Hate calorie counting.

I hate calorie counting. It fustrates me and becomes about the numbers and not about eating well. I end up in a cycle of doing well logging then thinking sodd it and just eating whatever I want.

I have read Paul Mckenna's book "I can make you thin" - I know I know.. but I think I am ready to give it a try. His idea is that you practice these 4 habits;

1. When you are hungry, eat.
2. Eat what you want (not what you think you "should".)
3. Eat consciously and enjoy every mouthful.
4. When you are full stop.

Obviously nutrition comes into play but I generally like to eat heathy foods anyway.

I am going to give this a try for a good few weeks and see how I get on.

Many of us ate ourselves into overweight by eating intuitively. We know that doesn't work for us. You have to eat in a calorie deficit, but there are many ways to create a deficit. Counting actual calories seems to be a simple straight forward way to do that.

That said, I am doing my calorie counting in a kind of half-a**ed way. I'm not worring about precision. I'm not weighing and measuring everything I eat anymore, but I'm logging them as a rough estimate. I know my estimates may be way off and so may be my exercise calories, but so far, I'm getting satisfactory progress.

If my weight loss stops, though, I know better than to come on this forum asking why. Clearly a number of people have had huge success doing it by calorie counting so there's no question that it works. It's a question of how much you are willing to put up with to achieve your goals.

1. When you are hungry, eat.
2. Eat what you want (not what you think you "should".)
3. Eat consciously and enjoy every mouthful.
4. When you are full stop.

I agree with all of these except for #2. I lost 40 pounds before I began calorie counting (and I'm only doing it now to help with my fiancee's motivation), and I did it by cutting out all restaurants and fast food and only eating things that weren't obviously bad for me. I had a lot of cold cereal, a lot of sandwiches (turkey, lettuce, mustard), and a lot of salads (no dressing). Also, I worked out several times a week and cut out all beverages except for water. If I needed to round out a meal, I'd add fruits or vegetables.

Pleasant? No. But unless you're counting calories, it's the way you have to do it, and it gets results.

No, you don't have to do it that way.

What you have to do is cut back on your portions. It's not the food, it's the portions.

There are NO bad/good foods. Only bad eating habits.

If you cut down on your portions, you'll be hungry afterward (point #1), and you'll never feel "full" (point #4). That's fine; it's what a caloric deficit feels like, but it's not as simple as you're making it.

Besides, there are most certainly bad foods. I think what you're trying to say is that there are no definite foods you have to cut out if you're only going for a caloric deficit (which is true; people have lost weight eating nothing but Twinkies because they maintained a deficit), but that doesn't make every food good. I don't know about you, but my body is never very happy with me when I eat bad food. Do I still do it? You bet, because those things are delicious, but they're still not healthy foods to eat.

But IMO, losing weight IS about the numbers. Calories in vs calories out. And the only way you can be sure to get the balance right is to add the numbers up.

It can be a little annoying, but honestly, it's just become part of my routine now and I don't even think about it.

Yes calories in vs calories out, correct. I can't hide from that but I am thinking maybe I can control that some other way... which doesnt result in me thinking "oh **** this"

unless you're a food psychic, you're not gonna know how much you're eating without counting calories...

...and since that is what matters, you just have to decide whether or not you're worth the time and effort to take a few extra minutes to calculate it.

If you're thinking "oh **** this" over counting calories, then you aren't ready to make the changes required to control it. When you're ready, you will.

Sorry I have to disagree with that. I am ready. 7lbs in since 15th of march.

I understand what you are saying but calorie counting isnt the only way to lose weight.

no, being in a calorie deficit is the way to lose weight.
if you're losing weight without calories, then you're obviously in a calorie deficit. You're eating less than your TDEE.

That's a good thing.

Problem is, when it slows/stops.. and you come to the forums to ask why...

People are going to ask you the normal set of questions:
1. how much are you eating
2. are you weighing measuring
3. how long have you not lost

etc.

If you aren't weighing, you don't know how much you're eating and everything from that point is guess work.

Yes I guess it will be alot of guess work. Hopefully it will work.
I read some before and afters from a view people who tried the method which was encouraging

so how about the folks here that have lost hundreds of pounds by just counting calories accurately? I mean, the process has worked for the majority of my friends list. I've dropped 153 lbs by weighing food, counting calories. Others on my list are far above that... and maintaining, because they know how many calories they can eat on average to do so.

Your idea/plan is flawed for maintenance. Once you stop losing, how will you know how much to eat? If you notice a gain, how much will you cut back to lose again.. a steady controlled loss...

that's just it, you don't know.. because without the information, guesswork.

but hey, it's your health. you'll get frustrated with that approach too. "well, last week I only had 1 chicken breast and bla bla, whatever"

Why do you seem to think that calorie counting is the ONLY way to successfully lose weight? That's quite a fanatical view when you think about it. The OP has already specifically stated (heck, it's the title of the thread) that they hate calorie counting and don't want to do it - for them, it's unsustainable as a healthy lifestyle. And the whole point of weight loss is for it to be sustainable and lifelong. So why push one single method that they've already stated doesn't work for them?

There are millions of people in the world who maintain or reach a healthy weight without counting calories ever in their life; to say it's impossible to do so is just narrow minded. If it's worked for you then that's awesome - I'm so glad for you - but the OP has already said it doesn't work for them, so why keep pushing?

Honestly sometimes I felt that the actual act of logging food made me think about it more, and sometimes increased the totals I logged. Kind of like what happens when the act of measuring and documenting by an experimenter actually affects the outcome. I don't know what to tell you, other than in my case it passed and I started learning ways I could sustain a consistent deficit for myself.

What do you feel is frustrating about the specific act of logging? If you're still interested in trying it, we can offer tips :happy:

I think its more the ability to be accurate, which in turn fustrates me. I cook alot of meals from scratch. Stir frys, salads, etc and I can,t be doing with this "150g of sugar is so many calories" etc etc. I want to get away from logging and use some other method to help me lose weight... enter I can make you thin

Eat half a plate each meal and incorporate veggies as a side dish to fill up. Leave out fattening dressings. Drink black or green tea with little sweetener. I've been doing this and my body has changed dramatically over the past 6 months (50 lbs lost, 18 not accounted for on MFP). I don't calorie count b/c it is nerve racking. Log the food you eat in a journal and repeat the weeks in which you lost the most weight. That method is natural for us non calorie counters.