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I Don't Believe in Calorie Counting
Replies
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PiperGirl08 wrote: »PiperGirl08 wrote: »sashayoung72 wrote: »
Based on the previously posted picture, assuming she's not the chunky one near the door, she doesn't appear to be at all hideous.
It is literally only two very thin women. There is not a "chunky" one in the mirror. It's a reflection of the tall thin one. You could have just clicked and watched 2 seconds of the video. Sounds to me like you maybe don't have the healthiest attitude and relationship with food or weight. Calling a slightly overweight person "chunky" and hideous means you have some of your own issues you maybe should have a conversation with yourself about. Do some soul searching of your own. You're rather judgmental and hostile to anyone who has gained weight and is losing it in a healthy way on here by counting calories.
Actually, I didn't call the woman hideous, someone else did. I said she, Tracey, was anything but.
But yep, I did refer to the one by the door as chunky. Fat is not the new fit, no matter how vociferously people lobby for FA.
And you actually see the one by the door at "fat" or "chunky"? You must have some high standards where weight is concerned.3 -
"I don't believe in calorie counting, people just need to pay attention to what they each, and how much of it they eat."
Those things are basically the same, except calorie counting just happens to be way more accurate.8 -
PiperGirl08 wrote: »WiseBlueRaven wrote: »PiperGirl08 wrote: »PiperGirl08 wrote: »Don't see what this approach has to do with whether you calorie count or not.
Why does calorie counting prevent a person from reflecting on why they want to overeat? I'd think keeping that kind of food diary would be helpful for just that. I'd think logging in advance of eating would help with emotional eating. It gives you one more chance to distance yourself from the emotion before digging in, at least.
I can tell you that if I cut out all the times I ate for reasons other than 'I'm hungry' I would probably still gain weight. Why? Because if I'm not aware, I'm reaching for higher calorie items than I should be. I'm eating more of lower calorie items than I should be. And I'm doing it because I have a sedentary job and very little margin for error.
Exercise helps with that, but if I don't track it, I'll more than compensate for my activity.
All that being said, obviously people are also successful without calorie counting. I just don't see where others' success without counting invalidates the success of everyone who did count.
Thank you for the well-thought out reply. I agree that it doesn't have to be an either or other choice, but to the author's point, I can't count the number of posts I've seem on MFP with people berating themselves because they blew their budget. The stress and self-loathing she describes are real.
Her point is that if people understand food better, then the problems that lead to weight gain can be much eliminated.
Personally, apart from holidays and special occasions, I simply don't have "bad" food in the house. Only whole foods -- no chips, no crackers, no cakes, no pies, no cookies, no packaged meals. What I eat is filling and satisfying and I have to work hard to exceed my caloric range. To the degree that I log in MFP, is to get a look at the nutritional makeup of what I consume (Iron, Protein, Cholestrol and Potassium). Consequently, I don't need to count calories, and I've don't have and have never had a weight problem.
Calorie counting does work for those who need it. But at the end of the day, we'd probably see fewer problems with weight gain afterwards if people learned how to eat to live, rather than lived to eat, which is what get folks in the position of needing to count calories in the first place.
Seriously, she talks about a bad relationship with food and you just talked about "bad" foods you don't keep in your house. If you were that aware of your food habits, and talk to yourself regularly, then you'd be able to have that "bad" food in your house and eat it in moderation when you'd like to. I have chips in my house but I don't always have them. I count my calories and look at my nutrition for that day and sometimes I've met everything with leftover calories, and I'd like some ice cream or chips. I think that's a healthy relationship with food and I got this way by counting calories. Before I started I really didn't have an idea of what my macros should be or even if I was meeting them. It made me more aware of the nutritional value of different foods so I could even think of better choices.
I don't want to eat bad foods in moderation. I don't want to eat them at all. They are "bad" after all. They cause heart disease and a whole host of health issues, not the least of which is undesirable fat. Choosing my well-being over some sort of tasty, but detrimental delight, is the only healthy choice. Not being able to say no to a potato chip? Now that's the stuff of Biggest Loser contenders. Oh, and keep in mind that only one of us needs a web site for weight control. Just sayin'.
I've been trying to understand your position and even went back and reread all your posts here to see if I'd missed something. And I did-- you stated early on that "I agree that it doesn't have to be an either or other choice, but to the author's point, I can't count the number of posts I've seem on MFP with people berating themselves because they blew their budget. The stress and self-loathing she describes are real. Her point is that if people understand food better, then the problems that lead to weight gain can be much eliminated." I am totally on board with this and see better where you are coming from. I don't know the author of the article but if the other posters are right about her I'd be careful about taking all of her advice--but I can see this viewpoint of yours.
However, I have to say in defense of Bronty that the bolded section above is a low blow. With all respect, maybe you could edit your post while you can?
Yeah, I know it was a low blow -- didn't appreciate his/her personal reference directed my way.
Oh wow. First off, you keep assuming, from this post and another that apparently I'm overweight and insecure and need coddling. I'm not overweight. I'm pretty much in the middle of a healthy weight range and I've basically been in a healthy range my whole life. Secondly, people use this website for lots of things. To watch calories for a bulk or a cut to achieve a fitness goal. To better monitor their nutrition. My mom has never been overweight and actually sometimes is underweight but it doesn't mean she's getting good nutrition just because she's not fat. Your thread started with you basically bragging about how you are so in tune with your food choices that you don't need to count calories and gave off an impression you're better than others because you don't count calories. I mean you more clearly said that with your low blow assumption. You only see calorie counting as something for overweight people instead of the other uses it has, which, in my above post I was trying to make clear. Since this is a debate post I assumed you were open to other ideas about calorie counting. I don't believe in good foods or bad foods just making sure I don't have too much of anything. A chip here and there isn't going to give me heart disease.14 -
goldthistime wrote: »It's the act of logging that works magic for me, maybe even more than the calorie counting. I can be loosey goosey with my calorie goals and still do fine. I think logging automatically makes me more mindful about what I am eating.
ETA: By "what I am eating" I actually mean "how much I am eating" not just quality. I also want to add that counting calories has allowed me to lose more slowly and sustainably than any diet in the past.
A million times this! Waaaay back in the days of yore, before Google was a thing, I kept a food journal. Since food companies were not yet required to put nutrition facts (including calorie counts) on labels, it would have been difficult, to say the least, to get an accurate idea of the calories I was consuming. But I could see what I was eating, as well as how much (I recorded appx quantities). That act is eye-opening and you can really see your patterns, foods that you tend to overdo, food groups you may be neglecting (veggies I'm lookin at you), and simply having the accountability (if to no one else but yourself) associated with putting what you ate in writing is very helpful. Calorie counting adds further info, as does tracking macros, and more info is almost always a good thing!
Personally, I don't calorie count anymore. But calorie counting did help me identify which foods were creating problems for me, and by reducing them (pretty drastically), my appetite is regulated and I don't need to count anymore. That said, I've never been an emotional/stress eater, and am not one to eat out of boredom (that's what candy crush is for). If either of those two situations applied, I might not be able to "get away" with not counting.
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tlflag1620 wrote: »goldthistime wrote: »It's the act of logging that works magic for me, maybe even more than the calorie counting. I can be loosey goosey with my calorie goals and still do fine. I think logging automatically makes me more mindful about what I am eating.
ETA: By "what I am eating" I actually mean "how much I am eating" not just quality. I also want to add that counting calories has allowed me to lose more slowly and sustainably than any diet in the past.
A million times this! Waaaay back in the days of yore, before Google was a thing, I kept a food journal. Since food companies were not yet required to put nutrition facts (including calorie counts) on labels, it would have been difficult, to say the least, to get an accurate idea of the calories I was consuming. But I could see what I was eating, as well as how much (I recorded appx quantities). That act is eye-opening and you can really see your patterns, foods that you tend to overdo, food groups you may be neglecting (veggies I'm lookin at you), and simply having the accountability (if to no one else but yourself) associated with putting what you ate in writing is very helpful. Calorie counting adds further info, as does tracking macros, and more info is almost always a good thing!
Yeah, I agree with this too. I lost a bunch of weight in my early 30s and didn't count (it wasn't so easy back then), but I did write down a few prior days to get an understanding of how I'd been eating and then journaled for a while. It was really helpful.4 -
I stopped counting calories. Before I found MFP, I used to eat what I wanted, not restrict, not count or obsess over it. I did my workouts as normal & I lost weight & was lean & perfectly fine. When I ended up counting calories, I have never struggled more in my life. It was the worst mistake I ever made. I have seen more & more fitness trainers coming forward & talking about how damaging calorie restriction is for your metabolism & can lead to metabolic damage.
If people don't believe it, watch this video I put a link to at the end. Kelli (Fitness Blender) is straight-forward, she wouldn't lie, she talks about her calorie restriction, which lead to an eating disorder & she struggled with weight. As soon as she broke away from that, she started eating more calories & overcame it. Even Cassey Ho from Blogilates posted about metabolic damage when she was doing a bikini competition where the trainer made her eat only 1,000 calorie A DAY. Your body NEEDS nutrition. And look at all the people on the Biggest Loser who restricted, went on to live their lives & gained all, if not MORE, weight back. It happens to so many celebs that go on calorie restrictive diets. It is NOT worth it IMO. I log my workout calories & my food, but I do not care about the numbers of it, I just enjoy tracking what I've done for a workout & what I've ate. And the more I've been eating lately, I feel more like my old self, I have energy, I feel happy.
This is the video Kelli posted from Fitness Blender. I really recommend people watch it, it might be eye opening.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=VM99CXSPcVM1 -
"....I've don't have and have never had a weight problem." (quoting OP)
So your belief and agreement with Anderson is not based on personal experience of having to figure out how to lose weight - you never had to personally rely on an internal dialogue or counting calories to help you lose weight.
In a way that's like someone who has never had an alcohol abuse/addiction issue weighing in on whether reduction/controlled drinking instead of abstinence is the best approach for those who have had that issue...
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AestheticStar wrote: »I stopped counting calories. Before I found MFP, I used to eat what I wanted, not restrict, not count or obsess over it. I did my workouts as normal & I lost weight & was lean & perfectly fine. When I ended up counting calories, I have never struggled more in my life. It was the worst mistake I ever made. I have seen more & more fitness trainers coming forward & talking about how damaging calorie restriction is for your metabolism & can lead to metabolic damage.
If people don't believe it, watch this video I put a link to at the end. Kelli (Fitness Blender) is straight-forward, she wouldn't lie, she talks about her calorie restriction, which lead to an eating disorder & she struggled with weight. As soon as she broke away from that, she started eating more calories & overcame it. Even Cassey Ho from Blogilates posted about metabolic damage when she was doing a bikini competition where the trainer made her eat only 1,000 calorie A DAY. Your body NEEDS nutrition. And look at all the people on the Biggest Loser who restricted, went on to live their lives & gained all, if not MORE, weight back. It happens to so many celebs that go on calorie restrictive diets. It is NOT worth it IMO. I log my workout calories & my food, but I do not care about the numbers of it, I just enjoy tracking what I've done for a workout & what I've ate. And the more I've been eating lately, I feel more like my old self, I have energy, I feel happy.
This is the video Kelli posted from Fitness Blender. I really recommend people watch it, it might be eye opening.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=VM99CXSPcVM
Calorie counting =\= excessive calorie restriction...16 -
The_Enginerd wrote: »AestheticStar wrote: »I stopped counting calories. Before I found MFP, I used to eat what I wanted, not restrict, not count or obsess over it. I did my workouts as normal & I lost weight & was lean & perfectly fine. When I ended up counting calories, I have never struggled more in my life. It was the worst mistake I ever made. I have seen more & more fitness trainers coming forward & talking about how damaging calorie restriction is for your metabolism & can lead to metabolic damage.
If people don't believe it, watch this video I put a link to at the end. Kelli (Fitness Blender) is straight-forward, she wouldn't lie, she talks about her calorie restriction, which lead to an eating disorder & she struggled with weight. As soon as she broke away from that, she started eating more calories & overcame it. Even Cassey Ho from Blogilates posted about metabolic damage when she was doing a bikini competition where the trainer made her eat only 1,000 calorie A DAY. Your body NEEDS nutrition. And look at all the people on the Biggest Loser who restricted, went on to live their lives & gained all, if not MORE, weight back. It happens to so many celebs that go on calorie restrictive diets. It is NOT worth it IMO. I log my workout calories & my food, but I do not care about the numbers of it, I just enjoy tracking what I've done for a workout & what I've ate. And the more I've been eating lately, I feel more like my old self, I have energy, I feel happy.
This is the video Kelli posted from Fitness Blender. I really recommend people watch it, it might be eye opening.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=VM99CXSPcVM
Calorie counting =\= excessive calorie restriction...
Exactly this. For me it was the opposite -- since I didn't know how much I was eating I was overly restrictive (basically meat and veg, and "serving size" of meat) and discovered once I started logging it was coming in at about 900-1000 calories per day, which was way too low and would not have been sustainable. Understanding what I was eating better (how much, what my macros were) helped me make sensible choices to get to a reasonable level of calories (and eat back activity calories as that became relevant). I haven't been logging for a while and I never found that counting made me obsessive, but it was a great learning process to do it for a while.
Hmm, maybe people are different? I personally think that if someone tends to be obsessive about food restriction it won't manifest just with counting, but certainly if counting seems to trigger that, don't do it.5 -
Things that were proven to generally not work because people suck at it: "Paying attention" to what you're eating.
Things that are proven to work, given it's done consistently and accurately while adjusting amounts as needed: logging.
Case closed.11 -
I still say it depends. Counting calories has the ability to better any diet because it empowers the individual by providing data to make informed decisions on which food choices to restrict. I think there are a number of diets which restrict food choices by their design. I suspect in both cases most people will find that there is a significant overlap in the kinds of foods which were restricted either through governance or abstinence.0
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stevencloser wrote: »Things that were proven to generally not work because people suck at it: "Paying attention" to what you're eating.
Things that are proven to work, given it's done consistently and accurately while adjusting amounts as needed: logging.
Case closed.
Frequently I don't log till the end of the day and I find that I intuitively quit eating reasonably close to goal levels. But if I go a few days without logging, I drift into bad habits (eating non-satiating food, overeating). Logging MAKES me pay attention. If I were able to pay attention all the time without logging, who knows, I might be able to argue the OPs case.
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I count calories, I'm obsessive and I do not have a good relationship with food. I see all food as bad and fattening, but I eat it anyways bc you have to, but I still feel guilty of eating. I use to be 100 pounds over weight. I think anyone who gets to that point and loses it, has a distorted view of food, fear of gaining weight is always in my mind. For years all I heard was eat less and move more. Yesterday my doctor said eat more and exercise less...I'm never right!?!?! Anyways, my point is counting calories is important for me bc I feel like I am in control of my eating, I can make sure I don't eat too much....or too little. No matter what other people think (even the doctor) I know me, I know I can not stop being diligent unless I want to gain the weight back. AND I never want to go through that again. For me it is much easier to keep it off than it was to lose it.
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Tracy Anderson is just about the last person on earth I'd ever take any health and fitness advice from.11
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I count calories, I'm obsessive and I do not have a good relationship with food. I see all food as bad and fattening, but I eat it anyways bc you have to, but I still feel guilty of eating. I use to be 100 pounds over weight. I think anyone who gets to that point and loses it, has a distorted view of food, fear of gaining weight is always in my mind. For years all I heard was eat less and move more. Yesterday my doctor said eat more and exercise less...I'm never right!?!?! Anyways, my point is counting calories is important for me bc I feel like I am in control of my eating, I can make sure I don't eat too much....or too little. No matter what other people think (even the doctor) I know me, I know I can not stop being diligent unless I want to gain the weight back. AND I never want to go through that again. For me it is much easier to keep it off than it was to lose it.
Wow....
1) You admit that you're obsessive and see food as a bad thing.
2) Your doctor likely recognizes your issues because they advised you to lessen your calorie restrictions and lighten up on the exercise (based on your post I wouldn't be surprised if you're following a VLCD and engaging in extreme amounts of exercise which is not good for you).
3) You assume that people who were once overweight but lost the weight all have a disordered view of food when in reality it's more likely that they were once ignorant about food or didn't care but learned how to eat well for their goals.
Scary, scary post...
Listen to your doctor.12 -
Carlos_421 wrote: »I count calories, I'm obsessive and I do not have a good relationship with food. I see all food as bad and fattening, but I eat it anyways bc you have to, but I still feel guilty of eating. I use to be 100 pounds over weight. I think anyone who gets to that point and loses it, has a distorted view of food, fear of gaining weight is always in my mind. For years all I heard was eat less and move more. Yesterday my doctor said eat more and exercise less...I'm never right!?!?! Anyways, my point is counting calories is important for me bc I feel like I am in control of my eating, I can make sure I don't eat too much....or too little. No matter what other people think (even the doctor) I know me, I know I can not stop being diligent unless I want to gain the weight back. AND I never want to go through that again. For me it is much easier to keep it off than it was to lose it.
Wow....
1) You admit that you're obsessive and see food as a bad thing.
2) Your doctor likely recognizes your issues because they advised you to lessen your calorie restrictions and lighten up on the exercise (based on your post I wouldn't be surprised if you're following a VLCD and engaging in extreme amounts of exercise which is not good for you).
3) You assume that people who were once overweight but lost the weight all have a disordered view of food when in reality it's more likely that they were once ignorant about food or didn't care but learned how to eat well for their goals.
Scary, scary post...
Listen to your doctor.
+10 -
Ideas are tools, but sometimes the best tool for the job, isn't the tool you're best at using. Use what you're best at to accomplish goal. I think calorie counting is the best tool for weight loss, but a few people seem incapable of weighing & logging consistently. Maybe a real-time caloric restriction like "portion size and frequency awareness" is for them.2
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Carlos_421 wrote: »I count calories, I'm obsessive and I do not have a good relationship with food. I see all food as bad and fattening, but I eat it anyways bc you have to, but I still feel guilty of eating. I use to be 100 pounds over weight. I think anyone who gets to that point and loses it, has a distorted view of food, fear of gaining weight is always in my mind. For years all I heard was eat less and move more. Yesterday my doctor said eat more and exercise less...I'm never right!?!?! Anyways, my point is counting calories is important for me bc I feel like I am in control of my eating, I can make sure I don't eat too much....or too little. No matter what other people think (even the doctor) I know me, I know I can not stop being diligent unless I want to gain the weight back. AND I never want to go through that again. For me it is much easier to keep it off than it was to lose it.
Wow....
1) You admit that you're obsessive and see food as a bad thing.
2) Your doctor likely recognizes your issues because they advised you to lessen your calorie restrictions and lighten up on the exercise (based on your post I wouldn't be surprised if you're following a VLCD and engaging in extreme amounts of exercise which is not good for you).
3) You assume that people who were once overweight but lost the weight all have a disordered view of food when in reality it's more likely that they were once ignorant about food or didn't care but learned how to eat well for their goals.
Scary, scary post...
Listen to your doctor.
Oh I didn't mean to imply I wasn't fixing my problem. I definitely realize I have an issue with food. I am getting help, I have a doctor and a nutritionist that are helping me, I agree, when I said that most people who were that over weight and lost have a distorted view of food. I know that they didn't know any other way and had to learn. I am learning now. My point was not counting calories for me is not an option. I have to feel like I am in control of the situation. I made all of the changes the doctor thought I should make to lose the weight and I did. I trust him to help me now and I am trying to do as he wants, but ignoring calories is no happening. I told him I will exercise less and I will eat the protein shakes he wants me to eat but I am still counting the calories and I am still not willing to add too many too fast. I see them weekly so hopefully soon the nutritionist and I will have my diet sorted out to something I can live with that still meets all of my nutritional needs.5 -
Of course, dieting habits can vary from person to person. A lot of people do not understand the difference between counting calories and restricting calories. I try to eat as many (good) calories as possible, after coming off a bad relationship with food constantly restricting how much I ate, even if it was all the good stuff. I find that the less you restrict, the better you will feel. It is good to keep track, but instead of restricting, provide.3
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AestheticStar wrote: »I stopped counting calories. Before I found MFP, I used to eat what I wanted, not restrict, not count or obsess over it. I did my workouts as normal & I lost weight & was lean & perfectly fine. When I ended up counting calories, I have never struggled more in my life. It was the worst mistake I ever made. I have seen more & more fitness trainers coming forward & talking about how damaging calorie restriction is for your metabolism & can lead to metabolic damage.
If people don't believe it, watch this video I put a link to at the end. Kelli (Fitness Blender) is straight-forward, she wouldn't lie, she talks about her calorie restriction, which lead to an eating disorder & she struggled with weight. As soon as she broke away from that, she started eating more calories & overcame it. Even Cassey Ho from Blogilates posted about metabolic damage when she was doing a bikini competition where the trainer made her eat only 1,000 calorie A DAY. Your body NEEDS nutrition. And look at all the people on the Biggest Loser who restricted, went on to live their lives & gained all, if not MORE, weight back. It happens to so many celebs that go on calorie restrictive diets. It is NOT worth it IMO. I log my workout calories & my food, but I do not care about the numbers of it, I just enjoy tracking what I've done for a workout & what I've ate. And the more I've been eating lately, I feel more like my old self, I have energy, I feel happy.
This is the video Kelli posted from Fitness Blender. I really recommend people watch it, it might be eye opening.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=VM99CXSPcVM
"counting calories" and "restricting calories" are two different things. I count calories, and eat between 1500 and 1900 calories a day, depending on my workout. I eat icecream, cookies, and truckloads of chocolates. I count them all, log them all....but I don't "restrict" my calories.6
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