I realize that we are CC and not WW but I'd love to hear people's thoughts on free fruits and veggies. I'd love to eat as many fruits and veggies as I want but that's a lot of calories! I count all of them. Do any of the CC not? How has it affected your weight loss?
Personally I think it is a dum idea. Fruit can pack a lot of calories. Some more then others. So can starchy veggies. I think WW just messed with thier plan for more $$$$$ but that is my opinion.
I think it really depends on the person. I can overeat fruit. Some people will not. WW loves to say "no one ever got fat from eating _________", and that may well be true, but STAYING fat takes less!
I'm a weight watcher and it works. The base points they give you work out to about 1100 per day, so you still have 300-400 calories to work with for the fruits and veggies.
I lose about a pound a week, and typically my fruit intake is: banana, pear, some kind of citrus. Then my veggies are: cucumber, mushrooms, cabbage, cauliflower, brocc, squash, etc. usually with lunch and dinner. Probably 7 servings of veggies (a "serving" is quite small so it's not that much.)
Fruit is zero points, not free. Not free for all. Not gorge on fruits. WW has Good Health Guidelines that should be met if you are following the plan correctly like dairy servings, oil servings, healthy grains and lean proteins, etc. If you are filling up your meals with those, having the recommended servings of fruits and veggies, and staying within points then most likely you'll find succss on the plan. If you start eating 6 bananas a day and not losing weight, you can't cry and say Points Plus stinks.
I think the issue is with mixing plans. If you are a calorie counter, count calories. Although when I CC I often just lumped all my veggies into one count since it annoyed me to have to do each individually.
I think part of the plan too is making better food choices. If your choice is to eat a vitatop that's 3 points now (used to be 1 point, so they've adjusted for carbs too) and an orange that's zero points, you will (should) choose the orange. I think it's a good way to encourage better food choices.
That being said, I agree with the not mixing plans.
LOL...I guess WW and I have something in common? I too am of the belief that "Nobody gets fat eating fruits and veggies"!
I "think" the idea is that the more fruit/veggies you eat, the lower your overall total calories will be for the day (less room in the belly for junk). If you sit around eating fruits and veggies all day, you'll be STUFFED! I'm not a WW because I'd just rather count calories rather than doing all the work to convert calories to points (stink at math anyways..lol!)
That said, I DO count calories from fruit and veggies (generally overestimate for veggies). I count everything except my morning coffee! (approx 2 cups w/splenda & FF creamer). I figure the veggie overestimation will account for that..haha!
I have never counted my morning coffee calories! And I never will! It's not food. It's medicine. It's probably about 150 total with a little 1/2 and 1/2 and some sugar.
That said, I DO count calories from fruit and veggies (generally overestimate for veggies). I count everything except my morning coffee! (approx 2 cups w/splenda & FF creamer). I figure the veggie overestimation will account for that..haha!
I don't count my coffee either. I have two cups a day with splenda and powdered creamer and I look at is as gasoline for my tank and count it as free.
I think the new WW plan is an excellent change. It gets people to pick fruit/veg over Popchips and muffins, and as long as they stay within the dietary guidelines for number of servings per day, I don't see anything bad about that! WW now has a lower starting calorie set point than before, so the "free" fruits aren't really free, just a way of encouraging people to eat more of them.
Anyway, it works for WW, but it would not work for a calorie counter who has been losing at say 1400 calories to suddenly stop counting fruit/veg bumping daily calories up in the 1700 calorie range, it would most likely cause weight loss to slow without other changes in your plan. Now, if the 1400 calorie person said, I am going to lower my calories to 1100 a day, stay within the USDA guidelines for fruits and veg servings, and not count the calories, that would work much the same way as WW. I eat about 250-300 calories of fruit/veg and count every calorie towards my 1300 calorie plan.
LOL...I guess WW and I have something in common? I too am of the belief that "Nobody gets fat eating fruits and veggies"!
I "think" the idea is that the more fruit/veggies you eat, the lower your overall total calories will be for the day (less room in the belly for junk). If you sit around eating fruits and veggies all day, you'll be STUFFED! I'm not a WW because I'd just rather count calories rather than doing all the work to convert calories to points (stink at math anyways..lol!)
That said, I DO count calories from fruit and veggies (generally overestimate for veggies). I count everything except my morning coffee! (approx 2 cups w/splenda & FF creamer). I figure the veggie overestimation will account for that..haha!
Quote:
Originally Posted by seagirl
I have never counted my morning coffee calories! And I never will! It's not food. It's medicine. It's probably about 150 total with a little 1/2 and 1/2 and some sugar.
I don't count the actual coffee but do count anything I put in it. Well, the cream portion, I use sweetener not sugar.
I'm a weight watcher and it works. The base points they give you work out to about 1100 per day, so you still have 300-400 calories to work with for the fruits and veggies.
I lose about a pound a week, and typically my fruit intake is: banana, pear, some kind of citrus. Then my veggies are: cucumber, mushrooms, cabbage, cauliflower, brocc, squash, etc. usually with lunch and dinner. Probably 7 servings of veggies (a "serving" is quite small so it's not that much.)
Fruit is zero points, not free. Not free for all. Not gorge on fruits. WW has Good Health Guidelines that should be met if you are following the plan correctly like dairy servings, oil servings, healthy grains and lean proteins, etc. If you are filling up your meals with those, having the recommended servings of fruits and veggies, and staying within points then most likely you'll find succss on the plan. If you start eating 6 bananas a day and not losing weight, you can't cry and say Points Plus stinks.
I think the issue is with mixing plans. If you are a calorie counter, count calories. Although when I CC I often just lumped all my veggies into one count since it annoyed me to have to do each individually.
Thanks for this explanation, makes much more sense now!
Calories count, but that doesn't mean you have to count calories to lose weight. There are a lot of "no-count" plans that work well for people.
Some people treat calorie counting as if it were magic, and that uncounted calories break the spell. As if counting 1500 calories precisely will result in weight loss, but someone eating exactly the same things, but counting 1300 of the calories, and eating about 200 uncounted calories will not.
They produce the same amount of weight loss.
Not counting the calories, doesn't mean the calories don't count, but if your not counting the calories (or all of the calories) it doesn't mean you think they don't count.
I use an exchange plan, and I don't measure my veggies very precisely. I lose perfectly fine on an 1800 calorie exchange plan that more precisely is probably a 1500 - 2000 calorie food plan. Estimation is good enough. At some point it may not be, I'll get more precise if I need to (or I'll reduce to a 1200 calorie exchange plan that is more precisely a 1000 - 1400 calorie plan).
On the new WW plan, some people are going to eat enough fruit to stall their weight loss, maybe even enough to gain...
But most people aren't idiots, they're going to learn from their mistakes. They're going to realize very quicky what happens when the eat "too much fruit," whatever that turns out to be for them. One person might discover that more than two pieces of fruit stall their weight loss. Another may find that they lose fine, even with 10 pieces (although diarrhea is probably a better reason than stalled weight loss to avoid eating 10 pieces of fruit).
Count, don't count - it doesn't matter as long as you're consistent and learn and adapt from the results you encounter. If counting everything to the single calorie, works best for you, then count everything. If estimating with an exchange plan works best for you, then do that (I do). If counting some things and not others works best for you, then do that.
Doing what works has to be more important than doing it "right." Which seems to be some people's objection. It's the "principle" of counting every calorie that is sometimes seen as more important than doing what works. If you're counting every calorie, because that works for you - that's terrific. If you're counting every calorie, because you would feel guilty, bad, or wrong if you didn't, and you think everyone else should too, because any other way is "wrong" I think you're missing the point. The point is to lose weight, not be "right" or superior doing it.
75% of my diet is fruit everyday, I can eat as much as I want. I never gain from fruit. It is filling, full of water & fiber, it also keeps you full. I tend to eat 1200- 1300 cal. a day & 290g. carbs, including my fruit, I could go higher, but i'm always satisfied. I'm not on W.W, but I think it's great that they changed it.
WW free fruits and veggies - thoughts?
I'm not a WW because I'd just rather count calories rather than doing all the work to convert calories to points (stink at math anyways..lol!)
