Lost 80 lbs and never counted calories!

Iwishyouwell

good for them... although if their relationship with food is so healthy, I still wonder how they got overweight in the first place.

Because once having an unhealthy relationship with food doesn't mean always having an unhealthy relationship with food.

Speaking for myself, I just finally learned from all the scale ups, dieting failures, and falls. Those taught me just as much, if not more, about correcting my relationship with foods as the successes.

NovemberJune

I eat until I'm full nomnomnomnoms! :bigsmile:

ETA AND count calories mfp

rockmama72

If we were all sticking to MFP's exact formula, many of us would be netting 1200 calories with all of our (MFP-inflated) exercise calories eaten back. Luckily, we get to use the tool how we want.

Just curious what you mean by MFP-inflated?

Notoriously high calorie burn estimates for the exercises in the MFP database.

snowflake954

I think it's funny how some of us calorie counters seem threatened when someone is doing something different ! All of these " this is a calorie counting site". This site is so much more than a calorie in/ out log. There is tons of information about exercise. Many motivational threads. Success stories. Challenges. You can find groups that cover every exercise and eating choice. If the only purpose of MFP was to count calories it would not be as popular or as useful. So in an area about motivation and support - let's be supportive! Congratulations on your weight loss.

The most supportive thing anyone has said in this thread. Thank you for understanding the context of my post. Also, thank you to the others who also acknowledged my point and congratulated me. I was able to break my weight barrier by joining this website and learning from you guys. Seems to be more negative people on here than I thought. To the poster that said I have a lot of weight to lose and that I'm still a young guy....Go Figure!!! That is why I am here! And I am proud of my youth and wouldn't trade it for the world. Enjoying life.

I'm the one who said you're a young guy with alot to lose and that's why your plan is working--you don't get it at all. As you get older this won't work. It's easier to lose when you're younger. In 20 years I'd like to see you on this plan of yours. However, I don't want you to fail, and I don't think anyone on MFP wants that. All of the negative comments are from people that have seen it before. They are just trying to inform you to be careful as you get closer to goal so you won't stall. I think that's nice even if you don't.

What nonsense.

What do you think all those millions of human beings did to lose weight BEFORE the calorie was ever discovered? Or in the many parts of the world today where caloric labeling is spotty, at best, and access to calorie counting material is equally as unreliable? And sorry, not all of them were in their 20s.

Lets get real. Calorie counting has almost as abysmal long term statistics as any other weight loss method. It does not, even remotely, give you any kind of significant advantage for long term results, regardless of age.

To tell somebody that when they get old they're likely to fail if they don't calorie count, yet acting like calorie counting has been proven to be the holy grail, is so disingenuous. The VAST majority of people eventually fall off the calorie counting bandwagon. They get frustrated with walking that tightrope, rebel, and dive right off. Don't believe me? Check the statistics and studies.

If people learned to eat intuitively, as we once did naturally, we wouldn't even need calorie counting apps. Also learning to buck modern western society's obsession with avoiding hunger is helpful. We once understood hunger, and delayed gratification, was an absolutely normal, expected occurrence. Yes, it's going to be very difficult to lose without counting and logging for the rest of your life if you panic every single time a little hunger, or craving, comes knocking.

I'd like to point out to you that once upon a time, there were not so many tempting food choices and people died much younger--they didn't do blood work, blood pressure checks, etc, and most lived until 40--if they were lucky. There were not gyms, but manual labor. If you even see pictures of the 50's or 60's in America, you won't see many obese people. People didn't think about dieting, many just had to think about survival at the turn of the century. We live in a modern era with modern problems. I'm glad you're in sync with yourself, even if some of us have different experiences and ideas. Best.

TheEffort

To the OP - great accomplishment.

Domineer

If I eat correctly during the week?
So what you are saying is that I should be mentally keeping track of everything I eat and my activity level and hoping that I don't forget anything in order to make sure I'm at a deficit, I hope, each week? And then I should trust my intuition/memory to know if I can have some high calorie treat, instead of having the documentation and confidence to be sure it fits? If I'm not keeping track, how do I know if I can even have that apple with yogurt tonight, and do I have room for some granola on that? At 200-300 calories, that's not unhealthy or indulgent, but, it could cut my deficit in half if I'm already at my goal for the day...which I wouldn't know if I wasn't logging it all.

How exactly is all that mental keeping track better than actually writing it down and not having to worry about it? I don't have a regular schedule where I eat my meals at a specific time and only eat at those times, and only eat a specific kind of thing in specific amounts at specific times...nor do I want a schedule like that. If every day is different...well, I just can't (and don't want to) spend so much mental energy thinking about how much I've eaten. I can write it down and forget it. You seem to look down on logging because it's stressful and obsessive...for some if us, logging it all allows us NOT to stress and obsess.

As I said, IF IT WORKS FOR YOU, that's awesome. I'm glad you've found a sustainable method that works for you, and I hope it keeps working that way even as you approach your goal and a couple hundred calories a day starts to make a difference...but the tone you are taking with those of us who are pro-logging is condescending. Please stop insisting that a method that is working for so many people is unnecessary, just because it's unnecessary for you. I would hate for a newbie to become discouraged because they read something that makes them feel like logging is too stressful, too obsessive and they should be better than that and not need it.

I track the food I eat in my own journal. I think you are misunderstanding me. I frequently glance at my food journal for the week to see what kind of food I've been eating. From that, I can assess to see if I had enough clean food to enjoy a nice sized cheat dessert or meal. Since I don't count food calories, I use my own judgement. That is all.

Domineer

I'm not counting calories anymore, I am quite capable of judging what is a good portion size, what is healthy, what is not.

In theory.

In practice, if I want to lose weight again (I'm maintaining but every now and then I need to kick myself back when the weight starts creeping up), the only way to do this is by old fashioned calorie counting. Just to remind myself.

Well said and that is what I did in the beginning to get started. If you've been eating healthy and losing weight for a good stretch of time, chances are you have repeated some meal choices and I would think that most people would know how much food was on their plate when they ate it. I dunno, maybe this is a far-fetched assumption.

Domineer

I'm honestly not sure if you simply don't understand what people are saying to you, or are just being deliberately obtuse because they're not saying what you want to hear. There have been several good points that people have made that you seem to be ignoring:

1. You are young. Yes, you've acknowledged that it is an advantage, but you don't seem to grasp the enormity of what that means. It's not just metabolism slowing down with age. Aging also means joint issues, mobility issues, range of motion issues, and a host of other issues which can affect a person's ability to exercise and lose weight. I'm 35, and the difference between what I was physically able to do at 29 and now after having two children is startling. And I've never been overweight in my life, I'm here to lose weight put on during a difficult pregnancy that also resulted in joint damage.

2. You had a lot of weight to lose. Several people have pointed this out. It's the science of weight loss. The less you have to lose, the less wiggle room you have in your calories. So while eating a certain way and eyeballing things may work for you, it's not going to be that way for people with less to lose. A few extra calories here and there can make a really big difference.

3. You're making a lot of assumptions. You may have gained weight from being lazy and stuffing your face with fried food, but that is not the case for everyone here. So while it is great that getting exercise and making better food choices was the key to your weight loss, it's not going to apply to everyone. Some people gained weight from medical issues, changes in lifestyle, stressful life events, etc. There are users here who gained their weight over a matter of years. As in, went from an active job to a management position desk job and put on 20 lbs over 5 years. These aren't people who are inactive or eating poorly, they simply had a priority shift (which also happens with age and increased responsibilities, btw) and those changes to their TDEE meant weight gain.

4. Not everyone on MFP who counts calories has or has had a weight problem. Plenty of people use it to track calories and macros to meet their training goals. We're not all here for the same reason.

You've found something that works for you, and that's wonderful. But you don't need to put other people down as not being as enlightened about weight loss as you tout yourself to be simply because they take another approach that fits their needs and their lifestyle.

I've never passed judgement on anyone. And to say i've only gained weight from stuffing my face with fried food is an assumption and "obtuse". Fact is I don't know you and you don't know me. I didn't make this thread to debate with people on what is the most effective weight loss plan for everybody, I was simply trying to connect with others like me. You are very intuitive in your responses but you also have a hollow ground to base your lengthy response on. I respect your opinion but you are way off in assuming I'm passing judgement and ignorant of the issues of weight gain due to age or starting point. You are preaching to choir.

jwdieter

I'd guess over 3 billion people lose weight each day without counting calories. And I'd also guess over 4 billion people have never been overweight, also without counting calories.

Domineer

I think it's funny how some of us calorie counters seem threatened when someone is doing something different ! All of these " this is a calorie counting site". This site is so much more than a calorie in/ out log. There is tons of information about exercise. Many motivational threads. Success stories. Challenges. You can find groups that cover every exercise and eating choice. If the only purpose of MFP was to count calories it would not be as popular or as useful. So in an area about motivation and support - let's be supportive! Congratulations on your weight loss.

The most supportive thing anyone has said in this thread. Thank you for understanding the context of my post. Also, thank you to the others who also acknowledged my point and congratulated me. I was able to break my weight barrier by joining this website and learning from you guys. Seems to be more negative people on here than I thought. To the poster that said I have a lot of weight to lose and that I'm still a young guy....Go Figure!!! That is why I am here! And I am proud of my youth and wouldn't trade it for the world. Enjoying life.

I'm the one who said you're a young guy with alot to lose and that's why your plan is working--you don't get it at all. As you get older this won't work. It's easier to lose when you're younger. In 20 years I'd like to see you on this plan of yours. However, I don't want you to fail, and I don't think anyone on MFP wants that. All of the negative comments are from people that have seen it before. They are just trying to inform you to be careful as you get closer to goal so you won't stall. I think that's nice even if you don't.

What nonsense.

What do you think all those millions of human beings did to lose weight BEFORE the calorie was ever discovered? Or in the many parts of the world today where caloric labeling is spotty, at best, and access to calorie counting material is equally as unreliable? And sorry, not all of them were in their 20s.

Lets get real. Calorie counting has almost as abysmal long term statistics as any other weight loss method. It does not, even remotely, give you any kind of significant advantage for long term results, regardless of age.

To tell somebody that when they get old they're likely to fail if they don't calorie count, yet acting like calorie counting has been proven to be the holy grail, is so disingenuous. The VAST majority of people eventually fall off the calorie counting bandwagon. They get frustrated with walking that tightrope, rebel, and dive right off. Don't believe me? Check the statistics and studies.

If people learned to eat intuitively, as we once did naturally, we wouldn't even need calorie counting apps. Also learning to buck modern western society's obsession with avoiding hunger is helpful. We once understood hunger, and delayed gratification, was an absolutely normal, expected occurrence. Yes, it's going to be very difficult to lose without counting and logging for the rest of your life if you panic every single time a little hunger, or craving, comes knocking.

Dude, you are highly intelligent and I love the elaboration on the salient points I was trying to make. Calorie counting is a fairly new trend, in comparison to the amount of time the human being has existed on the planet. We are the fattest generation of people. Take your cell phone, car, bike, and modern food convenience places away and what do you have? A fit person with a habit of managing hunger responses to maintain a healthy weight. I never walk around hungry. When I feel hungry most times, it comes from the many years of responding to a false reflex that could have been curtailed with proper nutritional understanding and comprehension. I love food just like all Americans do. Now that I've lost my 80 lbs, I look at food differently and I don't base my life off of it. I actually enjoy the average 2 or 3 mile walk, whereas I had trouble walking 5 blocks without feeling exhausted in my heavier days. Calorie counting can be beneficial in many ways but if you cannot learn what you put in your body after years of eating the same foods that helped you achieve your weight goals, then your dependency is not going to sustain it as long as you think. That is all I was saying.

Madame_Goldbricker

Did people used to eat intuitively?

I assumed people originally used to eat whatever was there to maintain themselves till the next meal came along?

Is it not more that just due to the surplus and abundance of food these days that people now tend to over eat? In addition to the majority of processed foods are generally very high in calories and low in nutritional content?

Nikoruo

Honestly, it is true that counting all the time isn't the way to live. BUT some people just aren't good at going by eye and will either eat too much to too little. I personally enjoy eating until i'm satisfied... not stuffed but where i know i feel full. Now, that is never the amount of calories i should eat in a day! I also am not good (was not good) at knowing what is in what foods or how bad certain foods are compared to others. Counting i believe is the stepping stone to learning healthier choices and to learn your bodies ques at what is enough to eat vs what feels like enough to eat. This site and counting have helped me greatly. I've learned a lot and i can see more and more just how much i should be eating each day (visually.) When i get down to my goal weight i will run through maintenance to see how much i should be visually feeling and how it makes me feel and then eventually i'll stop counting when i feel that i can comfortably make the right choices for each meal. It's all to ones own preference. Helps some but not others! Congrats on your loss by the way!

perseverance14

Wait? Joined in December and lost 80 lbs but your ticker says 31? April Fools?

Counting calories helps teach people what healthy portion sizes are. A lot of times folks have a tough time losing weight until they get a scale and discover just how much they've been over estimating. You don't count calories and have lost weight? Good for you. Most people need to go through the learning experience though.

You said what I was going to say. I am going to keep counting even after I am done losing, for at least a few years, so I know I really have the portion thing down, although I am pretty good at eyeballing it now, I still measure and weigh.

Domineer

Honestly, it is true that counting all the time isn't the way to live. Counting i believe is the stepping stone to learning healthier choices and to learn your bodies ques at what is enough to eat vs what feels like enough to eat. This site and counting have helped me greatly. I've learned a lot and i can see more and more just how much i should be eating each day (visually.) When i get down to my goal weight i will run through maintenance to see how much i should be visually feeling and how it makes me feel and then eventually i'll stop counting when i feel that i can comfortably make the right choices for each meal. It's all to ones own preference. Helps some but not others! Congrats on your loss by the way!

Thank you for sharing your response I had to modify your quote because what you said encompasses the many responses I've made to people in this thread. Counting is good to help you get started and make progress, however, once you know the right choices to make, you should be able to gauge the amounts of food on your plate to sustain or lose the weight. It is a preferential option to weight loss or gain, and it just so happens to work for myself and many others. Gaining weight is not a problem for most of us lol. We all know how to gain weight, if we came from an overweight stage. It doesn't take calorie counting to do that. So why can't we learn how to lose or maintain without it as well?

chatogal

OP posts on a board for people that use a calorie counting app, boasting about never having counted calories.

-insert popcorn.gif-

A lot of people use the app to keep track of their macronutrient ratios, too, btw.

could he not just be giving his opinion? Didnt come across as "boasting" to me!!!