Logging fruit and veg
Options
Replies
-
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.
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
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.
2 -
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.
2 -
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
-
If I was going to stop counting fruit and veggies, I would count them for a week and average the calories. If the average was 800 calories, I would do a daily quick add of 800 calories and then log as usual. It isn’t perfect but it would simplify things.1
-
I log everything. Everything has calories, and they add up. I even log water and it is the only thing with zero calories.
What’s the point of weighing, measuring and logging calories if some things aren’t worth the effort?🤷🏻♀️1 -
My advice to someone who is new to logging would be to weigh and log everything to start. It is an eye opener and really gives you a good feel for what is calorie dense and what isn't, and how much you eat of the less calorie dense stuff like veggies. As time goes on, you may see entries for 10-15 calories of the veggies you add to a salad or wrap and decide you don't need to log them. I would continue to log fruit no matter what. The sugars in fruit do tend to add up, as does the fiber in fruit and it is good to know if you are getting enough fiber.
As @AnnPT77 said, weighing is really easy. Put your plate on the scale and turn it on or tare. Add the bread or wrap and tare, add the meat and tare, add the first veggie. and tare, . . . I can weigh a salad with greens and 4 different veggies in less than 30 seconds (not counting any cutting time to slice the onion or whatever). I do eyeball the greens but I log them. Onions, tomatoes, bell peppers, cucumber, sprouts, etc all get weighed, as does the dressing.3 -
I 100% log them. Some days they make up a good portion of my overall calories. If I didn't log them then my numbers would be off. Plus, by logging them, I can see how much I am eating and can make sure I am meeting my needs and targets.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.
Whole Foods (among others) puts out free-to-taste fruits. You made an assumption.
hahah good to know. We dont have that chain here. A guy from a grocery store in my city got fired for taste testing foods.0 -
missysippy930 wrote: »I log everything. Everything has calories, and they add up. I even log water and it is the only thing with zero calories.
What’s the point of weighing, measuring and logging calories if some things aren’t worth the effort?🤷🏻♀️
well, the point for me is to make the process as easy and streamlined as possible whilst also getting the results I want (ie losing/maintaining my weight as expected) - so I use my discretion with logging.
Calorie dense fruit subject to variation in amount eg dried apricots - I weigh each time.
Items like bananas which I eat aprox same size one each time - I estimate/average and log.
Things like a single grape a bite of celery or one slice of tomato in a sandwich - I dont bother logging at all.
They don't add up at all significantly unless you are having larger amounts than 1 slice or bite
It isnt worth the effort, to me.
As always, the key is not to log as accurately as absolutely possible, unless you want to do that.
The key is finding the level of accuracy that you are comfortable with and that works for you
1 -
I record fruit and veg to a reasonable accuracy in the app, is there a way for MFP to report how many times I do or don't make it to the WHO recommended "5 a day" over the weeks and months?0
-
Yes.
I used to weigh every dang thing I put in my mouth including my spinach. I am trying to at least get away from that but at the end of the day I know I am eating about 150 calories in fruit and veg. If you're in a 250 calorie deficit that almost wipes it out if you don't account for those foods.0 -
Steffy92115 wrote: »I’m sure we should, but I don’t. If I did, I’d never eat them.
I log vegetables to help me eat MORE of them. I was probably eating 25-50% less before. The bulk of veggies helps fill me up for less calories, so it is good for me to eat more of them.3
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 391.4K Introduce Yourself
- 43.5K Getting Started
- 259.7K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.6K Food and Nutrition
- 47.3K Recipes
- 232.3K Fitness and Exercise
- 389 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.4K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 152.7K Motivation and Support
- 7.8K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.2K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.2K MyFitnessPal Information
- 22 News and Announcements
- 918 Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.3K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions