Anyone else ever wish they could stop counting calories?

SezxyStef wrote: »

eh it's like brushing my teeth. Just part of my day.

Will I always count? probably
Is it a pain sometimes? yup but I do it anyway...just like my lifting

We don't always agree but we definitely agree on this.

I wish I was a person who maintained a healthy weight effortlessly.

But the truth is, I'm not.

I don't know why I'm different than others. It's not fair, but it's a fact.

Counting calories takes 10-15 minutes a day. Can I devote 10-15 minutes of my day to stay at a weight that lets me live a happier, healthier, fuller life?

You bet.

When I weighed more than 300 pounds, I spent a lot of time worrying about other things:
- My pants are tight, I should go shopping, but what a drag.
- I got invited to see someone I haven't seen since college, but I'm dreading going because of how fat I've gotten.
- My husband wants to go on a hike, but I'm going to spend 20 minutes stressing about how much I don't want to do it because I'm afraid I can't keep up.
- I should go to the doctor, but I don't want to because I don't want to step on the scale.

Yeah, I'd say 15 minutes of calorie counting a day is a small price to pay for being this smaller, healthier person.

Yes! I realize now that I will have to count calories or WW Points for ever because when I stop I gain weight. It's not fun. But it's not that time consuming and important so I accept it.

Counting calories, no.

Having to limit my food choices/amounts, yes.

It has become a bit of an obsession for me, but I know how to do it without counting calories. Ok I lie, I know how to do it without logging, but always keep the numbers in my head. I do not plan on doing it the rest of my life.

I've found that I can maintain by counting/logging religously at a weight loss level for 3-4 days/week and then loosening up for the other 3-4 days. Of course, I can't go crazy on my non-logging days, but can have small, reasonable splurges coupled with healthier choices that just might not be weighed and measured. I can choose the days I want to loosen up around my plans for the week and that also helps it be less burdensome. I also weigh myself every day to make sure that i'm not getting off track/gaining.

This is a good compromise for me because I also hate tracking--it stresses me out, especially when I'm eating out. I know some say to just eat healthy foods for hunger, but I prefer to maintain my weight at a lower level than mother nature prefers, so even when i'm making good choices (like primal/all whole and natural foods, etc.), I will easily gain weight if I don't track at least 1/2 the time. Of course, I've still done the whole yo-yo thing, but that's when i give up tracking altogether--then i'm guaranteed to gain it all back!

Good luck!

I won't physically log everything I eat forever. But I will know how many calories are in my foods and keep a looser tally probably forever. So strange to think I never knew anything about calories.

Ready2Rock206 wrote: »

I had a complete meltdown yesterday. I desperately just want to be able to eat like a normal person. But unless I want to be fat forever, not going to be able to stop counting those calories.

This I totally get. There have been SO MANY times I want to eat like what I consider "normal." I see everyone at work eating without thinking about every calorie or gram of protein, and I get jealous. But you know what? My health and fitness are more important than that. In fact, my trainer told me this when I was complaining about wanting to be "normal."

"Eating ad lib only sounds good when you're sticking to a nutrition plan. The more we deprive ourselves, the stronger the urge to go to town on food becomes. When eating whatever whenever is simply part of life, as it is for normal people, it's not like they feel lucky. It just is. And they typically don't look great physically. They don't feel great. Sure, some do... and they're mostly young or genetically superior. But by and large, being abnormal in our culture when it comes to dietary habits and physique is a very good thing."

And he's exactly right...