Does calorie restriction/counting calories NOT work for anybody else?

ThereAreManyNames

Ah yes, "triggered".

So OP, one time a guy was telling me about how his buddy got killed right in front of him in Afghanistan and he's never been the same since and I interrupted and started talking about the time I counted a calorie and it upset me.

elisa123gal

counting calories has not worked for me. I have lost 10 to 15 pounds then regain and lose..over and over. However, I think it is helpful for anyone to count calories for a while to educate themselves on the truth of what they're eating.

For me, switching to a whole foods diet (nothing processed) , drinking a lot of water, and eating six times a day from all food groups... worked like a charm. I now have a good relationship with food, and I've lost all my weight .. it is amazing.

I think CC works for some people and is the focus of this site..but there are more than one way of achieving a goal. For me counting calories made eating work, a dreadful thing, and took the fun out of what should be a pleasure.

try2again

elisa123gal wrote: »

counting calories has not worked for me. I have lost 10 to 15 pounds then regain and lose..over and over. However, I think it is helpful for anyone to count calories for a while to educate themselves on the truth of what they're eating.

For me, switching to a whole foods diet (nothing processed) , drinking a lot of water, and eating six times a day from all food groups... worked like a charm. I now have a good relationship with food, and I've lost all my weight .. it is amazing.

I think CC works for some people and is the focus of this site..but there are more than one way of achieving a goal. For me counting calories made eating work, a dreadful thing, and took the fun out of what should be a pleasure.

I really am happy you found the best way of eating for you. But I still don't think it's fair to say "calorie counting doesn't work". Did you continue to accurately count calories and adhere to your maintenance calories during your regains? I think what people are basically saying is that they don't like the practice of counting calories to ensure they are in a deficit or maintenance, which is fine, but an entirely different thing IMO.

GaleHawkins

missylectro wrote: »

Does calorie restriction/counting calories NOT work for anybody else?
Does anybody else get triggered when counting calories?
Did anybody else find that they lost the weight... but then weren't able to maintain it?
Does anybody else find that when they don't allow themselves certain foods, their subconscious takes over and they overeat or (worse) develop an eating disorder like binge eating?
Has anyone swung the weight loss pendulum in an extreme direction only for it to go to the opposite extreme?

How did you find balance?
I want to hear from you in this thread or add me as a friend.

Thanks!

@missylectro it sounds like you are getting close to success. I spent a lifetime of dieting that did not work to fix my cravings leading to binging.

Finally in 2014 I swore to never try to lose weight ever again but just work to have better health markers and that has been working out well. A side effect the first year I lost most of my arthritis pain and 50 pounds of weight without trying and have maintained that loss for the last 3 years without trying and daily eating until I am full. I still get hungry but I just stop and eat until I am full or even stuffed.

Again I think from your questions you realize there has a better way for you.

Take advice from others with a grain of salt and try to listen to what your own body is telling you to try. I was 63 before I did that but now at 67 my health and health markers are better than 30 years ago.

Best of success.

solieco1

mkculs wrote: »

I see a lot of folks answered your specific questions. I'm going to answer more generally, based solely on my personal experience.

A lot of what concerns you--Cal. counting "not working," feeling deprived/going on a binge, etc.--are mistakes I made b/c I didn't know any better. For one thing, I probably RARELY at the NET minimum of 1200 cals, because I never ate back any of my exercise cals and tried to maintain a 2 lb/week loss. I avoided certain foods b/c I thought they might trigger overeating (when, in fact, avoiding them turns out to have been the cause of overeating).

Behind most of my mistakes was the sense of urgency I felt--I wanted to lose the weight as fast as possible. Now, meh, it will come off, and I'm not the least bit worried about the time frame. I'm expecting it to take about 2 years, b/c I do NOT want to fall back into old habits and I need the time to truly learn how to eat in a way that I can sustain for many years to come.

My question to myself at each decision point is, Can I sustain this? If the answer is no, I don't do it as part of my weight loss. For example, can I sustain exercising to earn more calories to eat? Nope; I'd resent it and find it too hard on my body, likely--bc I'd be overtraining. Can I limit chips to once every month/two months, whatever? Nope. I need to make them part of my weekly diet--I feel too deprived if I can't have them at least that often. Should I eat chicken a lot more? Nope; I'm not going to do that b/c I hate chicken and won't choose to eat it EVER if left to my own devices (I make it for my kids, though, and eat it then, sometimes).

The real goal of MFP is to help you find a way to create a calorie deficit that you can sustain for as long as you need to lose weight, and to learn the habits that will have you eating a relatively low amount for the rest of your life, too. Note I don't say, "having you eat a low amount." No; a healthy lifestyle means you will forever need to eat less than you eat now, but it also means you will be able to enjoy food and have fun and exercise and not feel like you are constantly struggling as we all struggle at the beginning of weight loss and occasionally at other times.

I would say that if you--or anyone--finds the transition to be a relentless struggle for months on end, something else is going on and needs to be addressed. It's not that hard to be a little bit hungry some of the time. It's not that hard to choose healthy options over less healthy ones, most of the time, while still enjoying ALL foods in moderation. It is VERY hard at first, but it should get easier with time.

I hope this helps; good luck.

This. All of this. @mkculs can you come live in my head a week or two? Please?

solieco1

jjpptt2 wrote: »

missylectro wrote: »

"Balance isn't a thing, at least not for me. I don't have or do balance. Balance disowned me when I was a kid."

Word.

mkculs

solieco1 wrote: »

mkculs wrote: »

I see a lot of folks answered your specific questions. I'm going to answer more generally, based solely on my personal experience.

A lot of what concerns you--Cal. counting "not working," feeling deprived/going on a binge, etc.--are mistakes I made b/c I didn't know any better. For one thing, I probably RARELY at the NET minimum of 1200 cals, because I never ate back any of my exercise cals and tried to maintain a 2 lb/week loss. I avoided certain foods b/c I thought they might trigger overeating (when, in fact, avoiding them turns out to have been the cause of overeating).

Behind most of my mistakes was the sense of urgency I felt--I wanted to lose the weight as fast as possible. Now, meh, it will come off, and I'm not the least bit worried about the time frame. I'm expecting it to take about 2 years, b/c I do NOT want to fall back into old habits and I need the time to truly learn how to eat in a way that I can sustain for many years to come.

My question to myself at each decision point is, Can I sustain this? If the answer is no, I don't do it as part of my weight loss. For example, can I sustain exercising to earn more calories to eat? Nope; I'd resent it and find it too hard on my body, likely--bc I'd be overtraining. Can I limit chips to once every month/two months, whatever? Nope. I need to make them part of my weekly diet--I feel too deprived if I can't have them at least that often. Should I eat chicken a lot more? Nope; I'm not going to do that b/c I hate chicken and won't choose to eat it EVER if left to my own devices (I make it for my kids, though, and eat it then, sometimes).

The real goal of MFP is to help you find a way to create a calorie deficit that you can sustain for as long as you need to lose weight, and to learn the habits that will have you eating a relatively low amount for the rest of your life, too. Note I don't say, "having you eat a low amount." No; a healthy lifestyle means you will forever need to eat less than you eat now, but it also means you will be able to enjoy food and have fun and exercise and not feel like you are constantly struggling as we all struggle at the beginning of weight loss and occasionally at other times.

I would say that if you--or anyone--finds the transition to be a relentless struggle for months on end, something else is going on and needs to be addressed. It's not that hard to be a little bit hungry some of the time. It's not that hard to choose healthy options over less healthy ones, most of the time, while still enjoying ALL foods in moderation. It is VERY hard at first, but it should get easier with time.

I hope this helps; good luck.

This. All of this. @mkculs can you come live in my head a week or two? Please?

Ha, Thanks. I hope it helps.