Do you count vegetables

pnrbor · January 7

I was wondering if anyone doesn't log most green vegetables, gem squash and tomotoes when logging their food on myfitnesspal?

I have been on diets before where those foods are free.

claireychn074 · January 7

Yes I do. I eat quite a lot of fruit and veg and the 100-200 calories from them all during the day would be enough to cancel out a calorie deficit. I’m in maintenance and have been doing this for a long time so I do however eyeball my portions and estimate the weight.

Alatariel75 · January 7

I log them, but I eyeball the amount and just log near enough, because I do eat a LOT of veg, but also because I go back over my diary a lot to remember what I'm eating, so it's no good if a bunch of stuff is missing.

COGypsy · January 7

Your body counts the calories even if you don’t. When I log, it’s every single bite, lick, or taste no matter what color or food group it is.

xbowhunter · January 7

When I used to track my calories, I logged everything that went in my mouth...

I haven't tracked for a while now and it feels good.

PAV8888 · January 7

When I decided to track my calories and lose weight I decided that I was on a self improvement mission; not engaged in a social task.

I wanted the maximum amount of tools and information at my disposal. I wanted to be able to review what worked better at keeping me satisfied and satiated both physically and mentally happy within the caloric constraints that I was operating with. I also wanted tools to help me inhibit and modify long term behaviors that weren't working for me (i.e. were not compatible with my long term goals and maintenance)

The goal was not only to lose weight; but to stuff the long term lottery/ballot box with as many tickets/votes (tools, habits) as I could in order to be able to use them to reach the six month, one year, three year, five year post weight loss mark. Because over the years I had discovered that losing was not the battle I had never won. Not regaining was.

Was I obsessive? Did I log my food in full and to the gram before i opened my mouth to put it in?
Did I end up eating two apples and postponing dinner for a few hours because it was cold and I was no longer hungry enough to need to eat it by the time I had finished logging it? You bet!

Did I learn from all that logging and from observing how I would or would not feel satiated and for how long and with what type and approximate how many calories? You bet!

Do I still log 122 months later? Sure do... but often after the fact, or from little scraps of napkins or cardboard and from memory. And isn't it amazing how my logging and weight do not always go hand in hand whereas when I was first starting out they were less than 2% "off" for years at a time.

If you eat 5 portions of vegetables and fruits a day, you're eating about a lb of vegetables and fruits. Double that to 10 portions (increased health benefits too), and you're talking 850g of vegetables and fruits. Even on a >2500 Cal maintenance budget that's a good chunk of change.

The act of counting provides information. It can be used to promote restriction. But it is not automatically restriction

AnnPT77 · January 7

I log all the veggies, and the fruits. Calories are important, but to me not the total center of the universe.

I care about nutrition. If I want accurate nutrition information so I can keep things on track, I need to log those veggies and fruits. They're nutrient dense.

I do eat hundreds of calories of veggies and fruits every day, but the details vary. If I didn't log them, my calorie totals would vary from reality in unpredictable ways. By logging those while losing, my logging and weight change data gave me a very workable estimate of my actual personal calorie needs.

A couple of good-sized tomatoes is around 40 calories. An Oreo is 53 calories. I'd log either one, but a couple of tomatoes is much more common for me than Oreos.

Everyone's calorie needs can vary from the statistical average calorie level MFP spits out for similar people, but the amount by which they vary can differ. Turns out my calorie needs are 25-30% different from MFP's estimate, which is rare. But if I hadn't figured that out, my weight loss (plus 8 years maintenance since) would've been a frustrating roller-coaster. Once I figured out my personal needs based on careful logging, weight changes - as multi-week averages, of course - became quite predictable. I like that.

It's not essential to count veggies/fruits, at least for some people. Most people don't eat very many, if surveys are to be believed. Also, approximate calorie counting does work adequately for some people. That's great, if it works. However, when someone comes back to post "why am I not losing", one of the first suggestions people here will make is to tighten up logging.

I'd also suggest thinking about why some systems, such as WW, have "free foods", maybe branded as "zero point foods" as in WW case. They for sure aren't calorie free. They're not all even necessarily low in calories. WW's list includes legumes (lentils, beans, peas, including refried beans), corn, oats, sweet potatoes, and more. Those are nutritious and filling foods, but not super low calorie foods.

WW is trying to persuade people to eat more whole foods by putting things like that in the "zero points" category. That's a great goal, but it's probably also why quite a few people arrive here saying their weight loss was unpredictable on WW, sometimes not even successful. (I haven't done WW and wouldn't, but the overwhelming majority of the foods I eat are zero point foods . . . and I'm eating around 2000 calories most days.)

I think it's fine to not count veggies/fruits, if a person can succeed in a way they find satisfying by doing so. Goals differ, and some people don't care to track nutrition: Their choice. Like I said, most people don't even hit the generally recommended 5 servings a day of veggies/fruits, let alone the 10 that some authorities are saying is even more healthful. If someone's just eating a slice of tomato and a lettuce leaf on a burger, a quarter cup of berries on their oatmeal, maybe one serving at dinner the size of veggies-side servings we see in restaurants (couple asparagus spears, maybe half a cup of broccoli, and the like) . . . well, that's not very many calories anyway.

It's your call. Do what you think will work best for you. If that works, great. If you run into difficulties, consider changing the plan.

Best wishes!

ridiculous59 · January 11

I log veggies and fruit because I want to track my nutrients as well as my calories. I can eat 100 calories of cookies or a 100 calories of tomatoes. Same "energy", but completely different nutritional value. Am I as accurate with logging my veggies as I am with other foods? No. But, for the most part, it gives me a good snapshot of my nutrition for the day.

The bottom line is that we need to do what works best for us individually. What works for me doesn't necessarily work for the next person. And that's okay.

Challb7 · January 11

I have logged ever mortal that goes in for now because I am on a weight loss journey. I also am learning what foods are more beneficial than others. Finally, I need to see what foods will help me reach my goals better.
Other than that, it's a guessing game. So far my weight has fluctuating 5lbs that I can't break through. Yet, I am keeping within the goals set up.
I have 60lbs to lose. So, anyone else have any ideas that may help?

AnnPT77 · January 11

Challb7 wrote: »

I have logged ever mortal that goes in for now because I am on a weight loss journey. I also am learning what foods are more beneficial than others. Finally, I need to see what foods will help me reach my goals better.
Other than that, it's a guessing game. So far my weight has fluctuating 5lbs that I can't break through. Yet, I am keeping within the goals set up.
I have 60lbs to lose. So, anyone else have any ideas that may help?

@Challab7, I'd like to help if I can, but this is a thread about logging vegetables, so that would be off-topic here.

Instead, I'm going to comment on your own intro post here: https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10930461/hello-im-back

It will take me a little bit to write something, because I have questions, but I'll post there, I promise.

Do you count vegetables

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