Do I HAVE to count calories?

I'm just beginning to try to lose weight, and I think that counting calories might just be more effort/more destructive or discouraging...thoughts?

Takes 5 minutes (if that per day)....

Seriously?!? What do you eat? It takes me more than 5 min to enter one recipe. I realize the problems MFP experiences with keeping a clean database, especially on a free site, but all the differing entries in the database do make entering meals very time consuming.

Every item must be looked up, then verified, to see which of the dozen or so entries is correct. And if one cooks most meal from scratch, this much be done for every ingredient. And for produce and other foods that come without a nutrition label, that means going to another web site for that verification.

I suppose if one eats the same foods often, or eats a lot of prepared foods that have the information on a label it would be faster, but not everyone eats that way.

You DO NOT NEED TO COUNT CALORIES. Eat as much as you can possibly stuff into yourself, just be sure that everything you eat is FOOD. You will be healthy beyond belief in several months. p.s. Doritos and Pepsi is not food. Stay out of bakeries, bakeries do not sell food. Candy stores do not sell food. 90% of your local supermarket shelves are filled with substances which are not food. People can never become obese by eating food.

^^^ this may be the single most annoying thing i see in the forums... people with food phobias coming to a calorie counting website and telling others than counting calories is pointless and that all that is necessary for losing weight is to become a foodophobe.

Don't you have to fear food to be a foodophobe? I never said anything against any food. Food is a substance which nourishes the body. Substances which do not nourish the body cannot be food.

I have been obese most of my life because I followed advice from all the experts. Just recently, I have been doing my own research which has changed my life. The Food Industry will tell any lie to convince us to part with our money and they don't care whether we live or die.

In your opinion, does calorie control (in terms of creating a calorie deficit) lead to weight loss?

Do you think eating, say, protein powder, donuts, diet soda, pizza, cookies, and Taco Bell inherently harm weight loss?

I spend about 10 hours per day walking, running, cycling and otherwise moving under my own power. Since I am almost never home, the food I want is not always available to me and I consume junk. However, I mitigate my consumption of junk by constant activity and my Fitbit tells me to eat 4000 calories per day. I do a Marathon nearly every day and I will be 61 next month. I consume the highest quality protein powder from organic pasture raised New Zealand Cattle. As for Taco Bell, I hardly ever see my 20 year old son and he loves to eat there. I rarely drink soda, but when I do it is with sugar and no artificial sweeteners. I do enough muscular activity to prevent insulin spikes, which are thought to be the primary cause of obesity.

I have been obese most of my life because I followed advice from all the experts. Just recently, I have been doing my own research which has changed my life. The Food Industry will tell any lie to convince us to part with our money and they don't care whether we live or die.

In your opinion, does calorie control (in terms of creating a calorie deficit) lead to weight loss?

Do you think eating, say, protein powder, donuts, diet soda, pizza, cookies, and Taco Bell inherently harm weight loss?

I spend about 10 hours per day walking, running, cycling and otherwise moving under my own power. Since I am almost never home, the food I want is not always available to me and I consume junk. However, I mitigate my consumption of junk by constant activity and my Fitbit tells me to eat 4000 calories per day. I do a Marathon nearly every day and I will be 61 next month. I consume the highest quality protein powder from organic pasture raised New Zealand Cattle. As for Taco Bell, I hardly ever see my 20 year old son and he loves to eat there. I rarely drink soda, but when I do it is with sugar and no artificial sweeteners. I do enough muscular activity to prevent insulin spikes, which are thought to be the primary cause of obesity.

Sorry, but I really don't like people that preach one thing and then do another. Follow your own advice without excuses and I could respect you a little.

You DO NOT NEED TO COUNT CALORIES. Eat as much as you can possibly stuff into yourself, just be sure that everything you eat is FOOD. You will be healthy beyond belief in several months. p.s. Doritos and Pepsi is not food. Stay out of bakeries, bakeries do not sell food. Candy stores do not sell food. 90% of your local supermarket shelves are filled with substances which are not food. People can never become obese by eating food.

^^^ this may be the single most annoying thing i see in the forums... people with food phobias coming to a calorie counting website and telling others than counting calories is pointless and that all that is necessary for losing weight is to become a foodophobe.

Don't you have to fear food to be a foodophobe? I never said anything against any food. Food is a substance which nourishes the body. Substances which do not nourish the body cannot be food.

bro, do you even logic?

your "take" on this (because i refuse to call it advice) is absolutely asinine.

we get it...you dont think "junk food" is food. cool story.

but it is, so enough with that.

You fools who believe this garbage is food deserve what you get. LOL

I'm just beginning to try to lose weight, and I think that counting calories might just be more effort/more destructive or discouraging...thoughts?

You DO NOT NEED TO COUNT CALORIES. Eat as much as you can possibly stuff into yourself, just be sure that everything you eat is FOOD. You will be healthy beyond belief in several months. p.s. Doritos and Pepsi is not food. Stay out of bakeries, bakeries do not sell food. Candy stores do not sell food. 90% of your local supermarket shelves are filled with substances which are not food. People can never become obese by eating food.

Seriously? No, this is WRONG. YES, you should be eating REAL food, but not "as much as you can possibly stuff into yourself". It is absurd to think you will not gain weight by eating unlimited amounts of anything. It is STILL calories in verses calories out!

Seriously, when you nourish your body properly you will discover natural limitations on how much you can eat because your body will tell you when it has had enough. This does not happen with food-like substances from a bakery, candy store or Doritos bag. Contrary to popular belief, it is not calories in/calories out. Eating too little will put your body in starvation mode and slow your metabolism. Eating more will quite often help in losing weight as long as you only eat food. Chemicals which resemble food such as Doritos do not have this same effect and the calories in/calories out theory will indeed occur. Deprivation is an extremely idiotic and ineffective method of losing weight.