I don't log celery, broccoli, tomatoes, and alfalfa sprouts....

So, I've been trying to maintain for about 3 weeks now...ANYWAYS. So, I have been logging and counting everything I've been eating and making sure that it is in my ideal range, EXCEPT for RAW celery, broccoli, tomatoes, and alfalfa sprouts. I don't add any dips to these or anything, I eat them completely raw in addition to my meals/snacks to make it seem like I am eating more. Is this a bad idea? Am I consuming more calories than I think I am? I eat a lot of broccoli and celery and alfalfa sprouts, not so much tomato, but STILL. Do I HAVE to log these? I feel like these are vegetables that are high in fiber/water content so I feel like I can eat as much as I want w/o really worrying about the limited calories they have...am I wrong in thinking this????? I just hope that I haven't been tricking myself into thinking that all of these veggies were negligible... T_T :(((

My Stats: Female, 18, 5'9, ~145-ish (not sure, don't have a scale)

Eating: 1600-1700 calories a day...PLUS lots of celery/broccoli/alfalfa sprouts with the occasional tomato w/o any dips/dressing/cooking

Activity: Run 8 miles (at a fast pace, I'm usually soaked w/sweat after a run) on weekdays in addition to resistance/weight training Tuesday/Wednesday, walk around a lot b/c college campus is big. Run 4 miles on weekends in addition to 90 minutes bikram yoga.

I think you will be just fine -- no one ever got fat eating raw, undressed sprouts, celery, broccoli, etc

GOOD. :D

I'm happy now. I guess my bloating is just from eating so much fiber and stuff then... 

I do that too. :p

My tummy does puff up a bit after I have a 'celery binge' too unfortunately.

 

I don't generally count vegetables accurately though. Should I? I count onions if I use them in large quantities, and some others...but generally, I just say like "meh, it's going to be about 50". That said, actually counting my dinner tonight, it was about 50 calories in veg. 

A small cabbage has something like 180 calories (CC says a cabbage weighs 1,240g...the ones at my grocer's are half that), so a serving might be say, 40 calories - but I hear that a lot of that is used in digesting it anyway, so eating cabbage breaks even. Is that right?

yeah, that's what I've heard about all leafy green vegetables (broccoli, celery, bok choy, cabbage, lettuce, cucumbers). I've heard that they have so much fiber and water and not much of anything else that it's sort of pointless to log them b/c your stomach uses w/e energy is in the vegetable to try and break it down (if it can).  It kind of makes sense b/c I don't think I've ever heard of anyone gaining weight from "bingeing" (if you can even call it that) on vegetables...

But some people say that some fruits are like that too. But I find that a little more hard to believe b/c a fruit is sweet, meaning it has sugar, even if it is good sugar that we need, it still has a lot of carbs and whatnot that I don't think the stomach utilizes all of to break down...I could be wrong tho...hopefully I am b/c then I'm getting a whole lot of apples!!! :))) I haven't heard of anyone gaining weight from eating a ton of fruit either so...idk my gut says I should log fruits, but then logically it doesn't seem to make sense to do that...after all I'm not trying to lose weight, i'm just trying to maintain it so...idk O_O 

=D Your post has put an ickle smile on my face! I always wayyy overcount veg because I'm so bloated afterwards. I thought this was because the calories were alot higher than i thought but now it makes more sense that they are high fiber/water =]

Now I guess i can add something extra to my meals =] Yay ..Hehe..xx

Fruits are a different case, I'm pretty sure. An apple has about 60 cals, but it's so much smaller and less fibrous than cabbage or celery, so I'm guessing you'd still take 40 of those.

 

Still...think about it...

10 Golden delicious apples or 2 sausages?

I think the winner is clear lol. And if you ate ten apples in one sitting, you wouldn't want to eat for the rest of the day anyway. I think the reason no one ever reports gaining weight from eating a ton of fruits is simply because if you had 1,500 cals in apples, that's...holy crap an inhumane amount of apples to eat. 

Then again, Golden delicious are my favourite snack by a long shot...even over cake and chocolate, so maybe I could try an apple day for a joke one day. 

 

*hi-fives for being a vegesaurus* 

 

Also, with all that activity, I think you'd be losing weight on 1,700 a day! Maybe only slowly though, so I guess it can make up for an...surpluses for parties. Hm, I have a party to go to tonight. I pray for strength of will lol. Especially with Bailey's on offer. 

Lol yeah totally...

I LOVEEEEEE Eating canteloupe/watermelons with a melon baller too....they are SO delicious. I'd have them over cupcakes/brownies/pie ANY DAY 

I agree that the calories in the raw vegetables you mentioned are negligible. I prefer not to count calories in those items because they are worth eating regardless of how many calories they have. However I do log them because I like to track the amount of fiber I'm getting every day, and vegetables are a great source of fiber.

I was wondering this as well.. So if most of my calories come from fruits and veggies should I maybe switch things up in order to gain weight? Because I always thought (and heard) that a calorie is a calorie no matter what you are eating?! :S this kind of confuses me.

any suggestions?

a calorie is a calorie but a cake isnt going to take as much energy to digest compared to an apple....and an apple has less calories per amount compared to a piece of cake or something like that

 

yea that makes sense..

soo today for lunch I had a HUGE bowl of fruit

and then for dinner i had another HUGE bowl of veggies and some cottage cheese and an orange

and then for snack i had some cereal etc.. all together my calories fr the day as of right now is 1500-1600 in around there...

should i eat more? considering what i have eaten?

I think it's really stupid if someone counts every little piece of cabbage they consume.  Grass wil not add any mass-From what i know  =)

if you are trying to gain then you probably should be eating more...but idk your stats or anything so I can't say for sure. It seems like you aren't getting enough protein to build muscle mass to gain weight (unless you are looking to just gain fat), but then again idk your workout regimen to say anything...

I am 5'6 116-118lbs

I run every other to every day while lifting weights at least 2-3 times a week.

I eat cereal and a fair bit of dairy products, but I slack in the carbs. Is this impossible to gain weight on a diet like this? I know I might sound annoying, and to some rather dumb, but its a question I have always wanted to know. Because the advice I was given was: a calorie is a calorie no matter what food its from.. therefore it i reach my calorie goal I will gain weight. (which is what my goal is)

I do more or less the same things with low-calorie salad-type veggies, but they are not non-caloric, so even though I don't count them, I go on the assumption that I'm eating about 100 cal or so per day of them. I also don't count the sugar and powdered creamer in my coffee because I have about the same amount every day - about 4 tsp of each, so that's another 100 cal. or so.  So even though I track my intake as 1500-1700 per day, I know that the real number is closer to 1700-1900, which is a very reasonable calorie deficit for a guy my size. 

 

And I do count vegetables that are cooked, part of a recipe, etc. 

 

 

It's nice to have some things that you know you can eat as much as you want without having to be anal about tracking them.  It's like having a pressure release valve for when you're really hungry.  If I'm still hungry at the end of the day, I can have an extra salad or some carrot sticks and I'm satisfied and I know it won;t hurt my progress a bit. 

This is for the orginal poster, why you do you eat so few calories?  That seems very low for someone your age, height and weight.  I am twice your age (38), weigh 116, and am 5'4" and eat at least 1700 (usually more like 1800+) cal on a day of rest and up to 2000 or more on a day I run 8 miles (I walk, run and lift for exercise).  I maintain at that level of intake.  You are too young to eat so few calories, are you getting in good nutrition?  I know that might not be a priority to you now, but it will benefit your weight maintenence in the long run.  Some things to consider.    Also, I count my fruits and veggies for the most part, but don't stress over every last bite of anything.