Does calorie counting actually work?
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In Feb. 2014 I was 61 years old, 283 lb., sedentary, and according to two physicians "pre-diabetic, morbidly obese, arthritic in both knees". I wouldn't have started if you'd told me I "had to" include exercise because it would have hurt too much. A very caring doctor [thanks, Don!] assured me that I could turn things around with calorie control as the primary change, adding mild exercise if/when/only as much as my knees would allow.
Don was right. This morning [Day 445] I reached target weight [WOOT!] of 175 lb. Still sedentary, although I no longer dread having to walk half-a-mile.
BUT: I had to play it straight, just as others have said:
Log everything [which is where MFP has been so helpful].
Pay attention to portion control.
Don't chase the small daily variations on the scale.0 -
allakin2000 wrote: »In Feb. 2014 I was 61 years old, 283 lb., sedentary, and according to two physicians "pre-diabetic, morbidly obese, arthritic in both knees". I wouldn't have started if you'd told me I "had to" include exercise because it would have hurt too much. A very caring doctor [thanks, Don!] assured me that I could turn things around with calorie control as the primary change, adding mild exercise if/when/only as much as my knees would allow.
Don was right. This morning [Day 445] I reached target weight [WOOT!] of 175 lb. Still sedentary, although I no longer dread having to walk half-a-mile.
BUT: I had to play it straight, just as others have said:
Log everything [which is where MFP has been so helpful].
Pay attention to portion control.
Don't chase the small daily variations on the scale.
Great work!0 -
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allakin2000 wrote: »In Feb. 2014 I was 61 years old, 283 lb., sedentary, and according to two physicians "pre-diabetic, morbidly obese, arthritic in both knees". I wouldn't have started if you'd told me I "had to" include exercise because it would have hurt too much. A very caring doctor [thanks, Don!] assured me that I could turn things around with calorie control as the primary change, adding mild exercise if/when/only as much as my knees would allow.
Don was right. This morning [Day 445] I reached target weight [WOOT!] of 175 lb. Still sedentary, although I no longer dread having to walk half-a-mile.
BUT: I had to play it straight, just as others have said:
Log everything [which is where MFP has been so helpful].
Pay attention to portion control.
Don't chase the small daily variations on the scale.
You are my hero0 -
LaurenWilkins293 wrote: »Ok well thanks for the positive feedback, didn't ask for no snotty ones but hey ho
Hangry, OP?0 -
LaurenWilkins293 wrote: »been doing this a week now and sticking to 1200 calories a day, and doing jillion michaels 30day shred , on the weekend I indulged
Did your indulgence outweigh your defecit? Cos it won't work like that
But yes it works if you stick with it
This.0 -
Works for me. Lost 40lbs over the course of a year. Got off track for a while, but back on and losing the last little bit.
If you've only been at it for a week, it might not seem like it's working. This is a much slower method, but it's one that has potential to help you the rest of your life by teaching you how to portion out your food properly. So many people never learn that, especially if they eat out a lot (or have the mom/grandma "Eat! Eat!" syndrome). So look for trends over several weeks at a time, not every day. Trust me, you will start trending down if you're counting correctly, but it will take a while!0 -
Fabulous! Such an inspiration! Xallakin2000 wrote: »In Feb. 2014 I was 61 years old, 283 lb., sedentary, and according to two physicians "pre-diabetic, morbidly obese, arthritic in both knees". I wouldn't have started if you'd told me I "had to" include exercise because it would have hurt too much. A very caring doctor [thanks, Don!] assured me that I could turn things around with calorie control as the primary change, adding mild exercise if/when/only as much as my knees would allow.
Don was right. This morning [Day 445] I reached target weight [WOOT!] of 175 lb. Still sedentary, although I no longer dread having to walk half-a-mile.
BUT: I had to play it straight, just as others have said:
Log everything [which is where MFP has been so helpful].
Pay attention to portion control.
Don't chase the small daily variations on the scale.
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Ohhhh, so it's only ok for YOU to be snotty. Got it.LaurenWilkins293 wrote: »Ok well thanks for the positive feedback, didn't ask for no snotty ones but hey ho
As for whether calorie counting works...*peeks at ticker* …um, yeah.
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Lost 120 pounds!!
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Yes, prevents me from eating pizza for lunch and burgers for dinner0
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LaurenWilkins293 wrote: »Ok well thanks for the positive feedback, didn't ask for no snotty ones but hey ho
Honestly. If you ask a silly question you're going to get some blunt answers. When you phrase your question like that, does it "actually" work, you are displaying -- at best -- your skepticism to a well-proven fact. At worst, you are displaying not just skepticism but hostility to the idea that it works. What result can you expect? Bluntness. Not rainbows and "positive feedback."
If someone "counts" calories but doesn't lose a reasonable amount of weight, it is either because
1) They are magical unicorns whose bodies never burn calories. Evar.
2) They are eating too many calories because they've set too small a caloric deficit to achieve results.
3) They are bad at or lazy about counting.
Most of the time it's Door #3. To be "good at counting" you have to- Practice accurate portion measurement. The key point here is accurate. Absolutely no guesstimating, no eyeballing. For most people, it means weighing stuff. Weighing is more consistent than volume-based measuring, because sometimes different amounts of food seem to take up the same amount of space. Some people don't want to meticulously weigh / measure their food. Fine. But then those people don't get to complain that calorie-counting doesn't work. Because they haven't really tried calorie-counting.
- Count EVERYTHING that actually has calories in it. Depending on the size of the calorie deficit you are targeting, there's actually a bit of variation in what will work for different people. I don't count water. I don't count diet sodas. I do count salsa and mustard, even though the calories in small portions of these are pretty miniscule. I certainly count fruits and vegetables. They have calories and eating them reduces the size of the deficit I am achieving. Duh. Some people don't want to count vegetables. Fine. But then, those people don't get to complain that calorie-counting doesn't work. Because they haven't really tried calorie-counting.
- Record everything you count. Kind of a subset of #2, but a lot of people make the mistake of not recording "a few bites" of something here and there because they assume that it's negligible. And that might be fine if you are successfully achieving a super-huge deficit and seeing results. Some people don't want to count the 3 M&Ms they ate, and the few bites of an apple, and couple sips of OJ, and those crackers that were just going to go to waste if someone didn't eat them, etc. etc. etc. Fine. But those people don't get to complain that calorie-counting doesn't work.
Is there some variation in people's metabolisms? Absolutely. Do we always accurately know the EXACT caloric value that our bodies extract from every bite? Nope. But this stuff only matters on the margins. Giving a crap about it is a great way to major in the minors. Calculating a reasonable and appropriate caloric deficit, and diligently counting calories as best we can to achieve that deficit works. ACTUALLY.
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yep lost 90 pound since October 2014
And my husband 13 pound ( he is at goal weight now)
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Or have to learn how to distinguish true hunger from false hunger. I'm not entirely convinced that some of the people who make claims about being terribly hungry all the time are actually, truly hungry.
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CICO is working nicely for me. But I log everything every day. The only time I "indulge" is when my exercise calories allow for it, which for me is fairly frequent due to my high level of activity.
5'5" Female
Very active lifestyle
Calorie goal 2300 set to loose 2 pounds a week.
started out with 100 to loose.
50 days of logging and so far.
I have stayed at or just under my allowance every day.
I eat back a small amount of my exercise calories.
Down 12 pounds since starting MFP and 20p pounds over all since starting CICO.
Nothing else in my life has changed.0 -
mamapeach910 wrote: »
Or have to learn how to distinguish true hunger from false hunger. I'm not entirely convinced that some of the people who make claims about being terribly hungry all the time are actually, truly hungry.
This is a great point-one of the things I had to learn, was what actual hunger was vs being 'hungry' because I was bored, because it was a certain time on the clock, because it was the polite thing to do (parties/dinner events etc). Learning the difference has been a huge factor in why I've been so successful with maintenance
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mamapeach910 wrote: »
Or have to learn how to distinguish true hunger from false hunger. I'm not entirely convinced that some of the people who make claims about being terribly hungry all the time are actually, truly hungry.
Agree totally. I have to ask myself, am I Reaalllly hungry or just bored
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It works until the number you have to hit to lose weight gets so low that you go insane from hunger.
No to this.
Yes to calorie counting working. But ya gotta COUNT THEM ALL! Count the ones you ate....count the ones your burned....count the ones you lost by arguing with people on the internets. Count em ALL!
Haha love it! I only found out this app had a forum a couple hours ago and look what iv started0 -
Sorry I may look completely stupid , but I am new to this (I never even new there was this forum until an hour or so ago and I got all excited lol!) but I have no idea what you mean by outweigh my calorie deficit ?LaurenWilkins293 wrote: »been doing this a week now and sticking to 1200 calories a day, and doing jillion michaels 30day shred , on the weekend I indulged
Did your indulgence outweigh your defecit? Cos it won't work like that
But yes it works if you stick with it
This.
people can say what they like ... But I'm so in the blue
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Yes it works. It's the only thing that has ever worked for me, but you do have to log everything accurately all the time. If you guesstimate things and don't weigh your food then you may have some problems.0
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LaurenWilkins293 wrote: »It works until the number you have to hit to lose weight gets so low that you go insane from hunger.
No to this.
Yes to calorie counting working. But ya gotta COUNT THEM ALL! Count the ones you ate....count the ones your burned....count the ones you lost by arguing with people on the internets. Count em ALL!
Haha love it! I only found out this app had a forum a couple hours ago and look what iv started
You didn't start anything, just when you ask a question in a public forum people are going to have different view points. Are you saying you are trying to start problems? If so, that is against forum guidelines and you won't be around very long if you keep it up. Just sayin!
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LaurenWilkins293 wrote: »It works until the number you have to hit to lose weight gets so low that you go insane from hunger.
No to this.
Yes to calorie counting working. But ya gotta COUNT THEM ALL! Count the ones you ate....count the ones your burned....count the ones you lost by arguing with people on the internets. Count em ALL!
Haha love it! I only found out this app had a forum a couple hours ago and look what iv started
My. Someone thinks very highly of themselves.
To answer your question, yes, calorie counting works. Being in a deficit is the only way to lose weight.0 -
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LaurenWilkins293 wrote: »
Sorry I may look completely stupid , but I am new to this (I never even new there was this forum until an hour or so ago and I got all excited lol!) but I have no idea what you mean by outweigh my calorie deficit ?LaurenWilkins293 wrote: »been doing this a week now and sticking to 1200 calories a day, and doing jillion michaels 30day shred , on the weekend I indulged
Did your indulgence outweigh your defecit? Cos it won't work like that
But yes it works if you stick with it
This. people can say what they like ... But I'm so in the blue
If your new than start filling in MFP settings
Start weighing ALL your solid food on a food scale and log them everyday. EVERYTHING you eat or drink that has calories
Measuring with cups and spoons is only for liquids and dont use the serving sizes on the labels...they are too inaccurate
Now if you log everything and keep your calorie intake around the calorie numbers MFP gave you you will lose weight
If you excersize ( so burn more calories) log those too and eat back 25% to 75% of those calories on top of your calorie allowance.
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