Logging Fruits and Veggies.

_MichelleLynn__
_MichelleLynn__ Posts: 9 Member
edited December 20 in Food and Nutrition
Do any of you have success losing weight not logging your fruits and veggies? I’m a former WW members fruits and veggies were free foods. I’m wondering if I would be successful in losing if I don’t logging them on MFP. I do still watch my portions, but they do have lots of calories. Thank you in advance.
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Replies

  • _MichelleLynn__
    _MichelleLynn__ Posts: 9 Member
    edited March 2019
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  • zeejane03
    zeejane03 Posts: 993 Member
    edited March 2019
    If you're tracking calories as MFP is set up, then yes you need to log them. There are some here who are doing different plans (WW, low carb, DASH etc), then they may be tracking differently, but those plans usually factor in the veg/fruit a different way. MFP is set up to do straight calorie counting :)
  • _MichelleLynn__
    _MichelleLynn__ Posts: 9 Member
    zeejane03 wrote: »
    If you're tracking calories as MFP is set up, then yes you need to log them. There are some here who are doing different plans (WW, low carb, DASH etc), then they may be tracking differently, but those plans usually factor in the veg/fruit a different way. MFP is set up to do straight calorie counting :)

    Thank you. I know there are some on here that do not track fruits and veggies. I just want to see how well this does for them. 😀
  • zeejane03
    zeejane03 Posts: 993 Member
    edited March 2019
    _MichelleLynn__ wrote: »
    zeejane03 wrote: »
    If you're tracking calories as MFP is set up, then yes you need to log them. There are some here who are doing different plans (WW, low carb, DASH etc), then they may be tracking differently, but those plans usually factor in the veg/fruit a different way. MFP is set up to do straight calorie counting :)

    Thank you. I know there are some on here that do not track fruits and veggies. I just want to see how well this does for them. 😀

    Because of the plan I'm following right now (NIH's DASH protocol), I track my veg/fruit intake by servings instead of by calories, (aiming for 7 or more servings a day)-but while I'm not counting the calories of the veg/fruit, the plan has already done the math for me and the calories from the veg/fruit are factored in. This would be similar to how WW is set up I think?
  • MikePTY
    MikePTY Posts: 3,814 Member
    There is no such thing as a "free" calorie. Calories from fruits and vegetables count just as much as calories from beef jerky. "Free" foods is one of the things that Weight Watchers tries to do to differentiate itself from calorie counting (so people will continue to pay for it), but it doesn't make a whole lot of sense. If you don't want to log lettuce, or other veggies that have almost zero calories, that wouldn't make that big a difference. But lots of fruits and vegetables have high calorie counts. For breakfast I had almost 250 calories worth of pineapple. They definitely add up.

    They are really important to track during calorie counting because calorie counting isn't just about making sure that you don't eat too much, it's equally important to make sure that you eat enough. Even if you could lose weight by ignoring tracking fruits and vegetables, it wouldn't be advisable, because you wouldn't have a good idea of how much fuel your body was getting and if you were actually fueling it enough.
  • JustAMurmur
    JustAMurmur Posts: 7,867 Member
    The more you track what you eat, the clearer the picture of your diet and nutrition you will have. Knowledge is power! Tracking everything allows you to more easily identify what you might need to tweak as you go along. :) If you're eating something super duper low in calories - celery, for instance - I wouldn't worry too much about little things like that. There will be a learning curve switching from the WW mindset, but you'll get the hang of tracking in no time and it won't seem so daunting at all! You're gonna do just fine! You can do it!
  • _MichelleLynn__
    _MichelleLynn__ Posts: 9 Member
    JustAMurmur wrote: »
    The more you track what you eat, the clearer the picture of your diet and nutrition you will have. Knowledge is power! Tracking everything allows you to more easily identify what you might need to tweak as you go along. :) If you're eating something super duper low in calories - celery, for instance - I wouldn't worry too much about little things like that. There will be a learning curve switching from the WW mindset, but you'll get the hang of tracking in no time and it won't seem so daunting at all! You're gonna do just fine! You can do it!


    Thank you so much!!😀
  • JustAMurmur
    JustAMurmur Posts: 7,867 Member
    _MichelleLynn__ wrote: »
    JustAMurmur wrote: »
    The more you track what you eat, the clearer the picture of your diet and nutrition you will have. Knowledge is power! Tracking everything allows you to more easily identify what you might need to tweak as you go along. :) If you're eating something super duper low in calories - celery, for instance - I wouldn't worry too much about little things like that. There will be a learning curve switching from the WW mindset, but you'll get the hang of tracking in no time and it won't seem so daunting at all! You're gonna do just fine! You can do it!


    Thank you so much!!😀

    You are welcome! If you need any help, happy to oblige! Have a lovely day!
  • _MichelleLynn__
    _MichelleLynn__ Posts: 9 Member
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    As I'm sure you know, WW gives you lower base calories to make up for the calories they assume you will eat from "free foods". Since MFP does not give you artificially low calories, yes, you should log fruits and veggies.

    Anyone here who isn't logging them but is losing weight as expected is probably doing something additional the system didn't intend, like not eating back exercise calories. Or just not eating a significant amount.

    I don’t eat a huge amount.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    _MichelleLynn__ wrote: »
    Do any of you have success losing weight not logging your fruits and veggies? I’m a former WW members fruits and veggies were free foods. I’m wondering if I would be successful in losing if I don’t logging them on MFP. I do still watch my portions, but they do have lots of calories. Thank you in advance.

    I was more loose with my fruit and veg when I logged, but I still logged unless I was just having a couple slices of cucumber or something. You also have to keep in mind that WW inflates the points of other foods to compensate and also gives you a lower point total to compensate. Calories are calories and your body counts them whether you do or not.

    I don't log anything anymore and can still lose weight (cutting the winter fluff right now) so it is possible to have success without logging vegetables or anything else.
  • _MichelleLynn__
    _MichelleLynn__ Posts: 9 Member
    Thank you all for your comments. I usually don’t eat enough to amount to a whole lot. That’s why I ask. I know WW as it’s on calculations and I know the points are higher in some cases to adjust for free foods. The program as a lot of free foods because they are trying to help you to a healthier eating lifestyle and to stay away from high carbs and junk food.
  • wanzik
    wanzik Posts: 326 Member
    If you want an accurate picture you need to log EVERYTHING that you eat. Just logging some stuff and not others doesn't really make sense to me. But I'm interested in watching carbs and sugar, not just calories. It's really easy to add apples, bananas and oranges so why not?
  • _MichelleLynn__
    _MichelleLynn__ Posts: 9 Member
    wanzik wrote: »
    If you want an accurate picture you need to log EVERYTHING that you eat. Just logging some stuff and not others doesn't really make sense to me. But I'm interested in watching carbs and sugar, not just calories. It's really easy to add apples, bananas and oranges so why not?

    Because you can lose weight without logging them. Just because you’re logging with MFP tracker doesn’t mean you have stick to their weight loss plan. I track all my food in MFP and at the in of the day I export it into WW.
    MFP is easier to track your food by calculation and it has a huge database.

  • Annie_01
    Annie_01 Posts: 3,096 Member
    You can use MFP however it best meets your needs. As long as it is working for you log how you choose...when/if it quits working then you can change how you do it.

    I log everything but I don't weigh. Most everything that I eat I have entered a recipe for it. I just log the serving size. I did recipes for my vegetables and I just add whatever my serving has come out to. On fruit such as a banana I calculated the calories based on 100g and log that...some are larger and some are smaller than 100g. This works for me right now since I am losing about 2lbs a week which is what I am aiming for. I might have to go back to weighing at some point but I know I can't do that for the rest of my life so I am trying to work on learning serving sizes.
  • zeejane03
    zeejane03 Posts: 993 Member
    edited March 2019
    _MichelleLynn__ wrote: »
    wanzik wrote: »
    If you want an accurate picture you need to log EVERYTHING that you eat. Just logging some stuff and not others doesn't really make sense to me. But I'm interested in watching carbs and sugar, not just calories. It's really easy to add apples, bananas and oranges so why not?

    Because you can lose weight without logging them. Just because you’re logging with MFP tracker doesn’t mean you have stick to their weight loss plan. I track all my food in MFP and at the in of the day I export it into WW.
    MFP is easier to track your food by calculation and it has a huge database.

    A note of caution-there are a LOT of inaccurate database entries (inputted by users), so make sure you're choosing accurate ones!
  • _MichelleLynn__
    _MichelleLynn__ Posts: 9 Member

    zeejane03 wrote: »
    _MichelleLynn__ wrote: »
    wanzik wrote: »
    If you want an accurate picture you need to log EVERYTHING that you eat. Just logging some stuff and not others doesn't really make sense to me. But I'm interested in watching carbs and sugar, not just calories. It's really easy to add apples, bananas and oranges so why not?

    Because you can lose weight without logging them. Just because you’re logging with MFP tracker doesn’t mean you have stick to their weight loss plan. I track all my food in MFP and at the in of the day I export it into WW.
    MFP is easier to track your food by calculation and it has a huge database.

    A note of caution-there are a LOT of inaccurate database entries (inputted by users), so make sure you're choosing accurate ones!

    I totally agree. I do watch that very closely
  • COGypsy
    COGypsy Posts: 1,365 Member
    When I was transitioning to MFP from WW, I took about 300 calories off my goal everyday and called it fruits and vegetables and didn't track them any further than that for the first few months. That was a pretty good average of calories used for those foods. But still, that's a pretty significant number of calories each day, and I'm not even much of a veggie person and even less of a fruit person.
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
    What I wrote in a similar thread bumped today:

    "I eat a lot of veg and at least a couple servings of fruit on a typical day (more fruit in the summer), and it adds up.

    A more important reason to me for logging it is I like my total calories to be at least somewhat accurate -- I don't want to think I'm eating 1200 when I'm really eating 1750 or whatever. And -- important for me -- I like to be able to compare days and see what choices helped me and which ones did not, and arbitrarily leaving out some of the foods I eat would make that less useful. Plus I aim for at least 10 servings of veg and a variety, and not logging would mean I might not be making that goal and not know it.

    Right now I'm mainly logging at Chron and paying attention to various nutrients like potassium and fiber and those would be way under without fruit and veg. And veg provide some protein too."

    I'll add that for it to work without logging veg and fruit, you either need to choose a higher than ideal loss rate or otherwise eat fewer calories than your normal goal would be (or accept a slower loss rate) -- as someone noted, perhaps not eating back exercise calories OR your total amount of veg and fruit would be on the low side (which I think is a bad idea).

    IMO, better to use tracking to encourage you to eat more veg and fruit if you aren't already eating a lot (of veg, at least). But I realize people have different preferences, both about diet and logging. The WW approach would drive me mad, as I like to have more information.
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,011 Member
    For me, a big bonus of logging is the data you compile. I can look back over the last week, last month, last year and see trends and data points. If you don't log things simply because they're not calorie dense, that data is less useful.

    I feel like if you're logging your meal anyway, it just takes a couple of extra seconds to add in your produce. I don't weigh low cal veggies, just eyeball the volume measurement, but weigh fruit because depending on the day it can really add up.

    I also like to make sure I'm getting enough fiber, another reason why I log it.
  • wilson10102018
    wilson10102018 Posts: 1,306 Member
    Agree with logging everything. I am snacking on rasberries and blackberries. Sometimes all of 12 calories. Still, it reminds me that I had three afternoon snacks on those days where all I had for lunch was chicken noodle soup and an apple.
  • runnermom419
    runnermom419 Posts: 366 Member
    Log everything. I weigh the majority of the fruits and vegetables I eat as well.

    I was curious the other day on how many calories in "free foods" I eat a day (if I were on WW). Curious because I have a few co-workers on WW. I calculated that over 500 calories would be "free" if I were on WW (for that particular day). How on earth would I lose weight with that many "free calories" AND eating my daily points?
  • Annie_01
    Annie_01 Posts: 3,096 Member
    I have used WW...it works for those that use the system correctly. There are many people there that have lost the weight and kept it off. My main reason for not continuing with WW is the lack of breakdown on micronutrients.
  • New_Heavens_Earth
    New_Heavens_Earth Posts: 610 Member
    edited March 2019
    runnermom419 wrote: »
    Log everything. I weigh the majority of the fruits and vegetables I eat as well.

    I was curious the other day on how many calories in "free foods" I eat a day (if I were on WW). Curious because I have a few co-workers on WW. I calculated that over 500 calories would be "free" if I were on WW (for that particular day). How on earth would I lose weight with that many "free calories" AND eating my daily points?

    It's not mandatory to eat all of the points. There is a -10 to +5 range around your points value. So 23 pts, for example, is actually a range of 13 to 28. Works for many🤷🏾‍♀️
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