With all the water and fiber in watermelon, should I use caution when I snack on it and am not-so-strict in counting its calories? I don't see it as equal to a virtually calorie-free food like, say, broccoli or green beans, but it's sure not a burger and fries, either. So I don't feel too guilty when it's late at night and I'm hungry enough to eat anything that's not nailed down or red-hot. But I'd hate to stall or even gain because I'm eating too much watermelon.

When I count calories I count everything that has calories. Watermelon has 50 calories per cup, so I would count it.

Thinks like strawberries and water melon I used to count loosely because going over or under 25-50 calories doesn't make much difference.

Compare this to peanut butter needs to be weighed ... because it is so dense caloricly speaking.

i friggin' LOVE water melon. I'd rather eat a sh!t ton of water melon than that cheesecake that I also LOVE lol. The good thing about watermelon is it fills you up rather quickly due to it's water content. So i'd go crazy, but not too crazy!

Watermelon is very sugary, for me it wouldn't be satiating at all unless I had at least some cheese with it. The sugar matters more to my body than the calories. So if I were eating it at night and hungry, I'd be putting more with it.

Your mileage may vary.

If you are counting, you should count all fruits and veggies. There is no such thing as a truly calorie-free food (except water). Some things are negligible (such as unsweetened tea and coffee), but all fruits and veggies contain enough to be counted.

Watermelon is mostly just water and natural sugars though. I wouldn't worry too much. It can actually be a very hydrating food. I wouldn't think that it would cause a weight stall at all. Except maybe if you use a lot of salt on it. That could cause water retention.

people put salt on watermelon?!?!?!

Oh yes. Salt on watermelon is delicious. I alternate eating it with salt, and then without, and then with, I just love it either way!!!

I count everything that I swallow! If I eat it, its going in my "diary".

If it's working, I wouldn't worry about it. Keep an eye on your progress and rethink the watermelon if you experience a slow down. It's healthy and natural and you enjoy it. Sounds like a good treat to help you stay motivated. Looks like you are doing great!

Wow, must be an American thing!! lol. I've never heard of this, ever. I have, however, had it in a baby leaf salad which was drizzled with balsamic vinegar, maybe that's the same sort of taste?

I've heard of salt on watermelon but have never tried it. I actually just purchased a HUUUGE watermelon yesterday at the market....maybe I will try it!!

Next time you have watermelon, try putting a sprinkle of salt of a little piece to see if you like it. I highly suggest it. Everyone around here eats watermelon with salt.

A light sprinkle of salt just intensifies the sweetness of any fruit. I think salt on fruit is common in many countries.

In Mexico and other South American countries, salt is combined with cayenne pepper powder and citric acid powder or lime juice and fruit is sprinkled with or dipped in the hot/sour/salty mixture.

I think salt on melons is also common in Italy (or at least Italian American midwesterners, as my father's family are).

When we were kids, we were taught to put salt on tart apples from our backyard tree. Without salt, you couldn't taste the sweetness because the apples were so tart, but a tiny bit of salt brought out the sweetness.

I thought watermelon was almost like a "free food" (like broccoli or green beans) because it has so much water to it and is so filling. But I did a calorie lookup for it, and it's 10 calories/oz. which doesn't seem like much. But 100 calories of it fills up a bowl in a hurry simply because it's so heavy! I was probably filling up a bowl with 20 oz. at a time to eat for a snack, and this more than once a day. I'll bet it was the source of my weight loss slowdown; it was pushing me pretty close to my maintenance level of calories. So now I'm meticulously weighing it, and it's a depressingly small amount that I get compared to before. Those sneaky calories.