calorie counting =weight loss???

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  • NoIdea101NoIdea
    NoIdea101NoIdea Posts: 659 Member
    edited May 2015
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    Have you thought about getting some sort of device that will tell you how many calories you burn a day? I wear a fitbit, which tells me how many I'm burning a day. So, I make sure I eat less than that; so for example if it were to tell me I had burned 2000 calories, I would eat 1500 calories worth of food. That would mean I would still have 500 calories to go before I hit 2000, and so 500 calories is my deficit.

    If I were to burn 2000 calories and then eat 2000 calories I would maintain my weight. If I were to burn 2000 calories but eat 2500 calorie, I would gain weight.

    1lb is made up of 3500 calories; so if you ate at the deficit of 500 calories per day, you would lose 1lb per week.

    This is a very, very simplified version of the basic process; I've seen so many arguments on these boards about how 'a calorie isn't equal to another calorie' and 'carbs will make you store more fat' or you're going to fail unless you cut out sugar altogether', so I'm not trying to start or get involved in that kind of malark. And your weight is constantly fluctuating base don water retention and such things. But, very, very simply, this is why people count calories.
  • feisty_bucket
    feisty_bucket Posts: 1,047 Member
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    "What gets measured gets managed."
  • ruggedshutter
    ruggedshutter Posts: 389 Member
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    My loses have slowed over the past few weeks just because I have been so busy lately with my business that I haven't had much time to work out. I'm still under my maintenance calories and I'm still losing, just not as fast as I was before.
  • beemerphile1
    beemerphile1 Posts: 1,710 Member
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    Counting alone isn't sufficient. If I ate 10,000 calories and counted every one of them I would be obese in a short time.

    Counting calories is just a tool to insure you are eating at your deficit goal.
  • AgentOrangeJuice
    AgentOrangeJuice Posts: 1,069 Member
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    beemerphile1 wrote: »
    Counting alone isn't sufficient. If I ate 10,000 calories and counted every one of them I would be obese in a short time.

    Counting calories is just a tool to insure you are eating at your deficit goal.

    +1
  • Asher_Ethan
    Asher_Ethan Posts: 2,430 Member
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    Counting calories works! Lost 11 pounds since February... I would love to loose 20 more by Summer 2016 but I'm not in a rush so I have mine set to loose .5 pounds a week so I can eat more. It's great.
  • Hollywood_Porky
    Hollywood_Porky Posts: 491 Member
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    I lost the first 35+ pounds by changing my diet. Removed added sugars and processed foods. Ate salads and lean meats - or seafood. No sweets unless it was a fruit. I was eating 3 large Haas avocados a day plus salads with lean meats. Morning was eggs and avocado. I would have to say the last 20# required being more cognizant of Calories In - but I was extremely active throughout. Never felt deprived. Feel reborn. You can't outrun a bad diet.

    Will never go back to what I did. All that I do is a program. Quantity/Quality of the Calorie plus Programmed Training - it's the only way to fly.
  • FunkyTobias
    FunkyTobias Posts: 1,776 Member
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    tedboosalis7 wrote: »
    You can't outrun a bad diet.

    You keep using that phrase. I do not think it means what you think it means.

  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    I'm not sure I understand the question: what do you mean by just calorie counting? Not exercising or not following a special diet or something else?
  • NoIdea101NoIdea
    NoIdea101NoIdea Posts: 659 Member
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    FunkyTobias wrote: »
    tedboosalis7 wrote: »
    You can't outrun a bad diet.

    You keep using that phrase. I do not think it means what you think it means.

    Yeah, I have to admit, I'm slightly confused by this....what do you mean by 'bad diet'? In terms of CICO, it is totally possible to outrun a bad diet. Are you trying to say that if you don't eat a balanced diet and hit your macros and make sure that your body has all the nutrients it needs then no amount of exercise will compensate for that? I've seen you use this phrase many times and I'm curious.
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,426 Member
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    tiarajj08 wrote: »
    I'm curious to know has anyone lost weight just by calorie counting???? I developed a habit of moving lol so I will just like to know if that can actually happen? Share stories!!!

    Are you asking if people can lose weight only with reducing their calories with no exercise? Of course. Eat less calories than you burn and you lose weight. The number MFP gives you should give you a calorie deficit without any exercise. If you exercise and log it then MFP will give you more calories.

    I've lost weight by logging what I eat and sticking to the calorie goal MFP gave me. I do exercise for about 30 minutes most days and eat a portion of those calories.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
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    tiarajj08 wrote: »
    This may sounds stupid, but what is calorie deficiency? I eat within my calorie intake which is 1300 calories a day and I don't go over. even if I exercise I do not eat those extra calories that they put back on the intake. but I don't understand what you mean when you say calories deficit???

    A calorie deficit means you are eating less calories than you burn.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    edited May 2015
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    NoIdea101NoIdea wrote: »
    FunkyTobias wrote: »
    tedboosalis7 wrote: »
    You can't outrun a bad diet.

    You keep using that phrase. I do not think it means what you think it means.

    Yeah, I have to admit, I'm slightly confused by this....what do you mean by 'bad diet'? In terms of CICO, it is totally possible to outrun a bad diet. Are you trying to say that if you don't eat a balanced diet and hit your macros and make sure that your body has all the nutrients it needs then no amount of exercise will compensate for that? I've seen you use this phrase many times and I'm curious.

    I think it's an overused term as well, but to me in means to eat in a way that benefits your weight and nutritional goals. Of course you can lose weight on what some might consider a bad diet, just as you can gain weight on what others would consider a good diet. Weight loss is 100% calories in/calorie out, nutrition is macros and the type of foods we choose to eat.

    I want to eat in a way that keeps my energy levels high enough to be able to properly fuel my body for my workouts.

    I think bad diet is in the perception. A lot of people might look at my diary and think I've got the most horrible diet in the world, but it works for me. I love my carbs, which includes something sweet each day. I run and weight lift and move a lot and my food gives me energy to do what I need/want to do. When I've eaten what others might consider a good diet, I've found myself low on energy, and then my workouts suffer, which leads to my calorie deficit or maintenance amount being sacrificed.

    Oh, and by the way, I gained most of my weight on what would be considered a good diet- little fast food, lots of vegetables and fruits, no desert type foods. :)
  • NoIdea101NoIdea
    NoIdea101NoIdea Posts: 659 Member
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    SLLRunner wrote: »
    NoIdea101NoIdea wrote: »
    FunkyTobias wrote: »
    tedboosalis7 wrote: »
    You can't outrun a bad diet.

    You keep using that phrase. I do not think it means what you think it means.

    Yeah, I have to admit, I'm slightly confused by this....what do you mean by 'bad diet'? In terms of CICO, it is totally possible to outrun a bad diet. Are you trying to say that if you don't eat a balanced diet and hit your macros and make sure that your body has all the nutrients it needs then no amount of exercise will compensate for that? I've seen you use this phrase many times and I'm curious.

    I think it's an overused term as well, but to me in means to eat in a way that benefits your weight and nutritional goals. Of course you can lose weight on what some might consider a bad diet, just as you can gain weight on what others would consider a good diet. Weight loss is 100% calories in/calorie out, nutrition is macros and the type of foods we choose to eat.

    I want to eat in a way that keeps my energy levels high enough to be able to properly fuel my body for my workouts.

    I think bad diet is in the perception. A lot of people might look at my diary and think I've got the most horrible diet in the world, but it works for me. I love my carbs, which includes something sweet each day. I run and weight lift and move a lot and my food gives me energy to do what I need/want to do. When I've eaten what others might consider a good diet, I've found myself low on energy, and then my workouts suffer, which leads to my calorie deficit or maintenance amount being sacrificed.

    That's pretty much what I thought; and yes, it was the whole 'bad diet' thing that is confusing me, as everyone follows different 'diets' and what works for one person might not work for another. A lot of people would include 'pizza' in their 'bad foods'. I wouldn't. I eat cake or chocolate every day to appease my sweet tooth, again what people technically call 'bad foods'. 'Bad diet' is far to vague of a phrase to be thrown around for my liking :p
  • forgtmenot
    forgtmenot Posts: 860 Member
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    tiarajj08 wrote: »
    This may sounds stupid, but what is calorie deficiency? I eat within my calorie intake which is 1300 calories a day and I don't go over. even if I exercise I do not eat those extra calories that they put back on the intake. but I don't understand what you mean when you say calories deficit???

    The way mfp is designed you are supposed to eat at least some of your exercise calories. You are already at a deficit even if you don't do any exercise and eat all of your allotted calories by mfp, so when you exercise you are allowed to eat those calories and you will still be in a deficit. If you continuously workout and don't eat back any of your exercise calories, you're going to eventually burn out because you aren't giving your body enough fuel.
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
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    Goes on a website built around a calorie counting database.
    Asks if anyone is successful counting calories.

    Be Right Back... I'm going to go to www.google.com and ask if anyone has had any luck with internet search terms.
  • Ginoa
    Ginoa Posts: 7 Member
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    Its calories in and calories out. Find out your maintenance calories and reduce by a couple hundred. Monitor weight loss..and if nothing is lost after 2 weeks, then drop another 100. Go to iifym.com and look at the calculators for fat loss. The website has very annoying pop ups, just a warning
  • aloranger7708
    aloranger7708 Posts: 422 Member
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    Yep. I lost 30 lbs just counting calories and no exercise, and lost another 20 by adding in exercise.
  • baby_firefly_666
    baby_firefly_666 Posts: 192 Member
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    Nothing other than calorie counting works for me!

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