Only caring about calories?

Lalouse

I think there's a mix of people. Lots of people who are trying to "eat clean" and lots of people concerned about the kinds of things they eat, not just the calorie counts. There are people concerned with their carb intake, or sugar intake, or people concerned with sodium, fat, etc..

There are some people on MFP trying to gain weight too, because they are underweight or just want more muscle. I think for people who are really obese, or who are starting out after a long time, their primary goal may be the calorie deficit, and that's not unreasonable.

So you'll find all kinds of people here!

Bobby__Clerici

Hi All,
I've noticed a few people on MFP who seem to only worry about the end calorie deficit, not the quality/health benefits of the food they are eating.
I know we are all on here to lose weight, so I was wondering if your primary focus is the healthiness of your diet, or just the end calorie deficit?
Any thoughts welcome!!

Weight loss is a primary focus - sure.
And that is just part of the overall picture. Yes, clean eating is important, but what I enjoy about MFP is that there is not an intense focus of the various fad "diets" out there.
Those are such scams.
Just eat right, maintain a deficit and lose weight slowly in a safe and lasting way.
Exercise smart....make positive connections with others.
No pills.
No crash diets.
No BS.
I enjoy keeping it real, because I am in this for life, and as another said.
It's about fitness - not diet.
:flowerforyou:

YoungDoc2B

Nah, I focus on the bigger picture. I don't just want to be slim, but to be healthy with a nice physique. Simply focusing on calories will definitely help you lose weight, but you will not be as healthy internally

BurtHuttz

I think many people find that when they count calories they end up leaning towards healthier foods because you get so much more bang for your buck. I care about both and constantly check my nutrient reports to see if I am consistently deficient in anything. When one doughnut has the same amount of calories as a nice big turkey sandwich, I'll take the turkey sandwich 9 times out of 10.

This. I eat plenty of processed and some junk foods still, but have learned to limit them. That high calorie doughnut just isn't going to keep me as full as the turkey sandwich. I hate being hungry!

These. I started at just a deficit, saw results in terms of weight loss, but found myself hungry. Over time, I started eating better foods solely because "better" actually equates to "more physiologically satisfying". Now I eat pretty clean (last month notwithstanding) solely because I can do so much more on a belly full of good stuff. Back to weight loss - all that matters is the deficit. Everything else is go-faster stripes and racing slicks.

freckledrats

Counting calories is tough to start, and it's a great way for beginners to get into this lifestyle change thing.

It's true that there's a lot more to being healthy than just losing weight. Counting calories helps you lose weight, so it's a definite starting place for someone who's not great at dieting and making healthy choices. Once you're pretty good at counting calories, it's a good idea to step up your game and make some changes in other directions too, but nobody here is making anyone do anything.

If all you care about is calories, that's your business. Maybe that's all you can stick to. I can respect that. Anything is better than nothing. Some folks don't really give a crap about being perfect with their diet (or even pretty awesome). They just wanna lose weight. That's their business. Step up offa their grills.

Let's not discourage these folks by scaring them off with 50 new lifestyle change suggestions, okay?

I'm proud of you, calorie counters!

Khittle123

yes an no. I care about calories when it doesn't seem to have any nutritional value to me. I don't care about calories when the food does have nutritional value, such as fruits or veggies. The healthy benefits outweigh the amount of calories that I would consume from that food.
I personally am just using MFP to just track my food and see where I can make improvements. The calorie tracking isn't as important to me as it would be to someone else.

Goal_Driven

I care about the calories.. but I also care about the protein, fiber, carbs, sodium and now trying to work more on my sugar intake... that's a tough one since most my sugar comes from fruit. :ohwell:

BusyRaeNOTBusty

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/817188-iifym

xxcooneyxx

I think we are all here to get to our different goals. I would say at the beginning of my weight loss journey It was just about calories to me. ALL I cared about was being under my calorie goal. Once I got used to that and managed it well I started caring about my activity level. I started exercising. After quite a while I became used to being an active person who ate under her calorie goal. Then as time went on I started to care about how much protein I was eating, got used to getting lots of protein while exercising and being under calorie goal. Then I tracked Carbs too. Then I tried to get more fruits and veggies. Then I started adding juiced veggies into my diet. Then I tried to eliminate most animal products from my diet.

If you approached me at the beginning of all this and told me "You are going to be an exercising Vegan who juices, eats low carbs and high protein and stays under 1,200 calories a day." I would have told you to F*** off. It's all about small changes over long periods of time and I think most people just start off with being under their calorie goal, but the healthier they become, the better they feel, the more they chase that healthy feeling.

At least, this has been my experience. If you try to fix EVERYTHING at once, you will get overwhelmed and quit.

lisalower

I've developed some weird habits from various diets over the years. Fat limiting diets, carb limiting diets, high protein diets etc. etc. it's getting so that I've lost the basic understanding of the concept of "calories in less than calories out" to lose weight.

So it's refreshing to use this site and count calories.

Having said that, I wrote my food diary in advance of today and noticed I was getting over my calorie target. I had two choices, up my exercise or reduce my eating plan. When I looked at the total I noticed more fat and protein had creeped in than suggested,so I looked for an item to cut that was higher in protein and fat - it was the grated cheese I was adding to my tacos tonight and it brought me under my target, but also rebalanced my nutrients to a healthier place.

I know I'm just starting here, and know next to nothing, but wanted to share what's happening for me based on intuition.

cwolfman13

I started out just counting calories to lose weight...I had some health issues and the doc recommended I lose some weight and start watching my diet. When I started logging is when I realized a.) how much I was eating; b.) what I was eating and how bad it was for me. My diet was extremely high in saturated fats, processed carbs, and sodium. From there, I started not only managing my calories and macros, but really looking at my overall nutrition. I started replacing those processed carbs with fruits, vegetables, and whole grains...I cut the saturated fats down to less than 15 per day and introduced myself to heart healthy fats, as well as lean sources of protein.

Results...blood pressure is on the decline, LDL is on the decline, HDL is going up, Triglycerides are on the decline, blood sugar levels on the decline. I feel better than I have in years and forgot until now how it feels to actually have sustained energy throughout the day. And yes, I'm also losing weight...which is just a bonus at this point. I also like the fact that I don't feel like I'm on a "diet"...I don't feel deprived or hungry...I just feel good and feel good about the fact that this will be very sustainable for years to come, likely adding years to my life.

DDR470

I really only pay attention to the total calorie count, and I've lost 32 lbs since June by doing so. With that said, I do find that I can eat more food and feel fuller if I eat less processed foods and make healthier selections. But I don't really worry about carbs, fats, etc. as long as I stay within my target range for calories.

Kelly_Runs_NC

Both.

skylark94

Everyone has to start somewhere.

Initially I only focused on calories too. Once I got that figured out I did start to put more thought into the quality of those calories. Trying to change too much at once is what led to previous failures.

tararocks

Didn't read all of the responses so this may be a repeat, but I know for me when I first started I did care about the calorie deficit, i wanted to lose weight and that was what was going to do it...as I became more involved and committed, i noticed that eating things that were "better" for me allowed me to eat more throughout the day and still maintain my calories...as that became more of a habit i realized I actually liked a lot of that "good for you" food and craved it more....i then continued to try new fruits/veggies/ good for you things and realized i prefer most of them to "junk." now having said that I also eat my fair share of crap, sometimes it jsut tastes good, but I don't eat it as often as I did and i don't eat as much of it as I used too, for example, at the chinese buffet the other night, yep i ate the fried yummies, but i also ate a half plate of green beans and steamed veggies. Im just clarifying that it may seem like people only care about the calories while they still eat fried foods and chips and dip, but maybe they are at the beginning of their journey still (and by beginning i mean the first year in some cases), or maybe they do still eat those things but it is significantly less in volume and frequency than it used to be because they are being healthier and not just worried about calories. just another side to it.