Losing weight just from counting calories?

I might be able to answer this in a few weeks ive started doing this and not going over 1200 a day and hoping it will cause weightloss as already i have noticed im eating a lot less than i used to and eating better foods, so surely i deserve rewarding by shedding a few pounds for that!

As long as you are eating less than you burn, you'll lose weight.

I did from June 10 to Sept 11 last year. I was recovering from a c-section at the beginning of June and it took a little bit for me to get back into exercising. I lost weight during this time. I was in the mid 190's in June and on Sept 11 I was 181. So yes, you can lose weight without exercise.

You can lose weight just with having a calorie deficit. I have done it before, and the 8.5 lbs I lost was during the 1st 3 weeks when i really didn't do much exercise (other than some walking).
But if you exercise it's so much easier. I take a Zumba class, it burns about 500-700 calories. I can eat back some (or all and still be under the goal). It just means that I can eat more and not be hungry, or stay lower on my calories.

Back when I was over 200 lbs I did not do ANY exercise at all. I lost weight by counting calories alone. I started working out when I hit a plateau at 190. You can do it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AniyahsMommy324 wrote: »

Does anyone lose weight just by counting their calories? My eating is all over the place, anf I feel like before I try to incorporate exercise in, I should get my eating under control first and just focus on counting calories for a month or so. Anyone done this and had a positive result?

in short, yes. If your goal is to lose weight then the priority should be to count calories and learn how to get into and stay in a calorie deficit over an extended period of time. Also, don't look at it as a daily deficit either, look at it as weekly. That way if you do have a binge day, you can still adjust in order to be in a weekly deficit. Your weekly deficit should be 3500 calories for every lb you want to lose per week.

Don't try to burn more than 1.5-2lbs per week otherwise your metabolism will slow down and this will stall your weight loss leading to frustration and ultimately cause you to give up.

This is what happens to a lot of people.

AniyahsMommy324 wrote: »

Thanks for your replies! I used to count calories, but was still eatin the wrong foods, and too much of them. So now I'm going to focus on just counting calories and eating better foods.

Barbs2222 thank you! He was a newborn in that picture. Now he's 10 months and trying to walk!

If you weren't losing it was from eating too much of them, not necessarily that they were wrong foods.

I just wanted to clarify. For weight loss, irregardless of what foods you eat, it is calories in vs out. For health, it is ideal to balance your meals to include a good amount of protein, fat, fiber and micronutrients. These two things should typically be in balance but I know I have off days were I decide to just have a nice day and not get too strategic with it. Staying within whatever calorie goal results in weight loss is enough to produce results. The thing that helps is that nutrient dense, whole foods will typically leave you satiated longer then other foods but neither is superior to the other in terms of calories alone.

Sorry ramble xD

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As far as wrong food vs. good foods, the calories are what really count.
If you want to eat fried chicken, pizza and cake, sure, go for it, but if your goal is to stay under 1300 for example, you will be able to eat very little. 2-3 slices of pizza, some chicken, and a slice of cake will probably get you there. You can lose weight as long as you stay under the goal, but you'll be hungry and will end up eating something. You def. can't sustain this on the long run.

By eating 'good food', lots of veggies, lean protein, good carbs (not cake lol) and even the occasional treats, you can easily stay under your goal, and that's what counts.

I did, I have lost about 17 pounds in 4 months, 13 pounds of which I have lost by calorie counting and the remainder from eating well and exercising. But I must say that personally for me it's easier to work out and eat healthy rather than just eating healthy. If I'm not working out I don't feel very good so I will just eat constantly and make poor choices but if I am in the gym on a regular basis I feel good about myself and feel healthy so I make good food choices. The only reason I held off on going to the gym and are well first was because I had a cesarean so I needed time to recover.

sullus wrote: »

You cannot lose weight just by counting calories. You need to limit them as well.

Actually, I think just counting is a great way to start out. Try to understand what you're doing. If you were able to count for 2 weeks without changing anything, you'd be able to get an excellent estimate of your maintenance level. Then you'd know exactly what your net budget was to lose.

Example: I track calories for 2 "typical" weeks, trying not to change my diet. I see that I'm taking in an average of 2400 calories per day, and also burning an average of 100 per day through deliberate exercise. Net: 2300/day.

But I also know that I'm not maintaining. I'm gaining, on average, 5 lbs/year. (5 lbs) * (3500 cals/lb) / (365 days/year) = 48 cals/day

That means my maintenance level is about 2250/day. If I want to lose 1 lb/week, I should subtract 500 cals/day from that. So my target is 1750/day NET (calories taken in - burns from deliberate exercise). I don't have to worry about finding my BMR or my TDEE or whether I'm "Active" or "Lightly Active" because the numbers tell me exactly how much energy my body uses.

Having data is fantastic

But if you don't want to do all that, or the math is too hard ....

JUST TRACKING will help you limit calories. It'll help you make better choices. Which one of these is the "better" choice for breakfast for weight loss? 2 slices bacon + 1 scrambled egg OR 6 oz light yogurt + 1 banana OR a bagel with 1 oz light cream cheese?

If you're like me before I started, you have no idea. But I would probably have picked the yogurt and fruit first, then the bagel, and then the bacon + eggs which sounds like you'd gain 10 lbs just from looking at it.

But when you're counting, you realize that the bacon/egg and the yogurt breakfast have the same amount of calories (210) and the bagel is the worst choice at 305.

Counting will also help you realize where you're spending calories that you don't need to. Maybe you have some habits you can cut easily: sugar in your coffee or an extra beer every night or too much rice with dinner. I think it'd be hard to track for the first time and NOT change your habits.

More information = better choices for your goals = more weight lost.

And back to the original question: I lose faster when I don't exercise. Exercise makes me hungry (that is, I want to eat more than I burn) so it's very hard to stay within my calorie goal on my workout days, where it's easy when I spend the day sitting around.

I like getting stronger and I have other fitness goals, but for weight loss, changing my diet was far more effective. I've never successfully lost before using either "work out every day" or "good foods/bad foods" methods. Only calorie counting works for me.

I haven't been exercising much lately due to some medical issues acting up, and I'm still losing at a steady rate. Eating at a caloric deficit is all you need to lose weight; exercise (depending on the type) will help you retain muscle mass during weight loss and improve cardiovascular health.

kristen6350 wrote: »

Yep. 6lbs since Dec. 10th. No exercise. I tend to hibernate in the winter so I need to get my food intake spot on...

Hi, can you please suggest your methods for shedding down the 6 pounds? What did you eat?