My mother was a member of Weight Watchers some years ago and she said the other day that I shouldn't include veggies as part of my daily caloric intake as I'm losing weight since ur stomach needs calories to burn up the food, and since veggies are low in calories, u don't need to count them. Anyone heard about this before??
(*If you have, can u post a link so I can read up on it? Thanks!)
Last edited by teawithsunshine; 10-20-2007 at 02:54 AM.
I still count veggies - some are quite calorie dense such as potato and sweet potato, even carrots, corn, tomatoes, onions etc have a few enough that they definitely add up.
Things like lettuce and other mixed leaves, cucumber etc I will tend to a little less anal about because the calories they have are fairly minimal.
I like to keep track of everything - it all adds up!
I don't quite get the idea of counting calories, yet not counting ALL of them. All calories count and all calories MATTER.
I eat an enormous amount of vegetables a day. Most days up to 500 calories, even more. If I didn't count them, oh gosh, I shudder to think where I'd be today - or more aptly where I WOULDN'T be today - certainly not at my goal weight.
No counting the Points for veggies is part of the Weight Watchers Points program. WW accounts for those calories in other ways (they build in 250 calories for "zero point foods"). So if you're following the WW plan, then don't count veggies. But if you're following a calorie counting plan, then you would count the calories for veggies and everything else. Calorie counters don't have "zero point foods" the way Weight Watchers does.
Different plans handle veggies differently and for best results, it's probably not a good idea to mix them up.
I am following WW and although some vegetables are low in calories, they still have calories plus depending on how you are serving them, there may be added sodium which if you are on a plateau and are wondering why ---if you are keeping track of everything you eat, including chewing gum, then you can look back over your food diary and see where the cause might be.
I think it is important that I know what is going in my mouth and what effect it has on my final weight lose. Calories add up--even if you eat low calorie foods.
I used to scratch my head and tell myself--and any one who would listen to me----I eat healthy so why am I obese?? Well, you can get and remain fat even eating healthy foods!!! Keep that in mind!! The only true thing that has zero calories is AIR and WATER!!
For me, journaling EVERYTHING I put in my mouth is essential. The only way for me to go back and analyze good or bad times is to have complete and accurate information. Even if it is a small amount of a vegetable, I put it in my diary. All foods have nutrients and calories and thus "count". I even include my water and my multivitamin. The more "data" I have, the more likely I will be successful.
I count them because 1. I eat alot of them, 2. they have calories in them, even if it isn't often many, 3. because I like to track vitamins and nutrition as well as calories, 4. because a large % of my carbs come from veggies and I want to know where my fat/protein/carb percentages are.
Yep, I also count them because they are a significant part of my calorie allotment. I don't measure a lot of them; things like lettuce, mushroom, peppers, these things are very low calorie, and I just tend to eyeball them and estimate the amount I've eaten when I enter it into fitday.
I count them but I am not anal about non starchy veggies I let them all be equal.
for example I have in fitday "veggie omelet" which is made up of the veggies that I might typically use in an omelet. I dont sweat it if today I decide to add zucchini and dont have spinach...it all comes out in the end. Some days my omelet is probably a little bigger, somedays it is smaller.
Same with salad - In fit day my salad has cuke, carrot, lettuce, redpepper and tomatoes. Some days my REAL salad has only 1 or 2 of these things, somedays I might add something like spinach or celery...I just write down SALAD...now if I add OTHER things to the salad like corn or chickpeas, those are extras
Stirfry is the same. I dont measure my individual non -starchy veggies for all my stirfrys or I would go bananas. I made a stirfry with a good variety of veggies and figured out what a portion was and I just call it that regardless of what is in it. 1 cup of stirfry.
I think a lot depends on how much weight you have to lose, what your goals are, and how obsessive/anal your personality.
My sister is an accountant. She budgets down to the penny, and does likewise when she counts calories. If the calorie book says 17 calories, she's not going to write down 15 or 20, she's going to write down 17. She also has less than 20 lbs to lose, so "guestimation" has to be more precise.
I would go stark raving mad, trying to be so precise. I don't even balance my checkbook. I'm using an exchange-based plan. I created a food log that has a spot to check off the exchanges as I use them, and a place to log what I ate, when, and how many calories. When I count calories I round to the nearest multiple of 10 or 25. I have over 200 lbs to lose, so I don't have to be nearly as precise as my sister to lose. When I get within 50 lbs of goal, I expect it to be an entirely different matter.
you know, i dont ballence my checkbook either...but strangely enough, i am obsessive about counting everything...i think because i have tried and failed before using this method. i see it as important to be accountable to myself for everything i put through my throat hole. even if i am going to burn more calories digesting it (like celery) than are actually in the veggie --i count it. i guess i see it as wiggle room..
I do because I can easily eat 150-250 calories a day in veggies alone. Then again, I allow 1400-1600 calories a day, while I know people who don't count veggies but then only allow 1200 calories a day of what they do count.
Count veggies in ur daily caloric intake?
If it goes into my mouth, I count it
