What items do you not calorie count?
Was wondering what items people don’t bother calorie counting. (Eg. Herbs and spices, lettuce etc?)
I’m wanting to get back into calorie counting but I don’t want to become obsessive again. ☺️☺️
Replies
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Yes to lettuce, no to non-salry herbs and spices. I do track sodium, so salt and soy sauce and the like get counted2
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(Dry) herbs and spices is a big no for me, my BF already thinks I'm obsessive
Lettuce isn't something I like particularly, I would count it but perhaps not be as 'obsessive' about weighing it precisely, I might just eyeball the portion. I do weigh other low calorie items I eat more frequently like tomatoes, cucumber, etc. but if there are many different (low calorie) vegetables, I might just log it all together under a single type of vegetable.
Other things I don't log:
-coffee (for those few times I drink it), I only log the sugar I put into it
-supplements (even though they do have calories, especially the fish oil capsules I take)3 -
I don’t count lettuce if it’s on a sandwich or something, but I do if I am eating a salad. I don’t count tea, but I do count the half and half I put in it. I never count spices unless I am using the recipe builder, then I include them in the recipe. I am also not 100% precise when weighing things. As in, I might log something as 30 grams, but it actually weighs anywhere from 28-32. I eat a lot of the same things over and over so I figure it all evens out over time.2
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Coffee and lettuce.1
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It's fine to be a bit looser with your tracking if it triggers obsession. The goal of tracking is weight control, so the rule of thumb is: if your weight is behaving as expected, then your current way of tracking is perfectly fine and you don't need to make any changes if you don't want to. Track however you want, and evaluate what your weight is doing in a couple of weeks. If your weight is not behaving as expected after that, either tighten up your tracking or add/remove some calories from your budget to make up for tracking errors.
Personally, sometimes I'm painfully precise to the gram other times I round up/down and track several ingredients as one ingredient or skip logging an apple because "yesterday I had leftover calories". Most of the time I'm somewhere in the middle, precise enough, but not quite 100%. I just like to watch micronutrient numbers, so curiosity wins out sometimes and I find myself adding even herbs (I don't usually track them, but yay for today's 1 gram of dried thyme which fulfilled 19% of my vitamin K needs and 7% of iron)4 -
I don’t count my creamer typically or most add ins only my oils and fats to my coffee. If it’s pretty low calorie I might not count it.0
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I don't count black coffees, teas, herbs and spices or the odd splash of milk here and there in scrambled eggs etc ..
I don't count salt either.
I weigh everything else as I'm awful at eyeballing portions.
Everytime I have a weekend of guessing calories I gain weight - I'm usually way off.0 -
Herbs, spices and splash of milk are not counted - unless I want them recorded in a recipe. One thing I do is create all my common breakfasts and lunches on the "my meals" this way I have all my usual go-to meals that can be added quickly with 1 click and the portions sizes don't change with these meals.
I also created a salad mix recipe that has my usual portion of lettuce, tomato, spring onion, pepper mix that I use with meals. The ingredients may vary slightly but the calorie difference is negligible and it allows me to get an approx for the macros. It balances out over the weeks/months.0 -
I don't do low calories vegetables if on a sandwich like lettuce, spinach, pickles or tomatoes, mustard, zero calorie or diet drinks, stuff like that0
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I log everything except a seasoning I sprinkle on a food (I use black pepper mostly). I log leafy greens, but I eyeball them and log them in cups instead of weighing them.0
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amusedmonkey wrote: »It's fine to be a bit looser with your tracking if it triggers obsession. The goal of tracking is weight control, so the rule of thumb is: if your weight is behaving as expected, then your current way of tracking is perfectly fine and you don't need to make any changes if you don't want to. Track however you want, and evaluate what your weight is doing in a couple of weeks. If your weight is not behaving as expected after that, either tighten up your tracking or add/remove some calories from your budget to make up for tracking errors.
Personally, sometimes I'm painfully precise to the gram other times I round up/down and track several ingredients as one ingredient or skip logging an apple because "yesterday I had leftover calories". Most of the time I'm somewhere in the middle, precise enough, but not quite 100%. I just like to watch micronutrient numbers, so curiosity wins out sometimes and I find myself adding even herbs (I don't usually track them, but yay for today's 1 gram of dried thyme which fulfilled 19% of my vitamin K needs and 7% of iron)
This.
I have only used a kitchen scale for baking and checking out of curiosity to see how it measures up against my volume/eyeball guesses (usually either I OVER estimate a serving size or it's about dead on). The scale makes me obsessive and unhappy so I use cups and spoons. Or well, used cups and spoons. At this point I don't use much but eyeballing.
Early/in active loss I tracked everything but what I call 'edible garnish'. Some leaves of lettuce, a slice of tomato, that sort of veg on a sandwich. Never with a scale, always just a measuring cup or measuring spoons. I thought I'd have to tighten it up or accept a higher weight once I got into the healthy BMI range, but that turned out not to be the case.
I'm now down to 126-127 pounds and just aiming to maintain (between 125-132ish). I only track the more calorie dense stuff (ie: I'll track the steak and baked potato loosely based on eyeballed weight, I'll use a spoon to measure the butter on the potato. I will not track the veg side/sides at all. Won't even log them. I log a chicken quesadilla or something as a convenient full item entry that's roughly right in the database rather than breaking it down. I'll track my 'treat' foods - candy bar, donut, ice cream whatever, to make sure that doesn't get out of hand/take over my diet) or something with an easy number on the back of a package (like a single serve can of soup). Otherwise I just shrug at it and carry on. It's working for me but I ALWAYS knew I was going to have to, for my mental health, find a compromise between rigidly tracking and doing nothing. Right now, this is working fine. Next step will be JUST tracking the 'treat' stuff, and seeing what happens, because numbers and I hate each other (or rather my brain LOVES them just way too much and uses them to make me miserable) If it stops working I'll re-evaluate.
Lots of people here like and enjoy strict tracking and precision and they are right when they say that if you're not losing as you expect/want that you need to change something and often that something is being more careful with your tracking. But it isn't necessary and if it does bad things to your head there are other ways.2 -
Coffee and other no calorie beverages, herbs, salt and spices,mustard, vinegar and things like garlic. When I eat lettuce as a salad I count it, mostly so I can get the "nutrition points," but if it's like a piece of lettuce and Alice of tomato on a sandwich I don't count.
I'm also one of those more obsessive people so I have to give myself leeway with my tracking. I don't measure or weigh most thing anymore, or did a lot to begin with. If I felt I needed to tighten things up I would, but I also honestly have to be in the right mindset to do so.1 -
I usually don't count any spices or seasoning or water enhancers. Sometimes even condiments, unless I am using a lot of it.0
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When I'm tracking pretty well, I've found that I lose at the expected rate but typically do not log:
-herbs and spices
-small quantities of veggies/lettuce/spinach/etc
-cooking oil used in sautéing/pan frying
-no calorie sweetener
-black coffee (I DO track the creamer/half n half I put in said coffee tho)
-the occasional "diet" soda
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Wow, not logging oil for cooking would have stopped my weight loss dead in its tracks (granted, I was/am aiming at a small deficit). Heck, I've made vegetable dishes that had more calories from oil than from the veggies themselves. I'm too generous with my oil for that to work 🤪
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I log everything except when adding seasoning to my plate. I don't use salt and pepper much but I am a little addicted to a sprinkle of Trader Joe's Everyday seasoning stuff. When I do recipes I'll add the spices but often they come up as 0 calories when the amount is less than a tbsp.
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I log everything, because it's been amazingly useful to have an accurate picture of what I ate on specific days to see patterns. But very low cal items where the difference in serving size measurement might only be 5-10 cals, I often eyeball rather than strictly measure.
It's really important to understand why you over eat (or under eat, if your goal is gaining) and how logging actually helps you. Some people can get away with eyeballing servings or logging just the big stuff, because they naturally estimate well. Some people can get too obsessive if they become too detailed.
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zero calorie beverages
i drink the same amount of coffee and creamer every day, so that stays the same
lettuce, tomato on sandwiches i typically guesstimate or do a blanket quick add- or dont worry about it if i know I am over, elsewhere...
dont add spices/herbs unless in the recipe builder
dont add the spray of pam in a frying pan
a lot of times i wont add specific things (think taco toppings- the veg, anyway) but will add a blanket quick add to cover it - say 30 cals. but ive been doing this a long time so know about what it likely is for my average taco (in this case). things like cheese or sour cream WOULD be weighed and added specifically.
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LOL, I think my burn is generally a tad bit higher than any of the estimates on what I "should" be eating, hence why I've been able to get away with not tracking some things (like cooking oil). I do track butter and sauces, but generally that's an add on for me to begin with - grapeseed (preferred) or olive oil is what I cook with. Most consistent loss averaged about 3/4 lb/week (some weeks more, some less) so not a drastic cut, but I was going lower carb at the time, which was the most sustainable loss-diet for me.
I've tracked enough over the years to learn that my "needs" are generally a bit higher than what most of the calculators give me, or if that number is accurate, it is without me tracking those specifics listed above. I tried tracking my cooking oil for about a month once and was losing more than I wanted (and the hangries were real since that was less "food" I was getting lol).
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Since you asked....
I don't track seasonings unless they have sodium.
I don't track if I lick the serving spoon or scrape out a serving bowl before putting it in the dishwasher.
That last handful of goldfish before bed? Nope.
Diet sodas from a can-- yes. Diet sodas from the special two-liter bottle that's just for me to get going in the morning? No.
But I guarantee you that if I've tracked it, I eat it. It's mine!
(I'm a little below goal so...I'm okay with it. It keeps me sane(r).
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