Anyone lost weight by NOT counting calories?

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Replies

  • cyndiee1
    cyndiee1 Posts: 24
    I never logged what I ate before and at first I lost about 10 lbs, then found that I wasn't losing any more. That is when I joined MFP to get an idea of how much I was eating. My focus is not calories, but I'm not answering this to debate what people choose to track (do what works for you). Since tracking what I eat, I've lost an additional 5 lbs and have 5 more to go. So in answer to the original question, I think if you have a lot of weight to lose, you might be able to not log/count to start, but it gets more difficult as you get closer to your goal weight and counting helps you see what you need to adjust. I think is also easy to misjudge how much you are eating if you don't log. Some people are religious about weighing every morsel that goes into their mouth. I, personally, do not have the time to do that and if it takes me a little longer to lose this last 5 lbs because I didn't weigh every oz., I can live with that.
  • George_Baileys_Ghost
    George_Baileys_Ghost Posts: 1,524 Member
    Yup
    tapeworm-diet-adbiomedical-ephemera-or--a-frog-for-your-boils
    ornamentedbeing-6lszxi2g.jpg
  • ksolksol
    ksolksol Posts: 194 Member
    Going back to the OP question -- are you picking your battles in terms of how accurate you are on the logging? On low-cal items such as veggies, I don't worry about getting it precise down to the gram. On the oil, starches, etc. I'd want to be more exacting. If you eyeball the veggies close enough, would that help make it a little less hassle?

    I cook a lot, so I hear you. I'm finding MFP is easier on that front than I thought it would be.
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
    To the OP yes I did...my first 25lbs.

    Then I came here and realized that part of that 25lbs was muscle..not just fat.

    Mainly because I really wasn't watching my protien, was eating probably 1200 calories a day, to the point I couldn't exercise much.

    It also meant I had to cut out certian foods as well. I did this for 3 years and yo yo'd that same 25lbs for 3 years.

    But by counting, even to the point of weighing veggies etc I have lost an additional 25+ lbs and maintained most of the muscle I had left. I am not weak and can push and pull and lift some damn heavy weights (for me).

    Use the recipe builder or save the meal. But let's be frank here...logging homemade meals is done everyday by lots of people who don't give up because "it's too hard" or " to time consuming"
  • DamePiglet
    DamePiglet Posts: 3,730 Member
    "I'll keep my processed foods, white bread, sugar, etc. I'll weigh my veggies thanks."

    So let's say there is a newbie who needs to lose 50 lbs. and is eating 2,200 calories on average. He/she determines that a drastic cut to 1,400 calories is called for, which obviously cannot be easy.

    And you would honestly advise that person that part of those 1,400 calories should be empty calories of sugar and white bread, which would do absolutely nothing to fill that person up? You have to be kidding me.

    A calorie may just be a calorie, but satiety is even more important. If you are starving at 7PM because you've eaten junk to get you to your calorie limit, you will fail your diet miserably and never lose weight.

    Not kidding you at all.
    For me, having part of my diet coming from foods that are on your "empty" list makes for a sustainable way of life and maintainable weight management..

    As for the OP... there are many who also just do "portion control" of anything they eat; they're in a calorie deficit, but don't actually COUNT the calories... just ingest fewer.
  • gypsy_spirit
    gypsy_spirit Posts: 2,107 Member
    Yup
    tapeworm-diet-adbiomedical-ephemera-or--a-frog-for-your-boils
    ornamentedbeing-6lszxi2g.jpg

    :laugh: @ the "NO BATHS" and :sick: @ "easy to swallow"
  • GBrady43068
    GBrady43068 Posts: 1,256 Member
    So let's say there is a newbie who needs to lose 50 lbs. and is eating 2,200 calories on average. He/she determines that a drastic cut to 1,400 calories is called for, which obviously cannot be easy.

    And you would honestly advise that person that part of those 1,400 calories should be empty calories of sugar and white bread, which would do absolutely nothing to fill that person up? You have to be kidding me.
    Says you. Bread can be quite filling..that's WHY I include carbs in general in my diet. Even "evil" white bread if that's what you like...so long as you account for the calories. I'm not going to hold myself up as a paragon of logging because I've been quite bad at it recently but I'm going to point the finger square at myself rather than a particular food type for the slowdown in loss.

    And there's nothing wrong with sugar in moderation if that's what you want...tell yourself "No sugar ever again...." and you're setting yourself up to eat the whole container of cookies when the temptation is too great...instead of just allotting for the ONE cookie to take care of the craving and keeping the weight loss happening.
  • Holly_Roman_Empire
    Holly_Roman_Empire Posts: 4,440 Member
    "I'll keep my processed foods, white bread, sugar, etc. I'll weigh my veggies thanks."

    So let's say there is a newbie who needs to lose 50 lbs. and is eating 2,200 calories on average. He/she determines that a drastic cut to 1,400 calories is called for, which obviously cannot be easy.

    And you would honestly advise that person that part of those 1,400 calories should be empty calories of sugar and white bread, which would do absolutely nothing to fill that person up? You have to be kidding me.

    A calorie may just be a calorie, but satiety is even more important. If you are starving at 7PM because you've eaten junk to get you to your calorie limit, you will fail your diet miserably and never lose weight.

    How do you figure that white bread is an empty calorie? :huh:

    And no, it would not be difficult to include white bread and sugar into a 1,400 calorie day. You can make a sandwich for 300-400 calories easily. And have a snack cake at the end of the day.

    Your argument is ridiculous.

    I eat a bagel every moring. It's yummy, and interestingly enough, it holds me over until lunchtime. Imagine that. :happy:
  • DamePiglet
    DamePiglet Posts: 3,730 Member
    Yup
    tapeworm-diet-adbiomedical-ephemera-or--a-frog-for-your-boils
    ornamentedbeing-6lszxi2g.jpg

    mmmmm... tape worm cleanse! My fav!
  • dawnyloutwo
    dawnyloutwo Posts: 1 Member
    When i logged the calories i found myself craving things more than ever and for the first time in my life (and I'm 40) got the urge to want to binge and purge. However doing the calorie thing meant that i did learn and have a good idea of what my favourite foods calories/values are and what works for me is simply not eating goodies and big portions and just having a little of the naughty stuff with lots of salad and healthy food. Luckily i didn't have a lot to lose but needed to retrain my sweet tooth and my lack of willpower. I'm still eating the same amount as when i logged the calories but haven't had any urges to binge so it wasn't because i was hungry, must just be a psychological want what you can't have thing!
  • KseRz
    KseRz Posts: 980 Member
    Yup
    tapeworm-diet-adbiomedical-ephemera-or--a-frog-for-your-boils
    ornamentedbeing-6lszxi2g.jpg

    mmmmm... tape worm cleanse! My fav!

    There is a sunlight cleanse
  • ILoveGingerNut
    ILoveGingerNut Posts: 367 Member
    Generations of women have lost/maintained weight without counting calories. It does help though if you are struggling to lose despite doing all the right things (or you think so). Most often we underestimate what we eat. That's all.
  • gothchiq
    gothchiq Posts: 4,590 Member
    I eat a balanced diet of all the food groups. People can individually do as they see fit, but I am not going to throw any food group out of my life. It's neither sustainable nor healthy for me. By counting calories, and by exercising regularly, I lose weight at a healthy rate of approximately a pound a week. I do weigh and measure things. It becomes second nature after about three months. Until then, just.... what can I say. Bear with it. It takes time to change habits.
  • Branstin
    Branstin Posts: 2,320 Member
    "I'll keep my processed foods, white bread, sugar, etc. I'll weigh my veggies thanks."

    So let's say there is a newbie who needs to lose 50 lbs. and is eating 2,200 calories on average. He/she determines that a drastic cut to 1,400 calories is called for, which obviously cannot be easy.

    And you would honestly advise that person that part of those 1,400 calories should be empty calories of sugar and white bread, which would do absolutely nothing to fill that person up? You have to be kidding me.

    A calorie may just be a calorie, but satiety is even more important. If you are starving at 7PM because you've eaten junk to get you to your calorie limit, you will fail your diet miserably and never lose weight.

    My daily calories per MFP are 1400 per day. I meet my macros while including sugar and white bread. I am never "starving" nor have I failed my diet. Demonizing foods is one of the sure ways to miserably fail a diet or weight loss plan. Do you really believe advising a person to refrain from eating foods they enjoy without a medical reason will deter them from eating it or avoid it for the rest of their lives?
  • Victoria2448
    Victoria2448 Posts: 559 Member
    Yes!
    After years of tracking and weighing my food...I stopped in February. It's so freeing!

    I am not on any sort of diet...I eat carbs like bread, pastas...actually I eat just about everything, except processed crap. I indulge too!

    So it can be done.
  • Branstin
    Branstin Posts: 2,320 Member
    I keep thinking surely it must be simpler than this. My mother is 9st and really slim and does not think about what she eats or logs calories. Has anyone lost weight just by eating 3 proper meals a day, no picking on rubbish and exercising more?

    I agree with using the recipe builder. I make enough food to last a couple of days and the recipe is saved for future use.
  • Leonidas_meets_Spartacus
    Leonidas_meets_Spartacus Posts: 6,198 Member
    I don't count calories, I eat till I am full and eat if I am hungry. I have never been afraid to eat till I am full, some days I ate 4500 calories.
  • teambell1
    teambell1 Posts: 21 Member

    Just a bunch of nonsense.

    Some people's bodies can't break down carbohydrates? Really? Wow, just wow.

    Yes really,,,,your body breaks down bread and chips good for you!!! NOT all people can tolerate bad carbs....

    Carbohydrate Intolerance

    It is the inability of the body to completely process carbohydrates (sugars and starches) due to lack or inadequate amount of one or more of the enzymes needed for their digestion. Lactose Intolerance is the most common one but the inability to break down starch is also common.

    - See more at: http://www.foodreactions.org/intolerance/carbohydrate/index.html#sthash.jAQtFdxU.dpuf

    Great facts and I agree!
    Refined foods and sugar were killing me, I was carbohydrate intolerant and didn't know what that meant or how it affected me... All that exercise and counting calories and no/poor results.

    I do not not count calories now, I eat several times a day all from selections that look like things that grow from the ground and whole pieces of meats. No refined foods period. I continue to lose weight, gain more energy, never feel exhausted or bloated and am so much more able to make outstanding choices about what I eat.

    I have lost 35 lbs in the last year! OH and I only exercise running REAL slow, never above an aerobic heart rate and now I run faster than I have in 20 years!

    Countless ways to lose weight! Pick a strategy and stick with it!
  • pepperpat64
    pepperpat64 Posts: 423 Member
    To lose weight, you need to burn more calories than you consume. If you can do that without counting, great! If not, then counting is essential. Some people love to count and do it religiously while others aren't that crazy about it but understand how useful it is. I'm about halfway between those two camps. Some people do it long enough to learn how to fairly accurately estimate portion sizes by eye.

    The Recipe Builder on this site is very helpful. What I suggest in your situation is to get all your ingredients ready prior to cooking as you normally do (don't worry about specific amounts for now), then weigh each item and write the amounts down on a notepad. Then cook your dinner and eat it and enjoy it. After dinner, go to the Recipe Builder and enter all the ingredients and serving portions and see how it calculates. (Make someone else do the dishes so you can do this. LOL.) You may go over your calories for the day, but don't worry about it. What this helps you do is analyze that recipe and see if it works for your calorie and nutrient goals. You might find you can change the amounts or types of ingredients to better match your goals. For example: if you sauteed something in two tablespoons of butter, try using one the next time; try switching reduced fat sour cream or cheeses for full-fat; use brown rice instead of white, etc. Next time you make that meal, you'll have a much better idea of what it should contain. Better yet, you won't have to log every single ingredient - you just go to the "My Recipes" tab and log how many portions you ate.

    If you're making a recipe from a cookbook or website, it seems like most of them these days have already calculated the nutrients for you! So stick with those sources and most of the work is done for you, and you just have to enter it in your food diary.

    It takes some time and effort - there's no way around that. It did for me. But once you learn how to do it, it gets much easier and definitely more rewarding.
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
    "I'll keep my processed foods, white bread, sugar, etc. I'll weigh my veggies thanks."

    So let's say there is a newbie who needs to lose 50 lbs. and is eating 2,200 calories on average. He/she determines that a drastic cut to 1,400 calories is called for, which obviously cannot be easy.

    And you would honestly advise that person that part of those 1,400 calories should be empty calories of sugar and white bread, which would do absolutely nothing to fill that person up? You have to be kidding me.

    A calorie may just be a calorie, but satiety is even more important. If you are starving at 7PM because you've eaten junk to get you to your calorie limit, you will fail your diet miserably and never lose weight.

    I find carbs to be more sating than protein, honestly. Especially if they're paired with fat.

    But either way-- my initial calorie goal was 1420. I ate processed foods including bread and sugar. I never felt hungry and I also never felt deprived.

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