Do I count calories from fruits and vegetables?

135

Replies

  • temsabi
    temsabi Posts: 45 Member
    I count everything food-wise (just not water or daily mundane activities), but that doesn't mean you have to. The tools provided by MFP are just that--tools. Nothing on this site is going to be 100% accurate anyway, so do with it what you will and take everything with a grain of salt. If right now you don't feel you need to track you fruit and veg intake, then don't! You can always change your mind later.

    P.S. By "everything" I mean on days that I actually log my food. There are definitely days when I know I'll be eating things that I'll never know the calories of, so I don't track those days.
  • TheAnie
    TheAnie Posts: 180 Member
    If it goes in your mouth, then count it.


    Welllll.......
    :laugh:
  • BrentJulius
    BrentJulius Posts: 89 Member
    usually you just count fruit (including avocados and tomatoes) but no need on veggies.. any carbs are mostly fiber anyways
  • Werglum
    Werglum Posts: 378 Member
    Sorry if I'm repeating other posts (I haven't read them all!) I have double tracked for quite a while (the new ww points and mfp) and have found that on mfp you should track fruits and vegetables. With weight watchers it seems that they have given you a base amount of calories that is about 300-400 lower than mfp, but when you add on the fruits and veg it works out at about the same. If you didn't count them you will end up going over by the 300 - 400 calories they have taken off for ww each day.
    I'm not sure if that makes sense!! Also this is only my observation after double tracking for a couple of months.

    Oh yeah - they recommend 2 servings of fruit and 5 of vegetables per day, I'm usually over for the fruit (maybe 4 serves) and I'm still losing weight, but I imagine if you went fruit crazy you could easily go way over the 300 - 400 calories they've allowed as 'free' per day.
  • sa11yjane
    sa11yjane Posts: 491 Member
    I've had years of Slimming World so still think of certain foods as 'free'! However, I log absolutely everything on here as ultimately everything counts; it's not a 'test' or designed to trick you, it's just about you accurately logging everything you eat in order to manage/balance the calories. Good luck!
  • alyson820
    alyson820 Posts: 448 Member
    If you bite it, write it
  • albayin
    albayin Posts: 2,524 Member
    yes, especially fruits. People can easily overdo with fruits...
  • BunnyLover24
    BunnyLover24 Posts: 7
    I did WW for a while and fruits and veggies were "free" (except corn, potatoes, avocados, and bananas). I'm counting the calories of everything that I eat except the fruits and veggies; I feel like I shouldn't "punish" myself for choosing cherry tomatoes over Hershey's kisses.

    Should I be counting the calories of ALL the foods I eat, including the fruits and veggies? Again, I don't want to "punish" myself by subtracting calories from my daily amount, even though I chose wisely. Suggestions? Anyone else not counting their fruit and vegetable calories?

    Thanks :smile:


    Many people eventually plateau on WW because of the unlimited fruits and veggies. While these are great foods for you, they can still be high in sugar (like a cup of grapes is pretty much your whole sugar for the day, maybe even over) so you should definitely track them. Calories are calories so you should definitely include every calorie that goes in. Also, (I just learned this) you should play around with your calorie allowance. Apparently 1,200 is too low for many people. Use the BMR calculator in the tools option to find out how many calories is best.... try increasing to around 1400-1600 and see how that goes. Adjust as needed.
  • CoryIda
    CoryIda Posts: 7,870 Member
    Punish yourself?
    Really?
    If you eat a 100 calorie banana, it adds 100 calories to your daily total. It doesn't take out a whip and beat you.
  • ScottFree_66
    ScottFree_66 Posts: 200
    P.S. By "everything" I mean on days that I actually log my food. There are definitely days when I know I'll be eating things that I'll never know the calories of, so I don't track those days.


    I have those days as well, but I do the best I can to find the foods on MFP and enter them anyways. Everything gets entered everyday. I might put a note on the posting that "Today was a free day"... or cheat day... or whatever you want to call it.
  • Tzippy7
    Tzippy7 Posts: 344 Member
    why do you think of it as punishment ? I love logging healthy things, It makes me feel good about my day. And yes, you should log everything. EVERYTHING. Just because something is healthy doesnt mean its calorie free. You should be eating it and logging it .
  • honeysprinkles
    honeysprinkles Posts: 1,757 Member
    Yes, count them. It's not a punishment. Your body counts them whether you do or not.
  • saraann4
    saraann4 Posts: 1,296 Member
    Count everything!
  • LilynEdensmom
    LilynEdensmom Posts: 612 Member
    I tried that way of thinking and the scale didn't move for over a month...You can over eat on anything even veggies and fruits..Calories are calories at the end of the day. I started logging everything and stopped looking at this a punishment (and even splurge once in a while on "junk") but stick within the calories set in front of me.
  • delco714
    delco714 Posts: 229
    Fruit is sugar. Write it down.

    this is the take home message more than any other..

    have a mango.. boom 30g of sugar..

    of course sugar in fruit is the best kind of sugar you should eat.. but still. ....30g
  • BriskisGrl
    BriskisGrl Posts: 461
    I count my veggies and fruit..
  • rmartin72
    rmartin72 Posts: 1,085 Member
    If it goes in your mouth count it. :)

    I honestly agree with you!!
  • NoAdditives
    NoAdditives Posts: 4,251 Member
    It isn't a punishment, it is just an honest account of what you are taking in. No more, no less.

    This.
  • capnwo85
    capnwo85 Posts: 1,103 Member
    Fruit is sugar. Write it down.

    this is the take home message more than any other..

    have a mango.. boom 30g of sugar..

    of course sugar in fruit is the best kind of sugar you should eat.. but still. ....30g

    and....? Name one person who got fat from eating all that SUGARY fruit.
  • tugers2
    tugers2 Posts: 139
    every calorie counts, say if you have 3 servings of veg and 3 servings of fruit that prob around 240 calories give or take right there... im on a 1200 cal diet and that amount is way too much not to be accounting for
  • aftergypsies
    aftergypsies Posts: 248 Member
    I count them since they do have calories so they do count. =)
  • Sweetie_Pie92
    Sweetie_Pie92 Posts: 314 Member
    I would track it. Eat it, log it. Keeps me honest....not holding myself accountable has already done enough damage XD
  • shellsie_j
    shellsie_j Posts: 132 Member
    Always count them. I eat a LOT of veggies and it can add up to 150 cals a day!
  • j77r68
    j77r68 Posts: 271 Member
    log everything because even though they are healthy they still add up quickly. For example grapes, can't remember cal amount but serving was like 12 grapes and it was much higher than i expected! I assume the natural sugar content makes the no. so high. I was unsure of MFP's #'s so i checked on 3 or 4 other websites and they all said the same. Guess that's why they are called snacks with a defined amount. Not a free for all. Which kind of sucks but.... If you don't add them you may not lose weight as quickly as one could because those cals do add up and the sugar amounts will kill you(not literally, of course)
  • delco714
    delco714 Posts: 229
    you do know that diabetes type 2 can be caused by a high-sugar fruit diet right?.. everything is good in moderation.
    Fruit is sugar. Write it down.

    this is the take home message more than any other..

    have a mango.. boom 30g of sugar..

    of course sugar in fruit is the best kind of sugar you should eat.. but still. ....30g

    and....? Name one person who got fat from eating all that SUGARY fruit.
  • KourtneyP83
    KourtneyP83 Posts: 319
    I log them both. I eat fruit 3-4 times a day and it accounts for probably 200-400 calories of my day. It does occasionally seem silly logging 1 piece of lettuce or 1 slice of tomato for like 4 calories, but I do it anyway because I like to look at my meal as a whole. I never really understood the free point stuff on WW but I never followed that program either.
  • Melampus
    Melampus Posts: 95 Member
    I do count them because if I set out to use a tool such as this to measure and then control what I eat then I think I have to strive to make it accurate.

    On the other hand I don't feel that logging calories from fruit and vegetables in any way discourages me from eating them. In fact just about as soon as I started logging what I ate I noticed that fruits and vegetables are not very calorie dense, i.e. they don't have many calories for the amount you would typically eat whereas breakfast cereal and bread are much more calorie dense. That lead me to immediately changing my typical breakfast by eating less cereal and adding some fruit instead and the new, improved breakfast has more flavour and fewer calories than the larger bowl of cereal I used to eat.

    I can see why weightwatchers has them as free because the low calorie density means it is hard so over eat them whereas more calorie dense foods need tighter control but that's their scheme whereas with MFP I am trying to balance out the day as a whole so if I have more banana during the day (one of the more calorific fruits) I can have less pasta or potato in the evening.
  • ShawnaRaeDunn
    ShawnaRaeDunn Posts: 59 Member
    I record EVERYTHING! From fruit, veggies, to seasonings. It's amaizing what good stuff comes from the seasonings we put in our food but I would have never known if I hadn't logged it.
  • Sarena3
    Sarena3 Posts: 49 Member
    I found when I got close to my goal just a little miscalculation could result in no progress. Only by closely counting all the calories was I able to keep moving slowly but surely to goal.
  • snidere
    snidere Posts: 2
    I count it all, I am having a hard time eating the amount of protien I need because I fill up on fruits and veggies!:tongue:
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