Losing Weight Without Counting Calories
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I would say that optimal fitness is achieved through a well thought out combination of exercise and diet. The specific protocol would depend on the unique goals of the individual.Fitness is not just about counting calories, right?
I get the idea of not counting. I've counted long enough that I can maintain for months without counting a single calorie. What I don't get is the idea of "intuitive eating" with regards to fitness goals. How does intuitive eating work when trying to hit specific macro targets? If I'm under on my protein intake for the day will my body crave protein? Will it crave fat if I'm under on my fat goals for the day?0 -
well, if you don't have money , you don't have money. but food....is always available.0
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I've lost plenty before on low carb without calorie counting at all, though I kept my portions sensible. I couldn't maintain it though, so this time I'm giving calorie counting a go as I don't have to give up bread, which I'm quite partial too.0
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Probably not, but if I know that the typical size chicken breasts I buy weigh about X grams and have about Y and Z protein and fat, I can probably get by without a scale at some point. I had no real clue about any of that until I starred counting, but that doesn't mean I'll have to count forever.
I would say that optimal fitness is achieved through a well thought out combination of exercise and diet. The specific protocol would depend on the unique goals of the individual.Fitness is not just about counting calories, right?
I get the idea of not counting. I've counted long enough that I can maintain for months without counting a single calorie. What I don't get is the idea of "intuitive eating" with regards to fitness goals. How does intuitive eating work when trying to hit specific macro targets? If I'm under on my protein intake for the day will my body crave protein? Will it crave fat if I'm under on my fat goals for the day?
Now, if you're trying to hit some hyper-accurate goal, you'll probably need to weigh. For me, since I'm not a bodybuilder or fitness model, I just need to be in the ballpark.0 -
I think my body does crave missing macros/nutrients over time, but probably not daily.
I would say that optimal fitness is achieved through a well thought out combination of exercise and diet. The specific protocol would depend on the unique goals of the individual.Fitness is not just about counting calories, right?
I get the idea of not counting. I've counted long enough that I can maintain for months without counting a single calorie. What I don't get is the idea of "intuitive eating" with regards to fitness goals. How does intuitive eating work when trying to hit specific macro targets? If I'm under on my protein intake for the day will my body crave protein? Will it crave fat if I'm under on my fat goals for the day?0 -
simple learn to stop eating when your full instead of eating more because it tastes good.
Listening yo your body takes practice but it will not lie to you if you pay attention.0 -
Are you suggesting that getting full on ice cream has the same implications as getting full on tomatoes or chicken breast? If not, then you've oversimplified.simple learn to stop eating when your full instead of eating more because it tastes good.
Listening yo your body takes practice but it will not lie to you if you pay attention.0 -
Are you suggesting that getting full on ice cream has the same implications as getting full on tomatoes or chicken breast? If not, then you've oversimplified.simple learn to stop eating when your full instead of eating more because it tastes good.
Listening yo your body takes practice but it will not lie to you if you pay attention.
getting full on ice cream and nothing else will make most people feel not so great. If you know how to listen to your body you would realize that. I have maintained my weigh loss for 12 years. I feel pretty confident about my methods0 -
I'm not suggesting that your methods don't work for you.
Are you suggesting that getting full on ice cream has the same implications as getting full on tomatoes or chicken breast? If not, then you've oversimplified.simple learn to stop eating when your full instead of eating more because it tastes good.
Listening yo your body takes practice but it will not lie to you if you pay attention.
getting full on ice cream and nothing else will make most people feel not so great. If you know how to listen to your body you would realize that. I have maintained my weigh loss for 12 years. I feel pretty confident about my methods
I could go pull the Blue Bell Dutch Chocolate out of the freezer right now and eat four cups of it -- 1280 calories -- without any problem at all and while feeling just fine. Well, physically, anyway. I'd be pretty stuffed if I ate close to a pound of chicken breast to get the same 1280 calories.0 -
I'm not suggesting that your methods don't work for you.
Are you suggesting that getting full on ice cream has the same implications as getting full on tomatoes or chicken breast? If not, then you've oversimplified.simple learn to stop eating when your full instead of eating more because it tastes good.
Listening yo your body takes practice but it will not lie to you if you pay attention.
getting full on ice cream and nothing else will make most people feel not so great. If you know how to listen to your body you would realize that. I have maintained my weigh loss for 12 years. I feel pretty confident about my methods
I could go pull the Blue Bell Dutch Chocolate out of the freezer right now and eat four cups of it -- 1280 calories -- without any problem at all and while feeling just fine. Well, physically, anyway. I'd be pretty stuffed if I ate close to a pound of chicken breast to get the same 1280 calories.
I love my ice cream, I love my chocolate and I ate plenty of it in order to get to 330 lbs. I did not feel good at 330 lbs and I did not feel good eating that way. I believe in general a person who eats as much ice cream as you claim you can eat and feel fine on a regular basis is not going to feel so great. Doing it once in a while will not make you over weight. Doing it all the time will. Anyone claiming that they can live on a day to day basis eating heavy caloric food and feel good (as good as you feel when you learn to eat a healthy lifestyle) is an anomaly or NOT listening to their body. I eat chocolate every day and full fat cheese
I do not eat a ton of it and I stop eating when I am full 0 -
I'm not suggesting that your methods don't work for you.
Are you suggesting that getting full on ice cream has the same implications as getting full on tomatoes or chicken breast? If not, then you've oversimplified.simple learn to stop eating when your full instead of eating more because it tastes good.
Listening yo your body takes practice but it will not lie to you if you pay attention.
getting full on ice cream and nothing else will make most people feel not so great. If you know how to listen to your body you would realize that. I have maintained my weigh loss for 12 years. I feel pretty confident about my methods
I could go pull the Blue Bell Dutch Chocolate out of the freezer right now and eat four cups of it -- 1280 calories -- without any problem at all and while feeling just fine. Well, physically, anyway. I'd be pretty stuffed if I ate close to a pound of chicken breast to get the same 1280 calories.
I love my ice cream, I love my chocolate and I ate plenty of it in order to get to 330 lbs. I did not feel good at 330 lbs and I did not feel good eating that way. I believe in general a person who eats as much ice cream as you claim you can eat and feel fine on a regular basis is not going to feel so great. Doing it once in a while will not make you over weight. Doing it all the time will. Anyone claiming that they can live on a day to day basis eating heavy caloric food and feel good (as good as you feel when you learn to eat a healthy lifestyle) is an anomaly or NOT listening to their body. I eat chocolate every day and full fat cheese I do not eat a ton of it and I stop eating when I am full
I also could not eat that much chicken or that much ice cream with out ignoring when I am full.
OMG 4 cups!!! I would get sick! Not the case when I was living a day to day unhealthy life and morbidly obese. Years of learning to listen to my body and learning when to stop has opened my eyes. I had no clue how bad I felt before I learned how to listen to my body.0 -
Are you suggesting that getting full on ice cream has the same implications as getting full on tomatoes or chicken breast? If not, then you've oversimplified.simple learn to stop eating when your full instead of eating more because it tastes good.
Listening yo your body takes practice but it will not lie to you if you pay attention.
Ice cream is arguably my favorite food.
Yet I can't get "full" off it. I have to eat an incredible amount, to the point of discomfort, before I even want to stop. It's amazing. That doesn't prove to be the case with any other food, save certain cookies and cake.0 -
I hear you I used to be the exact same way! My husband was shocked at the amount of ice cream I packed away. I am telling you when I was doing that (all the time) I was not paying attention. I did not even know what it felt like to be full.0
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But do you believe that in time with a lot of practice you could learn to choose what your body is lacking and also sometimes eat the ice cream in small portions? I don't think our bodies ask for 4 cups of ice cream. I think our mouths do and we purposely ignore the other 'voices'.I could go pull the Blue Bell Dutch Chocolate out of the freezer right now and eat four cups of it -- 1280 calories -- without any problem at all and while feeling just fine. Well, physically, anyway. I'd be pretty stuffed if I ate close to a pound of chicken breast to get the same 1280 calories.
But I think with the extreme deficits you run, your body might be asking for a fat-laden, 1280 calorie, 10 minute infusion, too. Hard to say, because it's ice cream. 0 -
I hear you I used to be the exact same way! My husband was shocked at the amount of ice cream I packed away. I am telling you when I was doing that (all the time) I was not paying attention. I did not even know what it felt like to be full.
Right. I can eat intuitively with a good 98% of food, no problem. It's taken a long time but I've got excellent control with nearly every food out there. Pizza, fries, potato chips, pasta, bread, soda, candy, many other enjoyable foods that tend to be trouble spots for folks, I can take or leave them, and have gone months, even years at a time without even craving them. I have become the person who really can just have a couple chips. I can dive into a pizza that tastes like heaven and be good for another two years.
I can't overeat on chicken breast (another favorite food). Or most any of my staple foods. I stop when satisfied no matter how good they taste.
Yet damnit if ice cream, certain cookies and cakes, don't still completely override my well honed hunger cues. I can still throw down HARD with those items. Which is why I don't limit them in quantity when I do have them, I just control the days that I enjoy them.
Like you said before, it's overindulging in those things every day, or nearly every day, that is the problem.0 -
Yes i do believe your body can learn. I do not limit what I want to eat. I eat any food that I want. I did over simplify. Portion control and listening to your body. I think If I ate my teats before having my dinner I might not make the best choice Or if I waited way to long to eat 0
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And it took years of learning and a slow weight loss journey to figure this out. Good luck to anyone trying to obtain balance0
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It's great that you have been able to achieve your goals this way, but I believe it's irresponsible to encourage others to engage in such unhealthy behaviors. IF is mostly fine for the short-term, but unhealthy in the long-term. Moreover, it's not conducive to supporting an active lifestyle and there is absolutely no empirical evidence to support its effectiveness compared to an equivalent calorie deficit spread out evenly throughout the day. As for the "as much as (you) want" in regards to sweets, the problems with that approach are endless ranging from weight gain to eating disorders to diabetes, CHD, etc. Again, I think it's great that you have found a way to achieve your goals, but I don't think you should be encouraging others to follow you down the very unhealthy path that you've chosen.
I am an IFaster and its long term with me...I follow Fast:5 method eating only during a f hour window and so it works and I have been doing it since the last 6 months and have lost a pound a week even when not exercising. It hasn't been unhealthy but I have been logging in my food diary but only for the five hours I eat. I walk between 5-10 Kms a day and it my IFasting has never been an issue, actually it has given me more energy than I have ever had doing normal diets....I think you have to try it first before you can judge others...I used to be totally against any fasting until I did my research and tried it myself, now I believe it has saved my life, but I do agree that we who experience the joys of fasting cannot encourage others to do it without much research first.0 -
It's great that you have been able to achieve your goals this way, but I believe it's irresponsible to encourage others to engage in such unhealthy behaviors. IF is mostly fine for the short-term, but unhealthy in the long-term. Moreover, it's not conducive to supporting an active lifestyle and there is absolutely no empirical evidence to support its effectiveness compared to an equivalent calorie deficit spread out evenly throughout the day. As for the "as much as (you) want" in regards to sweets, the problems with that approach are endless ranging from weight gain to eating disorders to diabetes, CHD, etc. Again, I think it's great that you have found a way to achieve your goals, but I don't think you should be encouraging others to follow you down the very unhealthy path that you've chosen.
I am an IFaster and its long term with me...I follow Fast:5 method eating only during a f hour window and so it works and I have been doing it since the last 6 months and have lost a pound a week even when not exercising. It hasn't been unhealthy but I have been logging in my food diary but only for the five hours I eat. I walk between 5-10 Kms a day and it my IFasting has never been an issue, actually it has given me more energy than I have ever had doing normal diets....I think you have to try it first before you can judge others...I used to be totally against any fasting until I did my research and tried it myself, now I believe it has saved my life, but I do agree that we who experience the joys of fasting cannot encourage others to do it without much research first.
sorry typo error, I meant "five hour window" within my day...0 -
Absolutely I believe I can do that, otherwise all of this is just a waste of time and effort that will just see me gain everything back and more.
But do you believe that in time with a lot of practice you could learn to choose what your body is lacking and also sometimes eat the ice cream in small portions? I don't think our bodies ask for 4 cups of ice cream. I think our mouths do and we purposely ignore the other 'voices'.I could go pull the Blue Bell Dutch Chocolate out of the freezer right now and eat four cups of it -- 1280 calories -- without any problem at all and while feeling just fine. Well, physically, anyway. I'd be pretty stuffed if I ate close to a pound of chicken breast to get the same 1280 calories.
But I think with the extreme deficits you run, your body might be asking for a fat-laden, 1280 calorie, 10 minute infusion, too. Hard to say, because it's ice cream.
I used to eat a gallon of ice cream a week just to try to keep from losing weight back when I played sports. My body definitely used to ask for it. It's conceivable it's only habit when I eat a lot now, but it definitely doesn't stuff me even when I eat a lot.
I think part of it is just that I am gargantuan and will be even at a normal BMI. The next time you walk through a standard height doorway, look up. I have to duck to go through one. Four cups of ice cream just doesn't seem like much to me, but given that I don't burn calories the way I used to, I have to think about it as being a lot. Heck, being 100 pounds overweight didn't look like anywhere near that much.
For the record, though, I eat some kind of ice cream almost every day.0 -
I used to eat a gallon of ice cream a week just to try to keep from losing weight back when I played sports.
What's funny though is that a "gallon" of ice cream is roughly 7-8 cups, depending on the manufacturer. Now lets say you polished that off in one or two days. That sounds like a ton of ice cream to most people.
Yet I see lots of IIFYM/everything in moderation eaters around here who have a cup of ice cream every night. They're eating about a standard gallon of ice cream per week, but it seems far more "healthy" because they're eating it across seven days.0 -
This thread starts depressing me since page 3...
I don't know how much I have suffered pointlessly since I started trying to lose weight...I stopped eating all this stuff but still no weight loss. Life isn't fair.0 -
I don't mean to belittle your frustration but I think most of us look at your avatar pics and think you got a pretty fair shake in the genetics department. It's troubling that you are so thin and are tearing your hair out over your perceived fatness. :ohwell: But I also know how you feel. I'm 10 lbs. above healthy BMI now and I occasionally also feel like 'it's not fair' because I don't get to indulge in much these days, except in small portions and/or very infrequently. I try to remind myself I'm healthy and happy and mostly human-shaped and am in a good place physically, despite some bulges. You will very likely see that about yourself someday.0
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I have a serious question about this topic. Why do you use MFP if this is your chosen method of weight loss and/or maintenance? I was under the impression that MFP is a self-described calorie tracking app.
This.
It's great you lost a bunch of weight and all, but why are you here, on a site that is specifically meant to assist in counting calories...if you don't like counting calories? :huh:
MFP is the biggest weight loss website there is, that's why I am here. I don't count or exercise.0 -
I don't mean to belittle your frustration but I think most of us look at your avatar pics and think you got a pretty fair shake in the genetics department. It's troubling that you are so thin and are tearing your hair out over your perceived fatness. :ohwell: But I also know how you feel. I'm 10 lbs. above healthy BMI now and I occasionally also feel like 'it's not fair' because I don't get to indulge in much these days, except in small portions and/or very infrequently. I try to remind myself I'm healthy and happy and mostly human-shaped and am in a good place physically, despite some bulges. You will very likely see that about yourself someday.
thank you. I truely believe you really care hence every time you spend time and write to me with your heart. Maybe someday I will but it's a long process I know. I will keep trying. :flowerforyou:0 -
This thread starts depressing me since page 3...
I don't know how much I have suffered pointlessly since I started trying to lose weight...I stopped eating all this stuff but still no weight loss. Life isn't fair.
your profile pic seems very thin and fit. You could be having problems because you do not need to loose any weight?
what is your goal weight?0 -
I have a serious question about this topic. Why do you use MFP if this is your chosen method of weight loss and/or maintenance? I was under the impression that MFP is a self-described calorie tracking app.
This.
It's great you lost a bunch of weight and all, but why are you here, on a site that is specifically meant to assist in counting calories...if you don't like counting calories? :huh:
WHY do people keep saying this??? This is not just a "calorie counting site". I dont count either but i come here for the blogs, the forums, for recipe ideas...and the list goes on.0 -
I have a serious question about this topic. Why do you use MFP if this is your chosen method of weight loss and/or maintenance? I was under the impression that MFP is a self-described calorie tracking app.
This.
It's great you lost a bunch of weight and all, but why are you here, on a site that is specifically meant to assist in counting calories...if you don't like counting calories? :huh:
WHY do people keep saying this??? This is not just a "calorie counting site". I dont count either but i come here for the blogs, the forums, for recipe ideas...and the list goes on.
I have wondered this also. There are people on here trying to gain weight, People like myself who are trying not to loose any more weight and some people who enjoy the site.0 -
I have a serious question about this topic. Why do you use MFP if this is your chosen method of weight loss and/or maintenance? I was under the impression that MFP is a self-described calorie tracking app.
This.
It's great you lost a bunch of weight and all, but why are you here, on a site that is specifically meant to assist in counting calories...if you don't like counting calories? :huh:
WHY do people keep saying this??? This is not just a "calorie counting site". I dont count either but i come here for the blogs, the forums, for recipe ideas...and the list goes on.
Just some folks being incredibly narrow and myopic. It's pretty common around here the "why are you here if you're not doing it my way/the majority way" mentality.
Let it give you a chuckle and keep right on moving.0 -
But do you believe that in time with a lot of practice you could learn to choose what your body is lacking and also sometimes eat the ice cream in small portions? I don't think our bodies ask for 4 cups of ice cream. I think our mouths do and we purposely ignore the other 'voices'.I could go pull the Blue Bell Dutch Chocolate out of the freezer right now and eat four cups of it -- 1280 calories -- without any problem at all and while feeling just fine. Well, physically, anyway. I'd be pretty stuffed if I ate close to a pound of chicken breast to get the same 1280 calories.
This has definitely been my experience. I can crave 4 cups, or MORE, of ice cream pretty easily. But I definitely know there's a difference between hunger and that craving. Once you get that distinction it goes a long way toward helping your lose, or maintain, weight without the counting.
But it does require you to step out quite a bit and trust yourself to abide by those cues the majority of the time.0
This discussion has been closed.
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