Should I count vegetables?

I've just been wondering for quite some time now if it was accurate to log in the food journal every vegetables I might eat during the day.

I'm talking here about celery, broccoli, cauliflower, green/yellow/red peppers, and such. Carrots, peas, corn, and potatoes I believe is important to log, as they contain lots of sugar and/or carbs.

Only if you want to lose weight. A calorie is a calorie is a calorie...

Go start a diet of 2000 calories of veggies and then ask yourself if you need to log it....Be honest with yourself... Record EVERYTHING!

Because in 2months if you realize you are not achieving your goals at least you can look back and adjust what you are doing upon an honest refelection of what you have been doing...You are only hurting yourself if you think veggies are 0 calorie foods.

I log everything- all food has calories so why not?

I log all my veggies. Because it gives me an "A" grade! 

Thanks for all the answers :) I was wondering...because my mother is on Weight Watcher's and they do not count vegetables...  But I'll keep on recording them on my food log.  Maybe I got just lazy...or hoped for a miracle food ;)

Thanks again

Original Post by moozoo:

Thanks for all the answers :) I was wondering...because my mother is on Weight Watcher's and they do not count vegetables... 

 Thats why Weight watchers didn't work for me- theres no such thing as 'free' food!

It just isn't fair that "good for you" foods can also make you gain weight - sadly it isn't all chips and chocolate bars that can create weight problems!

So I'm in agreement with those above - Being aware of everything you consume (good for you and bad for you) is the best way to see results (or adjust things so that you will see results)

I don't count calories from those vegetables.  I think it's too messy to find them and add them all in.  I mentally add one or two hundred at the end of the day, depending on how many veggies I eat, but I don't go on veggie binges or anything like that.  It all works out; moderation is the key to anything, and throwing some veggies on my dorm plate makes me happy :)

I don't count celery, on the basis that three sticks is only about 5 calories!  I have to eat something while watching TV (don't know why) and celery is the best thing I've found so far.

I guess it depends how much you consume of each. I would log them unless you are only having a tiny amount.

Original Post by irishmum:

Original Post by moozoo:

Thanks for all the answers :) I was wondering...because my mother is on Weight Watcher's and they do not count vegetables... 

 Thats why Weight watchers didn't work for me- theres no such thing as 'free' food!

 Its not that they don't count vegetables. You need to eat those 0 calorie foods to reach a healthy calorie count for the day. Read any article about healthy eating and it says to eat vegetable without limit (excluding the strachy ones) If you follow weightwatchers properly you will also note that you can't eat unlimited amounts of 0 points food. 1 cup of broccoli is 0 points, 2 cups would be 1/2 a point.

I digress.

Nonetheless, you still count the calories. It is a good indication of what you are consuming for the day.

Log EVERYTHING! I even put in water! I know there's nothing in it...as long as you buy the right kind. If I eat 2 M&Ms, I log those. If you don't log everything...it's not a true representation of your daily diet.

Along with those few calories, there is a lot of nutrition.  You must just ignore your analysis page if you haven't noticed.  One cup of raw broccoli may only have 30 calories, but has 131% of your required vitamin C for the day!  That's more than most other foods.  It's high in essential nutrients like lutein too.

Log your vegetables and pay attention to the nutritional analysis!  This is about a lot more than just counting calories and losing weight, it's about getting healthier.

Since I use the Calorie food log, as a guide just to balpark my calories, there are actually quite a few things I dont log.

Lettuce, celery, cucumbers, high water content veggies, I also (and I am probably much more lax than others) dont log my 2tbsp of FF half and half, FF salad dressings (I do pay attention to portion size though) mustards, pickles, stuff like that.

I mean it all depends on how specific you want to be, I usually get a calorie total of 1300-1400 and factor in about 200-300 more random calories from various condiments and veggies.

Mostly I just log this way b/c i get lazy about looking up every little thing i eat during the day.