Tired of counting calories
wally2wiki
Posts: 36 Member
Started at 330lbs in September with goal weight of 260lbs.
Lost 8lbs in week one : no exercise.
1lb in week 2, zero lbs in week 3.
Week 4 started doing hiit workouts, and weight loss resumed.
Fast forward to present, current weight is back to 328lbs, I haven't used my fitness pal in weeks.
Getting frustrated with the calorie counting, anyone know an alternative to keep the calories down?
I know I'm being lazy, but I find calorie counting really annoying.
Currently , I do 3 hiit workouts per week, but no cardio or strength training...any suggestions?
Lost 8lbs in week one : no exercise.
1lb in week 2, zero lbs in week 3.
Week 4 started doing hiit workouts, and weight loss resumed.
Fast forward to present, current weight is back to 328lbs, I haven't used my fitness pal in weeks.
Getting frustrated with the calorie counting, anyone know an alternative to keep the calories down?
I know I'm being lazy, but I find calorie counting really annoying.
Currently , I do 3 hiit workouts per week, but no cardio or strength training...any suggestions?
0
Replies
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Calorie counting isn't for everyone...there are a lot of diets out there for that very reason. If it were me personally I'd do South Beach as it has phases, with the final phase being a maintenance phase and more or less the way you're supposed to eat the rest of your life.
While I didn't specifically do South Beach, the way I ate to lose and the way I eat to maintain are quite similar to phase III of South Beach.
If I were to do an actual diet, that would be the one...there's an exit plan, and that's important long term.3 -
So you grew sick of it in 4 weeks? I'm not sure that's long enough for it to just become habit but yes, there are other approaches.
Whatever you choose, it's going to take a commitment to changing things forever and I think that's the biggest battle. Not just a few weeks or a few months but a lifetime of employing whatever strategy it is your choose because as you've discovered, left to your own unhindered devices, you will regain.5 -
Yes, calorie counting can be annoying, but to me being overweight is even more annoying. After about 3 months I stopped logging and continued to lose weight. I follow a very similar meal plan from day to day & am good at judging portion sizes, so that's why it worked for me. 148 lost, 2 1/2 years.9
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Being aware of how much you're eating is the answer - how you go about that is the question. I wonder though why you did not like counting? Did you feel your calorie limit was too restrictive? Not like logging in, or did it seem too complex to figure out how to log accurately?
If you're back up to 328 after a few weeks off MFP then what you've been doing the past few weeks is not working.
Exercise is great for fitness/health and for having a higher calorie allowance. But being in a deficit (more calories out than in) is the ONLY way to lose.
Logging calories accurately is a good way to make sure you're in a deficit. At 328 pounds as a 29 year old male you should be able to eat 2000-2500 calories a day and still lose weight. The BMR for your goal weight would be approximately 2150-2200. Meaning that at your goal weight, without exercise and assuming a fairly sedentary lifestyle, you would need ~2500-2700 to maintain.
So you could give logging another try, or maybe keep a written food log, where you're not so concerned with calorie counts but being accountable for your food choices/quantities. Give it 3-4 weeks and if its working for you, keep at it. If not, reevaluate. Ultimately you may just need to bite the bullet and log calories.4 -
At 328 lb I can certainly guarantee that you know exactly what you need to do to lose weight without calorie counting. Look at yourself. See what you like to eat. Evaluate it from the perspective of sensory delight and from the perspective of nutritional value. What are your priorities? Is sensory delight your overriding objective? In that case, you serve your belly.
If nutritional value is more valuable to you, you can easily avoid the delightful stuff and just eat the valuable stuff and lose a ton of weight.
How old are you?3 -
Some folks do the portion control containers you could try that?
I hate counting calories too, BUT I will do what I must to lose weight and maintain it and if means counting for the rest of my life, well then count me in (pun intended:)).
ETA - I also hate the food scale I have been very resistant to use it so far and hope I never have to BUT if my weight loss stalls you better believe I will pull that sucker out.9 -
Give yourself a structured eating plan and eat nutritious balanced meals. Cut out snacking. The fewer times a day you eat, the fewer times a day you'll have to overeat. By not snacking you'll also be hungry when it comes time to eat which is a good thing. When you're hungry before eating it's easier to recognize you're full because the change is more pronounced.
Weigh yourself daily to keep yourself mindful and on track and give it a month or two to see what your weight does. Make adjustments as needed. Good luck.2 -
Before I discovered mfp I reduced my cals by cutting out carbs from my evening meal...1
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5
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Without accurately counting calories you will never know how many calories you are truly consuming.
Yes, you could try one of the many fad diets out there, but if you can't commit to calorie counting you will find the alternatives much harder and I say that as someone who was a former fad dieter.
You've already learned you can't outrun a bad diet. You can exercise until you're blue in the face, but if you're overeating, you're overeating.
The truth is you're just going to have to return to counting and weighing your food. It's really the only thing that is sustainable and will work over the long term.
You have to want this more than you want food.3 -
I find being overweight far more annoying than counting calories, and I know I would find diabetes more annoying still. So I count. Sometimes I get fed up with it. I keep going, and the feeling goes away.
Yes there are other ways to reduce your calorie input without directly counting, but they all seem to involve more or less rigid rules, either certain foods you can't eat or certain times you can't eat. I don't do well with food rules, so I keep counting, because it means I can eat whatever I want as long as the numbers fit.5 -
Depending on your tolerance for repetition, you could eat the same or similar meal each day. A lot of people do that. For example: Breakfast: 2 eggs+ toast + coffee with cream. Lunch - 4 oz chicken, broccoli, half cup of rice/sweet potato. Snack: Greek yogurt and apple. Dinner: salad with tuna. Etc. These are just random examples. My point is, if you hate counting, then count the calories in a day you enjoy the food and stick to it. I don't do this but it's one suggestion if you are annoyed with daily calculations of calories. So maybe you food prep on Sunday and eat it planned the next 5 days. just a suggestion.8
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Without accurately counting calories you will never know how many calories you are truly consuming.
Yes, you could try one of the many fad diets out there, but if you can't commit to calorie counting you will find the alternatives much harder and I say that as someone who was a former fad dieter.
You've already learned you can't outrun a bad diet. You can exercise until you're blue in the face, but if you're overeating, you're overeating.
The truth is you're just going to have to return to counting and weighing your food. It's really the only thing that is sustainable and will work over the long term.
You have to want this more than you want food.
I don't know that you can accurately determine that calorie counting is the only method that will work for this individual.
Sustainability varies from person to person and tracking is not a universally sustainable method any more or less than weight watchers or low carb or paleo.6 -
Your willing to do HIIT but not take a few minutes to count calories. Calorie counting is by far mnore important....okay then....6
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bmayes2014 wrote: »Depending on your tolerance for repetition, you could eat the same or similar meal each day. A lot of people do that. For example: Breakfast: 2 eggs+ toast + coffee with cream. Lunch - 4 oz chicken, broccoli, half cup of rice/sweet potato. Snack: Greek yogurt and apple. Dinner: salad with tuna. Etc. These are just random examples. My point is, if you hate counting, then count the calories in a day you enjoy the food and stick to it. I don't do this but it's one suggestion if you are annoyed with daily calculations of calories. So maybe you food prep on Sunday and eat it planned the next 5 days. just a suggestion.
I do this a lot. Makes things super easy!
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JaydedMiss wrote: »Your willing to do HIIT but not take a few minutes to count calories. Calorie counting is by far mnore important....okay then....
Sorry, but no.
People have lost weight for years without calorie counting and it's not necessarily a good fit for everyone. There are even some people for whom it's harmful behavior, such as people with OCD.
There are lots of options for controlling intake.
OP, the fact that you've shown you can commit to making one habit change, starting exercise. is a good start. There are various portion guideline measurements like myplate or portioning containers to help if you don't want to directly count.
You could also just try to cut back by taking half of what you'd normally take, eating slowly, and then waiting 20 minutes to see how hungry you are.
Another approach would be to try to work your way through something like The Beck Diet solution and see if you can gain some insights into your issues with food.8 -
queenliz99 wrote: »
I just glanced at this. What a great idea.
No snacks, No seconds, No sweets.
Expect (sometimes) on days that start with S.7 -
Without accurately counting calories you will never know how many calories you are truly consuming.
Yes, you could try one of the many fad diets out there, but if you can't commit to calorie counting you will find the alternatives much harder and I say that as someone who was a former fad dieter.
You've already learned you can't outrun a bad diet. You can exercise until you're blue in the face, but if you're overeating, you're overeating.
The truth is you're just going to have to return to counting and weighing your food. It's really the only thing that is sustainable and will work over the long term.
You have to want this more than you want food.
I don't know that you can accurately determine that calorie counting is the only method that will work for this individual.
Sustainability varies from person to person and tracking is not a universally sustainable method any more or less than weight watchers or low carb or paleo.
Maybe I should have proceeded this with "IMHO and in my experience."
But I would be willing to bet dollars to donuts if OP is annoyed at calorie counting OP will really be annoyed at restricting certain groups of foods.
The problem with diets like those is sooner or later people go off the program and when they do they can't sustain the loss.1 -
Without accurately counting calories you will never know how many calories you are truly consuming.
Yes, you could try one of the many fad diets out there, but if you can't commit to calorie counting you will find the alternatives much harder and I say that as someone who was a former fad dieter.
You've already learned you can't outrun a bad diet. You can exercise until you're blue in the face, but if you're overeating, you're overeating.
The truth is you're just going to have to return to counting and weighing your food. It's really the only thing that is sustainable and will work over the long term.
You have to want this more than you want food.
I disagree...there are literally millions of people who've lost weight and have never counted a single calorie. Calorie counting is just one method...and IMO, it requires a very particular personality for it to be effective and sustainable. I actually don't know anyone in my "real" world who has ever counted calories...I'd say as diet methods go, calorie counters are on the fringe.
Ultimately, an individual has to come to their own conclusions as to what is actually going to work for them now and in the long term...and ultimately there has to be an understanding that whatever it is, it's going to take some effort and commitment and a recognition that there will ultimately have to be a new normal.
I personally haven't counted calories in years...it was pretty hard on my mental health. I've had no problems more or less maintaining and had no problems dropping a little weight when I needed to. There's always more than one way to skin a cat as they say...
And as maintenance goes, sadly, calorie counters do no better than anyone else. I know many claim that they will log forever...but the reality is that it's really not going to be sustainable into perpetuity for most...and in that same vein, I don't and have never viewed calorie counting as the actual lifestyle...it's the things that calorie counting as a tool can teach you that can become the lifestyle if you choose...7 -
Without accurately counting calories you will never know how many calories you are truly consuming.
Yes, you could try one of the many fad diets out there, but if you can't commit to calorie counting you will find the alternatives much harder and I say that as someone who was a former fad dieter.
You've already learned you can't outrun a bad diet. You can exercise until you're blue in the face, but if you're overeating, you're overeating.
The truth is you're just going to have to return to counting and weighing your food. It's really the only thing that is sustainable and will work over the long term.
You have to want this more than you want food.
I don't know that you can accurately determine that calorie counting is the only method that will work for this individual.
Sustainability varies from person to person and tracking is not a universally sustainable method any more or less than weight watchers or low carb or paleo.
Maybe I should have proceeded this with "IMHO and in my experience."
But I would be willing to bet dollars to donuts if OP is annoyed at calorie counting OP will really be annoyed at restricting certain groups of foods.
The problem with diets like those is sooner or later people go off the program and when they do they can't sustain the loss
The way you are describing this it seems like you are suggesting that there are only two methods.
Counting, or restricting entire groups of foods.
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I suppose the question, OP, is whether you are rebelling against calorie counting in particular - in which case there are other methods which might work for you - or if you're actually rebelling against losing weight at all, in which case you've got to think your way through it. Only you can possibly know the answer to that.3
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I'm tired of being fat more then I'm tired of counting calories.6
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You went too drastic with implementing changes. Make small changes you can live with and can see yourself doing for the rest of your life - anything else is unrealistic and will end in failure.
Find a program that works for you - they all incorporate some variation of CICO. MFP just offers greater flexibility in the application.
HIIT for someone starting out is just setting up for failure. Start slow and just walk. This isn't a sprint, but a marathon and you need to prepare your mind for this.3 -
wally2wiki wrote: »Started at 330lbs in September with goal weight of 260lbs.
Lost 8lbs in week one : no exercise.
1lb in week 2, zero lbs in week 3.
Week 4 started doing hiit workouts, and weight loss resumed.
Fast forward to present, current weight is back to 328lbs, I haven't used my fitness pal in weeks.
Getting frustrated with the calorie counting, anyone know an alternative to keep the calories down?
I know I'm being lazy, but I find calorie counting really annoying.
Currently , I do 3 hiit workouts per week, but no cardio or strength training...any suggestions?
I think its important that you find a way that will suit you, and something that you can live with for life.
Changing habits for life can sound very intimidating, but luckily, small changes can make a world of difference over time.
exercise: 3 hiit workouts is nice, though keep in mind what you do for the rest of the week.
Sitting burns more calories than laying down.
Standing burns more than sitting down.
Walking burns more than standing
etc.
1000 steps more per day equals 12 ponds lost in a year.
Eating:
I never go hungry, I eat whatever I want to eat and I lose between 1-2 pounds per week and I dont count a single calorie.
What I do is to follow "the hunger scale"
Just google it if you are not familiar with the term, but basicly I never let myself get REALLY hungry or stuffed.
I also eat SLOWLY to make sure I dont overeat.
Thats all I do really - Move more and eat less.
You can do that, cant you?
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I hardly think counting calories could be considered that annoying or drastic... Once you take the time to learn to do it it literally takes like 5 minutes a day tops. But yeah even though someone disagreed above i still believe counting calories is more important than your hiit so.....swap if you need. Counting calories is really how you learn what your eating and where to improve/what to have less often or more often. If your unwilling to put the effort into that im not sure your going to do well:/ Sorry not sorry4
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I found being overweight much more annoying than calorie counting, but that's just me.4
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Without accurately counting calories you will never know how many calories you are truly consuming.
Yes, you could try one of the many fad diets out there, but if you can't commit to calorie counting you will find the alternatives much harder and I say that as someone who was a former fad dieter.
You've already learned you can't outrun a bad diet. You can exercise until you're blue in the face, but if you're overeating, you're overeating.
The truth is you're just going to have to return to counting and weighing your food. It's really the only thing that is sustainable and will work over the long term.
You have to want this more than you want food.
I don't know that you can accurately determine that calorie counting is the only method that will work for this individual.
Sustainability varies from person to person and tracking is not a universally sustainable method any more or less than weight watchers or low carb or paleo.
Maybe I should have proceeded this with "IMHO and in my experience."
But I would be willing to bet dollars to donuts if OP is annoyed at calorie counting OP will really be annoyed at restricting certain groups of foods.
The problem with diets like those is sooner or later people go off the program and when they do they can't sustain the loss
The way you are describing this it seems like you are suggesting that there are only two methods.
Counting, or restricting entire groups of foods.
Sorry should've been more clear. I was referring to the diet plans you mentioned: paleo, low carb, and weight watchers although weight watchers doesn't restrict groups of food it just is another form of calorie counting TBH.
The end all be all is just controlling intake. OP can use whatever method he wants to do that, but if OP finds calorie counting annoying I don't know how better suited any of the other options for controlling intake are.0 -
Without accurately counting calories you will never know how many calories you are truly consuming.
Yes, you could try one of the many fad diets out there, but if you can't commit to calorie counting you will find the alternatives much harder and I say that as someone who was a former fad dieter.
You've already learned you can't outrun a bad diet. You can exercise until you're blue in the face, but if you're overeating, you're overeating.
The truth is you're just going to have to return to counting and weighing your food. It's really the only thing that is sustainable and will work over the long term.
You have to want this more than you want food.
I don't know that you can accurately determine that calorie counting is the only method that will work for this individual.
Sustainability varies from person to person and tracking is not a universally sustainable method any more or less than weight watchers or low carb or paleo.
Maybe I should have proceeded this with "IMHO and in my experience."
But I would be willing to bet dollars to donuts if OP is annoyed at calorie counting OP will really be annoyed at restricting certain groups of foods.
The problem with diets like those is sooner or later people go off the program and when they do they can't sustain the loss
The way you are describing this it seems like you are suggesting that there are only two methods.
Counting, or restricting entire groups of foods.
Sorry should've been more clear. I was referring to the diet plans you mentioned: paleo, low carb, and weight watchers although weight watchers doesn't restrict groups of food it just is another form of calorie counting TBH.
The end all be all is just controlling intake. OP can use whatever method he wants to do that, but if OP finds calorie counting annoying I don't know how better suited any of the other options for controlling intake are.
When my trainer works with folks of this size, he merely has them work on cleaning up their diet a bit and making overall better nutritional choices...while still enjoying some of what they're accustomed to eating and more or less leads them over the course of months and years into just being more nutritionally sound...at that size, they tend to drop weight like crazy by initially just making some small tweaks to their diet and then he has them baby step it over weeks and months...
Also OP...drop the HIIT...I know it's all the rage, but true HIIT is really only suitable for individuals with an already solid aerobic base...and really not all that necessary unless you're looking to be a competitive athlete. I'd start with walking on the regular and go from there...8 -
Calorie counting is just one of a myriad of ways to reduce your calorie intake. Whatever you do, you have to do it yourself, and do it for more than a few weeks. So I too suggest that you investigate what it is about calorie counting that annoys you - is it the practical aspect, the weighing, the logging? Or the mental aspect, the thought of having to restrict your intake? Do you eat in response to emotions, not hunger? Or are you restricting too much, eating too little, and getting hungry? Or are you cutting out food groups or foods you like, and getting bored?
Other methods you could use: The No S Diet (already mentioned, great idea, it is basically good old normal eating, meals and all), or the 21 day fix (but find free meal plans online, containers for a couple dollars), or the MyPlate.
Don't stop exercising, but getting your diet in check will have way more impact than exercise.2 -
queenliz99 wrote: »
I just glanced at this. What a great idea.
No snacks, No seconds, No sweets.
Expect (sometimes) on days that start with S.
It's actually a pretty reasonable way of going about things...0
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