Why I stopped counting calories

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  • savithny
    savithny Posts: 1,200 Member
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    I have just had to compromise about a number of those issues. I can't give up eating food cooked for me by other people for the rest of my life, and I'm not going to tie myself to only eating packaged food with tightly controlled contents, either. Being human means sharing food with other people and I'm not going to stop that!

    But I *can* use what I know about cooking (From 20+ years of being the family cook) and what I know about nutritional content (from keeping my logs) to at least keep myself aware of what I *likely* am eating, and account for it in the larger picture of my day and my week.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,195 Member
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    ConicalFern wrote: »

    (snippage of sensible comments to highlight specific section)

    It's more than a second. It takes a few seconds to weigh it, yes, but then you have spend ages finding it in the database and when you're in a rush to get everything in. A good example of it adding time is parmesan cheese (again!) on my pasta. I love putting it on, but weighing it adds so much time; I have to weigh the bowl, grate it into the bowl (where it tends to go everywhere) then weigh it. Now I can eat similar amounts and just grate it straight onto my meal.

    (more snippage)

    For others' benefit, as I'm still not wanting to tell you that your sensibly, personally-tailored strategy is wrong, because it isn't:

    Put the meal on the scale. Zero the scale. Grate the parmesan cheese onto the meal. Note weight. Done.

    (Yes, you still gotta look it up, I get that part. And one of the things I hate about my occasional episodes of indulge-y eating, which I do log, is that they often push my true frequently-eaten foods off my "recent" list. Sigh! However, I like the way logging indulgence makes me reconsider its worth. Sometimes it was worth it, sometimes not.)

    Nice binge, BTW - looks somewhat like some of my "over goal" moments, mostly healthy stuff (nuts, cheese) I didn't really need to eat. ;)
  • zharptichka
    zharptichka Posts: 127 Member
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    I have similar problems. My solution when eating out was to do a best guess (fortunately for me I'm very good at identifying flavors and portion sizes..I've tested myself against a food scale and my friends and I play a game where we'll make a dish and the other will try to say what went in it) and then I add an extra 15% of calories. It's not perfect but it's a nice compromise and since I'm still losing weight doing it, I don't worry so much. Maybe it'll change as my weight lowers and I need to be more exact to keep losing but for now it's keeping me logging which keeps me thinking about the choices I'm making.

  • ConicalFern
    ConicalFern Posts: 121 Member
    edited August 2016
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    JoshuaMcAllister wrote: »
    This is pretty concerning really, I've not been logging nearly as long a most here, so I've probably not had the same experiences overall.

    I don't see how placing a bowl of pasta on a scale, grating some parmesan cheese on top and taking the reading is so time consuming and unpractical? Like I say its literally seconds, I mean you wont start to consume the pasta right away anyway, you let it rest a little so that it can cool to a temperature suitable to eat. Maybe it is just me but I don't see that as a reason to stop logging, an excuse maybe.

    Your second point of binge eating, I can kind of get on board with, I had one or two moments like that during cuts but whilst in maintenance I eat food I enjoy that meet my goals. It sounds like you are being far to restrictive on what you "should and shouldn't eat"

    Nothing will stop you "feeling a slave to this app" unless you change your mindset and you don't seem willing to do that. Like I said in my previous post, it's a health and lifestyle app not a religion.

    Thanks for your help but it's not just the time it's the psychological effort. I work roughly 11h a day during the week and 6h/day at weekends, combined with the fact I do around an hour's exercise each day (more at weekends) I just can't be bothered any more. Whether you deem it as an excuse or not, I find it annoying. I assure you life is easier not doing it.

    I do not think that I am being too restrictive. I eat around 3000 calories a day so I have plenty of flexibility in what I can eat. I do, however, do tend to avoid alcohol and things high in the sugar, since I would rather get better 'value for money' for my calories.



  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,576 Member
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    Some of those are the same reasons I stopped. I only lasted about a month. For me trying to measure everything and log every ingredient sucked all the joy out of cooking, which has long been a passion of mine, for many of the reasons you mention. And, having been at a healthy weight for most of my life without logging I knew it wasn't necessary for me.
  • JoshuaMcAllister
    JoshuaMcAllister Posts: 500 Member
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    ConicalFern wrote: »
    JoshuaMcAllister wrote: »
    This is pretty concerning really, I've not been logging nearly as long a most here, so I've probably not had the same experiences overall.

    I don't see how placing a bowl of pasta on a scale, grating some parmesan cheese on top and taking the reading is so time consuming and unpractical? Like I say its literally seconds, I mean you wont start to consume the pasta right away anyway, you let it rest a little so that it can cool to a temperature suitable to eat. Maybe it is just me but I don't see that as a reason to stop logging, an excuse maybe.

    Your second point of binge eating, I can kind of get on board with, I had one or two moments like that during cuts but whilst in maintenance I eat food I enjoy that meet my goals. It sounds like you are being far to restrictive on what you "should and shouldn't eat"

    Nothing will stop you "feeling a slave to this app" unless you change your mindset and you don't seem willing to do that. Like I said in my previous post, it's a health and lifestyle app not a religion.

    Thanks for your help but it's not just the time it's the psychological effort. I work roughly 11h a day during the week and 6h/day at weekends, combined with the fact I do around an hour's exercise each day (more at weekends) I just can't be bothered any more. Whether you deem it as an excuse or not, I find it annoying. I assure you life is easier not doing it.

    I do not think that I am being too restrictive. I eat around 3000 calories a day so I have plenty of flexibility in what I can eat. I do, however, do tend to avoid alcohol and things high in the sugar, since I would rather get better 'value for money' for my calories.



    Yeah it does seem to really hit you psychologically. Your lifestyle sounds ridiculously similar to my own, 12hr working days, minimum of an hours exercise daily due to a cycle commute before you add in my gym time. So believe me I know all about there not be enough hours in a day. I just love MFP and its benefits, just trying to point them out before you give up on it. You think your unhappy now, but in 6 months of not logging and possible weight gain or any detrimental factor that may come of not holding yourself accountable. Each to their own, I just think it would be better long term for you to find a sustainable way of logging rather than giving up altogether.
  • ConicalFern
    ConicalFern Posts: 121 Member
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    JoshuaMcAllister wrote: »
    ConicalFern wrote: »
    JoshuaMcAllister wrote: »
    This is pretty concerning really, I've not been logging nearly as long a most here, so I've probably not had the same experiences overall.

    I don't see how placing a bowl of pasta on a scale, grating some parmesan cheese on top and taking the reading is so time consuming and unpractical? Like I say its literally seconds, I mean you wont start to consume the pasta right away anyway, you let it rest a little so that it can cool to a temperature suitable to eat. Maybe it is just me but I don't see that as a reason to stop logging, an excuse maybe.

    Your second point of binge eating, I can kind of get on board with, I had one or two moments like that during cuts but whilst in maintenance I eat food I enjoy that meet my goals. It sounds like you are being far to restrictive on what you "should and shouldn't eat"

    Nothing will stop you "feeling a slave to this app" unless you change your mindset and you don't seem willing to do that. Like I said in my previous post, it's a health and lifestyle app not a religion.

    Thanks for your help but it's not just the time it's the psychological effort. I work roughly 11h a day during the week and 6h/day at weekends, combined with the fact I do around an hour's exercise each day (more at weekends) I just can't be bothered any more. Whether you deem it as an excuse or not, I find it annoying. I assure you life is easier not doing it.

    I do not think that I am being too restrictive. I eat around 3000 calories a day so I have plenty of flexibility in what I can eat. I do, however, do tend to avoid alcohol and things high in the sugar, since I would rather get better 'value for money' for my calories.



    Yeah it does seem to really hit you psychologically. Your lifestyle sounds ridiculously similar to my own, 12hr working days, minimum of an hours exercise daily due to a cycle commute before you add in my gym time. So believe me I know all about there not be enough hours in a day. I just love MFP and its benefits, just trying to point them out before you give up on it. You think your unhappy now, but in 6 months of not logging and possible weight gain or any detrimental factor that may come of not holding yourself accountable. Each to their own, I just think it would be better long term for you to find a sustainable way of logging rather than giving up altogether.

    As I've said before, I've been a similar weight to what I am now before without logging, in fact really paying no attention to what I eat at all (microwave burgers, 175g of crisps in an evening and so on). I put on the weight during a period of my doctoral studies where I was doing no exercise, eating as above, and drinking excessively. I paid no attention to what I ate at all. I'm now eating much more healthily than I was then and doing infinitely more exercise. Combined with a little self-restraint, the body is more than capable of maintaining a constant weight. Plenty of people manage to do this without MyFitnessPal and I'm hoping I can join them. As I said the original post if I start to gain weight I may return to logging.



  • goldthistime
    goldthistime Posts: 3,214 Member
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    I eyeball and estimate, sometimes don't log till the end of the day (risky with my poor memory), eat pretty much where and when I want (within reason obviously), but logging is VERY helpful to me in losing/maintaining weight. Any chance you could just loosen up rather than walking away?
  • joans1976
    joans1976 Posts: 2,201 Member
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    Good for you for putting this out there. I know it can't have been easy as sometimes written words come across as harsh or critical. I know that 99% of people on here truly want to help, offer advice and share their experiences.
    I don't have any wise words besides be kind to yourself and I envy your exercise regimen.
    I am sorry you are having a difficult time with the binge eating episodes.
    Take care.
  • endlessfall16
    endlessfall16 Posts: 932 Member
    edited August 2016
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    Counting was an easy task for me. Sure it killed the joy of cooking, especially for me as I approach cooking from tastes and feels, as opposed to following recipes,ie measuring out stuff! But that wasn't the biggest issue with counting for me.

    It's about the management of eating from the points of having company and having energy, successful results.

    I couldn't fit counting into going out with friends to private restaurants, or attending family parties.

    It's ill energy management to eat for the sake of meeting calorie allotment. It's not psychologically and biologically effective. I suspect this is why many counters are struggling.

    For example if I want to eat pizza, I eat enough slices to satisfy my hunger and my craving mind. Not 2 or 3 slices because I'm only allowed so much. After that there's no issue not to have anymore pizza for weeks or months.

    I do not want to go to a birthday party and not have a big slice of cake. I like double cheese burger swith with as much coke as I can drink. That's why no hung-up on any foods, which is important when I need to skip.




    So, it comes down to the time that I must eat less to balance out the surplus eating. This is where the "secret" is. :) I pick the boring, uneventful days/meals to eat superficially (sandwich, salad, plain and fast stuff). These foods don't activate appetite, require no effort, thought, little $$$ to get. And, I can use the extra time for other fun. Win, win win. That's why it's been easy to lose or maintain the weight for me. :)
  • newheavensearth
    newheavensearth Posts: 870 Member
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    zyxst wrote: »
    newheavensearth wrote: »
    I get where you are coming from. I wonder myself how many people here will honestly keep weighing everything to the nth gram for life like they advise every newbie or everyone struggling.

    Gonna need to keep track unless I want to weigh 320# again. My brain and stomach in conjunction can't be trusted to tell me when/how much I should eat. Brain "Food tastes good" Stomach "I always got room".

    I never said abandon tracking and monitoring. I just said will you realistically throw EVERYTHING on a scale down to the gram for life. Realistically I know there will be times where I can't or won't. And guess what? I've either lost or maintained weight during those times. I have aging and mentally challenged family members who have lost considerable weight not weighing or measuring chiz every single time they eat. They started out that way, they now guesstimate. And they are doing just fine.

    Do what works for you. Be well.
  • JoshuaMcAllister
    JoshuaMcAllister Posts: 500 Member
    edited August 2016
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    ConicalFern wrote: »


    As I've said before, I've been a similar weight to what I am now before without logging, in fact really paying no attention to what I eat at all (microwave burgers, 175g of crisps in an evening and so on). I put on the weight during a period of my doctoral studies where I was doing no exercise, eating as above, and drinking excessively. I paid no attention to what I ate at all. I'm now eating much more healthily than I was then and doing infinitely more exercise. Combined with a little self-restraint, the body is more than capable of maintaining a constant weight. Plenty of people manage to do this without MyFitnessPal and I'm hoping I can join them. As I said the original post if I start to gain weight I may return to logging.


    That is not what your original post portrayed. I'm not trying to win an argument here, it seems you are. I simply gave my opinion like many others have and you seem to have taken issue with what I had to say but not any other opinions shared (maybe its because others shared my view) but for that I apologize and state that you can have your win.
  • LokiGrrl
    LokiGrrl Posts: 156 Member
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    You're gonna do what you do, and that's cool. I mean when I get to a maintenance level, maybe I'll stop weighing and logging and maybe I won't.

    It can be irritating to do it all the time, and I admit that when I want to freestyle cook and just throw things in and experiment it kind of sucks, but nothing will ever kill the joy of cooking for me. Having a scale with a Tare function is super helpful to me. I'm usually already doing mise en place so when I think about it, it's probably just irritating because I feel like I have to.

    The way I weigh and log most things on a daily basis, it takes less time than opening up something prepackaged. I do some packaging of my own so I have stuff premeasured for when I just need something to keep me going and I don't even have to mess with it hardly. It's in Frequent Foods so it's like 2 clicks.
  • curlyblue21
    curlyblue21 Posts: 78 Member
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    I'm getting a bit sick of counting calories, been doing it for just over a year and I have lost 5 stone, but for some reason I feel annoyed, I can't relax and enjoy my weight loss and go out as I'm constantly thinking about what I'm eating...I have to log everything every day as I'm too scared to trust myself. I need to listen to myself as there are probably times when I don't need the extra calories but I eat them if they are there anyway so thought that maybe I should take a break! But when there are days that I'm more relaxed I tend to binge more than I should! I want to do a diet that suits me long term, counting calories has worked for me but I'm getting bored
  • BoxerBrawler
    BoxerBrawler Posts: 2,032 Member
    edited August 2016
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    You have to remind yourself that you can't let a computer program determine what you do with your nutrition, body and mind. Yes... a big mistake that people make when using any tracking tool is that instead of paying attention to what their body is telling them, they focus on the tool. Just because it reads "snack" in my diary doesn't necessarily mean I am going to have a snack. Am I hungry? or am I eating because my MFP program told me too? I've been using this for a few years and have fallen off the wagon a few times for some of the same reasons. Each time I came back I was stronger and better prepared to control the input/output of the system and not the other way around. You just need to find a balance... Like maybe log Monday through Friday and take the weekends off. Or lock and track every other day. This way you'll alleviate some of your stress and anxiety over the systematic logging and tracking but you'll still have a good idea of where you are nutritionally. On your days off focus on listening to your body. Aside from all of that I think if nothing else this tool teaches us consistency. I think consistency is a very important part of it. Three years ago I was running around like a mad woman grabbing a quick bagel sandwich for breakfast.. sub & chips for lunch, snacks out of vending machines or on the way home, cooking huge dinners every single night loaded with calories, carbs, fats, etc. I never even gave it a second thought.. eating crap food and cheap food on the run, never thinking about portion size or what I was using to fuel my body with. I admit that I began my journey and lost most of my weight without the help of MFP but once I join it gave me a valuable education. So much so that I became a licensed nutritionist :smile:
  • Hornsby
    Hornsby Posts: 10,322 Member
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    newheavensearth wrote: »
    I get where you are coming from. I wonder myself how many people here will honestly keep weighing everything to the nth gram for life like they advise every newbie or everyone struggling.

    I have never heard anyone tell anyone that they need to weigh their food for life. MFP is a tool. Just like any tool, you use it when you need it.

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