Calorie Counting Dr Oz Show

Weight loss works by eating a calorie deficit, simple.

Once you've reached that goal you eat the calories needed ti maintain your weight

First off - Dr. Oz is a snake oil salesman - he will say anything, or get anyone on his show to make a buck. Anything he says should be taken as quackery.

Secondly, while there is a small kernel of truth in the statement "People who count calories tend to gain back their weight." That can be said of any diet - Atkins, Paleo, Southbeach, etc. - most people who pick a "diet" are really looking for a quick fix - i.e. it took me 12 years to gain 100lbs, but I want to lose it in the next 30 days. changing how you eat is a lifestyle change - you have to want to do it and stick to it.

The biggest point against this... Take alook at the tickers of people on MFP - virtually everyone on MFP counts calories - check out their join date, and pounds lost. I have lost 74 pounds in 10 months, and I am constantly amazed and impressed with the number of people who have lost 100, 125, 150+ pounds - or 10 lbs for that matter - all by counting calories.

Most people who lose weight gain it back with any diet gain it back. Period. If you count calories and then stop, you'll gain it back. If you eat Paleo or low carb or grapefruit or whatever and then stop, you'll gain it back.

You just have to be one of the ones who defy the statistics. For me calorie counting makes more sense than anything else, so that's what I'm doing...knowing that if I want to keep the weight off I'll have to pay attention to it for the rest of my life.

^^This is great

I can see his point in some ways.

PERSONALLY, I find that using MFP has made me aware of portion sizing and of amounts of food. If you rely on MFP to calculate your calories all the time then when you stop and just go willy nilly, that makes sense that you gain it back. but if you learn what size various portions are and how many portions of what you need throughout the day, I think that skill will help prevent the weight returning.

I do count calories, but sometimes I take weeks off and I just try to go off of what I've learned about portion control and how I feel with eating, and when I realize that 1. the world hasn't ended and 2. that I haven't gone out of control, I feel that calorie counting works. But sometimes, like lately, the accountability has kept me in check which is nice. But I know if my computer or phone crashed, I'd be okay without MFP.

I will count calories for the foreseeable future.

A) the Paleo guy was probably selling a book. statistics are incredibly easy to manipulate so they sound like you want them to.

Calorie counting doesn't fail. People fail to continue that lifestyle.

That's ridiculous! The biggest weight loss study done, I think it's called the Weight Loss Registry or something & is maintained by a govt. agency, only allow people to be part of the study results if they have lost more than 30 lbs and kept it off for 1-2 year. And the study asks the people what they did to lose the weight. Counting calories was always in the top 5.

Even Dr. Oz's own WIFE has told him that she doesn't approve of some of the shows he does now.

Most diets fail. It doesn't matter if you count calories, or stop eating certain foods. If you return to eating more than maintenance you gain weight.

I lost weight NOT counting and have kept it off for around 12 years. Others here have lost weight counting and kept it off. We all kept it off by remaining mindful and not thinking of it as a short term solution.

OK Great. Yesterday on the Dr. OZ show the Paleo diet rep said that most people who count calories as a weight loss technique end up gaining back all and more of their weight. The statistics he quoted were high. What do you all think? I found it discouraging since that is what is working for me right now. Grrr.

Any diet that lowers your food intake so that you can get to a healthy weight will also keep you at that healthy weight as long as you keep doing so.

The difference between counting calories and all the others is that one is sustainable for the rest of your life. The others are not something I would want to do for the rest of my life.

Well I believe that anything you use as 'dieting', as in has an expiration, will fail. If you don't look at what you are doing as a life long choice then it will fail. You have to commit to something that is sustainable, for the rest of your life. Does that mean you have to obsess over every little piece of food that you eat, no. It means find what works for you, work on having a healthy relationship with food and your body and go with that. Know that as you age your body changes and it's needs will change and be open to making the changes you need to make.

Sustainability is the key to lifelong success.

Exactly. FIND WHAT WORKS FOR YOU.

Don't listen to anything on that stupid show.

Don't listen to anything on that stupid show.

That is sooooo cute

Ok I am on my 3rd year here, what can I say, I like it here. Most of the time, I have nothing in my diary because I have been counting for so long that I do not need to anymore. So I would say that calories counting work as long as you learn new habits.

Well. Dr. Oz is an idiot. Calorie counting is an extremely effective tool for controlling body weight (up or down).

But I've seen several people doing "calorie counting diets" where they eat a ridiculously low calorie amount for a few weeks. That doesn't work out too well.

Dr Oz=Quack!