To count calories or to not count calories?

navygrrl

I have tried all sorts of different diets/fads, and the only thing that has worked for me has been counting calories. I don't do well with diets that restrict any sorts of foods, and I normally last maybe 3 weeks doing any of that. I've only been doing this for two months, but it's something I can see myself maintaining for the rest of my life. I really love food, and counting calories allows me to enjoy all the foods, just not at the same portions as before.

FoxyLifter

Calorie deficit is needed for weight loss. Many, many people (including myself) SUCK at estimating calories eaten. I need to weigh my food (in grams preferably) AND search the database for the correct database entry (a lot of entries are mathematically impossible and/or don't provide a weight. I'm not logging one small avocado, I'm logging 90g of avocado. Huge difference).

jeffininer

I have to count calories because otherwise I'd eat way too much. I have a tendency to graze and not pay attention. Calorie counting keeps me accountable and keeps it in the fore front of my mind. Do I get obsessive? Yes. But that's only because i need to be in order to have success.

Sabine_Stroehm

You do need to be in a calorie deficit to lose weight. How you go about creating that deficit and tracking that deficit is up to you.

This. I lost my weight without calorie counting. There were no apps when I lost.

bridgew24

I did several months of counting, and now I've gone several months without.
I think counting is great to give you an idea of how many BAD calories are in certain things (this muffin is 400cal what?!!).
I stepped on the scale for the first time after 2 months (and no gym as I've moved and been lazy as!), I was fearing the worst however I've only gained a kilo and a half.
What I'm trying to say is counting is good for
1) letting you know where you're wasting calories
2) training your body to eat a certain amount of good calories and be satisfied by that

If anything counting made me obsess too much over food and have more cravings as it was always on my mind.

Sabine_Stroehm

......this is a calorie counting site

Actually, it's a health and fitness site too.

melmckay99

Counting calories on MFP is a great way to learn how to eat to achieve your goals, whatever they may be. For some, counting calories is sustainable and can become a part of their everyday life without affecting other aspects of themselves such as their sanity (for example). Others become obsessive, compulisive and/or anxious (such as myself) when trying to count calories for too long and always trying to be 'perfect' ineveitbly leads to failing. It made me feel insane and I still feel a bit insane from having gone through it. . I haven't logged, measured or weighed one crumb of food for about 2 months now and I can slowly feel myself getting back to 'normal' (whatever that may be!).

All that to say, it's up to you to figure out what will work best for you. You can read and listen to all the advice you want, but it will be trial and error that will lead you to eventually find he 'right way' for you.

Vincisomethng

Yeah, I never noticed. The reason I use this site is because it seems to be one of the most popular weight loss sites and there are other features on this site. I still know people that didn't count calories but still managed. What I'm asking if using the counting calorie feature is absolutely necessary.

DavPul

......this is a calorie counting site

Actually, it's a health and fitness site too.

and a dating site.

Vincisomethng

......this is a calorie counting site

Actually, it's a health and fitness site too.

The reason I use this site is because it seems to be one of the most popular weight loss sites and there are other features on this site. I still know people that didn't count calories but still managed. What I'm asking if using the counting calorie feature is absolutely necessary. Though, through looking at all the replies, I have started logging in my food intake. Consistency is going to be quite a challenge for me, though.

knra_grl

Yeah, I never noticed. The reason I use this site is because it seems to be one of the most popular weight loss sites and there are other features on this site. I still know people that didn't count calories but still managed. What I'm asking if using the counting calorie feature is absolutely necessary.

No if you think you can successfully lose weight and keep it off without counting calories, but if your loss stalls, how will you determine what to change? Reasons can vary from too few calories, too many calories, high sodium, etc. It's a tool that is put before us to use and it's free so why not learn and figure out what works for you? By the time I hit maintenance, I will likely still be counting calories as it has become a habit for me and has kept me on track for the most part. Why negate the benefits of something that has worked for so many?

Pangea250

Sounds like you need to figure this one out for yourself. Try not counting & just eat healthy. If you lose weight, it works for you. If it doesn't, then you probably need to count.

For me? I need to count.

Vincisomethng

You do need to be in a calorie deficit to lose weight. How you go about creating that deficit and tracking that deficit is up to you.

^ this.

If you cannot log regularly/consistently then I guess that if you weighed yourself regularly and looked at your overall trend you would soon figure out if you are eating in a deficit or not & then you could adjust your diet accordingly but it would be a lot more accurate just to log your food in the first place and track your intake. If logging is really not something you want to do forever, you could always relax your logging once you have been weighing/measuring food for a while and are more confident in assessing portions by eye.

When you workout, calories are subtracted from your daily goal. Do you have to maintain eating at that calorie goal? Because for some reason it feels like when I burn 300 calories when I work out and eat 300 or more to maintain the daily calorie goal, it feels like I'm maintaining, not losing. Can someone tell me how this works? I know eating too less calories is really bad, but I want to lose, not maintain.

Bonnies411

According to my reseached, people who log the food they eat, are more successful in weight loss. It personally keeps me accountable. However, I could see how people can get obsessive with counting their calorie intake. It's not for everyone. Good luck!

leggup

I recommend counting calories, at least for 30 days or so. That way, you get a good handle on the serving sizes and calorie information for foods that you commonly eat (as long as it's a normal month- not going on a 30 day vacation or something). Then, theoretically, you could eyeball things with some accuracy.

I like calorie counting and weighing my food because there is no doubt. I also know that, when I'm trying to lose weight, I actually tend to undereat by overestimating my calories. Then, because I'm so hungry, I fail to maintain my weight loss.

I am a vegetarian. I don't eat from the vending machine. I don't eat cake or ice cream or donuts or pizza. I might have a serving or 2 of chips once a month. And yet, I gained this weight. Just eating 'healthy' isn't enough for me.

asciiqwerty

I always see contradicting tips about this. Some people say to count your calories. You need to be calorie deficit to lose weight and counting calories keeps you on track. Others say to ditch counting calories because it can get stressful and even obsessive- just eat healthy. The thing is there are a lot of people that either went the counting calorie route or the ditching calorie route and either side ended up with success stories. I try to keep my food logs on here, but it's not something I can be really consistent on.

MFP is a calorie and macro tracking resource (app/web)

people who stick around are likely to be the ones for whom tracking has worked or is working

what's right for you is up to you

if you're struggling with tracking consistently, why not try to set yourself a shorter term target:
>Tomorrow, I'll weigh and log everything I eat
when you can do that try:
>the next two days, I'll weigh and log everything I eat

and build up, when i started logging, i found it really hard on weekends, I promised myself to log "this weekend" and I managed and over the 10 days I logged I lost, and since i've been keeping it up

sometimes i get less accurate in measuring, and that's fine as long as i'm still loosing, but when my loss slows down the first thing i do is get more accurate about my logging

good luck

Jclifford253

I will just tell you what I have done that has worked for me. I set my goals up to lose 2 lbs per week and maintain a sedentary normal daily activities. I actually think my lifestyle is more lightly active but I wanted to make sure I was keeping under my goal caloric intake. I have occasionally changed my lifestyle and weight loss goals to somewhat active and maintain just to see if I am still under what I should be intake wise. This has certainly worked for me. Even on the days where I drank some beers and ate chips and salsa. Like most have said, I think you just need to find what works for you. Good luck.

lemurcat12

When you workout, calories are subtracted from your daily goal. Do you have to maintain eating at that calorie goal? Because for some reason it feels like when I burn 300 calories when I work out and eat 300 or more to maintain the daily calorie goal, it feels like I'm maintaining, not losing. Can someone tell me how this works? I know eating too less calories is really bad, but I want to lose, not maintain.

You lose weight by creating a deficit between the calories you need to maintain (the total calories you are burning) and those you eat. In general, a deficit of 3500 in a week (500/day)=one pound lost. If the deficit is too high you will lack energy (on average) and over time your body will counteract this by reducing the amount you are burning (reduced metabolism). So, for that and other reasons, you don't want too high a deficit, although what's right depends on how overweight you are.

Ideally, you create the target deficit with a combination of cutting calories and increasing exercise (and thus the amount burned). A lot of plans calculate it that way, and this prevents you from having to cut calories too drastically. What MFP does is that no matter how much you say you plan to exercise, the starting goal will assume that you do no exercise (since a lot of people don't). But that means calories are cut much more (500 per day for each pound you are trying to lose in a week) than in plans where exercise is also assumed. Thus, as you exercise, you get calories back, resulting in a deficit that's made up partly of calorie cutting and partly of exercise.

Why it's not counterproductive is that the new goal you are given still includes the very same deficit.

Be careful, however, that estimates for calories burned from exercise are often too high. Use your judgment.

knra_grl

You do need to be in a calorie deficit to lose weight. How you go about creating that deficit and tracking that deficit is up to you.

^ this.

If you cannot log regularly/consistently then I guess that if you weighed yourself regularly and looked at your overall trend you would soon figure out if you are eating in a deficit or not & then you could adjust your diet accordingly but it would be a lot more accurate just to log your food in the first place and track your intake. If logging is really not something you want to do forever, you could always relax your logging once you have been weighing/measuring food for a while and are more confident in assessing portions by eye.

When you workout, calories are subtracted from your daily goal. Do you have to maintain eating at that calorie goal? Because for some reason it feels like when I burn 300 calories when I work out and eat 300 or more to maintain the daily calorie goal, it feels like I'm maintaining, not losing. Can someone tell me how this works? I know eating too less calories is really bad, but I want to lose, not maintain.

When you use the MFP method your calorie goal is set at a deficit based on the information you provide, exercise creates a bigger deficit. You don't have to eat back ALL your exercise calories but some of them. Not sure what your weekly weight loss goal is set at but if it's at 2 lbs per week, then the calorie goal before exercise is the minimum you should be eating, calories added by exercise are also an estimation, so eating back 1/3 to 3/4 is probably the sensible route to take. Just make sure at the end of the day that your deficit isn't too large, the point of MFP is to lose weight in a healthy way and not to risk your health by eating too few calories. Everyone is different, you have to find what works for you.

Sabine_Stroehm

......this is a calorie counting site

Actually, it's a health and fitness site too.

and a dating site.

Indeed. And social site.