Does calorie counting actually work?

Yes it does.

Yip 57lbs down..12 more to go!
Logging honestly is definitely the key!!

It definitely works! In the beginning I lost about a pound-two a week in my first few months with little effort exercising.. I regularly try to average between 1000-1200 calories A day, Eating 5-6 times (3 meals 2/3 snacks) and on my "cheat" days im still calorie conscious.. I don't go crazy with it, just allow myself to eat between 1500-1800. You dont wanna completely deprive yourself of your favorite foods. Because your CRAVINGS will get the best of you. Eating a random slice of pizza will shock your body after eating clean the rest of the week and send your metabolism into high gear. Just account for the calories eaten on your cheat day. DON'T GO BUCK WILD. You don't wanna back pedal and defeat what you did throughout the rest of the week.. GOOD LUCK!

allakin2000 wrote: »

In Feb. 2014 I was 61 years old, 283 lb., sedentary, and according to two physicians "pre-diabetic, morbidly obese, arthritic in both knees". I wouldn't have started if you'd told me I "had to" include exercise because it would have hurt too much. A very caring doctor [thanks, Don!] assured me that I could turn things around with calorie control as the primary change, adding mild exercise if/when/only as much as my knees would allow.

Don was right. This morning [Day 445] I reached target weight [WOOT!] of 175 lb. Still sedentary, although I no longer dread having to walk half-a-mile.

BUT: I had to play it straight, just as others have said:
Log everything [which is where MFP has been so helpful].
Pay attention to portion control.
Don't chase the small daily variations on the scale.

Great work!

Works for me. Lost 40lbs over the course of a year. Got off track for a while, but back on and losing the last little bit.

If you've only been at it for a week, it might not seem like it's working. This is a much slower method, but it's one that has potential to help you the rest of your life by teaching you how to portion out your food properly. So many people never learn that, especially if they eat out a lot (or have the mom/grandma "Eat! Eat!" syndrome). So look for trends over several weeks at a time, not every day. Trust me, you will start trending down if you're counting correctly, but it will take a while!

LaurenWilkins293 wrote: »

Ok well thanks for the positive feedback, didn't ask for no snotty ones but hey ho

Ohhhh, so it's only ok for YOU to be snotty. Got it.
As for whether calorie counting works...*peeks at ticker* …um, yeah.

LaurenWilkins293 wrote: »

Ok well thanks for the positive feedback, didn't ask for no snotty ones but hey ho

Honestly. If you ask a silly question you're going to get some blunt answers. When you phrase your question like that, does it "actually" work, you are displaying -- at best -- your skepticism to a well-proven fact. At worst, you are displaying not just skepticism but hostility to the idea that it works. What result can you expect? Bluntness. Not rainbows and "positive feedback."

If someone "counts" calories but doesn't lose a reasonable amount of weight, it is either because
1) They are magical unicorns whose bodies never burn calories. Evar.
2) They are eating too many calories because they've set too small a caloric deficit to achieve results.
3) They are bad at or lazy about counting.

Most of the time it's Door #3. To be "good at counting" you have to

• Practice accurate portion measurement. The key point here is accurate. Absolutely no guesstimating, no eyeballing. For most people, it means weighing stuff. Weighing is more consistent than volume-based measuring, because sometimes different amounts of food seem to take up the same amount of space. Some people don't want to meticulously weigh / measure their food. Fine. But then those people don't get to complain that calorie-counting doesn't work. Because they haven't really tried calorie-counting.
• Count EVERYTHING that actually has calories in it. Depending on the size of the calorie deficit you are targeting, there's actually a bit of variation in what will work for different people. I don't count water. I don't count diet sodas. I do count salsa and mustard, even though the calories in small portions of these are pretty miniscule. I certainly count fruits and vegetables. They have calories and eating them reduces the size of the deficit I am achieving. Duh. Some people don't want to count vegetables. Fine. But then, those people don't get to complain that calorie-counting doesn't work. Because they haven't really tried calorie-counting.
• Record everything you count. Kind of a subset of #2, but a lot of people make the mistake of not recording "a few bites" of something here and there because they assume that it's negligible. And that might be fine if you are successfully achieving a super-huge deficit and seeing results. Some people don't want to count the 3 M&Ms they ate, and the few bites of an apple, and couple sips of OJ, and those crackers that were just going to go to waste if someone didn't eat them, etc. etc. etc. Fine. But those people don't get to complain that calorie-counting doesn't work.

Is there some variation in people's metabolisms? Absolutely. Do we always accurately know the EXACT caloric value that our bodies extract from every bite? Nope. But this stuff only matters on the margins. Giving a crap about it is a great way to major in the minors. Calculating a reasonable and appropriate caloric deficit, and diligently counting calories as best we can to achieve that deficit works. ACTUALLY.

BFDeal wrote: »

It works until the number you have to hit to lose weight gets so low that you go insane from hunger.

If it gets that low, I'd say you're done with your weight loss goal and should be on maintenance.