Logging fruit and veg
katherineleggett
Posts: 129 Member
Should you add your fruit and veg to your app?
Not including potato and banana
Not including potato and banana
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Replies
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katherineleggett wrote: »Should you add your fruit and veg to your app?
Not including potato and banana
Yes. Both have calories (in the case of fruit can have a LOT of calories) so should always be weighed and logged.6 -
Including things like cucumber and salad leaves? I always feel daft logging them and feel bad if I bulk up my meals with them and end up going over my allowancekatherineleggett wrote: »Should you add your fruit and veg to your app?
Not including potato and banana
Yes. Both have calories (in the case of fruit can have a LOT of calories) so should always be weighed and logged.
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katherineleggett wrote: »Including things like cucumber and salad leaves? I always feel daft logging them and feel bad if I bulk up my meals with them and end up going over my allowancekatherineleggett wrote: »Should you add your fruit and veg to your app?
Not including potato and banana
Yes. Both have calories (in the case of fruit can have a LOT of calories) so should always be weighed and logged.
If it has calories I'd log it.5 -
katherineleggett wrote: »Including things like cucumber and salad leaves? I always feel daft logging them and feel bad if I bulk up my meals with them and end up going over my allowancekatherineleggett wrote: »Should you add your fruit and veg to your app?
Not including potato and banana
Yes. Both have calories (in the case of fruit can have a LOT of calories) so should always be weighed and logged.
Yes.6 -
I log anything with calories. They all add up at the end of the day7
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I’m sure we should, but I don’t. If I did, I’d never eat them.2
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It depends how accurate you want to be. I think I added them once and noticed if something was so low cal I didn't bother anymore (due to my high intake). But keep in mind these little things can add up over time especially if you have a low cal allowance find yourself not making progress how you want.5
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katherineleggett wrote: »Including things like cucumber and salad leaves? I always feel daft logging them and feel bad if I bulk up my meals with them and end up going over my allowancekatherineleggett wrote: »Should you add your fruit and veg to your app?
If logging them puts you over your goal, doesn't this basically answer your question? That they do have calories and should be logged...1 -
Most days I have a massive salad for lunch. Using the logic to not waste my time entering teensy items, I wouldn’t bother to enter the greens, the carrots, the radishes, or cherry tomatoes.
They generally tally up to about 125-145 calories, before I start adding meat, nuts, balsamic, halloumi, tofu, etc.
That’s a lotta calories to put on the back burner.
Same if I put 3 grams of honey crystals (15cal) or 5 grams of Grape Nuts (15 cal) on my snack or dessert.
I count it all. Otherwise it turns into a Katamari Damacy cluster and threatens to take over the diary.8 -
springlering62 wrote: »Most days I have a massive salad for lunch. Using the logic to not waste my time entering teensy items, I wouldn’t bother to enter the greens, the carrots, the radishes, or cherry tomatoes.
They generally tally up to about 125-145 calories, before I start adding meat, nuts, balsamic, halloumi, tofu, etc.
That’s a lotta calories to put on the back burner.
Same if I put 3 grams of honey crystals (15cal) or 5 grams of Grape Nuts (15 cal) on my snack or dessert.
I count it all. Otherwise it turns into a Katamari Damacy cluster and threatens to take over the diary.
-Flashbacks to Sumo stage-
But agreed, it can really add up, especially if you’re really bulking up on veggies. I’ve had about 100 calories in vegetables today and that’s been in wraps. With salads, it would be even more. I’m pretty relaxed about accuracy, and I mainly weigh to ensure I’m not shortchanging myself on good foods for adding bulk.
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Log everything with calories. Veggies have calories. Often a lot of calories. Same with fruit.3
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Yes, I like seeing the nutrients. Also, if you eat a good amount the cals add up (and if you don't you would be better off having a record so you see you should eat more).
I don't consider potatoes a veg, but a starch.4 -
Yes, Log everything. I log my Omega supplements, leqfy greens and celery. It adda up quick.
I did an "experiment" for severl days (I call it expirament but now its habit) I kept track of EVERYTHING- including the one single grape at the store to see ripeness, a sinle cashew, A bite of celery, etc. At the end it was anywhere from 50 to 200 extra calories.
If you do the most accurate logging you will understand what your body needs more accurately3 -
I don't really understand the thought process behind deciding not to log entire groups of foods. Regardless of what you decide to do, your body will recognize and process the calories in fruits and vegetables.5
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janejellyroll wrote: »I don't really understand the thought process behind deciding not to log entire groups of foods. Regardless of what you decide to do, your body will recognize and process the calories in fruits and vegetables.
I don't get this either. Yes, some things like leafy greens have few calories so taking a shortcut and eyeballing 2 cups instead of weighing whatever that 2 cups weighs is not going to throw off the entire day but not acknowledging calories that you eat has a habit of backfiring.4 -
It’s mainly from seeing other types of diets where veg and fruits is ‘free’ and you can eat as much of it as you likejanejellyroll wrote: »I don't really understand the thought process behind deciding not to log entire groups of foods. Regardless of what you decide to do, your body will recognize and process the calories in fruits and vegetables.
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katherineleggett wrote: »It’s mainly from seeing other types of diets where veg and fruits is ‘free’ and you can eat as much of it as you likejanejellyroll wrote: »I don't really understand the thought process behind deciding not to log entire groups of foods. Regardless of what you decide to do, your body will recognize and process the calories in fruits and vegetables.
I can't speak for all of them, but in Weight Watchers (which has famously used this strategy in some versions of their plan), they set your calorie goal artificially low to make room for the fruits and vegetables that are "free." In MFP, you're getting all your calories up front. There is no buffer for the foods that they assume you'll be eating but not logging. So it would be relatively easy to undercut your progress with even modest servings of fruits and vegetables that are unlogged.8 -
I count them, but don’t measure or weigh them. I’ll log “apple” or “cabbage” based on estimates. But I will weigh peanut butter to the gram (and most things). I’m not ignoring the calories they contain, but I’m much more relaxed about produce.2
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Worth noting that it isn't a polarised choice between a) not logging fruit and veg at all and b) logging every gram of lettuce.
I ,and I think many others, do log a banana, and other fruits and veg in at least approximate manner eg 1 medium banana, 1/2 cup carrot sticks ( many people go further and weigh each time) but don't bother about one lettuce leaf or slice of tomato in a sandwich
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Agreeing with @placeboBL and @paperpudding. I loosely log fruits and vegetables. If I have a salad I'll make a SWAG at it. I'll likely not log some of the low calorie veggies, but maybe log more of some of the others to compensate. For example, I wouldn't log the onions but might log a whole tomato instead.1
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OK, this is weird but I'm gonna throw it in. As background, I'd log veg/fruit anyway because I eat hundreds of calories a day in veg/fruit, including large portions of theoretically low-cal ones that add up.
But beyond that, and this is the quirk: I find it works out so much better for me personally if I weigh/log everything, just do it automatically, don't even think about it. It takes only seconds, after that initial general MFP learning-to-log phase where things seem fiddly until we get good at them.
If i go through a thought process about what I am/am not going to weigh and log, I'm going to mess up a lot more often, and forget to log things that I should've, plus I'm wasting brain share on "this is frozen corn, so I'll weigh it, but that's frozen broccoli so I won't" or whatever. Weigh it, log it, done. Put the salad bowl on the scale, add the lettuce, note the number, zero the scale, add the cucumber, note, zero the scale, add the baby corn, note, zero, add cheese, note, zero, etc. All reflex.
Others may be much smarter or better at this kind of thing than I am, which is great, sincerely . . . but for the way my brain works: Weigh it, log it, all on autopilot.11 -
Yes, Log everything. I log my Omega supplements, leqfy greens and celery. It adda up quick.
I did an "experiment" for severl days (I call it expirament but now its habit) I kept track of EVERYTHING- including the one single grape at the store to see ripeness, a sinle cashew, A bite of celery, etc. At the end it was anywhere from 50 to 200 extra calories.
If you do the most accurate logging you will understand what your body needs more accurately
... you stole a grape.2 -
. Others may be much smarter or better at this kind of thing than I am, which is great, sincerely . . . but for the way my brain works: Weigh it, log it, all on autopil
Nothing to do with being smarter or better - just of being different.
Everyone use the app in whatever way works for you.
Of course if it isn't working you ( in general, not you specifically Ann) need to adjust what you are doing.
But if it is, just do it your own way, whatever that is.1 -
Yes, Log everything. I log my Omega supplements, leqfy greens and celery. It adda up quick.
I did an "experiment" for severl days (I call it expirament but now its habit) I kept track of EVERYTHING- including the one single grape at the store to see ripeness, a sinle cashew, A bite of celery, etc. At the end it was anywhere from 50 to 200 extra calories.
If you do the most accurate logging you will understand what your body needs more accurately
... you stole a grape.
Whole Foods (among others) puts out free-to-taste fruits. You made an assumption.
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Yes, Log everything. I log my Omega supplements, leqfy greens and celery. It adda up quick.
I did an "experiment" for severl days (I call it expirament but now its habit) I kept track of EVERYTHING- including the one single grape at the store to see ripeness, a sinle cashew, A bite of celery, etc. At the end it was anywhere from 50 to 200 extra calories.
If you do the most accurate logging you will understand what your body needs more accurately
Sure, if you want to log every supplement and bite of celery - do that.
But I don't need to do that to understand what my body needs more accurately.
I know I don't eat a hidden 50. - 200 extra calories in bites of celery and single grapes.
Or if I do, it isn't hindering my progress
In order to maintain my weight I need to eat at approximately what I am logging as 1710 calories.
Maybe it really is, maybe it isn't - but the loose logging I am doing gets the results I want and so I will continue on.
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paperpudding wrote: »Yes, Log everything. I log my Omega supplements, leqfy greens and celery. It adda up quick.
I did an "experiment" for severl days (I call it expirament but now its habit) I kept track of EVERYTHING- including the one single grape at the store to see ripeness, a sinle cashew, A bite of celery, etc. At the end it was anywhere from 50 to 200 extra calories.
If you do the most accurate logging you will understand what your body needs more accurately
Sure, if you want to log every supplement and bite of celery - do that.
But I don't need to do that to understand what my body needs more accurately.
I know I don't eat a hidden 50. - 200 extra calories in bites of celery and single grapes.
Or if I do, it isn't hindering my progress
In order to maintain my weight I need to eat at approximately what I am logging as 1710 calories.
Maybe it really is, maybe it isn't - but the loose logging I am doing gets the results I want and so I will continue on.
I'm in the "log all fruits and vegetables" camp, but I'm also in the "I don't log single bites" camp. If I had a lifestyle where I was frequently tasting stuff, it would probably matter. But for me, not tracking single bites hasn't set me back at all.2 -
Yes, Log everything. I log my Omega supplements, leqfy greens and celery. It adda up quick.
I did an "experiment" for severl days (I call it expirament but now its habit) I kept track of EVERYTHING- including the one single grape at the store to see ripeness, a sinle cashew, A bite of celery, etc. At the end it was anywhere from 50 to 200 extra calories.
If you do the most accurate logging you will understand what your body needs more accurately
... you stole a grape.
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OK, this is weird but I'm gonna throw it in. As background, I'd log veg/fruit anyway because I eat hundreds of calories a day in veg/fruit, including large portions of theoretically low-cal ones that add up.
But beyond that, and this is the quirk: I find it works out so much better for me personally if I weigh/log everything, just do it automatically, don't even think about it. It takes only seconds, after that initial general MFP learning-to-log phase where things seem fiddly until we get good at them.
If i go through a thought process about what I am/am not going to weigh and log, I'm going to mess up a lot more often, and forget to log things that I should've, plus I'm wasting brain share on "this is frozen corn, so I'll weigh it, but that's frozen broccoli so I won't" or whatever. Weigh it, log it, done. Put the salad bowl on the scale, add the lettuce, note the number, zero the scale, add the cucumber, note, zero the scale, add the baby corn, note, zero, add cheese, note, zero, etc. All reflex.
Others may be much smarter or better at this kind of thing than I am, which is great, sincerely . . . but for the way my brain works: Weigh it, log it, all on autopilot.
Let me offer a different take. Here are my justifications for not weighing and measuring every single piece of vegetable and fruit:
1. Error bars. There is a large uncertainty in caloric content of food, and there is a large uncertainty in my (estimated), fairly high intentional caloric expenditure. The net effect of these uncertainties is large error bars on my budget. The effort to precisely quantify low-calorie foods, in this case, is not very meaningful. It's tens of calories of precision with hundreds of calories of uncertainty.
2. Context. I often eat my meals in a family setting. Measuring and weighing would be disruptive here, especially because I'm usually not the one to prepare my own meals. For example, say I'm putting a slice of tomato and a piece of lettuce on my burger at dinner. I'm not going to disrupt the family meal to measure out the tomato and the lettuce. But when I log, I'll put in 1/4 head of lettuce and half a tomato.
NB that I'm effectively in maintenance and have more or less been here (with some swings up and down) for 8 years. These are the habits that have worked for me, just as @AnnPT77 has habits that work for her. This is why the veterans here often tell people that you need to find what works for you.3 -
katherineleggett wrote: »It’s mainly from seeing other types of diets where veg and fruits is ‘free’ and you can eat as much of it as you likejanejellyroll wrote: »I don't really understand the thought process behind deciding not to log entire groups of foods. Regardless of what you decide to do, your body will recognize and process the calories in fruits and vegetables.
Ahhh.....but the catch is those foods aren't really free.
Weight Watchers (as an example) will lower the calorie start value so that you can have as much "free" food as you want. Their intent is to encourage people to eat more veggies. But when people are closer to goal, short, or fairly sedentary this can mess with weekly weight loss goals.1 -
Eat and log more veg and enjoy the amount of them you can include for so few calories! Yes, if a 1-cup-ish salad is 90%+ lettuce with a slice or two of cucumber and a few shreds of carrot for decoration, I ignore the cuke and carrots but YOU get to decide how detailed YOU want to be in your diary. Just remember, you can lie to your diary but not to your body. Neither of them care whether you logged it or not.3
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