Lost 80 lbs and never counted calories!

OP posts on a board for people that use a calorie counting app, boasting about never having counted calories.

-insert popcorn.gif-

A lot of people use the app to keep track of their macronutrient ratios, too, btw.

This is what I was thinking.

As said earlier, I'm trying to connect with people who've lost weight without calorie counting. IF THIS IS YOU, PLEASE SHARE YOUR STORY

I'm sorry, but how exactly are you expecting to find people who've lost weight without counting calories in a calorie count app forum?

I'm not criticizing your method to lose weight, I just don't get the logic behind your post. It's like going to McDonnald's and ask if there are any people there not eating their food.

\

I came across MPF late last year. I was looking up motivation articles for losing weight and this was a top site for that. I hesitated to create a profile but I decided to b/c of the amount of people on here and what tools it gave us to lose weight. I've been tracking my food for two years, off of MFP on my own cell phone, backed up to my Gmail account. I document everything I eat. I document my weight. I document my inches lost and/or gained. Contrary to the popular belief here, not everyone uses all functionality the site offers. I guess I'm one of a kind then.

I'm sorry but I'm not completely sure I understand. If you've by your own admission been tracking daily everything you consume. Then I'd say that's still pretty much a form of counting calories and having a fair idea of the number you consume daily. So you are still basically counting calories. You just aren't doing it accurately. Well done on the 80lb loss btw.

OP posts on a board for people that use a calorie counting app, boasting about never having counted calories.

-insert popcorn.gif-

A lot of people use the app to keep track of their macronutrient ratios, too, btw.

Not boasting, just trying to get acquainted with people that lost without calorie counting. I am sure I am not the only one to do it this way. I was a person that never thought I could do it alone. I did it alone. I attempted to use a nutritionist and even with her advice and journal logs for how I should do it, I wasn't feeling it. I simply took control of my life by making common sense choices on how much food I should be eating, when I should be eating, and how much I should be moving my body to produce a change. I'm pretty sure people did it this way long before calorie counting apps existed.

My point being that this is a board for a calorie counting app.
Lots of people here count calories.
We may not be your market.

I'm glad you understood where I was coming from. Some people took my thread to as an outlet to bash others who rely on calorie counting to lose weight. That is not my intention. I should have been more clear in the first post. My apologies. Yes, calorie counting is good to get you started or back on track. However, weight loss is a lot like riding a bike. You start off with training wheels (calorie counting) to gain a balance and to keep from falling off. Once you move on to big boy/girl status, you learn what works for your body, thus naturally doing it without as much emphasis on counting calories. Some people have become so accustomed to it that it helps them to feel better. I can't knock them for that, and I encourage them to do what has brought them the most success. As said earlier, I'm trying to connect with people who've lost weight without calorie counting. IF THIS IS YOU, PLEASE SHARE YOUR STORY

Please don't take this the wrong way, but from what you've shared so far, you started with heck of a lot more weight to lose than I did. That means that making little changes like moving more, switching from fried to baked foods, etc, can make a huge impact on your weight loss. I started with 45 lbs to lose and have about 20 lbs left to go, and doing the math - I just don't have a huge disparity between my TDEE and BMR to play around with, so calorie counting really is something I need to do. Not because I need it to make myself feel better or because I haven't graduated to big girl status, but simply because of the math. I'm damn good at eyeballing portion sizes as well, but a few small miscalculations per day add up and would directly affect how much weight I lose that week, or if I lose at all. You might want to take that into account when you make sweeping generalizations about peoples' reasoning in their approach to weight loss.

I see a lot of people on this site talk about counting calories.

Yeah. You're gonna see that on a calorie-counting website. ????

I don't find calorie counting to be stressful at all. But maybe that's just me. Or the thousands of other successful members here. Congrats on your weight loss!

Just to give an advantage of calorie counting versus non-counting


calorie counting: hmm, I feel like eating some ice cream this evening... let's check my food diary... hmm, 200 cals under goal. *looks at ice cream tub* *works out how many grams of ice cream = 200 cals* *measures and eats ice cream* *logs ice cream in diary, meets calorie goal* *continues to lose weight at the desired rate*

non-calorie counting: hmm, I feel like eating some ice cream this evening... but I've eaten quite a lot of food today, and I don't feel that hungry, it's probably not a good idea to eat any ice cream right now. *ice cream stays in the freezer* *weight loss still happens but it's harder to sustain long term due to feeling deprived of ice cream and other yummy things*

this is why calorie counting > not calorie counting

Hmmmm... I read the "I'm not hungry so I won't eat the ice cream" as sort of exactly what we are supposed to be learning: to eat according to hunger, and to save 200 calories for another day when you really are hungry.

Re: "MFP is a calorie counting site!"

Sure, MFP has a calorie-counting feature that many people use to record their intake, but is it really just a calorie-counting site? Many people use it for the forums and the friend support from other people who are aiming for better health. I started using MFP to get a good gauge on what I was eating in a day. Now I'm a few months in and I don't log calories every day, and sometimes not every week, but I am still losing weight and am happy with my progress. This is not a bad thing.

If we were all sticking to MFP's exact formula, many of us would be netting 1200 calories with all of our (MFP-inflated) exercise calories eaten back. Luckily, we get to use the tool how we want.

To OP: 80 pounds!!! Applause!

To count or not to count...do what works for you. I thought I could use a little extra disipline in my eating habits of late so thought I'd get tracking again to get on track. Hip hip horray for all of us trying to be concious about our health..enjoy today!

Good for you for losing by portion control...

For ME, I needed to log and 'count calories' to see where I was messing up in terms of my diet. I needed to start weighing/measuring food to see if I was or wasn't eating normal serving sizes. In some cases I upped serving sizes (veggies/proteins) and lowered servings of things like cheese, pasta. I didn't cut those things out tho. I just used calorie counting as a tool to learn how to budget my calories better. I lost 90 lbs doing this. Actually no, I lost the first 15 just 'watching what I ate' but then I knew as I got smaller I would have to pay closer attention. That was when I found this site. I had lost that first 15-20 lbs so many times, and then got stuck. This site helped me push past it, and now I also know what it takes to maintain. Having the numbers in front of me REALLY helped...

So...if just eyeballing works for you, that's so great! BUT if you get stuck and still have more to lose, knowing your calories in/calories out may be a good option. Don't rule it out! It works!

Yes, calorie counting is good to get you started or back on track. However, weight loss is a lot like riding a bike. You start off with training wheels (calorie counting) to gain a balance and to keep from falling off. Once you move on to big boy/girl status, you learn what works for your body, thus naturally doing it without as much emphasis on counting calories.

I counted calories, graduated to big boy status and gained most of it back. If your approach works for you, then fabulous. Most people are aware of alternatives but if you are proseltyizing to ween people from counting calories, this is probably not the best place to do it.

It would be kind of like showing up at an AA meeting and telling people there are better ways to quit drinking than that ol' "12 step" thing.

I lost my first 30lbs without counting calories...it can be done.

But once I got closer and closer to goal weight I had to...

There is a big difference between being 150lbs overweight vs 100lbs vs 50lbs over weight vs 25lbs overweight vs 10lbs vs 5lbs...

The closer you get to goal the smaller margin of error.

I personally do not believe that after losing 25lbs I would have lost more if I hadn't started counting...even when I started counting I didn't lose as fast as I should have because I wasn't doing it properly (weighing my food)

Lol, the other day I was at Panera (had the Asiago steak sandwich) and when I was done, I was logging the food I ate. The waitress came by and saw me asked me what I was doing. When I told her I was logging in the calories I just ate she said "but you're not fat."
Exactly.

A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

I maintain without tracking calories. I counted while losing, but never owned a scale. I knew I didn't want to count for the reat of my life (it can trigger my ocd). I love being able to maintain without logging, for me it has helped sooooo much.

While MFP is geared toward calorie counting, it is NOT the websites only feature. I don't remember reading anywhere in the guidelines saying I had to use every feature to be a member. If you use this site to count then good for you, I use it to log exercise, keep track of weight/measurements and I read the forums from time to time.

I like math.

I agree with you to an extent. I think a lot of it has to do with how much you weigh and how much you have to lose. If you're really overweight and have a ton to lose, making small changes, such as eating an apple instead of a chocolate bar, will have a massive impact initially, and there is no need to necessarily count calories as your lifestyle and food choices have changed.

However, when you begin to shed the weight, your calorie requirements will reduce (unless you burn a shed load of calories each day) so it's much more important to monitor intake to prevent regain or stall.

Great job so far!

I agree with this 100%... the worse your habits are to begin with... or the more weight you have to lose... the less you have to do to start shedding the pounds. Me... I never ate that bad all the time... but I would have occasions where I had a little too much pasta or 1 too many cookies... and so over the years I've put on some weight.... but I only started with 40 extra lbs... and 28 more to go now...and its a real struggle. I have to really watch what I eat in order to lose. I was only losing about 1/4 lb to 1/2 lb a week until I started weighing all my food. So... to each his/her own. Great that you lost 80lbs without counting... but you're not at the finish line yet. My guess is you probably will never reach it until you buckle down on your eating. Good luck, though!

Speaking for myself, the reason people are reading an anti-calorie-counting message, and not just a desire for fellow travelers and motivational stories into your posts is that you are using terms like stressful and unnatural and unrealistic and training wheels. Personally, I like counting calories so far--it's fun to track things and doesn't take much time--and I like tracking my protein and other macros even more.

Also, I know it's quite possible to lose weight without tracking, especially if you have a lot to lose or have a good sense of how you got fat in the first place (which I do). I've lost weight (and kept it off for some years) without counting calories in the past--went from 190 to 120 and maintained at 125-30, and only a couple of years ago I also lost substantial weight (going by photos and clothes only) without counting.

My preference for counting now is similar to my preference (for me) for weighing, even though I've gone without stepping on a scale for most of my life. It's easier--again, for me--to keep motivated since you see small changes and causes and effects. Also, how I've lost weight typically (without counting) is by cutting out higher calorie foods or eating strictly based on portion size. Focusing on calories allows me to see that I'd be better off with more fat or protein or that my calories (even though they are on the low side at present) allow for some cheese or dessert or whatever, which seems to me probably easier to maintain over the longrun. Sure, you can achieve this also just by making changes to what you used to do--although this is easier when you are well above goal (as I am currently) and especially a young man (not me)--but if I'm not counting I tend to go more overboard.

None of this means anyone else should, but they are reasons--in addition to finding it easy and kind of fun--that I don't agree with "unrealistic" and "stressful" and the rest.