Is there anyone not counting calories?
Replies
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I have a set of large plastic containers that I use for storing things I batch cook for meal prep. I've worked with it so much I just know they weigh 46-48 grams.3
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I always find it fascinating when threads like this pop up how some people say they don't count calories because it's so labor intensive and obsessive. I've been logging for about 4 or 5 years now, lost my excess weight and am now in maintenance, and after the first month or two, I could probably count on one hand the number of times I've spent more than 2 or 3 minutes logging my food. I think about the calories momentarily when I'm planning out my day, and might spend another 30 seconds or so thinking about them if I'm tempted to go off plan, but that's really it. I spend more time brushing my teeth.
For some people, I think they never get past that first month or two, and simply don't allow the time for practice to make perfect. Otherwise I suppose it comes down to how your brain works, for some people calories just naturally makes sense with how your brain works and it's easy, but for others it creates stress.
OP, I'd guess the vast majority of people here have at least counted calories in the past, but there are a number of people including some veteran posters who don't count anymore.
Regardless of what strategy you settle on, please do take some time to deal with the whole feeling guilty thing. No one is perfect and we all have days where we fall on our faces. It's not something to feel guilty about, it's something to learn from. Anything you can do to remove emotion from eating (feeling guilty for eating "wrong", rewarding yourself with food, eating to self soothe, etc) will make the road forward easier
Creating recipes and remembering to weigh things and enter them in the mfp recipe function is what is labor intensive to me, especially while I'm in the thick of cooking dinner and dealing with kids or a crying baby or whatever. Sometimes I create the recipe and go to weigh it at the end and realize I never weighed the stupid pot it was cooked in so now I don't know what to subtract. I've been logging food for years off and on and I wouldn't describe it as simple as you just did, maybe I'm just stupid. Lol. I need to weigh every pot and skillet and dish that I cook with and keep a cheat sheet somewhere in my kitchen probably...
My cheat sheet of the weights of my pots and pans is by my computer
And since I do like to make at least one new recipe a week, and the recipe builder is glitchy, it does take me longer than a few minutes per day to log.
However, to me this is worth it, because I will never have one of those "Why am I not losing weight?" moments. If I'm not losing weight (over time), I know exactly why - I'm eating too much.3 -
OP, if you are interested in learning about intuitive eating because you find counting calories does not work for you, look into Abbey Sharp on Youtube. She is a registered dietitian and is constantly discussing the benefits of intuitive eating. Although, I count calories, I really enjoy her content.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=cf7JbfqiLic
This is the start to her series on how to begin the process intuitive eating. She is not a fan of calorie counters, scales, or fitness trackers because she feels like they get in the way of listening and knowing your body. I find her content to be really interested.1 -
kshama2001 wrote: »I always find it fascinating when threads like this pop up how some people say they don't count calories because it's so labor intensive and obsessive. I've been logging for about 4 or 5 years now, lost my excess weight and am now in maintenance, and after the first month or two, I could probably count on one hand the number of times I've spent more than 2 or 3 minutes logging my food. I think about the calories momentarily when I'm planning out my day, and might spend another 30 seconds or so thinking about them if I'm tempted to go off plan, but that's really it. I spend more time brushing my teeth.
For some people, I think they never get past that first month or two, and simply don't allow the time for practice to make perfect. Otherwise I suppose it comes down to how your brain works, for some people calories just naturally makes sense with how your brain works and it's easy, but for others it creates stress.
OP, I'd guess the vast majority of people here have at least counted calories in the past, but there are a number of people including some veteran posters who don't count anymore.
Regardless of what strategy you settle on, please do take some time to deal with the whole feeling guilty thing. No one is perfect and we all have days where we fall on our faces. It's not something to feel guilty about, it's something to learn from. Anything you can do to remove emotion from eating (feeling guilty for eating "wrong", rewarding yourself with food, eating to self soothe, etc) will make the road forward easier
Creating recipes and remembering to weigh things and enter them in the mfp recipe function is what is labor intensive to me, especially while I'm in the thick of cooking dinner and dealing with kids or a crying baby or whatever. Sometimes I create the recipe and go to weigh it at the end and realize I never weighed the stupid pot it was cooked in so now I don't know what to subtract. I've been logging food for years off and on and I wouldn't describe it as simple as you just did, maybe I'm just stupid. Lol. I need to weigh every pot and skillet and dish that I cook with and keep a cheat sheet somewhere in my kitchen probably...
My cheat sheet of the weights of my pots and pans is by my computer
And since I do like to make at least one new recipe a week, and the recipe builder is glitchy, it does take me longer than a few minutes per day to log.
However, to me this is worth it, because I will never have one of those "Why am I not losing weight?" moments. If I'm not losing weight (over time), I know exactly why - I'm eating too much.
Oh jeez! I just happen to know almost to the 10 grams of what my post weigh! Can't replace them now!😩1 -
I don't count calories anymore. Most of my life, I've maintained my weight between 120-124, except for these past four years where I've been between 107-110 pounds. I never really had a consistent weight problem, but I did get up to 136, my heaviest ever at 5 feet and I felt huge but I didn't stay that big very long. That's when I started calorie counting but then I realized if I stopped shoving food into my face hand over fist that I didn't have to count and it's worked for four years now, where I have maintained my lowest weight yet. To each their own, but for me it's a waste of time. Also I run long distances and chase a toddler around all day, which helps keep off the pounds.5
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psychod787 wrote: »kshama2001 wrote: »I always find it fascinating when threads like this pop up how some people say they don't count calories because it's so labor intensive and obsessive. I've been logging for about 4 or 5 years now, lost my excess weight and am now in maintenance, and after the first month or two, I could probably count on one hand the number of times I've spent more than 2 or 3 minutes logging my food. I think about the calories momentarily when I'm planning out my day, and might spend another 30 seconds or so thinking about them if I'm tempted to go off plan, but that's really it. I spend more time brushing my teeth.
For some people, I think they never get past that first month or two, and simply don't allow the time for practice to make perfect. Otherwise I suppose it comes down to how your brain works, for some people calories just naturally makes sense with how your brain works and it's easy, but for others it creates stress.
OP, I'd guess the vast majority of people here have at least counted calories in the past, but there are a number of people including some veteran posters who don't count anymore.
Regardless of what strategy you settle on, please do take some time to deal with the whole feeling guilty thing. No one is perfect and we all have days where we fall on our faces. It's not something to feel guilty about, it's something to learn from. Anything you can do to remove emotion from eating (feeling guilty for eating "wrong", rewarding yourself with food, eating to self soothe, etc) will make the road forward easier
Creating recipes and remembering to weigh things and enter them in the mfp recipe function is what is labor intensive to me, especially while I'm in the thick of cooking dinner and dealing with kids or a crying baby or whatever. Sometimes I create the recipe and go to weigh it at the end and realize I never weighed the stupid pot it was cooked in so now I don't know what to subtract. I've been logging food for years off and on and I wouldn't describe it as simple as you just did, maybe I'm just stupid. Lol. I need to weigh every pot and skillet and dish that I cook with and keep a cheat sheet somewhere in my kitchen probably...
My cheat sheet of the weights of my pots and pans is by my computer
And since I do like to make at least one new recipe a week, and the recipe builder is glitchy, it does take me longer than a few minutes per day to log.
However, to me this is worth it, because I will never have one of those "Why am I not losing weight?" moments. If I'm not losing weight (over time), I know exactly why - I'm eating too much.
Oh jeez! I just happen to know almost to the 10 grams of what my post weigh! Can't replace them now!😩
Yes, I have the weights of my two most used pot/pans memorized
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And yes, as of today I am back to calorie counting because I want to track, for reference, what may or may not be great to eat before a long run the day before.0
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I’m the OP and I feel stressed! Eating back exercise calories, not eating exercise calories, eating a set amount of calories. I actually feel stressed thinking about it. 🥺 I think what il try is 1500 calories per day every day regardless of exercise. I am exercising though , Bodypump 3-4 times per week, Metafit 1 per week and cv ingym 1.5hrs a week. I start to get stressed when I go over my calorie amount n end up going off the rails and I need to stop that cycle x3
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I’m the OP and I feel stressed! Eating back exercise calories, not eating exercise calories, eating a set amount of calories. I actually feel stressed thinking about it. 🥺 I think what il try is 1500 calories per day every day regardless of exercise. I am exercising though , Bodypump 3-4 times per week, Metafit 1 per week and cv ingym 1.5hrs a week. I start to get stressed when I go over my calorie amount n end up going off the rails and I need to stop that cycle x
Do or do not..... there is no try..... count, don't count... pick something and experiment. If it does not work, try something else.... until you find what works......3 -
I don’t count calories. I eat until I’m full. I do intermediate fasting daily.1
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I’m the OP and I feel stressed! Eating back exercise calories, not eating exercise calories, eating a set amount of calories. I actually feel stressed thinking about it. 🥺 I think what il try is 1500 calories per day every day regardless of exercise. I am exercising though , Bodypump 3-4 times per week, Metafit 1 per week and cv ingym 1.5hrs a week. I start to get stressed when I go over my calorie amount n end up going off the rails and I need to stop that cycle x
You absolutely don't have to calorie count, but I think the issue is feeling stressed, as there's no reason to assume that would be a problem only with calorie counting (if for some reason it is, don't calorie count).
Picking a number that's static regardless of exercise is fine, it's what many who have consistent exercise schedules do. You'd want it to be higher than MFP's goal, such as one you'd get from a TDEE calculator or MFP's goal if you say you are active. Also, you'll want to see how much you really lose and how much you eat over a few weeks and then adjust. My guess is that 1500 is likely too low given the exercise you mention, but of course I don't know your stats.
The most concerning bit is you saying you get stressed if you go over your cal amount and then go off the rails.
A few things to think about -- eating too low can make it harder not to binge. Consistently eating a less aggressive deficit will get you to goal faster than trying to eat at a much larger deficit and having one day a week that's a true blow out, for most.
Also, what is it about eating over your calorie goal (or even having a calorie goal) that seems stressful? Sometimes I think articulating it can be helpful, as is forcing yourself to think about it logically. If 1500 is the right deficit, there's essentially no difference between eating 1500 and 1550, and even eating, say, 2000 is no harm -- if that's maintenance, it just means one day on which you aren't losing (but also are not gaining). Deciding that being imperfect (if you are defining staying under your goal as perfect) = everything is ruined, so I might as well go nuts, that doesn't actually make sense -- I think just thinking it through can sometimes take the powder out of it (out of the idea that you have to be perfect).
You also might want to forget about losing for a couple of weeks and just get used to logging what you do eat. You will find out what your cals are and likely some easy ways to cut back. But again, if there's something about seeing the numbers that is a problem for you, there are other ways to do this.
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I’m the OP and I feel stressed! Eating back exercise calories, not eating exercise calories, eating a set amount of calories. I actually feel stressed thinking about it. 🥺 I think what il try is 1500 calories per day every day regardless of exercise. I am exercising though , Bodypump 3-4 times per week, Metafit 1 per week and cv ingym 1.5hrs a week. I start to get stressed when I go over my calorie amount n end up going off the rails and I need to stop that cycle x
I’m sorry u feel stressed. I used to eat a little bit of my excersise calories, sometimes I didn’t. If I cldnt be bothered eating too much a spoonful of peanut butter was helpful to use my excersise calories. Use a few weeks to find what works for you. I can easily say don’t stress but it honestly is hard work when you start. Took me a long time to settle in and learn what worked and it was stressful and hard. You won’t put 5kg on in a few days of not logging properly or eating *kitten*. It’s all about what works for you and Always moving forward. Browse the forums and find things that you can fit into yr life. Type into the search bar excersise calorie threads Remember the scales fluctuate CONSTANTLY. I used happy scales at first to see a trend. You got this. It seems hard but it gets easier. I still feel discouraged if I go over my calories, but not for long. Who cares? As long as I move forward Weight loss is a hard, long road. pls don’t give up!!0 -
psychod787 wrote: »kshama2001 wrote: »I always find it fascinating when threads like this pop up how some people say they don't count calories because it's so labor intensive and obsessive. I've been logging for about 4 or 5 years now, lost my excess weight and am now in maintenance, and after the first month or two, I could probably count on one hand the number of times I've spent more than 2 or 3 minutes logging my food. I think about the calories momentarily when I'm planning out my day, and might spend another 30 seconds or so thinking about them if I'm tempted to go off plan, but that's really it. I spend more time brushing my teeth.
For some people, I think they never get past that first month or two, and simply don't allow the time for practice to make perfect. Otherwise I suppose it comes down to how your brain works, for some people calories just naturally makes sense with how your brain works and it's easy, but for others it creates stress.
OP, I'd guess the vast majority of people here have at least counted calories in the past, but there are a number of people including some veteran posters who don't count anymore.
Regardless of what strategy you settle on, please do take some time to deal with the whole feeling guilty thing. No one is perfect and we all have days where we fall on our faces. It's not something to feel guilty about, it's something to learn from. Anything you can do to remove emotion from eating (feeling guilty for eating "wrong", rewarding yourself with food, eating to self soothe, etc) will make the road forward easier
Creating recipes and remembering to weigh things and enter them in the mfp recipe function is what is labor intensive to me, especially while I'm in the thick of cooking dinner and dealing with kids or a crying baby or whatever. Sometimes I create the recipe and go to weigh it at the end and realize I never weighed the stupid pot it was cooked in so now I don't know what to subtract. I've been logging food for years off and on and I wouldn't describe it as simple as you just did, maybe I'm just stupid. Lol. I need to weigh every pot and skillet and dish that I cook with and keep a cheat sheet somewhere in my kitchen probably...
My cheat sheet of the weights of my pots and pans is by my computer
And since I do like to make at least one new recipe a week, and the recipe builder is glitchy, it does take me longer than a few minutes per day to log.
However, to me this is worth it, because I will never have one of those "Why am I not losing weight?" moments. If I'm not losing weight (over time), I know exactly why - I'm eating too much.
Oh jeez! I just happen to know almost to the 10 grams of what my post weigh! Can't replace them now!😩
This is adulthood. You have a bag full of plastic store bags, you have a favorite spatula, you have a favorite cooking pan / pot, and you have back pains. You can stay up as late as you want, but you kind of feel like going to bed at a sensible time. You're boring. This is adulthood.
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magnusthenerd wrote: »psychod787 wrote: »kshama2001 wrote: »I always find it fascinating when threads like this pop up how some people say they don't count calories because it's so labor intensive and obsessive. I've been logging for about 4 or 5 years now, lost my excess weight and am now in maintenance, and after the first month or two, I could probably count on one hand the number of times I've spent more than 2 or 3 minutes logging my food. I think about the calories momentarily when I'm planning out my day, and might spend another 30 seconds or so thinking about them if I'm tempted to go off plan, but that's really it. I spend more time brushing my teeth.
For some people, I think they never get past that first month or two, and simply don't allow the time for practice to make perfect. Otherwise I suppose it comes down to how your brain works, for some people calories just naturally makes sense with how your brain works and it's easy, but for others it creates stress.
OP, I'd guess the vast majority of people here have at least counted calories in the past, but there are a number of people including some veteran posters who don't count anymore.
Regardless of what strategy you settle on, please do take some time to deal with the whole feeling guilty thing. No one is perfect and we all have days where we fall on our faces. It's not something to feel guilty about, it's something to learn from. Anything you can do to remove emotion from eating (feeling guilty for eating "wrong", rewarding yourself with food, eating to self soothe, etc) will make the road forward easier
Creating recipes and remembering to weigh things and enter them in the mfp recipe function is what is labor intensive to me, especially while I'm in the thick of cooking dinner and dealing with kids or a crying baby or whatever. Sometimes I create the recipe and go to weigh it at the end and realize I never weighed the stupid pot it was cooked in so now I don't know what to subtract. I've been logging food for years off and on and I wouldn't describe it as simple as you just did, maybe I'm just stupid. Lol. I need to weigh every pot and skillet and dish that I cook with and keep a cheat sheet somewhere in my kitchen probably...
My cheat sheet of the weights of my pots and pans is by my computer
And since I do like to make at least one new recipe a week, and the recipe builder is glitchy, it does take me longer than a few minutes per day to log.
However, to me this is worth it, because I will never have one of those "Why am I not losing weight?" moments. If I'm not losing weight (over time), I know exactly why - I'm eating too much.
Oh jeez! I just happen to know almost to the 10 grams of what my post weigh! Can't replace them now!😩
This is adulthood. You have a bag full of plastic store bags, you have a favorite spatula, you have a favorite cooking pan / pot, and you have back pains. You can stay up as late as you want, but you kind of feel like going to bed at a sensible time. You're boring. This is adulthood.
I like boring.....😉1
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