Is calorie counting really going to work?

smc92079

theledger5 wrote: »

Personally I would just ditch the husband - you'd lose a tonne of dead weight there straight away. What a incredibly insensitive plank he is

So much this. Been there, done that.

AnvilHead

Tacklewasher wrote: »

AnvilHead wrote: »

Not only "does" it work, it's the only thing that works.

No matter what "diet" you do or what supplements/pills/smoothies/potions you take, you won't lose weight unless you're consuming less calories than you're expending. Period. Different diet approaches are just different ways of arriving at that necessary caloric deficit.

Can't believe I'm going to disagree with @anvilhead. But I think it might just be semantics.

Calorie counting works, but there are other effective ways to reduce your calories without actually counting and lots of people have lost weight without counting. In all cases they lose weight because of reducing calories, but it can be done without counting.

But yes, counting does work. I'm down 100 lbs using MFP and counting. To me, it's the easiest way to lose weight as it becomes a math problem for me, and I'm an Accountant.

Semantics. Your point stands.

LadyLeaAZ

Thanks for the education ladies and gentlemen. Maybe after a couple weeks I will get better at this.

starsofmotown wrote: »

I've lost 31 pounds since April JUST from counting calories. I sit at a desk for 10 hours a day, so I'm lucky if I get over 5000 steps in, and I haven't gone to the gym in about 3 months.

This is kind of my deal too. I can be more active now but once January gets here I'm practically chained to my desk during tax season. That is when the worst eating habits are.

Its expensive but I've discovered if I keep deli meat on hand, boiled eggs in the fridge, and cut up rotisserie chicken and some fruit handy I manage to actually make time for lunch now instead of grabbing for that bag of potato chips to eat at my desk or when I have to run out the door to get the kid from school.

savithny

As everyone else said: Of course it works. Reducing calories is how EVERY effective diet works, even the ones that claim you don't have to count anythign at all.

However: You have to commit to being absolutely honest while doing it, because it only works if you actually count everything. You can undermine your success in a few ways, like:

1) Not counting everything, including liquids. That little tub of coffee creamer? Guess what, if you drink enough coffee in a day, those tubs ADD UP!
2) Thinking you know how to count. Do you eat peanut butter? Use a food scale and weigh out how much you usually eat. Compare that to "one serving" and think about it for a bit.
3) Giving yourself too much credit for activity. Statistically, as an American, you're probably "sedentary." You just are. Sure, you feel like you walk a lot and you're tired at the end of the day, but if you actually tallied up your steps, you're sedentary. And while you're at it? That walk was NOT "Brisk," unless you're doing a mile in less than 15 minutes.

Basically, undercounting the calories you eat and overcounting the calories you give yourself from "exercise" are big reasons why calorie counting doesn't work as well for some people as for others.

Tacklewasher

LadyLeaAZ wrote: »

This is kind of my deal too. I can be more active now but once January gets here I'm practically chained to my desk during tax season. That is when the worst eating habits are.

I don't miss public practice and tax season at all.

amyepdx

LadyLeaAZ wrote: »

Thanks for the education ladies and gentlemen. Maybe after a couple weeks I will get better at this.

starsofmotown wrote: »

I've lost 31 pounds since April JUST from counting calories. I sit at a desk for 10 hours a day, so I'm lucky if I get over 5000 steps in, and I haven't gone to the gym in about 3 months.

This is kind of my deal too. I can be more active now but once January gets here I'm practically chained to my desk during tax season. That is when the worst eating habits are.

Its expensive but I've discovered if I keep deli meat on hand, boiled eggs in the fridge, and cut up rotisserie chicken and some fruit handy I manage to actually make time for lunch now instead of grabbing for that bag of potato chips to eat at my desk or when I have to run out the door to get the kid from school.

Try to expand your mindset beyond so-called "diet" foods like you described. You can eat foods that you enjoy just less of them. Staring at those limited items in the fridge after a few days would cause anyone to burn out!

canarysal

It works!! Do it for yourself - my husband has never said that I'm fat or that I'd put on weight, he doesn't have a problem with me weighing my portions when serving, it's your body you decide what you eat.

LadyLeaAZ

amyepdx wrote: »

LadyLeaAZ wrote: »

Thanks for the education ladies and gentlemen. Maybe after a couple weeks I will get better at this.

starsofmotown wrote: »

I've lost 31 pounds since April JUST from counting calories. I sit at a desk for 10 hours a day, so I'm lucky if I get over 5000 steps in, and I haven't gone to the gym in about 3 months.

This is kind of my deal too. I can be more active now but once January gets here I'm practically chained to my desk during tax season. That is when the worst eating habits are.

Its expensive but I've discovered if I keep deli meat on hand, boiled eggs in the fridge, and cut up rotisserie chicken and some fruit handy I manage to actually make time for lunch now instead of grabbing for that bag of potato chips to eat at my desk or when I have to run out the door to get the kid from school.

Try to expand your mindset beyond so-called "diet" foods like you described. You can eat foods that you enjoy just less of them. Staring at those limited items in the fridge after a few days would cause anyone to burn out!

Normally we don't have anything but dinner type stuff and I'm too pressed for time to cook a lunch. Hence the chips or grabbing fast food while I'm out running errands. I don't think of them as diet foods as opposed to having food quick to grab that I'll eat. (seriously id eat rotisserie chicken every day if I had too)