worry about it. if im eating a side of veg or a soup or salad - it all gets logged.
This is how I am about it. A stir fry would all get logged (I also like a record of my nutrients to be as accurate as possible) but if I had a sandwich with a leaf or two of lettuce, I would lose no sleep over not logging the lettuce6 -
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And spices. many of them contain a lot of oils and have quite a few calories.2
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It's not on the bottles/packets but the database has the values. Curry powder is a sneaky one, and I bet BBQ powder is too.
Regarding the veg, the veg portion of my meals is easy 50% of my cals. The diet you read where you could eat them unlimited was probably Weight Watchers or a variation, which attempts to teach habits and steer people towards better choices, but it's not a straight up and down calorie game, which is all that matters in the end.3 -
I always log my veggies - even 30-50 calories here and there can really add up. I don't lose any sleep over not logging one grape or some lettuce used for crunch on a sandwich or something, but if I'm making a salad I do weigh the greens. On any given day, those veggie calories might be the difference between having dessert or not having dessert.4
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Most herbs and spices are under 5 calories to the teaspoon, but some of the blends can be a bit higher. Still, IME it's rare for spices to account for more than 10-20 calories/serving.3
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Accurate tracking is also helpful so you know your balance of macronutrients. Studying that information can sometimes help you adjust the balance of your diet to be more satiating. For example, if you are carb-heavy, focusing on increasing protein and fat can help. By not logging veggies, you're not accounting for a good portion of your carbohydrates or taking advantage of the protein in things like spinach and broccoli.2
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I am sometimes lazy in logging raw veggies, but always log cooked ones, since I typically have them with butter or olive oil. Since I track dietary fibre, I usually make a point of logging all the vegetables that I eat.1
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Anything with calories, be it 1 cal or 100 cals I enter it into my diary. I don't want to get into the habit of thinking "this food doesn't count" I won't bother adding it to my diary. It may not add up to much but for me it's getting into a way of eating and thinking about what I'm eating.2
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Hi everyone, I have been on the weight loss journey for a while now and have tried many diet programs and calorie counting. From what I learnt from some of these programs,is that there are some so called ‘zero calorie foods’ that you can eat unlimited amounts of such as carrots, celery, cucumber, spinach, lettuce, bok choy, broccoli, cauliflower, tomato, most green low starch veggies actually and some of these are even negative calorie food which means you consume more calories to burn it off than the calories you consume. For this reason, I haven’t been weighing these vegetables or entering them into mfp but I found that I haven’t been losing any weight and am thinking this might be one of the reasons? What are people’s thoughts on low calorie vegetables and whether it makes a big difference on whether to log them or not. Does it matter if I don’t? Eg for something like a tuna salad (tin of tuna +lettuce/baby spinach/cabbage) I only record the calories in the tuna. Am I not being accurate enough? Or are the calories in the veggies negligible?
(Obviously for starchie veggies like potato/sweet potato/pumpkin, I try to avoid or weigh them if I do eat them, but I’m talking about leafy green/ low starch veggies mainly).
Thanks!
Many veggies are low calorie...they aren't zero calorie, and there's no such thing as a negative calorie food. For there to be a negative calorie food, it would have to have a TEF of over 100% and there is no such thing...protein has the highest TEF at around 30% for some sources.3 -
Right ok, I eat a lot of veggies during the day which I haven’t been logging. Like I usually only eat veggies and protein for dinner eg in a stir fry, soup or salad. Will start to do so now. Thanks!3
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On a side note what about teas and coffees? I don’t usually put sugar or cream in them only a dash of milk. I guess I should record the milk0
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I log every single little grape tomato, coffee also has calories particularly when creamer is added. Milk can have a decent amount of calories1
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I don’t log black coffee, but always log milk or sugar. I wouldn’t log truvia if I used it.
I also only drink one cup of coffee a day, maybe if I were one of those 10 cups a day people I would do this differently.2 -
On a side note what about teas and coffees? I don’t usually put sugar or cream in them only a dash of milk. I guess I should record the milk
Yes, record the milk. It adds up faster than you think. As for the coffee itself, if I recall correctly an 8 oz cup has 2-3 calories. For me, I drink 3-4 cups of coffee with a little milk each day. Each cup of coffee is about 10 calories, but if I am having 3+ cups that is 30+ calories. So I do record that.1 -
It depends on how much you use. I often use a ton of spices, and it adds up quite a lot!estherdragonbat wrote: »Most herbs and spices are under 5 calories to the teaspoon, but some of the blends can be a bit higher. Still, IME it's rare for spices to account for more than 10-20 calories/serving.
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Fair enough!1
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id say well over 1000 calories of my day is veggies so....
And no im sure its been said on repeat theres NO negative calorie foods. It all counts3 -
Veg have cals. Some not much but it all adds up.0
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Although it's not necessary to log every single calorie in order to lose weight, it might be a good idea to commit to spending a week or two (or more - I logged for literally months before I started losing weight) meticulously measuring and logging everything that goes in your mouth. It's possible that not counting those veggies is the issue, but there may be other issues as well. Once you've logged carefully for a while, you'll get a sense of where your wiggle room is, what a portion looks like, where your big calorie traps lie, and so on and so forth. Many people do continue logging the entire time they lose weight (and sometimes even into maintenance) but it's not necessary so long as you have a good enough sense of your calorie intake and output to actually maintain the deficit you need to lose weight. Good luck!2
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Oh wow, I specifically remember a weight loss program saying I can eat unlimited amount of those veggies with salsa. Wow didn’t realise there could that many calories in them!
Programs that typically allow "free" foods lower the starting calorie value to accommodate them......just a little game they like to play. WW comes to mind.0
like garlic and herb spice or bbq powder
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