Calorie counting. Does it work for you?

issaiahjordan

Hi everyone. Firstly congratulations to everyone including myself for either starting out or continuing to shock your body with results. Sometimes I really do have a lot of respect and appreciation towards people who keep fit for years to come. It's really I lifestyle and not a term based thing. Enough of my babbling. My question is. After using my fitness pal to calculate your caloric intake, are you actually losing weight by controlling it? If so, how much have you lost since whatever date doing it? I started using this 3 days ago and started my insanity yesterday so wish me luck. Hopefully everything will fall into place.

Lietchi

I've lost 35 lbs since August. If that seems slow, it's intentional: I chose the slowest weight loss rate in MFP. Slow and steady wins the race I'm over halfway to my first goal, a normal BMI.

Personally, I've found it a lot easier than expected, I wish I started years ago before 'ballooning' to a BMI of 34.

JosJourney2018

Hi, yes it works. 113 days in and 2stone 7 lbs gone. Good luck

issaiahjordan

JosJourney2018 wrote: »

Hi, yes it works. 113 days in and 2stone 7 lbs gone. Good luck

Thank you for the response and a big well done to you on your transformation! Keep it up

issaiahjordan

Lietchi wrote: »

I've lost 35 lbs since August. If that seems slow, it's intentional: I chose the slowest weight loss rate in MFP. Slow and steady wins the race I'm over halfway to my first goal, a normal BMI.

Personally, I've found it a lot easier than expected, I wish I started years ago before 'ballooning' to a BMI of 34.

Slow and steady does indeed win the race. Its great that you found a steady pace that would not throw you off completely, something I need to take notes from. Thank you for your response also! I wish you all the best towards achieving your fitness goals!!

rainbow198

Knowing approximately how many calories I'm consuming everyday absolutely works for me.

I lost over 80 pounds and 6 dress sizes. Next month will be 7 years since I've kept it off without any weight regain.

Not only that but calorie counting combined with planning out my meals, I can literally eat whatever I want.

Plus I never followed any diets or had any restrictions.

This has worked well for me during weight loss and maintenance mode.

Good luck

jjpptt2

Yes. I've gained, lost, and maintained counting calories.

spiriteagle99

It does work if you are really consistent and don't try to lose weight too fast. If you are too aggressive in your weight loss, you'll feel deprived, and you'll be a lot more likely to cheat or quit entirely. You can also lose muscle, which is counter-productive. Logging everything you eat keeps you mindful of the choices you are making. You learn to think about which foods you really want and which are not worth the extra calories.

MichelleMcKeeRN

I have lost 10 pounds since the new year. I mostly use mfp to balance my macros and ensure I am eating enough but not too much. I workout too so I don’t want to lose muscle mass while I am cutting calories. I try to have 1-2 cheat days a week. Sometimes I count calories on those days and sometimes I don’t. This week I made carna asada tacos, refried beans and Mexican style brown rice for my cheat day. Tons of ingredients and delicious... I generally plan cheat days around what I have planned for the week.

AnnPT77

I lost 50 pounds in 2015, calorie counting with MFP, at age 59 (and while hypothyroid, if that matters - I think it doesn't ), and have stayed at a healthy weight for 4+ years since, still calorie counting. That, after 3+ decades of obesity previously. I didn't much change my exercise routine, because I was already quite active while obese - though I didn't start being routinely active until I was in my mid-40s, after cancer treatment.

So, yes, calorie counting can work. Calorie counting is a skill that takes practice and refinement, at first. Invest the time and effort, get the results.

P.S. I don't believe in "shocking my body". I believe in manageably changing eating habits while getting good nutrition and the right number of calories of food I enjoy eating (including some treats), and - if starting from inactive - gradually increasing exercise in a sensible way to get stronger and fitter without becoming burned out or over-fatigued. There's a common myth that we need to eat in some miserable restrictive way , avoiding deliciousness, to lose weight; and exercise in unpleasant and exhausting ways to get fit. I don't think that's true at all. YMMV.

Best wishes for finding a sustainable path toward your health and fitness goals!

cwolfman13

I lost 40 Lbs 7 years ago...it works if you're consistent and you log as accurately as possible.

kgirlhart

rainbow198 wrote: »

Knowing approximately how many calories I'm consuming everyday absolutely works for me.

I lost over 80 pounds and 6 dress sizes. Next month will be 7 years since I've kept it off without any weight regain.

Not only that but calorie counting combined with planning out my meals, I can literally eat whatever I want.

Plus I never followed any diets or had any restrictions.

This has worked well for me during weight loss and maintenance mode.

Good luck

My experience is quite similar. I lost over 80 pounds and have been in maintenance for over 2 years. I never restricted anything but calories and I pretty much eat whatever I want as long as it fits into my calorie goal.

Good luck with your weight loss.

coffeencreem

Counting calories seems to be the only way that works for me down 45lbs ..I am like you I eat whatever I want as long as it’s in my calorie goal

marty_smith

Yes mate, counting calories is 100% the way to go. Just make sure you are well under your calories required to function each day according to you TDEE and you should see results pretty quickly. I lost 21 pounds in 10 weeks as an example, that included walking daily (for work) and running three/four times a week and eating around 1700-2300 calories a day with one cheat day a week on the saturday.

Lillymoo01

I lost around 70 pounds counting calories and have kept that weight off for 3 years while continuing to do the same.

JadeMC42

Yes! Counting calories works for me but unfortunately sometimes I underestimate what I intake vs what I put out. (Metabolism slows after 32 apparently). I've just completed week 2 of the original Insanity series (for the umpteenth time). Hoping I can actually correctly and faithfully follow the program to the end this time! Good luck.

fiddletime

I’m 65 yo, 5’2” woman (ie “little old lady). Every time I stick with calorie counting I lose my desired weight. For the past 6 years using MFP I’ve lost 25 lbs and only regain when I stop counting and logging.

I’m back at goal weight again and this time just need to count for the rest of my life. I also exercise vigorously 4-5 days a week, and have my whole adult life. I currently have a Pelaton bike. Counting calories has made my weight loss and management much more understandable, fun, and successful.

dewd2

MFP is a tool. If you learn how to use and you are completely honest with yourself (log everything accurately), it will work. You have to have patience and you have to understand it is a process. The initial settings may not work and may need to be adjusted. Once you are setup and using MFP for 4-6 weeks check your progress. If you are losing at the target rate you are set. If you are not, make the adjustment.

For me I lost 50 pounds over the first 2 years of using MFP. I've maintained that weight for the past 3. This year I decided to drop another 10 for athletic performance reasons and I'm down 6 already (about .4 to .5 pounds per week).

The main thing MFP did for me at first was highlight some of the high calorie choices I was making. It made it obvious where I could cut out extra calories and not change my diet drastically. It also allowed me to sometimes fit those high calorie foods in my diet since I knew pretty much how many calories I was eating and burning. It also taught me how to eat without counting (I am not consistent any longer - at least until this year when I wanted to drop more).

TLDR: Yes, it works.

Good luck.

nighthawk584

Yes, absolutely calorie counting works. Weighing my food is critical to keep things as accurate as possible. I'm down 100 lbs from all time heaviest a couple years ago. Lost nearly all of it since last April. Good luck with your journey.

ylor89

Calorie counting WORKS! Several years ago, I decided it was time to finally lose those extra 20 pounds, and for about the first 10 pounds, all I did was count and cut calories. It wasn't until probably the last 10 pounds that I decided I wanted to add some form of exercise that I could do even after the 20 pounds were gone.

Then I gained half of the weight back... A couple years ago, I thought I could just try to lose that weight without counting calories, and that went nowhere.

Now I'm counting and cutting calories again, and it's slow and steady but working!

Good luck to us all!

LauraMariaAndrecencu

I've noticed that over the years my weight varies in the +/- 2 Kg interval. I know that with age it will be harder to get back to the ' - ' part, so it helps me a lot if I have a clear image of what I eat, especially the macros percentage, me being vegetarian. So a 'yes' from me, it helps.

pondee629

The counting only works when I restrict the number I intake to less than my maintenance. Counting doesn't lose weight, eating at less than maintenance does.

pandaapo

I hope so !!! hehe

mmapags

Lost 40 lbs and 5 inches around my waist counting calories. So, yeah. It works.

sgt1372

I've lost and maintained my wt by calorie counting every day over the past 5 ywars.

Don't know how else you could do it w/any reasonable degree of accuracy or consistency.

If you are one of those who say they never count cals and can just fo it "intuitivel," good for us but most of us are not so blessed.

Terytha

I've lost 84 pounds over the last year.

It works extremely well.

The_Mathematician

Using MFP religiously for 2+ years & went from 280 to 200lbs. Went to 220 in lean mass but steadily dropped to 205 again since going back to school full time and losing of access to gym during this Covid19 tragedy. Wish the calorie adjustment calculator was more conservative w calories burned from cardio but to be honest, you’re better off paying attention to the baseline calorie intake from your aggregate activity level than paying attention to calories burned per workout. Other than that nice to track what you’re putting in your body each day if you have sensitivities to too much sodium and sugar like I do.