Not counting fruit n some veg?

Suze012

Silver Member
Im used to doing slimming classes and getting certain foods for free. Im cal counting at the mo 1200 a day, i am still goin to the slimmin class and but not following their plan, i just cant get my head round it, felt it was pushing me to binging etc but with my cal counting.. I dont count my fruit n veg. I know a banana is approx 100cals so would only have 1max a day, dont count most veg like salad etc. Count potatoes obviously.. so is that grossly wrong? Should i still loose? I also excercise a fair bit, i use mfp to track my foods n excercise. So what do yous think? Xx
 
I think you can only try it & see. I count all my fruit & veg & I eat quite a lot normally 3-400 a day so if I wasn't counting it I'd no way lose weight but also that said I don't think I could eat 1200 cals if I wasn't courting my fruit & veg....
 
Having "free foods" in your diet can be dangerous.
It's an easy way to cheat the system and if like me you're inclined to do that, you really need to account for everything you eat. If you're going for a large salad, maybe some tomatoes in there, maybe the odd olive, you'll be a lot higher already than you think you'd be. Same goes for fruit.

For the experiment's sake, take a day in the recent past where you had an average amount of fruit. Now calculate the calories - if you have the same kind of fruit around right now, weigh it, otherwise estimate it generously (100g banana ~ 95 kcal, and most bananas are bigger than that!). I find what most diet books and web pages pass off as "medium size" would be "small" in my eyes. (e.g. "medium oven potato" at weight watchers is like 130 or 150g - psssh.).
Now after adding it all up, how much was it for that day? :)

Now on the plus side, even if you had 400 cal in fruit and veg, I'd say you'll still lose especially when exercising. But it'll be slower, and there will be more demotivating bumps along the road.
 
If I eat it, I log it........

I actually managed to gain weight on a slimming class plan that allowed "free" fruit - nothing in the world of dieting is is free, everything has a "price" so I log it all.
 
But then if i count it im more inclined not to have any at all... As in id rather have something else for my cals lol
 
Suze012 said:
But then if i count it im more inclined not to have any at all... As in id rather have something else for my cals lol

Then I'd say you've already made your decision really. Other option is up your cals to allow 2-300 for veg but your losses will slow down. I have 1350ish a day (target is 1420) & a big chunk is fruit & veg & I'm losing on average 1-1.5lb a week
 
Well i guess im already doing that, having my 1200 then having fruit n veg on top but not tracking it. I dont eat a whole fruit bowl a day or anything. Prob, nectarine, few strawberrys, couple of apricots, lettuce, cucumber, onion, peppers or mushrooms with my dinner. I dont like a lot of vegetables so by me saying its free i will eat it as i see it as extra on top of my 1200 but if i wrote it down id go back to the swapping those 200 odd cals from fruit n veg for bread lol hmm sounds strange but i guess it works for me. Guess i wanted to see if other people did it too..
 
Suze012 said:
Well i guess im already doing that, having my 1200 then having fruit n veg on top but not tracking it. I dont eat a whole fruit bowl a day or anything. Prob, nectarine, few strawberrys, couple of apricots, lettuce, cucumber, onion, peppers or mushrooms with my dinner. I dont like a lot of vegetables so by me saying its free i will eat it as i see it as extra on top of my 1200 but if i wrote it down id go back to the swapping those 200 odd cals from fruit n veg for bread lol hmm sounds strange but i guess it works for me. Guess i wanted to see if other people did it too..

Well if it's working for you then carry on honey.... I wasn't being critical, I think if you find something that works for you go with it. Onwards & downwards hey x
 
Hello Suze :) I second what Lexie said - if it works, keep going ;) Whether you will lose weight or not really depends on how much fruit and veg extra you are having on top of your 1200. For instance, if it's only an extra 100 calories a day, you're probably still going to lose weight. However if it's an extra 400 a day, maybe you wouldn't. The thing I find with calorie counting is the point of it is to calculate how many calories you need to eat and eat that many to lose weight...it's a mathematical thing...you are eating less than you burn off - but not so few that you damage yourself or go into starvation mode. So, strictly speaking, calorie counting isn't a diet that allows for 'free' foods unless they're ACTUALLY 0 calorie foods like a herbal tea or a diet cola with no calories or water :) You might be interested to count the fruit and veg, just to see what's in them...because you'd want to know for when you go to maintaining your fantastic, new weight! If you do start counting them though I would keep eating them 'cause they're super good for you :) When following a diet you want a balance between 'following the diet' and 'what works for you' - so if this works for you, then it means you're probably not eating that many calories worth anyway so it's all good. I don't think the calorie police will come 'round and get ya :D Good luck and let us know how you go!

PS sometimes at the end of the day I have a 'secret milo' (that's a hot chocolate drink we have in Australia) and I don't count it! Shhhh...secret Milo!!!!
 
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