vegetables -- totally completely 100% free?

[zildjohn01]

If I consume massive amounts of vegetables a day (say 2.5lbs of carrots), should I be counting the net carbs in them? I checked out the package and it said there were 9g real carbs per 2g of fiber.

(This might seem trivial, but not when you annihilate veggies like I do... the net carbs in 2.5lbs of carrots would push me out of deficit)

EDIT: whoops, this belongs in nutrition, my bad

[kranked]

A calorie is a calorie.

[kickfacejimmy]

A calorie is a calorie.

maybe not. Some things I've read suggest that the net calories of vegetables is negative. (amount of calories eaten - amount of calories it takes to digest eaten food). For some vegetables, it may cost more to metabolize than they are actually worth. It this is true, eating 2.5 lbs of vegetables could be really adding to his deficit.

[DriftMonster]

A calorie is a calorie.

A calorie is a calorie, but there is very little calories in fiber(depending on the type, I believe the most is 2cals per gram).

maybe not. Some things I've read suggest that the net calories of vegetables is negative. (amount of calories eaten - amount of calories it takes to digest eaten food). For some vegetables, it may cost more to metabolize than they are actually worth. It this is true, eating 2.5 lbs of vegetables could be really adding to his deficit.

This is up for discussion, which you will soon find as soon as the non believers find this thread . I think the idea behind it is worth noting, but I don't know if the energy expenditure will actually create a deficit for carrots, maybe celery.



To answer you question, I never count fiber. If you start eating a bunch of whole grains, it will also make a noticeable difference.

[Dave P]

A calorie is a calorie.

x2

Count everything. Screw that negative calorie nonsense.

[thepointman]

A calorie is a calorie, but there is very little calories in fiber(depending on the type, I believe the most is 2cals per gram).

True, but carrots also have a fair amount of sugar (for a veggie), so counting it as 0 would be misleading if you're eating 2.5lbs of it (which is about 450 cals and 30g of fiber).

[BoMiX6]

There are a lot of sugars in carrots, but the fact remains, there simple sugars, not complex man made ones, I still would not eat that much carrots, if you want to eat that many vegetables, eat celery, it burns more calories then it does ingesting it, its basically made up of water content, and if you do not like celery, the next best thing is probably anything green, spinach, brocolli, asparagus, all that good stuff.

[SahoInc]

lmao, 2.5 lbs of carrots? IMO, anything that goes in ur mouth and has nutritional value is counted towards your daily caloric intake. I mean if you're snacking on like 10-20 baby carrots, then by all means - u can let the 20 calories slide. But 2.5 lbs? should be counted...

[DriftMonster]

Maybe I am reading his post wrong or everyone else in this thread is, but I thought he was talking about only counting net carbs. IE: Carbs - fiber. So in his example, the net carb would be 7 carbs. I still agree with only counting the net carbs since calories is really what matters...

[LuNkEr]

Count them, but if you want to stuff your face and get 2 balls of basketball as a stomach while cosuming low calories you better do it with green veggies.

[WannaBbig!]

I wouldn't count the calories from their fibre content (indigestible) but definitely count the net carbohydrates towards your daily macros.

I'm trying to eat most of carbohydrates as fruits and vegetables ATM with a few from oats and sweet potatoes post-workout (sort of a pseudo-paleolithic diet) and believe me it's a full-time job with trying to hit my carbohydrate intake once you remove the fibre content!

[shadout00]

Calories are calories, no matter what shape, way or form. I wouldn't suggest eating as many vegetables you can a day like that. If they fit in your macros, go ahead! The only thing is that you CAN get vitamin toxicity from any type of food. Vitamins A,D,E,K all are fat soluble which mean they store in your body and excess can pose problems.

The reason why you always hear to eat up your vegetables and fruits is overemphasis that us Americans do not consume enough in our daily lives. This is a summarized conclusion, it is much easier to tell people to "eat up" than to eat XXX amount of servings.

[Jules Verne]

If there were no calories in fibrous veg, never mind carrots which are slightly more calorific than cabbage, broccoli etc.., I'd be dead - or at least nearly.

They are a staple source of carbs outside of workouts for me when cutting, and definitely contribute to my calorie intake.

I don't weigh veg though, but when I'm counting calories I just guesstimate the amount of veg. even when I weigh meat and measure out CC, PB etc..

It would be hard to bulk from maintanance by increasing your consumption of fibrous veg.

[32_4_EvEr]

Negative calories. Man if only burgers and pizza had negative calories in them.

[mc4_a]

If you're down to counting the net carbs in carrots you overthinking it. Focus on the big stuff and just count the carbs.

[zildjohn01]

Maybe I am reading his post wrong or everyone else in this thread is, but I thought he was talking about only counting net carbs. IE: Carbs - fiber. So in his example, the net carb would be 7 carbs. I still agree with only counting the net carbs since calories is really what matters...

Exactly. So I had 115g carbs, but I counted 80 (done automatically for me by my program--I have a choice of what number to look at, i'm not overthinking it)

Count them, but if you want to stuff your face and get 2 balls of basketball as a stomach while cosuming low calories you better do it with green veggies.

Fair enough, I'm gonna switch to celery I guess. And you'd be surprised how much I eat... that 2.5lbs doesn't even faze me, that's how I got so huge in the first place. Better greens than burgers tho.

[samatash]

Could be wrong, but I believe the idea that certain veggies burn more calories than they provide is a myth.

And don't sweat it too much when it comes to veggies. Consume mostly green veggies if you're worried about precise calorie counting.