Are you really losing weight by counting calories?

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.

I've only just started in 2013 but am losing weight. Reducing your net calories in vs calories out is how we lose weight. Personally I AM making healthier decisions counting calories. For example, I can chose to eat a large apple or one cookie for an afternoon snack. Most of the time I will chose the more filling and fullfilling apple. Making healthy food choices means I can eat more because unhealthy food tends to be calorie dense. Exercising earns me more to eat. I'm no genius, but the easier way to do this is to have a healthier diet.

Starting weight: 357
Current weight: 308

I've been using MFP since May (ignore my join date - I created a new account).

After a while, it gets easy to keep track of calories. I find I eat a lot of the same things every day, and I have their calorie counts nearly memorized. I still log them, though, just to make sure I don't go over. It's habit now. I plan to continue tracking when I hit maintenance because I don't want to gain weight. Plus, it's such a habit now that I get twitchy if I don't log everything before the end of the day. I tend to pre-log so I can plan my meals.

It's taught me a LOT about portion control. I also realized, early on, that some foods I thought were low-calorie were actually super high, whereas foods I thought were really high were actually kind of low. Logging taught me that you shouldn't be fooled by commercials, packaging, and the latest "X food is evil" propaganda.

Logging also taught me that, even though I thought I "wasn't eating that much" when I was 357, I really was. I didn't eat a lot of food, but the food I ate was really high in calories, carbs, sodium, and fat. I thought I was eating around 2500 calories per day, but I was really eating closer to 5000 or 6000. If I binged, I could hit upward of 8000. That terrifies me now, but it was the norm back then.

There are some days, usually after weight training, that I feel very hungry all day, even if I eat a lot of protein and fiber. I've learned that I can go over by 200 - 300 on those days because I'll make up for it other days, when I tend to stay below my calorie goal. The app shows your calories by week and your average for the week. As long as that number is still in the green/grey, I'm fine. It's been working for me for a long time. I really like using the app for that very reason.

Yes.

We have a non-believer....It's free so give it a try for 2 months. set yourself up to lose 1lb/wk. count the calories you eat and what your expending. if your lower on the intake my bet is you'll have a smile at the end of month 2. Take measurments and pics before you start, because its addicting and you'll wish you had. Give it shot....what's to lose (except weight). Guarantee you at the end of week one you'll be sleeping better. I haven't remembered dreaming in over 2 years. by the end of the first week......dreaming like a baby.