Counting calories..Or not
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It's certainly not the only way at all. I'm a confirmed counter because I like the nerdery of it and it fits my personality, but that's me.
If it's not you, it's quite simple to just cut back on certain foods and your portions and wing it by using the scale as feedback to see how it's working.
People have lost weight and/or managed their weight for years without counting calories. My mother in law used to simply cut back on dessert portions and bread when she thought her weight was getting out of hand, for example.4 -
It takes maybe four minutes extra to weigh and measure and log food.
To each their own, I'd rather have accurate numbers.
When I was in my twenties and thirties, "winging it" worked. Then it didn't.10 -
Ironandwine69 wrote: »I know..I know, counting calories is the most accurate way. But is it the only way?
I wing it.
Who else is with me?
You may not be counting calories, but you're doing all the healthy behaviors that go along with it. Portion control, listening to hunger cues, making "smart" decisions for food options. Basically, you've taken what you learned and applied it. I'm sure you still look at (or reference from memory) the calories associated with items -- or the macros, if you ever logged that way.
The vast majority of people here are counting calories because they're trying to create the healthy behaviours you already have. So I guess congratulations? Keep winging it if it works for you. Everyone's different.
Also, you seem to think it takes a lot of time to log the calories, but I mean, my day is logged and I know my macros are spot on and where I'm sitting for my vitamins/nutrients in under 5 min. Worth it for my health.10 -
livingleanlivingclean wrote: »If I have a goal, I want to know that I'm doing anything and everything possible to achieve it. In terms of physique goals, that means being as accurate as possible about what I put in my mouth....The results you get equal the effort you put in.
If I was in competition prep like you and had a deadline, I would definitely track my cals. I wouldn't want to waste time, effort and money not being accurate.
But I am just a Jane-shmoe.. SAHM, if I am being honest, I am just doing what I am doing for fun. Not to say I don't put 100% effort in, but there is no deadline for me.. so I can kind of cruise the waves a bit more.0 -
I don't count at maintenance (I'm good at knowing roughly where I am), and I've lost in the past without counting, so I don't claim counting is the only way or necessary. It's not true that it's time consuming, though, and I hate it when people try to make it sound like this big horrible burden or something people would only do if they were overly neurotic.
For me, it's the most fun way to lose weight and results in me not over-restricting, so I like it. And since I'm a data geek I can use it to experiment with changes in how I eat unrelated to losing weight (or to bulk should I ever try that).
But sure, whatever.2 -
I have been able to loose 32lbs by calorie counting on this site. Sometimes looks can be deceiving so I am learning to read labels and cut corners by eliminating using salad dressing and avoiding sauces on foods.3
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lemurcat12 wrote: »It's not true that it's time consuming, though, and I hate it when people try to make it sound like this big horrible burden or something people would only do if they were overly neurotic.
But sure, whatever.
It IS true that it's time consuming( for me). Unless you eat everything out of a box. I cook most of my meals from scratch. It's easy to scan a box, not so easy to count and measure everything you are putting in your meal for a family.
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Ironandwine69 wrote: »lemurcat12 wrote: »It's not true that it's time consuming, though, and I hate it when people try to make it sound like this big horrible burden or something people would only do if they were overly neurotic.
But sure, whatever.
It IS true that it's time consuming( for me). Unless you eat everything out of a box. I cook most of my meals from scratch. It's easy to scan a box, not so easy to count and measure everything you are putting in your meal for a family.
I tend to agree with this. I have put in most of the recipes we use on a regular basis into the recipe builder, so that has become easier over time because I have a good base of recipes (like 12 pages on here). But, for the one off meals where I am just kind of throwing things in a pan or having a "clean out the fridge" meal (like chicken, pasta, veggies and then making my own sauce), it does take time.
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People who are pretty fit (which it looks like in your photo) may be able to just eye it. Others needing to lose a significant amount of weight, probably not. It's subjective many times as to seeing what isn't too much to eat for many people.
I hear overweight people say all the time "but I don't eat that much", then we count up the calories. LIARS.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
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i would agree with this.
when I started out I logged/weighed everything but lately I have not been doing that and I have not had any problem maintaining current weight.
If I was trying to do a hard cut I would have to go back to weighing/logging everything.
I think that weighing and logging teaches you correct portion sizes, so that you know, roughly, how much you are consuming...3 -
cmriverside wrote: »It takes maybe four minutes extra to weigh and measure and log food.
To each their own, I'd rather have accurate numbers.
When I was in my twenties and thirties, "winging it" worked. Then it didn't.
yea, not quite as easy when you have to cook for three and are making things from scratch, or close to it..
When I was single it was easy to weigh/log everything; now with a girlfriend and her son living with me, not so easy..1 -
Ironandwine69 wrote: »lemurcat12 wrote: »It's not true that it's time consuming, though, and I hate it when people try to make it sound like this big horrible burden or something people would only do if they were overly neurotic.
But sure, whatever.
It IS true that it's time consuming( for me). Unless you eat everything out of a box. I cook most of my meals from scratch. It's easy to scan a box, not so easy to count and measure everything you are putting in your meal for a family.
I eat almost nothing out of a box, and like I said, disagree that it's time consuming.
I weigh things when cooking -- it adds nothing to the time that chopping takes to put it on the scale and note it down and then log it during a break in cooking or after dinner, depending.4 -
Ironandwine69 wrote: »lemurcat12 wrote: »It's not true that it's time consuming, though, and I hate it when people try to make it sound like this big horrible burden or something people would only do if they were overly neurotic.
But sure, whatever.
It IS true that it's time consuming( for me). Unless you eat everything out of a box. I cook most of my meals from scratch. It's easy to scan a box, not so easy to count and measure everything you are putting in your meal for a family.
I tend to agree with this. I have put in most of the recipes we use on a regular basis into the recipe builder, so that has become easier over time because I have a good base of recipes (like 12 pages on here). But, for the one off meals where I am just kind of throwing things in a pan or having a "clean out the fridge" meal (like chicken, pasta, veggies and then making my own sauce), it does take time.
This is interesting, since I normally avoid the recipe builder since I don't cook by recipe -- most of my meals are based on "what do I have on hand" -- so find it is more time consuming than it's worth (that wouldn't be the case if it were not so clunky). But like I said above, for a quick meal I find logging to add no time if the ingredients I am using are ones I commonly use.
(Chronometer is even easier since it's far easier to find the right entries in the data base, but if you do use some packaged stuff too, like sometimes I use tofu or tempeh or dried pasta or a particular brand of oats, you do have to add it the first time.)0 -
lemurcat12 wrote: »Ironandwine69 wrote: »lemurcat12 wrote: »It's not true that it's time consuming, though, and I hate it when people try to make it sound like this big horrible burden or something people would only do if they were overly neurotic.
But sure, whatever.
It IS true that it's time consuming( for me). Unless you eat everything out of a box. I cook most of my meals from scratch. It's easy to scan a box, not so easy to count and measure everything you are putting in your meal for a family.
I eat almost nothing out of a box, and like I said, disagree that it's time consuming.
I weigh things when cooking -- it adds nothing to the time that chopping takes to put it on the scale and note it down and then log it during a break in cooking or after dinner, depending.
how many are you cooking for?0 -
lemurcat12 wrote: »Ironandwine69 wrote: »lemurcat12 wrote: »It's not true that it's time consuming, though, and I hate it when people try to make it sound like this big horrible burden or something people would only do if they were overly neurotic.
But sure, whatever.
It IS true that it's time consuming( for me). Unless you eat everything out of a box. I cook most of my meals from scratch. It's easy to scan a box, not so easy to count and measure everything you are putting in your meal for a family.
I eat almost nothing out of a box, and like I said, disagree that it's time consuming.
I weigh things when cooking -- it adds nothing to the time that chopping takes to put it on the scale and note it down and then log it during a break in cooking or after dinner, depending.
how many are you cooking for?
2, most often. (Well, for dinner. For breakfast and lunch, just me.)
I agree that cooking for more can make it more difficult depending on how you happen to cook (I cook for more sometimes). If you cook with things that need recipes it doesn't add to the time, but making recipes does, and I normally don't do a lot of recipe based cooking unless I'm cooking ahead where I have time (stew or some such).
With some things I weigh when cooked or else have specific portions or eat half or a third or a quarter of whatever it is. Sometimes I eyeball that, and sometimes I weigh it.0 -
Typical meal: pasta, shrimp, whatever vegetables are in the house that seem good together, maybe some feta or olives. Portion the pasta (weigh it when done to be more exact if I feel like it, but I'm good at splitting -- usually I eat about a third of it), portion the sauce/toppings. Add cheese at the end. All the weighing is done during the prep period.
Stir fry, basically the same.
Pork chop with apple/onion/sauerkraut, brussels, and green beans: again, everything gets weighed during the prep time and split roughly, doesn't make that much difference, except the pork chop gets weighed cooked (and the bone later to deduct).
Salmon with sweet potatoes, broccoli, and cauliflower: here I would cut up the salmon into individual pieces before cooking. I'd weigh and roast the sweet potatoes and veg and then portion it out.2 -
lemurcat12 wrote: »Ironandwine69 wrote: »lemurcat12 wrote: »It's not true that it's time consuming, though, and I hate it when people try to make it sound like this big horrible burden or something people would only do if they were overly neurotic.
But sure, whatever.
It IS true that it's time consuming( for me). Unless you eat everything out of a box. I cook most of my meals from scratch. It's easy to scan a box, not so easy to count and measure everything you are putting in your meal for a family.
I eat almost nothing out of a box, and like I said, disagree that it's time consuming.
I weigh things when cooking -- it adds nothing to the time that chopping takes to put it on the scale and note it down and then log it during a break in cooking or after dinner, depending.
I cook for a family of 4. Usually lunches and dinners. Yes lunches are nothing complicated, but when you're trying to make 4 lunches, sometimes different from the little ones, and rushing to get out of the door to fight the long commute, is not that easy.
I'm not making excuses. I understand counting and measuring is the most accurate, but for me is time consuming. Again, time is relative.
I hear people spend 1.5 hours at the gym, I'm lucky if I can get a 40 min workout in.0 -
For me it's the only way I can accurately know my intake as it relates to maintaining a calorie deficit, which is what is needed to lose weight. Kudos to those who can eyeball it. I know I sure can't.5
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I haven't logged or counted calories in about 4.5 years.5
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Ironandwine69 wrote: »lemurcat12 wrote: »Ironandwine69 wrote: »lemurcat12 wrote: »It's not true that it's time consuming, though, and I hate it when people try to make it sound like this big horrible burden or something people would only do if they were overly neurotic.
But sure, whatever.
It IS true that it's time consuming( for me). Unless you eat everything out of a box. I cook most of my meals from scratch. It's easy to scan a box, not so easy to count and measure everything you are putting in your meal for a family.
I eat almost nothing out of a box, and like I said, disagree that it's time consuming.
I weigh things when cooking -- it adds nothing to the time that chopping takes to put it on the scale and note it down and then log it during a break in cooking or after dinner, depending.
I cook for a family of 4. Usually lunches and dinners. Yes lunches are nothing complicated, but when you're trying to make 4 lunches, sometimes different from the little ones, and rushing to get out of the door to fight the long commute, is not that easy.
I'm not making excuses. I understand counting and measuring is the most accurate, but for me is time consuming. Again, time is relative.
I hear people spend 1.5 hours at the gym, I'm lucky if I can get a 40 min workout in.
I don't think you are making excuses and like I said I don't log at maintenance (and am struggling some to get back into the habit right now), and I don't think it's necessary to log to lose. There's just a pattern of some trying to make it sound like it's so weird and burdensome and neurotic to log, and that they must spend ages doing so, so my point is that it's not that time consuming.
With lunches I usually pack up dinner leftovers for me and log them the night before. But again not saying there's any reason to do it if you don't want to, not at all if it's working for you. I am busy in my own way--I work much of the weekend and often stay quite late during the week (rarely get home until after 8)--but I don't have kids so totally agree that I have a luxury of having weird hours if I want to and some other things. My point is just that noting down the amounts for whatever one eats doesn't have to take very long or add to the time one would be spending in the kitchen anyway. Not that you should do it, but you shouldn't suggest or imagine that it adds some kind of meaningful amount to the prep time for those of us doing that or that the only people who would find it easy are eating boxed foods only (as you suggested).2 -
I count calories, however I do not measure every single thing out. I "eyeball" a lot. Because I do that I do not eat back much or if any of my exercise calories because I leave a cushion for error. I've been doing it this way since November, log every day, exercise 6 days a week and have managed to lose weigh each week since I started for a total of 45.2lbs in 120 days. I am working on a lifestyle change and weighing and measuring every single thing that I put in my mouth, to me, is like being on a diet. I have failed at diets one to many times to ever look back. I may have to tighten up on my measuring when I hit goal weight, who knows, but right now I am going strong, feeling motivated and getting it done...
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