Do you count/measure your fruits and veggies

2

Replies

  • UpEarly
    UpEarly Posts: 2,555 Member
    I *like* logging fruits and veggies. They're loaded with vitamins and fiber, plus they're typically low in calories and sodium. I'm always pleased with myself when I see a day in my diary packed with fruits and veggies.

    And honestly... no one is requiring you to log anything. MFP is not a set program for weight loss. There are people here who do South Beach or Atkins. There are Paleo eaters. There are vegans and folks that take diet pills. I'm sure you're not the only person here who has used (and liked) Weight Watchers. MFP is just food/exercise logging software with a calorie guideline built-in. You can still follow Weight Watchers principles and use MFP to keep track of things.

    MFP is pretty flexible! Just use it in a way that meets your needs. :-)
  • Puddykat1026
    Puddykat1026 Posts: 164 Member
    Nothing is FREE in my book, other than water. I log it all... fruit, veggies, gum, vitamins, even medications if they come up in the log. You never know what has sodium, sugar, cals, etc unless you plug it in. Now, if I've logged it before & it shows nothing I will sometimes not add it to my diary, but I try to log everything just to build the habit.
  • sherryd527
    sherryd527 Posts: 17 Member
    The WW plan uses a very complicated system for creating points based on your stats that allows you to eat as much fruit and veggies as necessary and, if you stay within the points, you WILL lose weight. The difference is that WW "weighs" carbs and processed foods so that if you fill up on those first you will use up all your points and be forced to eat only healthy things if you want to stay on plan for the day.

    My son is on WW right now and is doing GREAT. I'm on MFP because it's free and I just do better if I don't have anything that is "free". I can't always tell when I'm full and I don't know when to stop eating so counting calories works for me.

    If the WW plans works then I say stick with what works. If it ain't broke, don't fix it! But if you're going to do the calories in/calories out method (MFP), then you should log everything that passes your lips and be realistic about portion sizes.
  • Cris725
    Cris725 Posts: 81
    I count absolutely everything because those "healthy" fruits and veggies still have calories and sugars and carbs. I like MFP because I'm totally OCD. I have to know what I'm putting in my body. I think that if you are going to go on a diet, than do it right. The only thing that is "free" is water.
  • hbrittingham
    hbrittingham Posts: 2,518 Member
    I log all of my fruits. I log almost all of my veggies. If I have a salad and use green onion on it, I don't log the green onion. If I have a cucumber on it, I don't log the cucumber. If I have a tomato on it, I DO log the tomato. All other veggies get logged.
  • juliecookies
    juliecookies Posts: 1 Member
    I often don't bother with the low-calorie vegetables. Or if I do it's just a guess.
    For all the vegetables I eat, 50 calories here or there doesn't matter to me.

    I log fruits, though.

    That's kinda what I do too. It is really hard to count or measure it all, especially when you're not eating at home.
  • BaconMD
    BaconMD Posts: 1,165 Member
    I ONLY log fruit and vegetables! Meats, oils, and chocolates are FREE!!! They're basically negative calories.
  • lmcenin
    lmcenin Posts: 9
    I log everything primarily for the nutritional value. I don't have a lot to lose, but the nutrition is where we all tend to get hung up. The more you track the "good" calories, the better you can manage your overall health.
  • robot_potato
    robot_potato Posts: 1,535 Member
    I do, they add up. And seeing in my log how much fruit & veg I do or don't eat has helped me to make better food choices.
  • swisspea
    swisspea Posts: 327 Member
    I agree with everyone here, log your veggies and fruits, because they all do have calories! My dinner tonight consisted of peas and broccoli- but peas were much more calorific than broccolli- so I ate more broccoli :) Also, tracking veggies helps you keep better track of calcium, fibre and carbs.
  • gurganuss
    gurganuss Posts: 78 Member
    I did Weight watchers for over a year. And that was before points plus and now points plus 2012. Points plus 2012 had to add fruit back. When people thought that all fruits and veggies were free, they were overindulging. And the problem with that is that fruit is all natural sugar and sugar turns to fat and people were failing.
  • theoriginaljayne
    theoriginaljayne Posts: 559 Member
    I log everything. The calories and sugar in fruit can really add up. When it comes to vegetables, though, I estimate: Yeah, that looks like a cup of lettuce, and that's probably half a cup of tomato slices... I'm not too concerned, but still, if it goes in my mouth, it goes in my log.
  • chiera88
    chiera88 Posts: 155
    I DO NOT LOG most of my fruits and veggies. if i did, i'd just stop eating them so i'd have the calories to eat something that tastes better lol. they're very healthy so i don't feel it matters. i do log EVERYTHING else. if you're eating apples with caramel or something crazy like that, definitely log the caramel...
  • Julezebub
    Julezebub Posts: 106
    I definitely log fruits and vegetables. If you think your 5 a day could easily be 400 - 500 cals you could be totally cancelling out your calorie deficit! What would be the point. Also don't forget MFP is to keep track of the good as well as the bad, not just calories but fibre, sugar, etc (although MFP settings are set to low for sugar IMHO)

    Good luck with it all! Itsabout figuring out with you at the end of the day MFP just makes that easier.
  • 99clmsntgr
    99clmsntgr Posts: 777 Member
    It depends on how accurate you want the rest of your macros to be (fiber, sugars, etc.). If you're not too worried about it, then don't log them. If you want to know what your macro break-down is, or if you want to know whether that 100-calorie banana is going to push you over your calorie total or not, then log them.

    I personally log them all. I care about how much fiber I get. I sort of care how much sugar I get (really only if I go over calories for a day). If I didn't count my fruits and veggies, I'd not have any real idea.
  • DopeItUp
    DopeItUp Posts: 18,771 Member
    Not counting fruits and veggies seems crazy. A bag of carrots is easily a couple hundred calories (depending on the size of the bag of course). Nevermind sweeter stuff (fruits) like bananas which are quite high in calories. I'm going to stop counting beer, myself. I'll just pretend it doesn't have any calories. That should work out well.
  • jgibson2
    jgibson2 Posts: 20 Member
    hahahahaha....i was thinking the same thing. Bump
  • Noadi
    Noadi Posts: 27
    I count everything but honestly I don't measure veggies unless I already have to for a recipe. I just eyeball it, I can judge pretty closely how much a cup is or a dozen baby carrots without having to get out the measuring cup or count. It's usually close enough.
  • Mr_anaya
    Mr_anaya Posts: 5
    I record/count EVERYTHING! Even if I have a diet soda here and there...
  • djkamin60
    djkamin60 Posts: 88
    I count everything and see if there is a pattern as I am new to MFP. Also, starting out I needed to learn portion sizes, so measured everything the first week.
  • Shell_7609
    Shell_7609 Posts: 786 Member
    I count everything, sometimes even gum. I even log my bottled water, because some of the flavored ones do have sodium
  • vichm
    vichm Posts: 174 Member
    Yes i have to say i count it all, i did ww a year also ago (before pro points) and was also successful, however tried again after I had my twins and this time it just was not working- (pro-points at this point)

    Decided back to calorie counting and see how I get on back to basics- so far so good!! Just interesting how on ww its all free but they still have calorie content, wonder how it could work if you can eat so much of it???!!!!
  • TurnLeftNow
    TurnLeftNow Posts: 171
    I am fairly lenient when it comes to logging vegetables. I don't care too much about the lettuce measurements when I am making a salad. Vegetables don't really add up as quickly as fruit does. I definitely try and be more accurate when it comes to fruits. I usually try to overestimate on the fruits. Fruits can add up very quickly, not many are less than 60 calories and most are closer to a 100 for a serving size. So those can add up and push you over your calorie goal very quickly.

    I think the reason that they are "free" on WW is because you fill up a lot faster on vegetables and fruits and you are much less likely to eat 300 calories of fresh vegetables.
  • dport7
    dport7 Posts: 123 Member
    Yep, I log everything. I try to be as exact as I can. I want to know what my total calorie intake is. It's a little bit time consuming, but once your database is constructed it's easy to calculate you intake, especially if you need to track certain nutrients, such as sodium sugar, fiber, etc.

    It's helped me a lot.
  • tistal
    tistal Posts: 869 Member
    I do because of the sugar content in fruits! And I eat tons of veggies so yea I log everything!
  • nickyeatrunread
    nickyeatrunread Posts: 173 Member
    I was on WW for 3 months and lost nothing, and I loved the free fruits and veggies, but I think I may have overeaten the fruits. I do log everything on MFP and have been more successful

    I totally agree. I think the new WW is tricky, because individual fruits and veggies are free... but then you put them all together in the recipe builder and they have calories.

    That said, I log/measure all my fruit and estimate my veggies (eg. 1 vs. 1.5 cups of spinach etc)
  • Tangerine16
    Tangerine16 Posts: 44 Member
    I weigh and count everything. This morning I ate 3 kiwis for breakfast and was surprised how many calories they had!

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    Created by MyFitnessPal.com - Free Weight Loss Tools
  • kunibob
    kunibob Posts: 608 Member
    I log them all. However, how closely I measure/count something is directly proportional to how many calories it has, based on what damage a margin of error could do. If I'm logging olive oil, I measure it exactly. If I'm logging spinach, I'll eyeball it. Fruit falls somewhere in-between.
  • susannamarie
    susannamarie Posts: 2,148 Member
    I count everything, but I don't worry about measuring vegetables extremely closely. I count it because I've struggled with getting enough fiber and potassium.

    I don't really eat a lot of fruit, but I measure that a lot more carefully.
  • TXBelle1174
    TXBelle1174 Posts: 615 Member
    Like I said in the post - green leafy veggies. Of course I would log a banana, it has 100 calories!!! I was just curious really to see how closely others follow the plan or dont.

    Anyway... WW did work for me but MFP is free and I like the community better. Logging calories is a lot easier IMO than tracking points.
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