Abandoned calorie counting for something else?

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  • nvmomketo
    nvmomketo Posts: 12,019 Member
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    A year and a half ago was the first time that I lost weight while actually counting calories. I had lost weight in the past (mainly following Tosca Reno's Eat Clean Diet) but I didn't count anything. In hindsight it was probably 1500 kcal and about 100-150g carbs. I find I can only restrict calories when carbs are limited. More carbs seems to drive me to eat more.

    Oops, I take it back. I lost a bit over 10lbs doing Weight Watchers point system about 12 years ago too. No real calorie counting - just points. It was helpful to learn serving sizes better but I was hungry almost all of the time. It was not easy and I was not happy. Not sustainable for me.
  • leanjogreen18
    leanjogreen18 Posts: 2,492 Member
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    About 20 years ago I lost weight (45lbs) on Atkins without counting calories. I did have to count carbs though.

    I lost 60lbs on juice fasts. Without counting calories. I could name a few others.

    The problem for ME was I needed to know how to maintain my losses. So counting calories gives me the information I need to balance that out.

  • nowNOTthenmylife
    nowNOTthenmylife Posts: 47 Member
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    I've lost weight in the past not counting calories when I was doing a 21 day eating clean diet a d lost 12lbs in a month without exercising. At the time I was 170 lbs at 5'2. I drank nothing but water. Made sure to eat 12 to 16 oz of steamed low calories veggies from frozen package and eat them with a grilled leg and thighs chicken , three times a day or switch it up with a 16 oz salad bag and a can of sardines ( using the oil as dressing). Now I just eat everything in smaller portion. For example I would eat .5 cup of steamed rice with a medium avocado and a handful of steamed greenbeans.
  • 3rdof7sisters
    3rdof7sisters Posts: 486 Member
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    Bottom line is, weight loss=eating less calories than you are burning. No matter how you get there, or what it is called, or how it is measured, you are not eating more calories than you are burning if you are losing weight.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,867 Member
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    honeybee739 wrote: »
    Has anyone completely quit counting calories and instead went low carb or clean eating where you supposedly dont have to track calories?

    How did that work out for you?

    I don't count calories. I eat very well and most people would say my diet is pretty "clean"...but keep in mind that you can still over consume calories eating "clean"...over the fall and through early winter I have put on about 10 Lbs eating pretty "clean" because I was injured and my activity level dropped and I didn't compensate with diet.

    You can also over eat doing low carb...the notion that you can eat "clean" or low carb and just eat as much as you want is a falacy.

    It all still comes down to calories whether you are actively counting them or not. All diets and diet programs work on that same principle.
  • chocolate_owl
    chocolate_owl Posts: 1,695 Member
    edited January 2017
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    I go through stretches of not logging. If I'm cooking my meals from scratch with minimally processed ingredients, not having dessert regularly, limiting my alcohol, etc. I can maintain my weight easily. Basically, practicing good habits with food choice and portion control. I don't lose weight, though - I eat to satiety when I'm not counting calories, and when I'm in a deficit I'm always a little hungry and calorie counting is what keeps me focused.

    My dad has lost 50 lbs and maintained for a while without counting calories. He eats one to two meals a day, basically practicing IF. However, he's still carrying a little bit of extra weight, and I don't think he'll be able to lose more without being more structured in some way.
  • lucyee
    lucyee Posts: 32 Member
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    chocolate_owl wrote: »
    I go through stretches of not logging. If I'm cooking my meals from scratch with minimally processed ingredients, not having dessert regularly, limiting my alcohol, etc. I can maintain my weight easily.

    I probably should have caveated my response above with something similar to this. I can only eat reasonably intuitively and lose weight if I drink very little, and avoid dessert almost entirely. These throw me off entirely. Mostly not a problem as I don't have much space in a deficit for these things (I know some do - personally, to feel full, I prefer to use my calories on other things). If I wanted to include these things on a regular basis and lose weight, I think I would have to go back to tracking :neutral: At maintenance they fit in fine :smile:
  • cerise_noir
    cerise_noir Posts: 5,468 Member
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    honeybee739 wrote: »
    Has anyone completely quit counting calories and instead went low carb or clean eating where you supposedly dont have to track calories?

    How did that work out for you?

    Calorie counting is still a good idea when "clean" eating or low carbing. Heck, I was at my highest weight "clean" eating!
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    edited January 2017
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    Low carb and not counting calories would help me lose weight......however, that's just the first step. Low carb is not something I would pick as a lifestyle change - so it wouldn't work (for me) for maintenance.

    There are behavioral change type diets where users should need less (or maybe no) calorie monitoring. One example is the No-S Diet. No snacks, no seconds, no sweets; except sometimes on days that begin with the letter "S" - Saturdays, Sundays and special days (birthdays, etc).
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,996 Member
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    honeybee739 wrote: »
    Has anyone completely quit counting calories and instead went low carb or clean eating where you supposedly dont have to track calories?

    How did that work out for you?

    I've lost weight many times without counting calories by upping exercise and changing what I eat. However, I've learned that when I have a desk job and a significant other who likes to eat higher calories meals it behooves me to count calories. Since I don't see any of that changing, I will stick with MFP.

    I find MFP much easier than South Beach. Lasted less than a week on that.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
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    I abandoned calorie counting after a few weeks. I hated it. I suppose you could say I went with intuitive eating, though I do eat a mostly clean diet (mostly home grown/raised foods).

    It worked perfectly for me. I lost the weight, kept it off for almost year, gained some back over the holidays, I'm not 2 lbs away from losing all the holiday weight. To lose the holiday weight I began fasting one day a week. I found that so easy I plan to continue it even after the weight is lost so I can eat more on the weekends.
  • leanjogreen18
    leanjogreen18 Posts: 2,492 Member
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    Over 30 years of Yoyo dieting I never counted calories and lost tons of weight over and over. It can be done.

    Where I fell short was maintaining my losses. Im thinking I will have to at least do some sort of calorie counting, but I'm not sure what form it will take when I reach goal.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    I've lost without calorie counting before, although I currently enjoy counting more for weight loss. For maintenance I find being active and mindful is enough.
  • Annie_01
    Annie_01 Posts: 3,096 Member
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    I am logging right now but am working on menu plans by calories. I have recipes that fall within a certain calorie count. I also have a list of snacks/desserts that will fit in. As long as I select a recipe that I know will keep me within range then at the end of the day I should be close to my allotted calories. At least in my head this will work so that I don't have to weigh and measure everything.

    I do however weigh and measure my recipes and use the calculator to find the calorie content of my portions when I cook. I seldom eat out nor buy fast food but on those rare occasions when I might I will know the next day to eat a little lighter.

    My activity level varies day by day so I stopped using TDEE and now just add a few calories the days that I am more active.
  • everher
    everher Posts: 909 Member
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    I have tried losing without calorie counting before and couldn't do it. Even if I thought I was making healthy choices (salads, lots of veggies, lean protein, etc.) I was still overeating. As a 5'5 sedentary woman I think it's easy to do.
  • MelanieCN77
    MelanieCN77 Posts: 4,047 Member
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    "Clean" is so subjective, the little things would trip me up. Nuts, nut butters, beans come to mind. "Handful" of nuts could blow 400 cals no problem, I could make dinner out of that.
  • ThatUserNameIsAllReadyTaken
    ThatUserNameIsAllReadyTaken Posts: 1,530 Member
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    I find that avoidance of most processed food keeps my calories down. Though I am currently tracking my intake it is more difficult to go over when lower calorie foods are the bulk of any day.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    I never found that processed foods accounted for most of my high cal foods (well, I guess oils and butter are processed and they have high cals). Therefore, cutting them out would make some things more of a hassle (I used to be super into making everything my self as much as possible, all "natural," etc., so I know from experience), but refusing to use canned beans or bagged spinach or frozen fruits or smoked salmon or cottage cheese or even occasionally getting lunch from a place I know has foods that fit in my plan like Pret a Manger or (local chain) Protein Bar or some such wouldn't make my calories lower. They would just make things less easy.

    I found it was easy to gain weight eating as "natural" as possible (my old and IMO silly version of "clean" before I knew "clean eating" was a thing). I also could definitely gain on low carb (all the cheese I could eat? oh, yeah).

    But again, as I said, it's easy enough to lose just by being mindful and cutting calories and writing things down or whatever helps you stick to it, without counting calories. Just depends on whether you have the right frame of mind or personality for it.

    Also, of course, I'd say that eating healthfully you are likely to eat as many vegetables and other low cal things as "eating clean," and certainly as many as "low carb," so I'm not sure why having a specific diet would make a difference to that.
  • ThatUserNameIsAllReadyTaken
    ThatUserNameIsAllReadyTaken Posts: 1,530 Member
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    It was true for me. It is easy to get 150 calories from something like potato chips or well 200-300 calories form cookies, cake, cheese dip, ice cream etc.... than it is to get those same calories from grapes, apples, jicama and the like. Some exceptions such as an avocado do exist to name just one example. Butter isn't "processed" in the same sense as some of the other things I mention. Yes there is a process but when we discuss processed food we are usually talking about the types of things that have a lot of extra ingredients added as opposed to something derived from a single source. But I do see what you are saying.

    I will add, I did not necessarily say "natural" as much I said low calorie and avoiding "most" processed food. I do eat my share of goat cheese and brie (both of which can be considered "processed" as they do come from milk) but those don't usually take up any huge chunk of my calories.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    edited January 2017
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    ThatUserNameIsAllReadyTaken wrote: »
    It was true for me. It is easy to get 150 calories from something like potato chips or well 200-300 calories form cookies, cake, cheese dip, ice cream etc.... than it is to get those same calories from grapes, apples, jicama and the like. Some exceptions such as an avocado do exist to name just one example. Butter isn't "processed" in the same sense as some of the other things I mention. Yes there is a process but when we discuss processed food we are usually talking about the types of things that have a lot of extra ingredients added as opposed to something derived from a single source. But I do see what you are saying.

    I didn't eat a lot of potato chips, dip. cookies, cake, etc. (And when I did eat cookies and so on or dip or whatever I normally made them myself, so they didn't have lots of extra ingredients added, yet they still had just as many calories.) Nor did I eat higher cal foods to the exclusion of lower cal -- I certainly ate plenty of vegetables when overeating, since to me eating vegetables has always been a requirement of an adult, healthy diet, and even when fat I tried to eat an adult, healthy diet.

    I get what you are saying and I do think it's easier for a variety of reasons to keep calories down just by being mindful when doing a lot of home cooking from whole foods (although it's possible not to, just as it's possible to eat reasonable calories with lots of pre-made foods). Part of this is you are more aware of what you are eating, on average, and it's less convenient to eat, so you aren't as likely to be eating all the time/impulse eating. My pet peeve is just focusing on "processing" being the issue as opposed to choosing foods that happen to be higher in cal, whether it's a burger and fries from a restaurant or fried chicken and fries made at home (which actually is not something I ever did, since I dislike frying things, just like I never really ate cake since I dislike baking cake).
    I will add, I did not necessarily say "natural" as much I said low calorie and avoiding "most" processed food. I do eat my share of goat cheese and brie (both of which can be considered "processed" as they do come from milk) but those don't usually take up any huge chunk of my calories.

    No, the natural was my thing. I didn't know about "clean eating" until the past few years (and especially with MFP and some of the podcasts I listen to), but I basically was obsessive for a while about making everything from scratch and even flirting with locavore-ism, and I described it (stupidly, IMO) as being about eating "naturally." It seems like "clean eating," though, and since I know it's quite easy to eat high cal and overeat doing that (well, locavorism would be harder since seasons, but also harder to eat well because of). I think because of my particular trajectory the idea that avoiding processed foods would make a difference to calories inherently or that one must "eat clean" to eat lots of vegetables or that it would inherently lower calories is one I'm skeptical of.

    Oh, and when I was on the natural kick I'd make an exception for artisan and local cheese, or good cheese in general (there is a great cheese shop not far from me), and I certainly could take up a huge chunk of calories with that, or nuts, or dried fruit (processed, but something that's easy to process yourself), if I allowed myself.

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