Do you log veggies?

Options
LittleSimoni
LittleSimoni Posts: 24
in Food and Nutrition
I'm trying to determine if I it's worth it to log veggies such as raw or steamed spinach, lettuce, broccoli, celery (typical salad stuff). I do on starchy veggies (corn, sweet potatoes, potatoes).

It's good if you're tracking fiber, nutrients, etc and I log vitamins but I get lazy sometimes and do not want to add 4 oz of broccoli florets or one celery stalk or weigh out my salads.
«13

Replies

  • secretlobster
    secretlobster Posts: 3,566 Member
    Options
    Of course. I log everything I eat. That's the point.
  • angeldaae
    angeldaae Posts: 348 Member
    Options
    Are you trying to lose weight? Vegetables have calories, too. It's possible to overeat anything, including greens.
  • IveLanded
    IveLanded Posts: 797 Member
    Options
    I log EVERYTHING. I heard a good rule on these boards "If you bite it, write it"
  • Aureilie
    Aureilie Posts: 213 Member
    Options
    Yep. I log everything I eat.
  • WhittRak
    WhittRak Posts: 572 Member
    Options
    Is it food? Did you eat it? Then log it.
  • jennapony
    jennapony Posts: 73 Member
    Options
    I usually do, but I don't always
  • wolfchild59
    wolfchild59 Posts: 2,608 Member
    Options
    I log everything I eat. If you don't, you're just lying to your food log, which is just lying to yourself. As others have said, if it has calories, log it.

    I often make a big ole salad full of tons of fresh veggies and then cook some chicken breast to go on top for lunch. Then for dinner I'll make a hot meal made up of more veggies, some ground pork and maybe a little tofu. So, by your logic, my food log for lunch and dinner would be chicken breast and then some pork and tofu. How does that make sense?

    Plus, I watch my vitamins, minerals, and potassium, so if I skipped entering my veggies I would have horribly incomplete data each day.
  • sapalee
    sapalee Posts: 409 Member
    Options
    I do because I'm trying really hard to get my potassium up and I'm learning all kinds of foods that have more potassium. Ex. found out today that both zuchinni and sweet potato have more than a banana.

    Even with all the fresh fruit and veg I eat still coming in low...
  • wolfchild59
    wolfchild59 Posts: 2,608 Member
    Options
    Just as an experiment, I took an average day of eating for myself and took out all of the veggies. It dropped over 300 calories from the daily total between breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks.

    And that's not counting the carbs, fiber, vitamins, minerals, and potassium that my food log would also now be short on as well.
  • flyingwrite
    flyingwrite Posts: 264
    Options
    75% of what I eat are veggies. My diary would be completely skewed if I didn't log them.
  • jbdesign28
    jbdesign28 Posts: 2 Member
    Options
    I eat a large salad every day for lunch from the salad bar at work. One thing I did that helps cut down on the time logging every item every day, is set up a 'recipe' for my salad in the food tracking system. That way each day I just click one button. Even though the ingredients might change slightly fron day to day, at least I have a good calorie estimation in my log.
  • katysmelly
    katysmelly Posts: 380 Member
    Options
    tonight my kid didn't eat his one little broccoli floret, so I ate it.

    I am not going to bother to look up the calories in five grams (estimated) of boiled broccoli .

    Other than that, though - I log everything.
  • straitcrzyMary
    straitcrzyMary Posts: 75 Member
    Options
    If I put food in my mouth no matter what kind I log it.
  • albinogorilla
    albinogorilla Posts: 1,056 Member
    Options
    When i toss a little lettuce on a sandwich, or a slice of onion, i dont bother.
    If I make a salad, or have them as a side yes.
  • callikia
    callikia Posts: 226 Member
    Options
    I agree...a bite of a veggie? Not worth it to log (unless I'm really trying to see how I'm doing on my veggie intake). A side of veggies? YEP!
  • MattGetsMad
    MattGetsMad Posts: 429 Member
    Options
    Here's the thing: MFP only works as well as you let it. If you give it accurate data, it can give better estimations of weight loss expectation. If you skew the data in any way, you playing with the effectiveness of MFP as a tool.

    The veggie's you mentioned are not very high in calories, but they have calcium, potassium, dietary fiber and vitamins in relatively high quantities. You'll never accurately track those micros without adding the veg to your diary.

    From a weight loss standpoint, it would be hard to eat enough kale to worry about the caloric content, but not logging it means that MFP isn't going to work for you the way it was designed to work. And even with kale, at some point it could put you over your calorie goals.

    Good luck to you!
  • jenj1313
    jenj1313 Posts: 898 Member
    Options
    I do, but I'm pretty general with the veggies sometimes. I guess instead of weighing, but try to guess high. Since the calorie counts are low, I figure it's close enough. There are some salad options that include veggies, so I generally use those and then add whatever meat I'm putting on. But... there are some diet plans out there that let you eat as many veggies as you want without counting them, so you're probably not doing yourself too much harm if you leave them off.

    Good luck! Do what feels right for you.
    Jen
  • fitnotfluffy
    fitnotfluffy Posts: 213 Member
    Options
    I log every single thing I put in my mouth. Even though veggies have less calories than a lot of foods and are healthy, still log them! You need to be as honest with yourself as possible!
  • danasings
    danasings Posts: 8,218 Member
    Options
    I log every single thing I put in my mouth. Even though veggies have less calories than a lot of foods and are healthy, still log them! You need to be as honest with yourself as possible!

    ^^THIS :smile:
  • Olive32214
    Olive32214 Posts: 543 Member
    Options
    I log everything, The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. I never ate veg before but I am proud to log
    it. I shows me I'm eating healthy and why the heck would you not log it ???

Categories