Should I bother counting calories?

I first started using MFP because I thought I wanted to lose about a stone of fat before bulking up with muscle. I realise this was the wrong way to go about it now, but MFP really helped me to keep an accurate check of what I was putting in my body foodwise.

Now I need to put weight back on, i.e. to "bulk up", and I'm still using MFP as it still gives me that accurate record.

I've been beating myself up a bit as I increased from 1200 to 1380 and struggling to actually eat enough calories (not good to suddenly increase up to what MFP says I should be eating, which is 2070 calories!!), and this week I'm increasing to 1500 calories.

I'd say the TYPE of calories are most important, and the other functions of MFP (Nutrition chart etc.) should also be used.

Don't rely solely on MFP, but use it as another tool in the whole dieting battle. The main thing is to ensure you are on a BALANCED diet. Use MFP just as a record, that's what I'm doing.

Hope that helps.

Soo I am trying to gain weight and I can't decide whether or not tracking my calories for the day is going to cause more harm than good. I am trying to recover from a restrictive eating disorder (still a work in progress) coupled with compulsive exercise tendencies (which I have somewhat gotten under control).

The thing with the restricting is that I feel like if I DO track my intake, I'll end up beating myself up for eating what feels like too much However, if I DON'T track my intake, I worry that I will grossly overestimate my calories and underestimate my energy expenditures and subsequently have a calories deficit most days, leading to further weight loss.

Has anybody come up against something like this? Any ideas/what has worked for you?

Thanks!

If you still want a way to track without seeing a number, so it doesn't bother you, you can try hand/fist way of tracking. Your portions are either a hand size or fist size, track that, and determine weight gain or loss day to day, week to week.. Obviously not as accurate as MFP, but since you're trying to bulk, that's not an huge issue, and still gives you a method to track.

If you are trying to gain weight to recover from a restrictive ED then my advice is no, you should probably not be counting calories. Just eat more. Especially include full fat dairy, lots of nuts and oils, and drink extra calories as well. Snack constantly and have three big meals a day. Have creamy sauce with everything! Of course, if you are unable to eat enough with this intuitive approach (i.e. you notice you aren't gaining weight), then you should start counting to try and see where you can sneak more calories into your diet. Good luck. Recovery is a hard road

Set a MINIMUM calorie intake per day and strive to hit it. I would set as a goal to gain a pound per week and by all means lift and lift heavy. Exercise is not a bad thing as long as it is done for the right reason and with the right moderation.

This is just something to think about...

People with histories of disordered eating patterns or unhealthy relationships with food can have a hard time eating intuitively because we don't interpret hunger cues appropriately. Especially when you're talking about restrictive eating, most of us have a lot of practice at ignoring hunger signals and little experience responding to hunger by eating a reasonable amount. If you're relying on hunger to tell you when and how much to eat, you're going to be relying on a behavior you probably haven't practiced a lot. (I'm making a lot of assumptions, and I realize that. Like I said, it's just something to think about. I'm not making any recommendations).

Bulking is a whole different animal even from learning how to eat "normally." Not only do you have to be able to trust yourself to eat sufficiently in response to hunger, but a lot of the time you have to eat more than you think your body is asking you to do. Just from my own personal experience and with my history, it's impossible for me to eat at a surplus intuitively. I tried "just eating more" for a few months before I realized that I can't do it without tracking. My default setting is to eat a little bit less every time I eat, then wait a little longer in between each meal, and I chip away at my surplus until I'm right back in my (unhealthy) comfort zone.

I definitely struggle with this type of behavior, especially when it comes to eating at normalized times; I continuously push off eating thinking that I can "make it up later" which leaves me with a deficit at the end of the day... I think that a meal plan may be best at this point. Thanks for the support, I really appreciate it!

I did that a lot when I first started trying to gain. People who haven't tried doing this think it would be wonderful to get to the end of the day and have 500-800 calories left over that you need to eat, but after the first couple of times it just sucks. I did discover that chunky peanut butter on cookie dough ice cream is really awesome! (But it's really not if you have to eat it every day).

If I didn't track my intake, I would maintain at best. Generally satisfied at 400 under target.