Why counting calories indefinitely perceived as bad thing?

Tanie98

After losing and gaining back the weight over and over..I now decide that counting will be part of my life..I realized too that my maintenance calories won't be that much higher than what I'm eating right now as i'm only losing 0.5 lb per week. I only had 10 pounds to loose.

However, I was showing my boyfriend the myfitnesspal app and how i track my calories. And he said hopefully you will be able to know how much you need without having to check all the time..the problem is , when I don't have anything to keep accountable its easy to start over eating without realizing it. So counting will keep me on check

I can't help to feel that people might find me weird for constantly track and might have to track calories behind his back if we do move in together. Not to mention they're countless of videos on yutube of people encouraging people not to count calories and giving tips such as avoiding looking at food nutrition labels and that counting calories is unnatural and it's not way anyone should be living...And some give tips to stay in shape without counting but they all involved some type of restriction and interment fasting

I personally don't think feel like it's big deal having to track if that will prevent weight creep up. And people already have other things we have to do everyday as part of our routine without having second thoughts.

Have you been looked weird for counting calories?

psychod787

Tanie98 wrote: »

After losing and gaining back the weight over and over..I now decide that counting will be part of my life..I realized too that my maintenance calories won't be that much higher than what I'm eating right now as i'm only losing 0.5 lb per week. I only had 10 pounds to loose.

However, I was showing my boyfriend the myfitnesspal app and how i track my calories. And he said hopefully you will be able to know how much you need without having to check all the time..the problem is , when I don't have anything to keep accountable its easy to start over eating without realizing it. So counting will keep me on check

I can't help to feel that people might find me weird for constantly track and might have to track calories behind his back if we do move in together. Not to mention they're countless of videos on yutube of people encouraging people not to count calories and giving tips such as avoiding looking at food nutrition labels and that counting calories is unnatural and it's not way anyone should be living...And some give tips to stay in shape without counting but they all involved some type of restriction and interment fasting

I personally don't think feel like it's big deal having to track if that will prevent weight creep up. And people already have other things we have to do everyday as part of our routine without having second thoughts.

Have you been looked weird for counting calories?

Sure I have been looked at as "weird". I could care less. I don't have tattoos and don't want any myself, but are people who have them "weird"? If you are wanting to keep your body weight below the homeostasis weight for your lifestyle and genetics, then calorie counting is a good tool.

cwolfman13

Personally, I'm in the camp of not counting as a long term solution...I did for several months while I was losing weight and my feeling with that was that it was a teaching tool. I don't necessarily think it's a bad thing that someone feels the need to count into perpetuity, but I'd also say it's not really very realistic for the vast majority either and when you're talking about a large population of people, there probably need to be other tools in the tool box.

Counting into perpetuity for myself personally wasn't anything remotely realistic...I was far better off just learning good nutrition and taking mindfulness into maintenance. I have maintained for over 7.5 years more or less...I usually put on a few pounds over the winter months when my activity overall declines, but it comes off in the spring.

That said, I haven't ever really had any particular issues with food. I never had a weight problem in my entire life until I turned 30 and went from being a very active university student with no car and walked or biked everywhere to having a full time desk job...but even then, my appetite has always been pretty commensurate with my activity...I gained weight very slowly with putting on 40-50 Lbs over the course of 8 years or so. I don't have any particular issues keeping things under control by just being mindful of what I'm doing, and honestly as long as I'm exercising regularly it's pretty easy...but like I said, I've never had any particular issues with food...I'm not a stress eater (opposite) or a comfort eater or a "craver", etc. Pretty much my whole life I've eaten three squares and maybe a light snack or two.

NovusDies

If I had to have a mullet hairstyle, put on body paint, and use a giant rubber finger to log I WOULD DO IT. Weird? Who cares? Youtube videos whose sole mission is to get views not give out credible advice... who cares?

I do not intentionally make a public display of it or mention it anymore than needed but I am excited to log because it has changed my life so much. If you do not like to see me do it. Look at something else.

girlwithcurls2

You do you. If it's working for you, then keep it up. Why should someone's opinion of something so inconsequential for them matter? It's got huge consequences for people who do it. Besides, what's weird any more??

sijomial

Sadly maintaining at a healthy weight is also fast becomming weird (or at least unusual).

Yes people thought I was weird when I logged my food, they thought I was weird when I did 5:2 to lose weight, they thought I was weird because I did a lot of exercise (and still do). I don't need to log food to maintain but would if I needed to. Pretty sure lots of people think it's weird to weigh myself every day to monitor my trend and stay focussed.

But I also thought my friends and colleagues were weird that they complained about their weight while having a Bloody Mary for second breakfast, gasped for breath when forced to climb a few flights of stairs, took a taxi for a short journey that was quicker to walk and seemed to spend every evening and weekend glued to The Idiot's Lattern.

If the price of being healthy and the right weight is that people think I'm weird that's simply of no concern to me at all. Must go, I'm off to the gym with like-minded weirdos....

heybales

Yes, but generally I'll look up before going somewhere that others would comment about, as I've planned it out. Short notice food stops usually are places I have an idea and I can get better figures later and adjust for the day or next day. Or I turn things down just to keep it simple.
But generally I only have to do that during weight loss mode after winter.

I think if you learn other skills from the time spent logging, you can learn to not have to log forever.

Like what foods do you do well with, and what do you not?
If you know that pack of cookies needs only 3-5 for dessert that's great if you can limit to that.
If you know you eat the whole thing if it's there, that's great to know and have to avoid it probably.

If you know roughly the quantity of the normal dishes you eat that you can have, then per gram logging not needed, but know if you always push the limit and go over quantity, and how you can go under on other things to balance it out.

If you learn you can undereat for a few days leading up to a planned big night out, great lesson.
If you learn that a surprise overfeeding needs a few balanced days at deficit, great.

If you are having some new dishes or foods, a quick lookup for calorie estimate allows you an idea of where that falls in the day.

If you know that water weight can make the scale not a reliable sign for slowly creeping up unless using a trending app, and you need to measure where you gain fat first also - great.

If you learn an inactive week or weeks as seasons change requires eating less and how to roughly adjust, great.
(this is my issue every winter, big drop in exercise from way I was used to eating, getting sick at some point and not wanting to do diet then (feed a cold!) but even less workouts)

If these skills aren't learned during weight loss (which can be hard since doing a deficit and eating less of anything perhaps), then months at maintenance may be needed.

Even there life may change frequently enough the adjustments required and rough estimates of change may be frequent - it's easier to log constantly. Maybe not as accurately to get a handle on it, but still to some level.


I really think a big part of logging or not is slow changes to lifestyle effecting calories out that is not taken into account or maybe not even noticed. (or sudden, I really need to start logging going into every winter is my lesson this year).

And if your variety of food & dishes is very wide, compared to same frequent things it's easy to get a quantity level on that should be eaten.

The extreme of both those things easily causes the weight creep.

Like I've seen with some - winter with less ability to do workouts they enjoy (outside), combined with eating out more of new things they have no idea of calorie counts on. Some bad combos that probably benefit from constant logging with decent accuracy.

I know that went beyond the logging question, but it poured out things I'd been thinking about as evening daylight is gone and freezing temps coming more.

mariomicro

@Tanie98, counting calories is something only a tiny minority of people do, therefore it stands out and it might attract criticism, because most people want to follow the beaten track and do what the herd do. Counting carbs is more niche and fasting is even more niche.

Spare a moment of pity for those like me who count both calories and carbs and, God forbid, also do intermittent dry fasting!

rheddmobile

I’ve kept a normal BMI for going on four years now (following years of yo yo dieting) by logging calories. I intend to log for the rest of my life.

Statistically, losing weight long term is so rarely successful that you can find articles about how you shouldn’t even bother because it’s impossible. So obviously all the experts on this subject are brain damaged and you should do the exact opposite of their advice. Do what works instead and become a statistically impossibility with me.

psychod787

sijomial wrote: »

Sadly maintaining at a healthy weight is also fast becomming weird (or at least unusual).

Yes people thought I was weird when I logged my food, they thought I was weird when I did 5:2 to lose weight, they thought I was weird because I did a lot of exercise (and still do). I don't need to log food to maintain but would if I needed to. Pretty sure lots of people think it's weird to weigh myself every day to monitor my trend and stay focussed.

But I also thought my friends and colleagues were weird that they complained about their weight while having a Bloody Mary for second breakfast, gasped for breath when forced to climb a few flights of stairs, took a taxi for a short journey that was quicker to walk and seemed to spend every evening and weekend glued to The Idiot's Lattern.

If the price of being healthy and the right weight is that people think I'm weird that's simply of no concern to me at all. Must go, I'm off to the gym with like-minded weirdos....

Funny how that happens. I almost feel like a duck in water at the gym. We tend to be a very food focused lot. Hey man, what's your macros is completely acceptable question to ask.

briscogun

It's just a tool. If it's a tool that works for you then who cares? If you have some other tool that you like better than use that.

For me right now, I've been in the yo-yo lifestyle for too many years so I will probably do some kind of logging for as long as I want to maintain my weight at this level. I don't always log EVERYTHING that I eat all day long, but usually when I start the day off by logging it keeps me mindful of watching what I eat for the day. So as long as I log and track fairly well and keep weighing myself most of the time, it's been working for like 6 months.

Do what works for you. It's your life, your weight, your weight loss journey.

cmriverside

...and I'm absolutely 100% certain that Tanie's boyfriend has at LEAST one habit or behavior that Tanie sees as somewhat odd or obsessive.

So be it.

Variety is the spice of life.

Work it out.

~Signed,
Still at My Goal Weight and Still Tracking 13 Years Later

If you don't like it, too bad.

April_M_2015

Hi @Tanie98 - I am with you on the counting. Because I am a small person (short, small frame) my maintain calories are still very low. I've gone through the cycle a few times of losing and gaining about 5 pounds and the gain always comes when I let my guard down and stop counting the calories. I'm in lose mode right now but as soon as I hit my goal weight - I'm still going to count. I'll probably just enter my calories once a day and be a little less strict about weighing my food though. Be proud of your counting !!

janejellyroll

In our current culture, to be normal is to be overweight. If counting calories makes me "weird," okay. I'll take that weirdness over my previous "normality."

IronIsMyTherapy

I think it's viewed as obsessive, or inherently indicative of an eating disorder/body image issue. I can sort of understand that, but even if I was a millionaire I'd still have a budget and keep track of my money because financial stability is important to me and can be lost a lot easier than gained. Same goes for your health and nutrition. I know some people are able to eat intuitively, but it just doesn't work well for me.

IronIsMyTherapy

janejellyroll wrote: »

In our current culture, to be normal is to be overweight. If counting calories makes me "weird," okay. I'll take that weirdness over my previous "normality."

Amen.

SummerSkier

and I think it's important to remember that all of us are different. The folks who I perceive are most likely to maintain successfully WITHOUT continuing to log calories are usually those who gained weight once. And then lost it.

The majority of us who have done this many times in our lives thru the years are probably much more likely to successfully maintain by continuing to practice those habits (including logging our calories) long term. I actually really enjoy prelogging my day and then seeing what extras I have left in the account to fit in more snacks!

We are all unique. Hopefully your BF will see that this is something which makes you a better and healthier person and support you long term vs criticize.

nanastaci2020

I am the sort of person who is unaware of what others think of me. Its not that I care or not, I just don't pay it any attention.

I can argue that counting calories is NOT natural. But I can also argue that living a life where much of what we do is spent sitting, inactive is NOT natural. Life is very much different now than it was 30, 70, 100 years ago. More jobs that involve thinking and fewer jobs that include doing. The process of obtaining one's food is easier. If we lived the way people lived 100 years ago, we'd be more active, have a more balanced diet, and obesity would be lower as a result. Counting calories would probably not be a thing. But life has changed. We have technology that makes life easier, less active. I don't see that trend reversing. So natural or not, much of what is 'normal' has changed.

To me counting calories is not a big deal. I can prelog/preplan my day in the app, and then update or edit as the day plays out. My 'plan' for maintenance is to aim for about 100-150 calories per day under my TDEE. And to allow myself to estimate a little more often, use the food scale less often. I figure the 100-150 calories will be my cushion for estimation errors. And of course I'll check my weight still from time to time. If I drop below or go above my maintenance zone, I'll update my methods accordingly.

And I feel I can say 'no thanks' if offered food that does not work for me and my reasons do not need to be explained. Recently the office had food brought in, and I was told I didn't need to bring my lunch that day. The food brought in was a variety of sandwiches from Panera - none of which I found too appealing. To eat an 800-900 calorie sandwich that I did not expect to enjoy did NOT feel like a treat for me. SO I ate my own lunch. No harm done.

spiriteagle99

I had a lifetime of watching my weight yo-yo up and down. Good intentions faded and sooner or later I would begin again the habits that made me gain weight. Nine years ago I got serious about losing weight and keeping it off. I discovered MFP and decided that I would continue to log indefinitely to see if it made a difference. I don't weigh my food but I do try to log everything I eat. It doesn't take much time, because my diet isn't all that varied. What I discovered is that the simple act of logging what I eat makes me think twice before I eat as to whether I really want it or not and whether I have the calories left to eat it without having to make up for it later. Some days I eat over my goal, some under, but I do it consciously. For me, the results have shown that this works best for me. I've stayed within my 5 lb. window for years. I eat what I want, without feeling deprived, but within reason. YMMV

OHFlamingo

I will count calories 'til the day I die! Just like I will keep track of all my checks and debits in my checking book! Neither takes much effort, is a good thing to do, and avoids big problems! This is what works for me!

Bluetail6

NovusDies wrote: »

If I had to have a mullet hairstyle, put on body paint, and use a giant rubber finger to log I WOULD DO IT. Weird? Who cares? Youtube videos whose sole mission is to get views not give out credible advice... who cares?

I do not intentionally make a public display of it or mention it anymore than needed but I am excited to log because it has changed my life so much. If you do not like to see me do it. Look at something else.

I am definitely in this camp. I so agree with "who cares... look at something else." Honestly, I don't give a *kitten* about what someone thinks about my logging. It is working well for me. I will continue to do me, lol. All of the above posters make some great points about what works for them.

@tanie9. " ...might have to track calories behind his back if we do move in together." I sincerely hope this is not the case. Imho, this is definitely not the way to start a life together. This is something, again imho, that your partner should embrace about you, cause it is working for you.

freda666

My husband could eat half a biscuit where as I'd have to restrain myself from eating the whole pack, so we have to do what works for us, individually.

But what is "weird" anyway?

My mother calls me weird for liking strong black coffee where as I think she is weird for having fixed meal times including a fixed 5pm time for her dinner.

Just do what works as that is all that matters.

425Recess

I remember hearing someone on the radio say that she didn't want to be one those who counted her almonds and she also said that she didn't mind being 50 lbs overweight. Well, I am one of those who counted my almonds to know the calories and when I wasn't, I was 50 lbs overweight. I chose counting the almonds and getting to goal weight and staying there for 12 years. At this point, I am more relax. I know about the number of almonds by how it fills my hand and so forth but I do log almost daily and I am so happy that I have. It's a habit like brushing my teeth.

AlexandraFindsHerself1971

I am pretty much approaching my life with the assumption that I will have to log calories for the rest of my life, and I'm okay with that, if it means I don't develop diabetes or heart disease and I can have fun playing with my grandchildren.

MsCzar

No one thinks it's weird when diabetics daily monitor their glucose levels. It's just part of maintaining their health. I look at counting calories the same way. Sure, most people don't have to do it, but I know that I DO. I do better when I log calories and tend to backslide when I don't.

Annie42019

When calorie counting required keeping a separate journal from what one carries around day to day as well as having a pen handy and a book to check calorie counts I think doing it permanently seemed unrealistic. Now that it’s done with one device you carry anyway and takes about 2 minutes a day, that doesn’t seem unrealistic at all.

AnnPT77

I don't care what other people think. If it works for me - physically, psychologically - it's fine.

I've been at a healthy weight for 5+ years now, after 3 previous *decades* of being obese (despite being active/athletic for the last dozen years of that).

I'm dramatically healthier (cholesterol, blood pressure, pain levels) now that I'm at a healthy weight. If weird is what it takes to be at a healthy weight, and get those benefits, I'm all in.

What others do is their choice.

durhammfp

I had written something that basically agrees with what everyone else has said, so I will spare you the redundancy and delete it.

But really, you do you. I'm a little concerned @Tanie98, as far as you worrying that you might have to record your calories behind your boyfriend's back. Feeling like you have to do a completely normal thing behind the back of your partner... *that* strikes me as weird. I don't say this as a criticism of you. I hope you two find a way to work this out.

paperpudding

Yes that concerned me too.

Who cares if others think it is weird or not??

Although IME nobody but my husband knows anyway - I am experienced enough now to do approximations when out and I only weigh at home and logging can be done without drawing anyone else attention to it.

But I don't have to do it behind my husbands back. I don't make a song and dance about it but I certainly don't hide it from him either.
And maybe he thinks it is weird but that is relationships for you, you accept each others harmless weirdities.

NovusDies

MsCzar wrote: »

No one thinks it's weird when diabetics daily monitor their glucose levels. It's just part of maintaining their health. I look at counting calories the same way. Sure, most people don't have to do it, but I know that I DO. I do better when I log calories and tend to backslide when I don't.

I am not sure the bolded is true. Overweight and obesity are still climbing with no end in sight. Awareness of what we are eating has to get higher. It does not have to be calorie counting but it needs to be something.

I know of some intuitive eaters. I am working with one at the moment to try and help her lose weight. She is obese from a life event and then has maintained her weight (range) for more than 10 years. But her method of intuitive eating is very harsh. She is in this mini binge restrict cycle. She allows her life to crowd out eating on a regular basis but manages to only eat enough food to get back to maintenance. It is very interesting but still problematic. When she tried to go on a "book" diet she gained weight because she was put on a schedule and her food habits are to eat a lot when she finally eats. There was no calorie control. I seriously doubt her current food habits can be adapted for long term success so even she will mostly likely need to move to portion awareness and accountability.

The point in all this is that if an intuitive eater doesn't understand how their system equalizes they are vulnerable to weight gain when life interferes. It also appears that, at least in this case, just because someone is an IE doesn't mean they practice healthy food habits.

The first problem with calorie counting (other than mental health issues for some) is that initially it is tedious and it probably always seems that way from the outside. I spend so little time doing it I barely give it a thought these days but initially, yeah, it kind of sucked.

The second problem is that people see it as a nanny system. They do not want to feel that restriction. They feel more free when they can eat without logging. I had food freedom. It cost me all kinds of other freedom. I am not interested in food freedom anymore. But not everyone has travelled the extremes I have so even though I see logging as freeing, not everyone else will.

janejellyroll

I never hear anyone say that they should know how much money is in their bank account without ever accounting for what they spend or how much they're depositing and that it's "weird" for us to pay attention to that.

Back in the days when we had to work hard for every calorie and we sustained lean times as well as flush times, it makes sense that energy imbalance wasn't really a concern (except for the very real concern of TOO LITTLE energy). In our current unnatural state, I'm using tools to implement a balance between the energy I use and the energy that I'm consuming, something that increases my odds of long term health.

OP, as a side note, if you feel like making a life with this guy means that you have to hide stuff like this, I think that's really unfortunate. My husband has to pay attention to things that are easy for me and vice versa. That's how (some) good partnerships work. The goal should be to extend grace to each other and celebrate the little differences that make us unique, not make you want to hide stuff about yourself.