Is calorie counting really a lifetime/long term solution?
Options
Replies
-
I'm guessing I spend 10 minutes or less logging most days. I eat the same things a lot so I just copy over meals and adjust any measurement differences.0
-
TimothyFish wrote: »TimothyFish wrote: »I don't see calorie counting as a sustainable solution. I think people need to check their weight occasionally (once a week?) and make sure they aren't allowing their weight to creep up. The problem I see with calorie counting is that it causes me to eat more. Granted, there were some days when I wasn't counting that I would eat much more than I should've eaten, but I find that when I reach the end of a day and have calories left over, I go find something to eat. If I weren't counting calories, I would stop eating sooner and that would help make up for those days when I ate too much.
That makes no sense to me. But whatevs.
To put it another way, if I know I have more calories to reach my limit, I'll eat right up to my limit. But otherwise, I wouldn't eat as much right before going to bed and those calories I didn't eat would balance out at another time during the week.
Eating up to your limit is not over-eating. It is eating up to your limit. That's why there is a limit - to know when to stop. If you don't stop at your limit, it is not the fault of "calorie counting" - it is the fault of YOU. Period.
Many times I eat within 40 or 50 calories of my limit. Sometimes I am 100 or more under...or over. In general, it all averages out to be "right around" my limit. Right now that means I'll be losing weight most weeks. When I'm in maintenance that means I'll be maintaining. Not rocket science here.
My point is that if my limit is my maintenance, then if I eat up to my limit on one day and then go past my limit on another day then I'm overeating. But if I hadn't been thinking about how many calories I had left in the day, I would've stopped eating sooner on one day and then the day when I ate over my maintenance wouldn't be a problem. For me, looking at that limit causes me to eat up to the limit. If that isn't true for you, great. I'm just explaining why there is a better way than being focused on how many calories we should be eating.0 -
Well let's see..I am on year..about 17 counting calories... I have had some short breaks, but always have had to come back to it. It baffles my friends that I can eat donuts or candy bars and still maintain good weight (yes I eat healthier choices as well
). Counting does work for the long haul... though it is a bit tedious at times. My only hiccup is that I am always wanting just a bit more from the apps I use to track. MFP is by far my favorite though 0 -
mamapeach910 wrote: »TimothyFish wrote: »beemerphile1 wrote: »Don't confuse calorie counting with calorie/food logging.
One can learn their needs/limits, learn the basic calorie contents of foods, and then keep a loose tally in their head throughout the day. That person is calorie counting but may not be logging.
To me, not calorie counting means that if you weigh and see you're a little heavier than you'd like, you skip desert for a few days. You don't have to know how much you've cut your calories by, because you're just trimming back a little and the scale will tell you if it is working or not. If you're in the habit of eating the amount you should every day anyway, then the amount you need to cut back is likely to be the amount you over ate due to some holiday or some party or not putting in as much exercise as normal.
You know what though, Tim? You're 6'5" tall, and an extra few grams of something here or there isn't going to mess you up too badly.
So for you, naturally, eyeballing things will work.
When you're shorter? Especially when you're really short? If you're off every day by just a few grams when you're dishing up your yogurt, it'll start adding up AND you're already eating a very small amount to begin with. You don't have margins to mess around with bits here and there to eyeball things if your eye is off.
That doesn't make sense. While tall people carry their weight better than short people, it takes the same number of calories for a tall person to gain or lose weight as it does a short person. Consider, if a tall person skips working out one day, they have to eat less by hundreds more calories than a short person has to in order to keep from going over the limit. The one advantage that tall people have is that portion sizes in restaurants are better matched to tall people than to short people. I could eat a Big Mac and fries three meals a day and not gain weight, but if I ate more than that, I would gain just as much weight as a short person who overate by the same amount.0 -
The only way it makes sense is in terms of ratios. A 240 pound man's gaining a pound can be seen as different from a 100 pound woman's gaining a pound.
But, yeah, those few extra grams of yogurt add up to pounds just as quickly for a large man as a small woman.0 -
It baffles my friends that I can eat donuts or candy bars and still maintain good weight (yes I eat healthier choices as well). Counting does work for the long haul... though it is a bit tedious at times.
My philosophy for my weight loss (31 pounds since mid-Jan) is everything in moderation. I log practically everything that crosses my lips, including the occasional cupcake or dessert. Heck, I *still* have Oreos with my lunch every day, but only one serving. As long as I'm below my goal caloric intake for the day, I'm happy...0 -
I used my fitness pal to count calories and nutrition and lost what I wanted to: 17 lbs. I stopped using the program unless my weight crept up (I weighed myself every morning). Then I would use the program aiming at 1400 calories until I was back to my goal weight. BUT Then the batteries wore out on my scale........... So now I'm back on my fitness and need to lose 12 lbs to get back to where I was. SIGH Good news is that in 2.5 weeks I've lost 5 lbs. YEAH!!!0
-
I want in on that step stool GoFundMe!
As for the margin of error issue, well.. someone who is six inches taller than I am has a <25 BMI at 34 pound more than my frame will carry. The BMR for x+34 v. x 1422, to my 1,173. That's a pretty significant margin, just for BMR. Sure, the same number of excess calories adds up to a weight gain, but with an added burn rate of 250 calories per day, a woman 6 inches taller than I am has a margin of error equal to almost 20% my intake.0 -
DeguelloTex wrote: »The only way it makes sense is in terms of ratios. A 240 pound man's gaining a pound can be seen as different from a 100 pound woman's gaining a pound.
But, yeah, those few extra grams of yogurt add up to pounds just as quickly for a large man as a small woman.
What's the TDEE for a 6'5" man?
What's the TDEE for a 5'1" woman?
Do you mean to tell me that a few grams of yogurt will have the same impact on both of their intakes? Proportionally? Absolutely not. When you're talking someone who has 2200 calories for maintenance vs. someone who has 1350, that's a major difference.
0 -
The man's TDEE is higher. He also eats more food and has more opportunity for the "few extra grams" to accumulate. A "few extra grams" on more or bigger portions could easily put him over his TDEE in proportion to the "few extra grams" on the woman's fewer or smaller portions. Unless, I suppose, you posit that the man could estimate his portions with a smaller margin of error and not one relatively proportionally mistaken.mamapeach910 wrote: »DeguelloTex wrote: »The only way it makes sense is in terms of ratios. A 240 pound man's gaining a pound can be seen as different from a 100 pound woman's gaining a pound.
But, yeah, those few extra grams of yogurt add up to pounds just as quickly for a large man as a small woman.
What's the TDEE for a 6'5" man?
What's the TDEE for a 5'1" woman?
Do you mean to tell me that a few grams of yogurt will have the same impact on both of their intakes? Proportionally? Absolutely not. When you're talking someone who has 2200 calories for maintenance vs. someone who has 1350, that's a major difference.
0 -
Hi,
I am always so insecure about what method for weight loss I should apply, especially as I have got issues with emotional eating/binge eating. I have tried intuitive eating several times and always failed and also other methods like eating certain foods only or restricting eating to certain times...so far the calorie counting was working best for me. However, I am insecure as many therapists and weight loss experts and also especially the intuitive eating authors and community account calorie counting responsible for most binge eating problems. What do you think and what is your experience? Is calorie counting a lifetime solution? I am almost ready to think so and give it a go (and of course at the meantime try to work on my binge eating as well)....I just need some supporters that can tell me "yes" you can decide for calorie couning and NOT feel deprived but free by doing it and relying on it forever!
Many thanks for your answers,
Tata
My plan is to continue logging my food intake after I meet my goal.
Believe me, I researched pretty much every diet and method 'out there' about weight loss, but more specifically about maintaining the losses for longterm. As many will tell you, losing the weight is the easy part, keeping it off is the monster.
What I've found with logging every bite is that it keeps me mindful of what I'm eating and of the total calories. It's a new good habit. In my pre-calorie counting days I would eat enormous amounts of calories just from mindless snacking and drinking. I wasn't eating enormous amounts of food-just very calorie dense foods that in reality were not the healthiest things I could have been eating.
I still will eat 'junk food' occasionally, but I will log it and own the calories. Sure, I may go over my desired calorie count for the day, but I will KNOW that I did.
I have the mindset that calorie counting and logging my food intake is my lifelong medicine I will require to stay healthy.
No more mindless snacking-that is one reason I ended up at almost 300 pounds.
0 -
DeguelloTex wrote: »
The man's TDEE is higher. He also eats more food and has more opportunity for the "few extra grams" to accumulate. A "few extra grams" on more or bigger portions could easily put him over his TDEE in proportion to the "few extra grams" on the woman's fewer or smaller portions.mamapeach910 wrote: »DeguelloTex wrote: »The only way it makes sense is in terms of ratios. A 240 pound man's gaining a pound can be seen as different from a 100 pound woman's gaining a pound.
But, yeah, those few extra grams of yogurt add up to pounds just as quickly for a large man as a small woman.
What's the TDEE for a 6'5" man?
What's the TDEE for a 5'1" woman?
Do you mean to tell me that a few grams of yogurt will have the same impact on both of their intakes? Proportionally? Absolutely not. When you're talking someone who has 2200 calories for maintenance vs. someone who has 1350, that's a major difference.
Fair enough. However, you take the man, his scale tells him he's off, he can easily scale back and not end up eating a dangerously low amount of calories. Not so with the woman. She has less margin for error and less room to play with estimates for correcting it.
Bottom line?
I'm not going to be eyeballing things. I was doing that before I jointed MFP. I'm terrible at it.
0 -
I hear you. I didn't lose all this weight just to gain it back through laziness. It may be that at some point, after the losing, and the maintenance, and the bulking, and some more maintenance, that I'll be in a position to handle things by keeping a sharper eye on my scale rather than the food scale, but I'm not planning on it.mamapeach910 wrote: »DeguelloTex wrote: »
The man's TDEE is higher. He also eats more food and has more opportunity for the "few extra grams" to accumulate. A "few extra grams" on more or bigger portions could easily put him over his TDEE in proportion to the "few extra grams" on the woman's fewer or smaller portions.mamapeach910 wrote: »DeguelloTex wrote: »The only way it makes sense is in terms of ratios. A 240 pound man's gaining a pound can be seen as different from a 100 pound woman's gaining a pound.
But, yeah, those few extra grams of yogurt add up to pounds just as quickly for a large man as a small woman.
What's the TDEE for a 6'5" man?
What's the TDEE for a 5'1" woman?
Do you mean to tell me that a few grams of yogurt will have the same impact on both of their intakes? Proportionally? Absolutely not. When you're talking someone who has 2200 calories for maintenance vs. someone who has 1350, that's a major difference.
Fair enough.
Bottom line?
I'm not going to be eyeballing things. I was doing that before I jointed MFP. I'm terrible at it.
0 -
DeguelloTex wrote: »
I hear you. I didn't lose all this weight just to gain it back through laziness. It may be that at some point, after the losing, and the maintenance, and the bulking, and some more maintenance, that I'll be in a position to handle things by keeping a sharper eye on my scale rather than the food scale, but I'm not planning on it.mamapeach910 wrote: »DeguelloTex wrote: »
The man's TDEE is higher. He also eats more food and has more opportunity for the "few extra grams" to accumulate. A "few extra grams" on more or bigger portions could easily put him over his TDEE in proportion to the "few extra grams" on the woman's fewer or smaller portions.mamapeach910 wrote: »DeguelloTex wrote: »The only way it makes sense is in terms of ratios. A 240 pound man's gaining a pound can be seen as different from a 100 pound woman's gaining a pound.
But, yeah, those few extra grams of yogurt add up to pounds just as quickly for a large man as a small woman.
What's the TDEE for a 6'5" man?
What's the TDEE for a 5'1" woman?
Do you mean to tell me that a few grams of yogurt will have the same impact on both of their intakes? Proportionally? Absolutely not. When you're talking someone who has 2200 calories for maintenance vs. someone who has 1350, that's a major difference.
Fair enough.
Bottom line?
I'm not going to be eyeballing things. I was doing that before I jointed MFP. I'm terrible at it.
I started exercising and trying to eat the 1500 calories my doctor recommended about 3 months before I joined MFP. I did lose some weight, but it was only 10 pounds. That was most likely from just exercising after being completely sedentary.
I was MAJORLY underestimating my food intake. Getting a food scale and logging was such a revelation!
0 -
In my experience, eating to lose is way different than eating to maintain. Several years ago I lost about 40 pounds (which I've kept off) by counting/restricting calories. Once I leveled out at my goal weight, I was able to start eating pretty normally again without having to count calories at all. I know everybody is different, but for me, I didn't need to count calories once I plateaued because my body adjusted to the new weight and I was eating lighter without even thinking about it!0
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 392K Introduce Yourself
- 43.6K Getting Started
- 259.8K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.7K Food and Nutrition
- 47.4K Recipes
- 232.3K Fitness and Exercise
- 403 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.4K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 152.8K Motivation and Support
- 7.9K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.3K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.4K MyFitnessPal Information
- 23 News and Announcements
- 999 Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.4K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions