Are you really losing weight by counting calories?

Yup. Just counting calories and exercise.

Losing weight is nothing more than calories vs calories out. I have eaten better now I admit. Knowing how many calories is in something that I used to eat every day is shocking sometimes. I still enjoy myself every now and then, just make sure it fits in for the day. I was 350 pounds and am now 240. I lost 140 pounds in 2 years and put on 40 last year trying to gain some muscle. (And working two jobs and not eating right, my fault I know) Now I am back at cutting for summer and have lost 10 pounds in a month.

I tried all the fad diets over the years and would lose some weight, but it would come right back on when I stopped. I never counted calories though, and looking back I can see that I was probably really under-eating and starving myself. It wasn't sustainable. Nobody really told me how calories worked.

I usually have my dinner planned out, use the left overs from dinner for lunch the next day and fill in the rest of my calories with whatever I am lacking (Protein, fats or carbs) Sometimes if I am having a big dinner, I skip lunch so I can enjoy it more. I weigh or measure everything I eat, other than veggies.

Feel free to check my diary if you want.

yes.

If you boil it down, the only thing you really have to do to lose weight is count your calories and stop eating when you don't have any more left for the day.

Yes I have lost weight counting my calories and exercising. I started at around 164lbs, steadily with counting and exercising i've gotten down to 136. My goals are no longer about the number I see on the scale but how I feel and how my clothes fit. I am try to make sure I get around 30% of my daily calories from protien and I have not cut fat out of my diet as I feel the things fat gets substituted with are worse.

Yes.

I'm just curious....OTHER THAN watching calories, how do you think one would lose weight?

I've been counting calories for two and a half weeks now. I eat everything, I'm eating about 1400 calories a day.

Sure is the tried and true way to lose weight...

I want to know the truth lol.. Are you really losing weight by just counting calories and exercise? Is counting your calories teaching you to make better decision? What are you doing to make sure you stay under your calories? If you don't mind please also tell me you start weight and current weight from when you started counting your calories? I am just a little curious.

Yes, and I'm not being insane with it. 30-45 min of cardio 4-5 days a week and an hour or so of lifting 1-2.
Counting calories makes me make way better decisions and is teaching me to think critically.
September 7th 2012 I was my highest weight ever at 307lbs which is also when I started counting calories. I started with the workouts maybe a week later.

I want to know the truth lol.. Are you really losing weight by just counting calories and exercise? Is counting your calories teaching you to make better decision? What are you doing to make sure you stay under your calories? If you don't mind please also tell me you start weight and current weight from when you started counting your calories? I am just a little curious.

I don't lose weight by counting the calories.

I lose weight by eating less of them.

I'm just curious....OTHER THAN watching calories, how do you think one would lose weight?

Some people have lost weight by eating intuitively...nothing is off limits, they eat only when hungry and stop when satisfied. I have a friend who lost (and has kept off) close to 75 pounds this way. Me, I am never satisfied so I could not do that. :laugh:

once upon a time I lost a lot of weight by tracking food and calories.

I found I started naturally making better food choices b/c I was going to be starving if I ate tiny amounts of high calorie foods rather than lots of low calorie foods.

example: I'd eat a HUGE salad (veggies only) with 2 tbsp of vinagerette (measuring b/c it's easy to put way to much dressing on a big salad) and then eat small portion of lean meat and brown rice.

I got full, calories stayed low.

The general consensus is YES here, but be mindful of the quality of foods.

Yes, Calories In < Calories out = weight loss, but if you're aiming for a healthy, long term resullt and maybe eventually tone up, it's much more than the number.

I've just met with a nutritionist last night. She was explaining to me that we can often get too caught up with the caloric numbers and that it's better to have a 300 calorie meal/snack that is balanced between protein and carbs vs having that 90-calories cereal bar. She says, with nutritious foods, we feel fuller longer, and at the end of the day, you end up consuming the same amount of calories within your MFP budget because you are eating smaller portions of these nutritious, more satisfying foods. Makes sense, every time I have one of my "low-calorie snacks," Im hungry and hour and a half later.

I'm also a HUGE fan of never depriving yourself, like LoraF83 says. Enjoy the things you love, but in moderation. It's all about balance. I may have an extra glass of wine (or two), but that just means I have to work out harder the next day, or balance out my meal choices across the rest of the day.

Hope this helps...

I want to know the truth lol.. Are you really losing weight by just counting calories and exercise? Is counting your calories teaching you to make better decision? What are you doing to make sure you stay under your calories? If you don't mind please also tell me you start weight and current weight from when you started counting your calories? I am just a little curious.

I don't lose weight by counting the calories.

I lose weight by eating less of them.

:drinker: :laugh:

Counting calories just shows you that things that are advertised as "healthy" can still be bad and sometimes what you think is a good choice is actually not. For example, the other day I was super hungry and at costco, I got a chicken ceaser salad and only used half of the dressing but still had the croutons and the cheese that was on it. I have a calorie goal of 1500 calories a day and that one salad came out to be 700 calories! I had to work out to be able to eat dinner without going over BECAUSE OF A SALAD!!!! It really made me realize that just eating what you think is healthy isn't enough, you have to really learn portions and calorie levels

It doesn't seem as simple as calories in/calories out for me. At 1320 calories per day, I should be losing weight. I'm not. I've been losing and re-gaining the same 3 pounds for 6 weeks now. For 5 weeks of that, I was on 1200 calories per day.

But I'm still logging and making the very best choices that I can, also slowly increasing my activity. I find it hard to exercise while I'm dieting because exercise stimulates my appetite to a ridiculous degree, but I know I need it.