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Is counting calories/macros destroying our enjoyment of food?
Replies
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I think it means I think about and enjoy my food more than I did before, where I ate the same things a lot anyway and just ate a tonne of it instead of a reasonable amount. I don't feel "guilty" about fitting some ice cream into my calories like I did before I started tracking. I don't feel "bad" about carbs because when I see all the carb bashing, I ignore it safe in the knowledge my carb eating ways work.
I do think there's no going back to "blissful ignorance" though. Once you know, you know, and you can't un-know. You can ignore, but you can't un-know it.
"do you think it has had an effect on your relationship with food"
I'll be honest - I often factor the calories in to my thought process before choosing, but I'd say most of the time it doesn't affect my actual decision because I order what I want, it only factors in when I cook and I only cook things I like anyway. Maybe I'll make a lighter dinner for a bowl of ice cream after where before I'd have eaten a huge dinner then half the tub and felt nauseous and guilty.
There was a cool time recently though when I thought something said 8xx calories only to see it was actually 6xx calories (I did double check it, my eyes are just so bad even my glasses couldn't help me see those little numbers). It was fast food and I enjoyed it at 8xx, the extra 200 calories I didn't eat were just a nice surprise.7 -
I'm sort of a data geek so if anything, it's helped me enjoy it more. No more guessing about what nutrient I must be deficient in that was making me fat, or my bad metabolism or whatever else I told myself before realizing a sedentary female shouldn't be smashing 3K cals daily lol13
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my question would be how could it ruin our enjoyment of food.
Calories and macros are numbers that is it...enjoyment of food comes from tactile senses like taste and smell...
If you find you are not eating the food you love due to calorie restrictions you are doing it wrong....just eat a smaller portion or exercise to allow for it.
It's not so much the enjoyment of the food itself as it is the over-reliance on numbers and the strange eating habits and thoughts about food that some people develop from long term tracking.
I see the over reliance on the numbers as an issue for some for sure and the thoughts about food...which can lend itself to disordered thinking...
I guess that was my point of asking...if you aren't enjoying the food per say or not eating what you love because of numbers time to take a step back...re-evaluate and get some perspective.4 -
Not for me. I enjoy that special treat even more, because it's a special treat.6
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I wouldn't say it destroyed my enjoyment of food, but it did lessen it. It especially diminished my enjoyment of cooking. But it's not an absolute necessity for weight control. When it became clear it wasn't for me I simply stopped doing it.5
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I think this is going to be very individual. But for me the answer is no. First, I enjoy playing with numbers and puzzles and that carries over into counting cals for me...
Same here. I view it almost like playing Tetris or Jenga or something, making the pieces fit in my calories and macros. It's fun to me.
This is exactly how I am too!
I'm baking like crazy and enjoying actually cooking all the time instead of just warming up something convenient. Last weekend I cooked an entire pork roast with roast veggies for myself to meal prep for this week. My husband was totally SOL, ha!5 -
Even if it does, it's something that I have to do. My choices are
A: count calories/macros
B: gain 10 or more pounds every year
I choose A.
My high weight was 320. I choose to take control now rather than being a My 600-Pound Life candidate later.
My highest enjoyment of food comes with high-calorie and high-volume meals. If I didn't have to deal with the consequences, I'd happily eat fast food 3-4 times a day at 800+ calories per meal. Right now I'd love to get a Dairy Queen 6-piece Chicken Strip Basket (1250 calories), a medium Coke (280 calories) and either a medium Chocolate Xtreme Blizzard (800 calories) or a Peanut Buster Parfait (710 calories). Another meal that I'd really enjoy would be half of a medium Meat Lover's Pan Pizza (1320 calories) from Pizza Hut.
My mouth is watering and I'm getting a bit of a rush just thinking about it.
However, I do have to deal with the consequences. Sigh. Every day that I don't gain weight is a victory.
THIS^^^^^^ When I was heavier, I never thought twice about what I ate. I just knew that my clothes sizes were creeping up and up and I was having to spend more money on clothing and not liking what I saw in the mirror staring back at me.
Do I LIKE counting calories, weighing every portion and working out on a daily basis? Not particularly. Do I like buying smaller clothes that fit me well? Absolutely!9 -
I did the calorie counting thing for about 9 months...it didn't necessarily ruin my enjoyment of food, but I went to a pretty bad place in regards to obsessing about the numbers, scared to eat out, miserable on vacations that were supposed to be fun because I couldn't drill down to "exactness", etc...
I stopped when my wife had a sit down with me and told me she thought things were a bit over the top and out of control. I've been in maintenance for a bit over four years now and haven't counted and I've also been able to drop my winter fluff every year not counting. I focus much more on doing the things that lean, healthy, and fit people do...I eat well for the most part in that the majority of my diet is derived from whole foods...I'm pretty mean in the kitchen, and I exercise on the regular. I'm much happier now not obsessing about the minutia and every little detail and just doing my thing. As long as I'm exercising on the regular, it's actually pretty hard for me to overeat.15 -
my question would be how could it ruin our enjoyment of food.
Calories and macros are numbers that is it...enjoyment of food comes from tactile senses like taste and smell...
If you find you are not eating the food you love due to calorie restrictions you are doing it wrong....just eat a smaller portion or exercise to allow for it.
For me it lessened (not destroyed or ruined) my enjoyment of food because I my enjoyment of food comes from cooking as much as from eating. But I don't cook from recipes and don't measure ingredients. There isn't much point in logging if you don't measure and having to measure made cooking a lot less enjoyable for me.4 -
I never found myself obsessing about numbers to the detriment of my enjoyment, but I do find logging to be detrimental to my enjoyment, sometimes, if it feels like something that makes cooking more burdensome (not usually, but occasionally) or, more often, if it feels like a chore to try to deconstruct a restaurant meal afterwards. I am okay with just estimating in those cases, though, or not logging the day, but I can understand why people find it more trouble than it's worth.
I find the following macros and numbers interesting and since it doesn't tend to make me obsessive it's a good way to get myself to actually focus on a deficit (or seeing what affects energy or the like), but I do (again) find the logging part itself more work than I like and so find it easier to focus on other options, especially when I'm maintaining.3 -
Not really. Weighing out food while I'm cooking and jotting down the measurement is an extra step and feels a bit like a science experiment and it's all very geeky, and that's okay.
As always, I still enjoy cooking and looking for new recipes or recipe ideas, it's just that what I look for now has slightly different parameters than what I used to look for or I make tweaks to make it work for me.4 -
I would say if it lessened anything, it lessened my enjoyment of convenience and fast foods which is no great loss.
For example, last weekend we were driving around looking at land to purchase and got hungry. Stopped at an In-And-Out, but I didn't have many cals left if I wanted to eat a decent dinner. So I ate just the patty and it did the trick and tasted fine. Had a nice dinner later. Would I have liked eating the whole sandwich more? Of course. But it wasn't a big disappointment, either.
Mostly, I like that it forces me to put together more balanced meals - I tend to get in eating ruts otherwise.
I don't bother counting fine dining experiences where point of going is to have a great experience, not to eat a perfectly balanced and calorically restrained meal. What happens at The French Room stays at The French Room. Figuratively speaking, of course.6 -
Now that I know how much i need to eat a day to lose and i have measuring tools, i'm eating more food! I eat 3 meals a day and i'm not gaining weight. I can eat any food i crave and i'm still not gaining weight. It's all estimates and some days i probably overestimate but i don't stress about it because i can just exercise more that day. Counting calories almost feels like i'm cheating but CICO is the law of physics and i'm taking advantage of it.4
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I find that when I work something like a burger into my calories for the day, I enjoy the burger more. It is something special now, whereas before I could eat a Juicy Lucy anytime I wanted and even multiple times a week if I wanted so there was nothing special about it. In theory I could still do that now, it would just suck to balance the calories and I would feel awful.
I also spent so many days prior to limiting myself to 1280(ish) calories a day being like, "why did I just eat this whole box of bagel bites or this whole bag of Doritos?" They were not even that good and then I'd be annoyed with myself. Now I don't have those days because I pre-measure out servings and stick to the one serving that fits in my daily goal.
We use Hello Fresh and I am discovering so many new types of food and new food combinations that I am now enjoying cooking and eating way more than before.0 -
I don't feel it takes away from the enjoyment of food, but rather helps me enjoy it more. It helps me learn to make better choices and makes me think twice about what I am choosing to eat. Then I enjoy eating and don't feel guilty or bloated after. I even find it helps when going out to eat or at church meals. I plan ahead so I know about what I can eat and quantities. When I go out, I order well, portion out (put rest aside to go if needed) and then enjoy. Of course it helps that I love fruits and vegetables and I try to choose restaurants that I know offer healthier options or smaller portions. And if I know that I will want dessert or something else high calorie, I use the app to figure out what portion size to eat and then plan the rest of the meals for that day around the calories remaining. But I don't do that often. Again, planning ahead rather than counting the calories on the spot or after allows me to enjoy what I do eat.4
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I don't enjoy eating a can of tuna at night because I didn't pay attention earlier in the day to getting more enjoyable forms of protein. That motivates me to pay attention and enjoy eating. Counting macros improves my enjoyment of food.4
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I've been counting calories/macros for 6+ years. I still enjoy food. A lot.
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For me, I think of it like balancing my budget (my calorie budget in this case).
I can still budget and enjoy going shopping or buying things I like. But it gives me the data I need to do it responsibly, spend money on things that are worth it, and still meeting my financial goals.6 -
What I've learned from MFP - no...quite the opposite. Learning about budgeting has pushed me to try new dishes and expanded my palette. I already knew that most of what the diet/fitness industry was pushing had no evidence to back it up. The habits developed through this process taught me to slow down and savor.5
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I find I can taste my food better since I cut out all the processed stuff ! I'm enjoying more variety and finding the challenge of eating within my calorie goal great ! I hope this feeling lasts ....fingers crossed !2
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My constant obsession with calorie counting, hitting protein grams, and avoiding things I feel are not part of a "healthy" diet, are *borderline* unhealthy, and borderline ruin eating for me.
Only borderline. It's a little obsessive but it's nothing that's not controllable and definitely not damaging to me. But it definitely removes a lot if not all of the enjoyment of eating.
But in the same breath I HAD to remove the enjoyment of eating. Enjoying eating is what got me fat. It was comfort, it was reprieve from emotional and sometimes physical distress. It's how I celebrated and how I grieved. It was emotion. I correlated enjoying food with happiness like a heroin junky associates heroin with being happy. I was literally killing myself thinking I was enjoying what I was eating. When I stepped back, and looked at how all that food made me "feel", I didn't actually ever enjoy it. It did nothing but hurt me in the most horrible ways.
I still splurge. I still fall off track. But if we apply the pareto rule, I've removed enjoyment from probably 80% of what I eat now. Some of that is intentional.5 -
Geocitiesuser wrote: »My constant obsession with calorie counting, hitting protein grams, and avoiding things I feel are not part of a "healthy" diet, are *borderline* unhealthy, and borderline ruin eating for me.
Only borderline. It's a little obsessive but it's nothing that's not controllable and definitely not damaging to me. But it definitely removes a lot if not all of the enjoyment of eating.
But in the same breath I HAD to remove the enjoyment of eating. Enjoying eating is what got me fat. It was comfort, it was reprieve from emotional and sometimes physical distress. It's how I celebrated and how I grieved. It was emotion. I correlated enjoying food with happiness like a heroin junky associates heroin with being happy. I was literally killing myself thinking I was enjoying what I was eating. When I stepped back, and looked at how all that food made me "feel", I didn't actually ever enjoy it. It did nothing but hurt me in the most horrible ways.
I still splurge. I still fall off track. But if we apply the pareto rule, I've removed enjoyment from probably 80% of what I eat now. Some of that is intentional.
That's exactly what this post is getting at -- the obsessive nature of calorie counting.2 -
Nope, I still love food.
I will still go out and choose whatever I want without worrying about calories.2 -
leanitup123 wrote: »Geocitiesuser wrote: »My constant obsession with calorie counting, hitting protein grams, and avoiding things I feel are not part of a "healthy" diet, are *borderline* unhealthy, and borderline ruin eating for me.
Only borderline. It's a little obsessive but it's nothing that's not controllable and definitely not damaging to me. But it definitely removes a lot if not all of the enjoyment of eating.
But in the same breath I HAD to remove the enjoyment of eating. Enjoying eating is what got me fat. It was comfort, it was reprieve from emotional and sometimes physical distress. It's how I celebrated and how I grieved. It was emotion. I correlated enjoying food with happiness like a heroin junky associates heroin with being happy. I was literally killing myself thinking I was enjoying what I was eating. When I stepped back, and looked at how all that food made me "feel", I didn't actually ever enjoy it. It did nothing but hurt me in the most horrible ways.
I still splurge. I still fall off track. But if we apply the pareto rule, I've removed enjoyment from probably 80% of what I eat now. Some of that is intentional.
That's exactly what this post is getting at -- the obsessive nature of calorie counting.
Getting obsessive about a calorie deficit is a requirement to escape from morbid obesity. Staying obsessive about overall calorie intake/output is a requirement to avoid weight regain plus some extra. The 95% who regain lost weight aren't staying obsessive.
The simplest, most reliable way to maintain calorie control for many people is calorie counting. Obsession is what got me where I am (near my goal weight) and I don't want to lose that obsession. I want to nurture that obsession. I want to be buried in a normal-sized coffin when the time comes.7 -
leanitup123 wrote: »Geocitiesuser wrote: »My constant obsession with calorie counting, hitting protein grams, and avoiding things I feel are not part of a "healthy" diet, are *borderline* unhealthy, and borderline ruin eating for me.
Only borderline. It's a little obsessive but it's nothing that's not controllable and definitely not damaging to me. But it definitely removes a lot if not all of the enjoyment of eating.
But in the same breath I HAD to remove the enjoyment of eating. Enjoying eating is what got me fat. It was comfort, it was reprieve from emotional and sometimes physical distress. It's how I celebrated and how I grieved. It was emotion. I correlated enjoying food with happiness like a heroin junky associates heroin with being happy. I was literally killing myself thinking I was enjoying what I was eating. When I stepped back, and looked at how all that food made me "feel", I didn't actually ever enjoy it. It did nothing but hurt me in the most horrible ways.
I still splurge. I still fall off track. But if we apply the pareto rule, I've removed enjoyment from probably 80% of what I eat now. Some of that is intentional.
That's exactly what this post is getting at -- the obsessive nature of calorie counting.
Getting obsessive about a calorie deficit is a requirement to escape from morbid obesity. Staying obsessive about overall calorie intake/output is a requirement to avoid weight regain plus some extra. The 95% who regain lost weight aren't staying obsessive.
The simplest, most reliable way to maintain calorie control for many people is calorie counting. Obsession is what got me where I am (near my goal weight) and I don't want to lose that obsession. I want to nurture that obsession. I want to be buried in a normal-sized coffin when the time comes.
I disagree.5 -
leanitup123 wrote: »leanitup123 wrote: »Geocitiesuser wrote: »My constant obsession with calorie counting, hitting protein grams, and avoiding things I feel are not part of a "healthy" diet, are *borderline* unhealthy, and borderline ruin eating for me.
Only borderline. It's a little obsessive but it's nothing that's not controllable and definitely not damaging to me. But it definitely removes a lot if not all of the enjoyment of eating.
But in the same breath I HAD to remove the enjoyment of eating. Enjoying eating is what got me fat. It was comfort, it was reprieve from emotional and sometimes physical distress. It's how I celebrated and how I grieved. It was emotion. I correlated enjoying food with happiness like a heroin junky associates heroin with being happy. I was literally killing myself thinking I was enjoying what I was eating. When I stepped back, and looked at how all that food made me "feel", I didn't actually ever enjoy it. It did nothing but hurt me in the most horrible ways.
I still splurge. I still fall off track. But if we apply the pareto rule, I've removed enjoyment from probably 80% of what I eat now. Some of that is intentional.
That's exactly what this post is getting at -- the obsessive nature of calorie counting.
Getting obsessive about a calorie deficit is a requirement to escape from morbid obesity. Staying obsessive about overall calorie intake/output is a requirement to avoid weight regain plus some extra. The 95% who regain lost weight aren't staying obsessive.
The simplest, most reliable way to maintain calorie control for many people is calorie counting. Obsession is what got me where I am (near my goal weight) and I don't want to lose that obsession. I want to nurture that obsession. I want to be buried in a normal-sized coffin when the time comes.
I disagree.
In what way?0 -
it has and it helped start and make a eating disorder worst, a lot of things are very high in calories and if i had the higher calorie things i may still be hungry but used up all my calories or have very few left for later. i try to eat lower calorie foods so i can eat more for the same amount which means i don`t eat a lot of different cereals because they go over 110 and i know thats silly but its what i go through with and i really don`t like to drink things with calories because i feel that i will not be full and that could of been used on food and there are a lot of other foods i can`t or will not eat because of the calorie count, just to sum it all up its not fun but i can`t stop and life just is not the same.3
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I find that I refuse to eat food that doesn't taste good. I eat less, but enjoy what I choose to eat. So, it's made my life better.11
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Not for me! When I have a dessert or eat something that's higher in calories I enjoy it so much! I also still eat fajitas, burgers, pizza, pastas, beer, wine, etc a lot. I find it soothing to get back into my normal meal routine when I've had an overindulgence on the weekend. I also have tried so many more foods now that I am aware of calories such as sweet potatoes, peanut butter, brussel sprouts, fish, hot sausage, etc.6
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I think assuming that you can't enjoy eating and not overeat is really sad. I think I enjoy eating even more now than when I'm less mindful (I do not always count calories strictly, although I am right now -- mostly at maintenance I do not). But like some have said, balancing a checkbook (or budgeting and keeping track of the budget) are similar, and to me they certainly don't make buying things less enjoyable. Indeed, I COULDN'T enjoy buying things if I were constantly worried that I might be overextending myself.
I don't have that reaction to eating (I'm probably too little concerned about the longer term effects), but still paying attention doesn't mean I cannot really appreciate what I do eat, and happily there's not a huge conflict in my mind between eating a healthy diet and a diet I enjoy (even if of course sometimes I wish I could eat way more calories than I can and still not gain).13
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