MFP Vs Non calorie counting healthy lifestyle

gabrielleelliott90 · January 2017

Hi all, just wondering why you chose MFP over just a healthy lifestyle (not counting calories, eating as much as you want of health foods, eating only when hungry etc). For me, it's because it isn't sustainable as I will be good for a few days even a week, and then just eat all the junk. I will feel deprived even if I have a treat each day. Because of calorie counting I still find I have the mentality to think If I'm eating too much, but at the same time found it freeing not to think about cals. However I choose mfp because it's worked well in the past (profile is of my lowest weight 129lb or a bit heavier) and I can choose what I want to eat without feeling guilty if I eat a few bad things. I actually enjoy logging my food sometimes.

Nikki10129 · January 2017

Because I've tried just "watching what I ate" and even if I didn't binge on treats (which I just incorporate into my calorie allowance now) I was still eating too much. My servings were too big

jemhh · January 2017

I lost my first 30 something pounds eating less and logging in a notebook but not counting calories. I only started logging calories with MFP when I got stuck and needed to be more exact in order to see where to cut down.

CafeRacer808 · January 2017

Because I've been following a "healthy diet" made up almost entirely of whole foods and eating only when hungry for just over six years now. And in that time, I gained 15 pounds.

cwolfman13 · January 2017

I chose both...

I lost a good chunk of weight before MFP by changing my dietary habits. These weren't overnight, flip on a switch changes...these changes were basically an evolution in healthier eating...finding things I could and should cut back on and adding things in that I wasn't getting enough of (fruits and veg, quality complex carbohydrates, etc)

I didn't start using MFP until I decided I wanted to start working out. To that point, I mostly focused on moving a little more...mostly some walking with some basic calisthenics a few days per week...nothing to strenuous. As a former competitive athlete I understood that I would need to fuel my fitness for proper recovery, performance, and fitness development so I joined MFP to help ensure that I was getting adequate nutrition on that front while not going overboard and stalling my weight loss.

GottaBurnEmAll · January 2017

Because eating healthy and following my appetite got me to 210 pounds.

Calorie counting got me to 116.

I'm going to stick with what works for me.

Their is a fallacy regarding the "wisdom" of our bodies regarding hunger signals. They are so easy to subvert, misinterpret, and permanently ruin through years of overeating. Add to that the fact that people these days confuse hedonic urges with hunger? Well, now you know why 70% of the country is either overweight or obese.

I'm not saying that everyone needs to count calories. For a lot of people it's not an optimal solution. What I am saying is that the idea that eating a certain way and intuitive eating alone aren't always the answer either. There needs to be a lot of ground work done in order for an intuitive approach to work. There are a lot of people justifying their morbid obesity practicing intuitive eating, for example.

Tacklewasher · January 2017

Intuitive eating keeps my wife at ~135 lbs and got me to ~330 lbs. Guess which one of us uses this site, weighs food, counts calories and figures out exercise burns?

Alatariel75 · January 2017

If I could follow my appetite and not gain weight, I wouldn't need MFP.

bbell1985 · January 2017

I'm so fat inside. I need to track.

callsitlikeiseeit · January 2017

because it makes sense.

zlagv · January 2017

I really just have no concept of a healthy portion size or what people normally eat. I can restrict heavily, but that goes too far in the opposite direction and is unsustainable. With MFP I am learning how a healthy person - a healthy me - actually eats!

gabrielleelliott90 · January 2017

Brill answers, keep them coming

Helps newbies find motivation for MFP I'm sure

rosebarnalice · January 2017

My problem with "just eating healthy" is that I'm a big fat liar about portion size and how much I eat if I don't log.

When I log honestly, I'm honest with myself about how much I eat-- and so logging IS part of my healthy lifestyle.

HazyEyes93 · January 2017

Calories make people fat, not the "unhealthy" foods. Moderation is key.

CharlieBeansmomTracey · January 2017

I gained back half the weight I lost eating healthy,thats why I came here to mfp.

SCoil123 · January 2017

I've done both. Last time I lost 80+lbs without counting anything. I swiched how/what I ate and started moving more. It worked. This time however I was stuck gaining and losing the same 5lb until I started counting. This works now.

Should note that the 30lb I gained back resulted from switching to a more sedentary job with an added commute and moving in with my chef boyfriend. I did not make changes to accomodate how my life changed to stay on track.

nowine4me · January 2017

Weighed food and logged for a year, lost 70 pounds. Started "intuitive" eating, gained 70 pounds. Weighing and logging down 70 pounds again. Dont be me. Find what works and stick with it.

Psychgrrl · January 2017

Nikki10129 wrote: »

Because I've tried just "watching what I ate" and even if I didn't binge on treats (which I just incorporate into my calorie allowance now) I was still eating too much. My servings were too big

Ditto!

lulalacroix · January 2017

Every time I stop logging, I gain back all the weight. This time around I will log everything.

alyssa0061 · January 2017

I ate 1,040 calories worth of almonds and sunflower seeds while driving earlier tonight....

That's why I use MFP, because previously that would have been a pretty typical snack. It was just two of those little gas station tube bags. By most accounts 'healthy'. Certainly not a snack though.

MFP Vs Non calorie counting healthy lifestyle

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