I have a secret: I stopped counting

Illona88

I used to count every single calorie and log it religiously. Unfortunately for me that seemed to be very bad for my mental state of mind and counterproductive.
Because I was logging every single thing I ate, food was on my mind all the time. Even though I was aiming for a solid 1600 calories a day, thinking about calories and macros so much made me obsessive about food and resulted in binging almost daily. While logging I actually gained weight and I ended up feeling like a failure and feeling very down.

Now since the start of this year, I have been on my "self-designed diet". I keep it very simple with only two rules: I eat when I am hungry and it has to be mostly (90ish percent) food that comes from a field rather than a factory.
I have lost 5kg since the start of this year and I have never felt more calm and in a happy state of mind.
I haven't binged since dieting this way and I have learned to recognise when I am actually hungry instead of bored or stressed and to finish eating when satiated.

I even enjoy going out to dinner with friends now, because I am no longer worried about what it might do to my calorie count. I know my body will tell me when to stop eating and even if I do overeat a bit, I don't really mind because I know it won't matter in the long run.
At first it had a rule that on Mondays I could have a treat (because Mondays), but when going to the shop I found that I didn't even want or crave anything. I ended up leaving the shop without a treat and just had my lovely homemade healthy dinner. That has never happened to me before.

I have the greatest respect for people who have the discipline and strength to lose weight by counting calories and macros, but this is just to show it isn't for everybody.

Muffie22

it's great that you found a way that works for you! like you say mfp and calorie counting isn't for everyone and that's fine. For me I find I NEED to rely on the counting to lose/maintain weight. I have tried in the past to go off when I just feel full and it has never worked for me. Whenever I take a day of mfp now I find I just keep eating and eating because it's almost like I feel like it doesn't count because it isn't recorded anywhere and I find it hard to tell when I actually NEED rather than WANT more food. I think I probably a bit of an emotional eater... but for now, mfp helps me keep it under check. And that's just me, everyone's different

cybersheel

That's excellent finding a way that works to suit you. Sounds like a healthy natural change of lifestyle rather than a 'diet'. Good luck.