FORGET counting calories!

Unknown

This content has been removed.

Unknown

This content has been removed.

MelodyandBarbells

not only do I log on MFP I also have an excel table to track weekly calorie and macro averages. I generally like charts and graphs so it is even fun for me.

the "non loggers" can hate all they want but it's worked for me, so go ahead and continue to tell me I'm doing it wrong while you continue to fail LOL

If this post is aimed at me please show me where I told you you were doing it wrong and show me how I am continuing to fail?

Its great that logging has worked for you, but it doesn't work for everybody and for some people it can make them eat more than they used to and binge eat. There is more than one way of losing, gaining or maintaining weight. You want to weigh food and fiddle with excel charts for the rest of your life great. I don't and I fully intend to still enjoy eating out, drinking alcohol and eating treats in moderation without putting weight back on or logging. There are different ways and means of achieving the same result and each works so don't say I am failing because I don't do things the exact same way you do.

Riiiiight. Look lady, I'm not gonna claim to have read every thread there is, so I don't know if there's a thread out there where you said hey, logging causes me to binge, can somebody help. Surely you can imagine that on a LOGGING site, you're gonna come across as a bit trollish and not being willing to put in the work if you go around claiming that it's too hard and ineffective without any real supporting details. To me that falls under the category of people who claim they can't lose weight but won't open their diaries , or that weight training makes them mannish but won't post pics when requested by the people trying to help them. But hey, honestly I had no idea what your agenda was in this topic. All I saw was someone claiming nobody could eat tons of calories of unprocessed food and actually thought it'd be an interesting conversation, hence why I got sucked in. If the purpose of the site is not for you I sorta wish I would have known that in advance. *shrugs*. :ohwell:

PikaKnight

not only do I log on MFP I also have an excel table to track weekly calorie and macro averages. I generally like charts and graphs so it is even fun for me.

the "non loggers" can hate all they want but it's worked for me, so go ahead and continue to tell me I'm doing it wrong while you continue to fail LOL

If this post is aimed at me please show me where I told you you were doing it wrong and show me how I am continuing to fail?

Its great that logging has worked for you, but it doesn't work for everybody and for some people it can make them eat more than they used to and binge eat. There is more than one way of losing, gaining or maintaining weight. You want to weigh food and fiddle with excel charts for the rest of your life great. I don't and I fully intend to still enjoy eating out, drinking alcohol and eating treats in moderation without putting weight back on or logging. There are different ways and means of achieving the same result and each works so don't say I am failing because I don't do things the exact same way you do.

Riiiiight. Look lady, I'm not gonna claim to have read every thread there is, so I don't know if there's a thread out there where you said hey, logging causes me to binge, can somebody help. Surely you can imagine that on a LOGGING site, you're gonna come across as a bit trollish and not being willing to put in the work if you go around claiming that it's too hard and ineffective without any real supporting details. To me that falls under the category of people who claim they can't lose weight but won't open their diaries , or that weight training makes them mannish but won't post pics when requested by the people trying to help them. But hey, honestly I had no idea what your agenda was in this topic. All I saw was someone claiming nobody could eat tons of calories of unprocessed food and actually thought it'd be an interesting conversation, hence why I got sucked in. If the purpose of the site is not for you I sorta wish I would have known that in advance. *shrugs*. :ohwell:

:drinker:

dsalveson

I think that as long as you are eating the right foods, you don't need to count calories. Humans, like all animals, wont overeat, or undereat, in their natural environments. As long as you are eating the whole natural foods that humans have been eating for thousands of years, your body will count calories naturally. The only reason people need to consciously count is when they eat artificially concentrated foods not found in our natural environment.

Totally this.

Its not normal to have to count calories to lose or maintain weight and you won't put on weight if you eat a healthy balanced diet, excersise and don't overeat. Yes, it certainly does work for people who need to lose weight but many people have an unhealthy relationship with food which leads to overeating in the first place. Avoid using processed foods as a crutch and you won't need to count calories.

there are tons of unprocessed foods that will make you fat if you over eat them. Counting calories and weighing food is an extremely useful tool for many many people who can't control their eating

Fixed that for you.

Also interested in learning what these unprocessed foods you are speaking of are... I would bet it would be very difficult to eat them in the amount needed to gain weight on but happy to be proven wrong.

Some salmon and sweet potato for lunch.
Peanut butter sandwich for my 2nd lunch
Top sirloin or skirt steak, potatoes, avocado, tomato, asparagus for dinner.

That's not including breakfast and the fact that I would still be starving if that's what I ate in 1 day.

But do you honestly think that diet would make you fat? I would be very suprised especially if you are working out and excersising. You might be eating a lot of calories but unless you kept eating after you were full and stopped all your excersise you will not gain weight. You don't need to count the calories to tell you this.

I work out 1-3 hours a day most days out of the week, yet I’m 100% confident that if my strategy was simply to eat salmon, raw nuts, sweet potato, avocado, tomatoes, fruit, etc. only until my “body tells me to stop”, I would be grossly overweight.

LolBroScience

not only do I log on MFP I also have an excel table to track weekly calorie and macro averages. I generally like charts and graphs so it is even fun for me.

the "non loggers" can hate all they want but it's worked for me, so go ahead and continue to tell me I'm doing it wrong while you continue to fail LOL

If this post is aimed at me please show me where I told you you were doing it wrong and show me how I am continuing to fail?

Its great that logging has worked for you, but it doesn't work for everybody and for some people it can make them eat more than they used to and binge eat. There is more than one way of losing, gaining or maintaining weight. You want to weigh food and fiddle with excel charts for the rest of your life great. I don't and I fully intend to still enjoy eating out, drinking alcohol and eating treats in moderation without putting weight back on or logging. There are different ways and means of achieving the same result and each works so don't say I am failing because I don't do things the exact same way you do.

You're in the minority here.

I'll just lay it out this way. Track if you want, don't if you don't.

While it's possibly to be "in tune" with your mental eating cues so you don't over eat, burn fat, all that jazz.... I guarantee someone who accurately tracks calories will be able to achieve more efficient results in a shorter time frame.

I see if your profile that you'd like to compete in a bikini competition. Do you intend to reach stage ready status by just simply ball parking it?

If I wanted to just simply lose weight, yes I could eat small & filling meals with absolutely no flavor content. However, people have different goals and it's not that black in white. Some people want to balance gym performance, prevent muscle loss, gain muscle, all in the most efficient manner. Accurately logging calories is a control. Ball parking, while it can possibly work is simply a shot in the dark.

Kinda like setting a budget and not tracking the cash flows. Who is more likely to pace correctly and do it most efficiently?

Rocbola

I work out 1-3 hours a day most days out of the week, yet I’m 100% confident that if my strategy was simply to eat salmon, raw nuts, sweet potato, avocado, tomatoes, fruit, etc. only until my “body tells me to stop”, I would be grossly overweight.

If you excluded that salmon, and made the raw nuts an occasional thing, and kept your avocados to 1/day max, you would certainly not be grossly overweight.

nomeejerome

:huh:

Unknown

This content has been removed.

bcattoes

If calorie counting is stressful then don't do it. It's not mandatory for weight control.

Unknown

This content has been removed.

eso2012

The counting and deprivation is NOT doing you any good, I can tell. Quite a few of us had reached that stage after successful weight loss / increased workout....while you are already at a good weight/range, you are spending a LOT of energy (mind and body) to maintain it.

I was/am in the same boat. Here my suggestions - ease up on the cal count. Do it but don't worry about going over unless it is like 1000 cals a day consistently!

50 calories over maintenance a day is a net gain of 5 pounds a year

According to a certain formula, yes. But human bodies adjust. Unless you are 100% sure about exactly how much you are burning (24/7) and exactly how your body is taking in (to the 1 cals), those 50 +/- is really a generic guideline. If someone is stressing out over 50 calories a day (that's like 8/10 of a spartan apple), the stress-induced hormonal change can easily counteract the maths.

Ah, so if I eat 250 extra calories my body will burn them off for me too? Only when it hits the magic 1000 calories over will the weight start to add on. Got it.

Interesting how you read what I wrote. Short answer: no.

You do realize how easy it is to go over by 250 calories right?

Yes, it may be hard to believe, but many of us are as knowledgable as you are when it comes to the hard maths re: weight gain/loss, calories tracking etc.

The OP is asking if her counting is causing her stress and binge-eating. She is not asking for advice re: specific calories. Mental health is a BIG part of health, and my (and others') advice is focusing on this aspect.

Good for you for counting and losing and maintaining etc. But please remember, our replies is to the OP, not to debate about the best way to lose or maintain weight in general.

Unknown

This content has been removed.

dsalveson

I work out 1-3 hours a day most days out of the week, yet I’m 100% confident that if my strategy was simply to eat salmon, raw nuts, sweet potato, avocado, tomatoes, fruit, etc. only until my “body tells me to stop”, I would be grossly overweight.

If you excluded that salmon, and made the raw nuts an occasional thing, and kept your avocados to 1/day max, you would certainly not be grossly overweight.

Sure, not if I lived off leaves, but she's making the claim that if you exercise and avoid processed foods then there is no need to count calories, and that is simply not true. If that does work it's on an off chance and therefore should not be recommended as a weight loss strategy.

MelodyandBarbells

The counting and deprivation is NOT doing you any good, I can tell. Quite a few of us had reached that stage after successful weight loss / increased workout....while you are already at a good weight/range, you are spending a LOT of energy (mind and body) to maintain it.

I was/am in the same boat. Here my suggestions - ease up on the cal count. Do it but don't worry about going over unless it is like 1000 cals a day consistently!

50 calories over maintenance a day is a net gain of 5 pounds a year

According to a certain formula, yes. But human bodies adjust. Unless you are 100% sure about exactly how much you are burning (24/7) and exactly how your body is taking in (to the 1 cals), those 50 +/- is really a generic guideline. If someone is stressing out over 50 calories a day (that's like 8/10 of a spartan apple), the stress-induced hormonal change can easily counteract the maths.

Ah, so if I eat 250 extra calories my body will burn them off for me too? Only when it hits the magic 1000 calories over will the weight start to add on. Got it.

Interesting how you read what I wrote. Short answer: no.

You do realize how easy it is to go over by 250 calories right?

Yes, it may be hard to believe, but many of us are as knowledgable as you are when it comes to the hard maths re: weight gain/loss, calories tracking etc.

The OP is asking if her counting is causing her stress and binge-eating. She is not asking for advice re: specific calories. Mental health is a BIG part of health, and my (and others') advice is focusing on this aspect.

Good for you for counting and losing and maintaining etc. But please remember, our replies is to the OP, not to debate about the best way to lose or maintain weight in general.

The OP is not askING anything. It's a zombie thread, only good for kicks and giggles

LiftAllThePizzas

I work out 1-3 hours a day most days out of the week, yet I’m 100% confident that if my strategy was simply to eat salmon, raw nuts, sweet potato, avocado, tomatoes, fruit, etc. only until my “body tells me to stop”, I would be grossly overweight.

If you excluded that salmon, and made the raw nuts an occasional thing, and kept your avocados to 1/day max, you would certainly not be grossly overweight.

Some of us like food and don't see an ultra-restrictive tasteless deprivation diet as "success" in any way, shape, or form.

Unknown

This content has been removed.

Brett_Mason

This is the best post in this thread. Eat high nutrient low fat foods. ie fruits and veggies. You can eat until you're miserable and lose weight. I dare you to eat as much as you can. Try it.

thepezzle

I stopped counting calories at -30 lbs for the most part. I only count if it's something I'm genuinely curious about to get an idea of a good portion size and how much energy I might need.

I will likely resume counting as I get closer to my goal weight and out of obesity classification.