Only caring about calories?

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.