Good question! And the answer..... 🥁.... it depends!
It really depends on which type of veggies we're talking about, what your goals are and how often you eat veggies on a regular basis...
When are veggies classed as 'free' foods
To figure out this, we first need a quick lesson on fibre. I'll try and keep it short and to the point, but basically, fibre is the roughage or bulk found in all parts of plant foods that your body can’t digest or absorb and there are one of two types of fibre - soluble and insoluble.
Soluble fibre dissolves in water and stomach fluid and turns into a gel which helps to keep you full! It slows down the rate at which food is absorbed by the body and also feeds your gut flora - so is super beneficial for your diet.
Insoluble fibre passes through our system relatively intact and works like a net catching everything that can't be digested and dragging it along with it as it makes its way out of the other end 💩 which helps to keep your insides clean and healthy.
OK, now we're clear on that, let's move on!
Now we know the role of fibre, this can help us decide which veggies we should count in our diet.
Cruciferous Veggies
Because of the high fibre content, and because a lot of that fibre is insoluble, I generally don't count cruciferous veggies in my diet and recommend the same to my clients.
Cruciferous veggies are;
Broccoli
Spinach
Asparagus
Cauliflower
Kale
Pak/Bok Choi
Salad Greens/Lettuce
Brussels Sprouts
Cucumber
Celery
Collard Greens
Green Beans
Courgette (Zucchini)
Cabbage
This can be especially helpful if you don't normally eat a lot of green veggies, because when you're on a fat loss diet you'll be wanting to fill up on as many free foods as poss!
And let's be honest, weighing and tracking your spinach is a total pain in the arse, and I can't really see too much spinach making you gain weight - ever. So for these reasons alone, don't feel that you have to track the above!
But broccoli has protein...
I would also like to note that it's not a good idea to count broccoli (or any green veggie) in your daily protein count due to the cellulose found in these veggies - which means that the plant cell walls can't be broken down by the human gut and therefore a large amount of the protein won't be digested.
Starchy Veggies
Next, we have starchy veggies, which should definitely be counted as carbs! Starch is a digestible form of many glucose linked together and is digested well by the body. A good example of starchy veggies to include in your diet are;
Potatoes
Corn
Butternut squash
Beets
Carrots
Pumpkin
Parsnips
Yams
All the rest
OK, so that leaves us with everything else such as bell peppers, onions, mushrooms, aubergine (eggplant), tomatoes and all the rest. Should you count these...?
Again - it depends!
What's your goal? Is it to lose the last 10-15lbs of fat once and for all, then you would probably be ok not logging all of your veggies, especially if you don't normally eat a large variety of them.
But, if you want to get absolutely shredded for a bodybuilding comp or something, then you would most likely benefit from weighing and measuring all veggies.
My saying is done is better than perfect - which will eventually lead to consistency. So if the thought of weighing out your veggies overwhelms you and stops you from starting to count macros in the first place, I would probably recommend you just aim to get 1 cup of free veggies and one cup of all the rest with every meal and don't stress over it!
The added fibre and micronutrients you would get from eating this way would outweigh the 'extra calories' from eating a few cups of untracked veggies every day!
I hope this was useful for you - and don't forget I have A FREE sample day of eating with recipes included!
Much love
Vicki
Or, if you're ready to start taking control of your nutrition you can join my Vegan Macros Mastery membership where you'll get recipes tailored to your goals for less than $1 per day!
