Do any of you have "free" foods that you don't add in your calorie count?
DecryingShame
Posts: 34 Member
I'm thinking of compiling a list of food that is so low in calories and high in fiber that I will allow myself to eat as much of them as possible and not record them, like Weight Watchers' zero point food list. Has anyone else tried this? How did it work and what foods were on your list?
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Replies
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No - but lower calorie stuff like lettuce/spinach/tomatoes/cucumbers/carrots: I may estimate without use of the food scale. I figure if its really 10 cals instead of 7, it does not make much of an impact.13
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DecryingShame wrote: »I'm thinking of compiling a list of food that is so low in calories and high in fiber that I will allow myself to eat as much of them as possible and not record them, like Weight Watchers' zero point food list. Has anyone else tried this? How did it work and what foods were on your list?
Something to keep in mind is that WW points are lowered so that people can have the "free" points. If you are going to have some freebies that you don't want to log, you may need to lower your calorie amounts.
I don't log: gum, hot sauce, spices. I eyeball ketchup. That's about it for me.4 -
cherry tomatoes?0
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It's not so much the calories, it's the sugar of any type and the carbs. Carbs turns to sugar in the body and that turns into fat. Eliminate all sugars including the fake ones, limit your carbs to under 50 grams and less if you can stand it. So no sugars, no grains of any type, (no bread, pasta, bagels, you get the picture) no potatoes. I eat lots of eggs, steak, pork, chicken, and salads with lime juice and olive oil. Also use only Extra virgin olive oil, butter or avocado oil and drink lots of water.1
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It's not so much the calories, it's the sugar of any type and the carbs. Carbs turns to sugar in the body and that turns into fat. Eliminate all sugars including the fake ones, limit your carbs to under 50 grams and less if you can stand it. So no sugars, no grains of any type, (no bread, pasta, bagels, you get the picture) no potatoes. I eat lots of eggs, steak, pork, chicken, and salads with lime juice and olive oil. Also use only Extra virgin olive oil, butter or avocado oil and drink lots of water.
I lost weight getting 60% of my calories from carbohydrates and including artificial sweeteners, sugar, grains (including bread, pasta, and bagels), and potatoes. I never ate eggs, steak, pork, chicken, or butter.
I'm glad you found a way that worked for you, but there are many ways to eat in a calorie deficit (which is what creates weight loss).29 -
Sugar does not make a person fat.
Nothing wrong with this way of eating if you like the way it makes you feel. But its not required for weight loss or general health, unless one has a medical condition that requires a limitation on sugar/carbs.
I cannot/will not give up bread, rice, potatoes.
It's not so much the calories, it's the sugar of any type and the carbs. Carbs turns to sugar in the body and that turns into fat. Eliminate all sugars including the fake ones, limit your carbs to under 50 grams and less if you can stand it. So no sugars, no grains of any type, (no bread, pasta, bagels, you get the picture) no potatoes. I eat lots of eggs, steak, pork, chicken, and salads with lime juice and olive oil. Also use only Extra virgin olive oil, butter or avocado oil and drink lots of water.
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It's not so much the calories, it's the sugar of any type and the carbs. Carbs turns to sugar in the body and that turns into fat. Eliminate all sugars including the fake ones, limit your carbs to under 50 grams and less if you can stand it. So no sugars, no grains of any type, (no bread, pasta, bagels, you get the picture) no potatoes. I eat lots of eggs, steak, pork, chicken, and salads with lime juice and olive oil. Also use only Extra virgin olive oil, butter or avocado oil and drink lots of water.
So, I wouldn’t recommend a diet that like that to anyone ever. That said, if it works for you, ok.
I need sustainable long term changes to lose weight and I’m not about to live on a high fat, high protein, low carb diet for the rest of my life.
OP, I don’t count carrots. I weigh and count everything else. If I remember to get cucumbers this week to add to my snack foods, I won’t count those either.
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I count most calories but do not bother with the likes of margarine. Yes I know it is fat but I cannot be bothered with estimating the thin scrape that I put on the Ryvitas!0
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Nope, no free foods for me!
My body absorbs the calories whether I count them or not, so to keep an accurate record of my intake I log everything. That even includes the 8g of lettuce I put in my folded flatbread!11 -
I don’t log vitamins, etc. I don’t log 4 almonds a day. I don’t log seasoning except in recipes.
I set my calorie goal for 50 less per day so I don’t have to log these things.3 -
I don't add rocket, garlic/onions/vegetable base in home made sauces. Nor the bit of oat milk in the few small cups of coffee I have. I'm always under my calorie goal anyway.
I don't really like the idea of WW's free foods though - all food has a calorie and nutrient content, and I want to learn about what I eat whilst losing weight. The first time I weighed my mayo I had a nasty shock! (not saying that anyone's free food is mayo of course). Personally for me, the concept of free foods wouldn't help me stay under my goal.1 -
I enjoy the puzzle of maximizing what I can fit in whatever calories I decide I will allow myself at any which time. Not counting things would deprive me of the joy!9
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There are a few things I don't log (like the maybe 1/16 slice of a lemon or lime I put in my daily matcha), but generally I weigh and log all the veggies, fruits, etc.
I don't think it's necessary for everyone to log everything, that, to lose weight. So, I think what you're considering can work. If it helps you get the right amounts of some nutrient-dense foods, that's a bonus. Sometimes people are able to loose-log the whole way through weight loss; some find they need to tighten up logging for the last 10 pounds or something because the wiggle room is less at that point. No reason not to try that approach, see if it works.
For me, there are 3 main reasons why I prefer to log everything:
1. One of the things I wanted out of the weight loss process was a solid, experience-based estimate of my maintenance calories. More precision in logging is needed, for that. The advantage of that knowledge is that if I change my eating style, I still know what my calorie budget needs to be. (I do eat really large amounts of veggies and fruits, often several hundred calories of them daily, sometimes hundreds just from the low-calorie, non-starchy ones. I can and still do eat a whole head of cauliflower or cabbage in one meal, for example. Lummesome veggies.)
2. I like having some idea where I am on macronutrients and micronutrients. Because of the crowd-sourced database, MFP has some inherent limitations in accuracy, especially for micros, but it's still a help to know what I might need to take a closer look at, to know whether I'm on target when it comes to good overall nutrition, on average.
3. This is super individual, but I make fewer mistakes when I just weigh and log everything, kind of on autopilot. It also is less annoying to me, because autopilot takes less cognitive bandwidth for me than thinking "do I weigh this or not, do I log this or not" continually. Other people will differ greatly, in which habits of mind are most congenial, but this is true for me.
My impression is that WW makes certain foods free in part to encourage people to eat more of them, which can be a worthy goal, if someone is inclined to lowball the nutrient dense foods WW has on the free list. That is not, and never has been, me. I got obese and stayed that way, getting quite adequate amounts . . . and then some! . . . of mostly nutrient-dense foods (not just the free ones, though).
Whatever works for you, to motivate you to get good well-rounded nutrition, and to hit appropriate calories so you can achieve your weight goals: That's a good practice. And I think it's good to experiment, during weight loss, to find the approach that fits your personality and needs the best.
Best wishes!9 -
Black coffee, artificially sweetened beverages and the artificial sweetners themselves & most vitamins are all on my 'don't count' list. If I were FORCED to add actual foods, it would probably be lettuce & celery. But like @AnnPT77 I prefer to be honest and continue to adjust my maintenace calories, if necessary.5
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Sometimes I don't count bananas or milk. I did not get fat eating these things.0
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Kabocha Squash is a great value @ around 49 calories per cup (245grams) or less. I rarely weigh it and eat it as often as possible.3
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You mean like the 200-400 calories of salad/vegetables I eat each day? Since that’s my entire deficit-not logging them would be a bad idea.7
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I log everything except my gummy vitamins.
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I don't usually log celery but eat it often. I'm not real accurate with most veggies.2
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I use a generic ‘garden salad without dressing’ to log raw vegetables regardless of the vegetable.
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It's not so much the calories, it's the sugar of any type and the carbs. Carbs turns to sugar in the body and that turns into fat. Eliminate all sugars including the fake ones, limit your carbs to under 50 grams and less if you can stand it. So no sugars, no grains of any type, (no bread, pasta, bagels, you get the picture) no potatoes. I eat lots of eggs, steak, pork, chicken, and salads with lime juice and olive oil. Also use only Extra virgin olive oil, butter or avocado oil and drink lots of water.
Thanks for your comments.
Years ago I cut out sweets. Not sugar, per se, or carbs or anything, just treats that were sweeter than an orange. I dropped 20 pounds without doing anything else.
Two years later I was still having serious cravings for sugar. After a little research, I started eating natural sweeteners: brown rice syrup, honey, evaporated cane juice and so forth.
My cravings went away and I started eating moderate amounts of sweets with no problem. Not only that, but my cravings for other snacks, like potato chips went away as well.
I do think that unnatural sweeteners are not good for you but I also think that our bodies crave the sweets because they need something.
These days I put one spoonful of evaporated cane juice in my coffee in the morning and feel no need to eat any other sweets. Overall, it helps me control my intake. I'm certain it's good for me because I feel good.0 -
I don't add rocket, garlic/onions/vegetable base in home made sauces. Nor the bit of oat milk in the few small cups of coffee I have. I'm always under my calorie goal anyway.
I don't really like the idea of WW's free foods though - all food has a calorie and nutrient content, and I want to learn about what I eat whilst losing weight. The first time I weighed my mayo I had a nasty shock! (not saying that anyone's free food is mayo of course). Personally for me, the concept of free foods wouldn't help me stay under my goal.
Good point. I'm actually tracking my fiber intake as well because higher amount of fiber helps me limit my overall calorie intake. If I didn't log these foods, I would lose the ability to track my fiber intake. I hadn't thought about that.0 -
There are a few things I don't log (like the maybe 1/16 slice of a lemon or lime I put in my daily matcha), but generally I weigh and log all the veggies, fruits, etc.
I don't think it's necessary for everyone to log everything, that, to lose weight. So, I think what you're considering can work. If it helps you get the right amounts of some nutrient-dense foods, that's a bonus. Sometimes people are able to loose-log the whole way through weight loss; some find they need to tighten up logging for the last 10 pounds or something because the wiggle room is less at that point. No reason not to try that approach, see if it works.
For me, there are 3 main reasons why I prefer to log everything:
1. One of the things I wanted out of the weight loss process was a solid, experience-based estimate of my maintenance calories. More precision in logging is needed, for that. The advantage of that knowledge is that if I change my eating style, I still know what my calorie budget needs to be. (I do eat really large amounts of veggies and fruits, often several hundred calories of them daily, sometimes hundreds just from the low-calorie, non-starchy ones. I can and still do eat a whole head of cauliflower or cabbage in one meal, for example. Lummesome veggies.)
2. I like having some idea where I am on macronutrients and micronutrients. Because of the crowd-sourced database, MFP has some inherent limitations in accuracy, especially for micros, but it's still a help to know what I might need to take a closer look at, to know whether I'm on target when it comes to good overall nutrition, on average.
3. This is super individual, but I make fewer mistakes when I just weigh and log everything, kind of on autopilot. It also is less annoying to me, because autopilot takes less cognitive bandwidth for me than thinking "do I weigh this or not, do I log this or not" continually. Other people will differ greatly, in which habits of mind are most congenial, but this is true for me.
My impression is that WW makes certain foods free in part to encourage people to eat more of them, which can be a worthy goal, if someone is inclined to lowball the nutrient dense foods WW has on the free list. That is not, and never has been, me. I got obese and stayed that way, getting quite adequate amounts . . . and then some! . . . of mostly nutrient-dense foods (not just the free ones, though).
Whatever works for you, to motivate you to get good well-rounded nutrition, and to hit appropriate calories so you can achieve your weight goals: That's a good practice. And I think it's good to experiment, during weight loss, to find the approach that fits your personality and needs the best.
Best wishes!
Thanks! Lots of good thoughts here. I appreciate you taking the extra time to share this.1 -
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I track fiber and try to get a minimum 25g daily (usually way more than that, but that's the minimum I aim for). Hence I log all my high fiber foods. There is stuff I don't bother to log, but mostly that's stuff I use in small quantities compared to the totality of the dish I'm cooking, like spices and herbs (but I do log onion and garlic). I don't log coffee (but I do log the cream I put in it).
Everyone has their own logging "style," meaning what they always weigh to the gram vs. estimate vs. skip altogether. I think there is no one right way. It's a matter of finding a balance between effort and accuracy sufficient to meet your particular goals and also of being consistent. People with a lot to lose and a big deficit often don't need as much accuracy as those nearing goal weight with a very small deficit. If you consistently don't log some stuff, your observed TDEE for yourself will be a little lower that actual, but you will totally still meet your goals taking the desired deficit from that observed TDEE. E.g. I drink a liter of coffee every day and I don't log it. So my TDEE is actually ever so slightly higher than I think. At maintenance, I shoot for the observed TDEE (that doesn't include coffee). When I need to lose weight, I take a 250cal deficit from that observed TDEE while not logging coffee, and I will lose 0.5lb/wk.
I think it's a good practice in general to make it as easy on yourself as possible while getting the accuracy you need to reach your individual goals. If you aren't getting the results you want, increasing accuracy for a short time is a great way to see why and to course correct.2 -
The only thing I don’t log are sugar free drinks (soda and juices). Technically they can contain 10 calories per 250ml, but even if I have a litre of them it’s only 40kcals which hasn’t impacted me yet!
Food wise, it’s all added, although for leaves such as lettuce, coriander etc I’ll just say I’ve had about 50g for ease of adding and to save me weighing as they only have like a couple of calories!1 -
Ummmm.... If I forge to find it, I don't count it. Burn a lot more calories picking wild blackberries than I get from eating them.2
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There are little things I don't log but I do log low calorie foods because I want to know I consumed them so I can judge how they make me feel. High fiber things like vegetables are also good for me and I like to keep track of my fiber numbers. The things I don't log are incidental like the squirt of lemon juice I might put in a glass of seltzer.1
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No, I log everything. My main meal might contain about 100-200 calories of low cal veggies. If you're small and of a certain age this might push you from maintenance to weight gain. Plus I want to know how much calories are left for snacks 1
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I just used 65 Cal of zero cal per the manufacturer when used in 1g portions garlic plus spices in my 560g of frozen peas and carrots, 72g onion, and 802g of diced tomatoes that will form the bulk (word used intentionally) of my food today.
Which part of this should I have not logged?
(While the 65 Cal is an estimate due to the manufacturer lying, it is an educated guess based on less lying alternatives and closer to reality than zero)
(I don't log liquid sucralose; but do log granulated. Of course, still, a lot of things, especially those made by others are educated guesses and approximations)3
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