Should I count veggies and fruits in my daily calorie goal?

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Replies

  • tennisdude2004
    tennisdude2004 Posts: 5,609 Member
    OhHon97 wrote: »
    I usually eat my set calorie goal for the day but dont count the calories of fruits or veggies (unless its something like a potato or avocado). Is this what most people do?

    If you are following a calorie counting diet model then definitely count them - they are not free.

    CICO!

  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,426 Member
    I trt to track what I eat including fruits and vegetables. I like to have a record.
    I don't stress if I don't log a tiny bit of spinach accurately but vegetables and fruits might add up to quite a few calories.

    It is up to you what you want to do. If you are not losing at the rate you expect start logging everything though.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    Obviously your body will count the calories even if you don't. But I also find value in being able to look back through my diary and see what I ate on certain days. Without fruits and veg, that would be a very incomplete picture.

    100% this.

    I also found logging useful because I was able to see my diet overall, and I liked thinking of it as a way to make sure I was eating well, getting enough nutrients and a variety of foods, maybe comparing days regarding things like fiber, fat, protein to see what made a difference (and fruits and veg not only supply fiber, but some non starchy veg really add to the protein content). Thinking of logging as just about calories wouldn't have worked as well for me, and I'm another who eats a lot of cals in veg and fruit.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,879 Member
    When I tracked, I logged my veg and fruit but I wasn't as precise as I was with other, more calorie dense foods. I typically get 8-10 servings of veg and fruit per day...that's hundreds of calories in produce.

    I never bothered logging a bit of lettuce or something on a sandwich, but I logged my big *kitten* salads and such. If I don't have a big salad at lunch, I typically have a 200g serving of broccoli or some other veg...same at dinner. 200 grams of broccoli is around 70 calories...twice per day, that's 140 calories right there not accounted for.
  • workinonit1956
    workinonit1956 Posts: 1,043 Member
    I have to, I eat l lot of fruits and veggies.
  • CarvedTones
    CarvedTones Posts: 2,340 Member
    I wish there was a way to query all the data I have in mfp to find out things like % of my total calories that was fruit (I eat a lot of fruit) and/or highest total fruit calories in a day (probably under 1000, but not way under).
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    I wish there was a way to query all the data I have in mfp to find out things like % of my total calories that was fruit (I eat a lot of fruit) and/or highest total fruit calories in a day (probably under 1000, but not way under).

    You can do something similar if you have premium. You can find where most of your calories come from in reports. Most of my calories, interestingly, come from tomatoes. Here is my top entry for the past 90 days:
    p3myk1lw4gl9.png
  • ceiswyn
    ceiswyn Posts: 2,253 Member
    I took a quick look at my diary, and just yesterday my fruits and vegetables added up to 320 kcal.

    Just because they’re good for you doesn’t mean they don’t contain calories!
  • iyobosaaiyanyo
    iyobosaaiyanyo Posts: 22 Member
    Personally I only track my fruits but not my greens
  • AudreyJDuke
    AudreyJDuke Posts: 1,092 Member
    Yes, do! They have calories.
  • dsboohead
    dsboohead Posts: 1,900 Member
    Yes.....track everything even bites! Or you will be one of those posting "why am I not losing weight???"
  • mswonka
    mswonka Posts: 14 Member
    edited May 2018
    100_PROOF_ wrote: »
    My body counts it even if I don't. Lol

    Just because it's a fruit or vegetable doesn't mean that the calories don't count.

    Well-said! However, I don't count lettuce and other foods with trace amounts of calorie.
  • happytree923
    happytree923 Posts: 463 Member
    edited May 2018
    serindipte wrote: »
    I don't always track all of my veggies. It depends. If I add lettuce and pickles to a sandwich, sometimes I log, sometimes not. Same for cucumbers, celery, and other super low-cal veggies in a small quantity. I know, from having logged every single bite, which ones I can afford to ignore and how much of them. I'm also in a fairly large deficit. As that shrinks and I get closer to goal weight, I'll be less likely to skip any of them.

    ETA: I weigh and log all fruit.

    This. A serving of baby carrots, all fruits, sweet onions, I absolutely track. But a few pickles, a stick of celery, or a teaspoon of garlic added to a recipe, I usually don't bother. I'm starting in the obese category and I have a lot of more problematic habits to fix before getting down to that level of detail is worth it.
  • Noreenmarie1234
    Noreenmarie1234 Posts: 7,493 Member
    edited May 2018
    Absolutely. I get about 600-800 calories in fruits and veggies a day. That’s enough to gain a lb a week if I didn’t count it.
  • psychod787
    psychod787 Posts: 4,088 Member
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    When I tracked, I logged my veg and fruit but I wasn't as precise as I was with other, more calorie dense foods. I typically get 8-10 servings of veg and fruit per day...that's hundreds of calories in produce.

    I never bothered logging a bit of lettuce or something on a sandwich, but I logged my big *kitten* salads and such. If I don't have a big salad at lunch, I typically have a 200g serving of broccoli or some other veg...same at dinner. 200 grams of broccoli is around 70 calories...twice per day, that's 140 calories right there not accounted for.

    thats what I do
  • kellyjellybellyjelly
    kellyjellybellyjelly Posts: 9,480 Member
    OhHon97 wrote: »
    I usually eat my set calorie goal for the day but dont count the calories of fruits or veggies (unless its something like a potato or avocado). Is this what most people do?

    Definitely count vegetables & fruits, because the foods still have calories & you can weight by overeating anything regardless of how 'healthy', 'organic', or 'low calorie' it is. Just remember it's calories in vs. calories out & you want to be as accurate as possible to make sure you're consistently working your way to your goal. Some people have it set to gaining weight & maintaining & it's just as crucial for them to make sure they're hitting their goals.

    I especially weigh my salad dressings since it's so easy to accidentally pour out way too much.