Anyone not counting calories and still get fit?

jasminecoco

I go over my calories limit on days I'm not exercising and it's impossible for me to exercise everyday, and I know that having calorie deficits is the only way to lose weight.
However, I don't want to eliminate the good stuff just for the sake of reducing calories (avocado for example).
Should I stop caring that much about calories and just focus on eating healthy? Is it possible to get fit and at least look lean with that? Any thoughts, critics, experience, stories are welcome

It is about the calories.

However, your daily goal is 1250 cals.

What's your height and weight and activity level? How much weight do you need to lose?

I want to lose 10 lbs. 160cm 116 lbs. Exercise 4-5 times a week, 1-1.5 hrs.
It's been so slow and I don't know how long it will take me to reach my goal ....

SabrinaLC

I don't count calories. I just eat well.

jasminecoco

I don't count calories, but I'm good with portion sizes and knowing how much I'm eating. I eat whatever I want, but in moderation. I know what I need to eat to cut and to maintain. Some people can lose weight and get fit without counting, but you can't just disregard your calorie intake. Weight loss is all about calories. Just eating "healthy foods" isn't going to get you there if you're eating too much.

And if your daily goal is 1250, you're probably going to go over because that's a very small amount of food. Maybe use some online calculators and come up with a realistic goal.

Great advice! THANK YOU!

SLLRunner

Pay lots of money for premeasured packaged food. All the programs that I have seen that say you don't need to count or measure or log are basically packaged programs that cost money or meal plans that are preset without wiggle room for real life.

ETA - There is no problem in losing slower and increasing your calories if you needed. You can also look at the week deficit instead of worrying too much about hte day to day.

Thanks for sharing, I didn't know about the premeasured packaged food.

If I were you I'd ignore that remark about the prepackaged food. Eat what you eat, just in moderation.

DeterminedFee201426

me personally if i only eat fruit & veggies i dont count the calories because i already know the ones i eat have little in them

jasminecoco

I think it depends on your goals, what is most important. You don't have to do everything at once, so if getting one thing under control is what you need to do, just know you can incorporate other details later.

Personally I have always had trouble with exercise. I think more the thought of it, the structure of it, than anything else. SO now I don't stress over it. But I do use a fitness tracker and make sure I get at least 10k-12k steps per day. Sometimes I take a walk at lunchtime for 30 minutes. I park away from the store and spend an extra 5-10 minutes walking around the store. I park and go into the bank, rather than use the drive thru. And in the evening if I'm not at my goal, I get on the treadmill or go for a walk in the neighborhood, or run in place while watching tv on a mini trampoline.

As for food - I live by the motto that I can have anything I want. That works by one of 3 scenarios... 1) I fit it into my 1400-1600 calories per day, and still make an effort to hit my protein needs and get a variety of fruits & veggies. 2) I eat higher and have an extra active day so that I still have my deficit. And 3) sometimes, about 2-3 times per month, I aim to eat at maintenance which works out to an extra 500 calories per day.

Thank you for sharing! Exercise everyday is not impossible, I just have to make small changes and I would try some of your suggestions.

jasminecoco

me personally if i only eat fruit & veggies i dont count the calories because i already know the ones i eat have little in them

Great and easy for you

jasminecoco

Pay lots of money for premeasured packaged food. All the programs that I have seen that say you don't need to count or measure or log are basically packaged programs that cost money or meal plans that are preset without wiggle room for real life.

ETA - There is no problem in losing slower and increasing your calories if you needed. You can also look at the week deficit instead of worrying too much about hte day to day.

Thanks for sharing, I didn't know about the premeasured packaged food.

If I were you I'd ignore that remark about the prepackaged food. Eat what you eat, just in moderation.

It's good to learn but I am not trying prepackaged food

usmcmp

me personally if i only eat fruit & veggies i dont count the calories because i already know the ones i eat have little in them

If you have a banana and an apple a day that's 200 calories you aren't counting. Doesn't matter if they "have little in them" they add up.

Fruit Calories Chart
Fruit and Serving Size Calories
Apple,1 raw apple with skin 81
Apricots, 3 medium 51
Avocado, 5oz or 145g 250
Banana, 1 medium 105
Blackberries, ½ cup (C) 37
Blueberries, ½ C 40
Sweet cherries, 10 49
Dried dates, 10 228
Dried figs, 10 477
Grapefruit, pink/red, ½ medium 39
Grapes, 1 C 58
Guava, 1 medium 46
Honeydew, 1 C, cubed 60
Kiwi, 1 medium 46
Mango, 1 medium 135
Nectarine, 1 medium 67
Navel orange, 1 medium 60
Papaya, 1 medium 119
Peach, 1 medium 37
Pear, 1 medium 98
Pineapple, 1 C 76
Plum, 1 medium 36
Dried prunes, 10 201
Seedless raisins, ⅔ C 300
Raspberries, ½ C 30
Strawberries, 1 C 45
Tangerine, 1 medium 37
Watermelon, 1 C, cubed 51

eslcity

I personally don't log everything just the main things i eat... but if i eat a laughing cow cheese cube or a slice of ham.. I don't see the issue since. .. I exercise regularly walking and lifting weights.. and while i'm not losing weight as fast as i once was... a couple of weeks i've actually gained a little.... but according to the fitness guru at the gym i have lose body -2% fat ...

I like the progress i'm doing about 1lbs to .5lbs or (1kg) a week... however, if I started seeing a problem.. I would start checking more closely...

12by311

I go over my calories limit on days I'm not exercising and it's impossible for me to exercise everyday, and I know that having calorie deficits is the only way to lose weight.
However, I don't want to eliminate the good stuff just for the sake of reducing calories (avocado for example).
Should I stop caring that much about calories and just focus on eating healthy? Is it possible to get fit and at least look lean with that? Any thoughts, critics, experience, stories are welcome

It is about the calories.

However, your daily goal is 1250 cals.

What's your height and weight and activity level? How much weight do you need to lose?

I want to lose 10 lbs. 160cm 116 lbs. Exercise 4-5 times a week, 1-1.5 hrs.
It's been so slow and I don't know how long it will take me to reach my goal ....

This website = http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/

gives you 1630 calories per day based on your weight/height/activity for your TDEE - 15% cut.

You only have 10 lbs you want to lose. It's going to be very slow...as it should be. Your goal should be to eat as much as possible while trying to lose weight...and when you shift to maintenance there won't be a huge "jump" in weight as you'll be upping to your maintenance calories (about 700 more cals from your 1250 you are eating now).

StaciMarie1974

I log everything, and generally I use a food scale. But for low calorie foods I estimate. 100grams of cucumbers is ALOT of cucumbers and only about 15 calories. 2 cups of spinach is a lot of spinach for 15 calories. So if I estimate I'm having 1 cup spinach w/ 50 grams cucumbers (about 15 calories) its not likely that I would have twice as much as I thought, but even if I did that's only 15 calories. I do weigh the cheese, dressing, fruits, other veggies, meat, etc. (May log berries, grapes cherry tomatoes, etc. by the each.) Bananas can be 80 calories to 125 depending on the size. Apples, I typically have the small ones and when I core them and weigh & eat the slices its about 70 calories. When I eat from the apple there is probably more waste, but I still log the 70.

If your dilemma is that you're just sick & tired of logging - then take a break if that's what you need. If you are within 10 pounds of your goal weight, then you're likely at a healthy BMI now. Just be reasonable in your choices, have an idea of what foods are worth, eat mindfully and aim for your maintenance range. In a few weeks reassess, do you still think you need to lose that last few pounds and are you ready to get back to steady logging?

If you don't have enough calories to eat per day, and you're within 10 pounds of your goal weight, then go for a sedentary setup on MFP (based on you mentioned you don't exercise much - if your day job is not sedentary then choose lightly active) and put a goal of .5 pounds per week as that will only be a deficit of 250. BUT if that is your deficit then weighing everything will be crucial as a small deficit will be destroyed by logging inaccuracy. And make it a personal goal to get in 90 minutes of exercise a week. In time increase that as you can.

lemurcat12

Yes, like everyone said, it's calories, although just focusing on nutrient dense foods might cause you to eat lower calories without thinking about it. I personally wouldn't stop counting, but you don't have that much to lose and know what your experience is. You might be someone who wants to focus more on recomposition at this point.

However, to the specific problem of not being able to exercise every day and going over your calories, it's an easier fix.

(1) Your calories are probably too low. You might have your goal at 2 or 1.5 lb/week, and that's really too aggressive for the total you want to lose. You probably want to be closer to maintenance and not risk losing any muscle, vs. fat.

(2) It might work better for you to focus on a weekly goal instead of a daily one, and then you can have the extra calories from exercise spread out throughout the week.

You can do this simply by estimating the amount you exercise in a week, dividing by 7, and then adding that to your daily calories and not logging the calorie count for your workouts subsequently (put in one calorie).

Or, to address both (1) and (2), check out the TDEE method, which basically cuts calories from your maintenance (including your average exercise and activity). There are lots of TDEE calculators (here's one that has a few different methods: http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/) that you can find to estimate your maintenance (it's an estimate, of course), and then you can cut 10% from those. That will almost certainly give you a much higher calorie goal where you should still be losing weight, although you might have to adjust it a little.

12by311

Also want to add, if you are currently maintaining, you could always throw the scale out and use other ways to assess your goals. If being lean and fit is your goal, there are exercise programs (For example: lifting weights) to help get you there. Rather than just focusing on a goal weight, you would be checking your measurements, taking pictures, and checking the mirror.

eslcity

me personally if i only eat fruit & veggies i dont count the calories because i already know the ones i eat have little in them

If you have a banana and an apple a day that's 200 calories you aren't counting. Doesn't matter if they "have little in them" they add up.

Fruit Calories Chart
Fruit and Serving Size Calories
Apple,1 raw apple with skin 81
Apricots, 3 medium 51
Avocado, 5oz or 145g 250
Banana, 1 medium 105
Blackberries, ½ cup (C) 37
Blueberries, ½ C 40
Sweet cherries, 10 49
Dried dates, 10 228
Dried figs, 10 477
Grapefruit, pink/red, ½ medium 39
Grapes, 1 C 58
Guava, 1 medium 46
Honeydew, 1 C, cubed 60
Kiwi, 1 medium 46
Mango, 1 medium 135
Nectarine, 1 medium 67
etc etc...

______________

Sure if anyone was eatting all that fruit it would add up quick... but most people maybe eat an apple or two... it is easy to figure 160 calories without logging it...^^

butlersoft

In answer to the OP original question :

NO - you will NOT get fit unless you exercise.

At a calorific deficit (whether achieved by counting / guessing / whatever) - you will LOSE weight.

Weight Loss is NOT EQUAL to getting fit.

Exercise helps to increase the calorific deficit so you can in turn, eat more for the same net loss ..... but the additional benefits of exercise are increased fitness / strength / building of lean body mass. It is exercise alone that gets you fit.

jasminecoco

In answer to the OP original question :

NO - you will NOT get fit unless you exercise.

At a calorific deficit (whether achieved by counting / guessing / whatever) - you will LOSE weight.

Weight Loss is NOT EQUAL to getting fit.

Exercise helps to increase the calorific deficit so you can in turn, eat more for the same net loss ..... but the additional benefits of exercise are increased fitness / strength / building of lean body mass. It is exercise alone that gets you fit.

Thanks for distinguishing the two. I did mix them up ... My goal is to get fit while losing weight. Exercise is not a concern, but i'm such a foody person

cwolfman13

I don't log anymore and have been maintaining both my weight and my fitness for over a year now. I did log when I was losing my initial weight as I had no clue what I needed in RE to calories and didn't know much about proper nutrition or what my body really needed either. I took those six months of logging and used them not only to lose weight, but to actually learn something about nutrition and how my body works and what my body needs at various activity levels and intensity of activity.

This has served me well in maintenance for a year now as I haven't had to log anything. I'm currently in a very small cut to try to get down to around 12-15% BF and am losing slowly without logging as well; I've lost about 3 Lbs in the past 6 weeks or so which is right on par with my goal of about 0.5 Lbs per week as a general trend.

Knowledge is power and calorie counting was an outstanding tool that I used to gain a high degree of knowledge about nutrition and how to properly fuel my body.

jasminecoco

I log everything, and generally I use a food scale. But for low calorie foods I estimate. 100grams of cucumbers is ALOT of cucumbers and only about 15 calories. 2 cups of spinach is a lot of spinach for 15 calories. So if I estimate I'm having 1 cup spinach w/ 50 grams cucumbers (about 15 calories) its not likely that I would have twice as much as I thought, but even if I did that's only 15 calories. I do weigh the cheese, dressing, fruits, other veggies, meat, etc. (May log berries, grapes cherry tomatoes, etc. by the each.) Bananas can be 80 calories to 125 depending on the size. Apples, I typically have the small ones and when I core them and weigh & eat the slices its about 70 calories. When I eat from the apple there is probably more waste, but I still log the 70.

If your dilemma is that you're just sick & tired of logging - then take a break if that's what you need. If you are within 10 pounds of your goal weight, then you're likely at a healthy BMI now. Just be reasonable in your choices, have an idea of what foods are worth, eat mindfully and aim for your maintenance range. In a few weeks reassess, do you still think you need to lose that last few pounds and are you ready to get back to steady logging?

If you don't have enough calories to eat per day, and you're within 10 pounds of your goal weight, then go for a sedentary setup on MFP (based on you mentioned you don't exercise much - if your day job is not sedentary then choose lightly active) and put a goal of .5 pounds per week as that will only be a deficit of 250. BUT if that is your deficit then weighing everything will be crucial as a small deficit will be destroyed by logging inaccuracy. And make it a personal goal to get in 90 minutes of exercise a week. In time increase that as you can.

I saw a great point, logging EVERYTHING can be fun and frustrating at the same time. Estimating vegetables can help a bit

usmcmp

me personally if i only eat fruit & veggies i dont count the calories because i already know the ones i eat have little in them

If you have a banana and an apple a day that's 200 calories you aren't counting. Doesn't matter if they "have little in them" they add up.

Fruit Calories Chart
Fruit and Serving Size Calories
Apple,1 raw apple with skin 81
Apricots, 3 medium 51
Avocado, 5oz or 145g 250
Banana, 1 medium 105
Blackberries, ½ cup (C) 37
Blueberries, ½ C 40
Sweet cherries, 10 49
Dried dates, 10 228
Dried figs, 10 477
Grapefruit, pink/red, ½ medium 39
Grapes, 1 C 58
Guava, 1 medium 46
Honeydew, 1 C, cubed 60
Kiwi, 1 medium 46
Mango, 1 medium 135
Nectarine, 1 medium 67
etc etc...

______________

Sure if anyone was eatting all that fruit it would add up quick... but most people maybe eat an apple or two... it is easy to figure 160 calories without logging it...^^

If a short woman with only a few pounds to lose didn't count those and only had a 300 calorie deficit she'd basically wipe the deficit out with a piece of fruit and 4 cups of vegetables. Then she would wonder why she isn't losing.