Counting calories..Or not
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GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »Ironandwine69 wrote: »GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »Ironandwine69 wrote: »Before attending these boards I had been with Precision Nutrition. Over there we never count calories. In fact, they don't believe counting is a "leverage point"--meaning that it is not worth the time-investment. So I've never weighed anything in my life. If you cared, you could look at my food blog and you would see that my feedings are super clean, super boring, and my goals are met predictably. So counting isn't the only way.
Time investment is exactly my point when I say too time consuming.
The big misunderstanding from some people who posted on this blog, is that not counting means eat what you want.
No, that's not the case.
I watch what I eat very carefully. I am not the cleanest eater but I don't eat junk. IF has been my lifestyle for years( which probably makes not counting easier since I get 80% - 90% of my food intake in one meal).
To wrap this up, I think counting is a great tool. But also, I don't know anyone that counted all his/her life( maybe there are people that do, but I wonder how many). What happens when/if you stop counting?...
That's a fair question.
What would happen if I were to stop counting?
Well, I also IF, but I eat within a window. I'd still eat within that window and to the schedule I currently eat. I pretty much know which foods have a good satiety/caloric ratio and would stick to them and would try my best to pay attention to my hunger cues, though they are admittedly broken. I would eat slowly and mindfully just to the point of being no longer hungry. I'd weigh daily like I do now and track the trend, making adjustments to intake as necessary to prevent scale creep.
So I know what I'd do, I just prefer to count calories and log because to me it removes an element of guesswork that would leave me feeling anxious.
Different strokes for different folks.
Do you mind me asking, how long have you been counting?
A little over two years, but I've been dealing with my weight issues for 40 years and tried lots of different solutions.
This clicks in a way nothing else ever has and has gotten me the results I've always wanted and never achieved.
Congratulations on finding something that works long term. That's all that matters. Making it a lifestyle, not a diet.0 -
lemurcat12 wrote: »coolvstar650 wrote: »
Right now I do have to count every nugget...but I am right there with you. It is STRESSFUL for those of us that cook from scratch (not faux scratch with a box of this added to a can of that) with real ingredients. I do the effort of making my recipes through the app but it take dedication...and sometimes, dang it, I really just want to cook, eat, and me merrily free of counting.Ironandwine69 wrote: »
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 don't agree at all, and again I pointed out how I do it upthread in some detail. I rarely use the recipe function (which isn't that great, IMO), and don't find it stressful a bit. I really don't understand how putting ingredients on the scale when chopping makes it so much more burdensome or stressful. (And I say this as someone who is so lazy that I don't really like logging, but the actual weighing of the ingredients seems easier to do when actually cooking from scratch, IMO).
You don't understand how someone finds that to be stressful, exactly the same way I don't understand how you need to depend on weighing and counting.
We are going in circles. We have personal preferences. And that's hers.
As a person that hates cooking to begin with, adding more steps to it makes it even more of a chore for me.0 -
lemurcat12 wrote: »coolvstar650 wrote: »
Right now I do have to count every nugget...but I am right there with you. It is STRESSFUL for those of us that cook from scratch (not faux scratch with a box of this added to a can of that) with real ingredients. I do the effort of making my recipes through the app but it take dedication...and sometimes, dang it, I really just want to cook, eat, and me merrily free of counting.Ironandwine69 wrote: »
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 don't agree at all, and again I pointed out how I do it upthread in some detail. I rarely use the recipe function (which isn't that great, IMO), and don't find it stressful a bit. I really don't understand how putting ingredients on the scale when chopping makes it so much more burdensome or stressful. (And I say this as someone who is so lazy that I don't really like logging, but the actual weighing of the ingredients seems easier to do when actually cooking from scratch, IMO).
I have to ask...
What do you do with the ingredient weights after weighting? Do you just enter a portion(I read above where you cooked for 2) of it as individual entries on your food log (when you were logging)?
Yeah, I enter the percentage I eat (I often make more than 2 servings on purpose, and with some thing, like starches, I usually will divide it 1/3 (me), 2/3, even when cooking just for 2).The constant updating of my recipes and refiguring portion sizes is what drives me insane. I hardly ever make anything exactly as I did before. I make a lot of one dish type meals so I change out vegetables...change out the quantity of meat quite often...add this...add that.
Yeah, I never make things the same which is why the recipe builder is more often than not a hassle. I will use it when I make a big one pot meal for the week, which I sometimes do for lunches.
I HATE cooking to recipes, and pretty much always make stuff up on the fly, and use recipes for inspiration only (this is also why I prefer cooking to baking).0 -
coolvstar650 wrote: »
Right now I do have to count every nugget...but I am right there with you. It is STRESSFUL for those of us that cook from scratch (not faux scratch with a box of this added to a can of that) with real ingredients. I do the effort of making my recipes through the app but it take dedication...and sometimes, dang it, I really just want to cook, eat, and me merrily free of counting.Ironandwine69 wrote: »
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.
Shrugging here.
I find it more stressful to diet and wonder how it's going to work and have guesswork involved. I dieted that way for 40 years.
Weighing my food while doing food prep takes seconds. I have a pencil and tablet on the counter and I jot down everything as I'm cooking, then enter everything into the recipe builder (protip, use the old version of the recipe builder, it's easier and less buggy). From there I can mess with the number of servings a recipe will yield to give me a calorie amount for a meal that will make me happy. When the meal is finished cooking, I take an appropriate portion. Sometimes, I weigh the finished product in total and divide by the number of servings to get an appropriate serving (soups, stews), sometimes I eyeball it (frittatas, casseroles).
I like the control I feel that getting a count on my food intake gives me. I did not like the element of leaving things up in the air and wondering what was going on that not really having a handle on my intake during previous diet attempts.
In my case, weighing and logging has allowed me to relax during the dieting process instead of leading to stress.1 -
Ironandwine69 wrote: »i cook from scratch often too and i agree that it's absolutely not any harder for me to use my scale than to use measuring cups etc. and while the recipe builder can seriously crap out sometimes (i spent 15 minutes building a recipe today that wouldn't save) i find it super useful when it's functioning. i especially like if for things that i make a lot, as i can just open up the recipe for editing and adjust the grams as i go.
OMG...this has happened to me a couple of times! It is infuriating! I honestly think if the recipe builder/function were more user friendly, it would take some of my frustration away. Once I get a recipe logged that I know is a keeper, it is super easy to plan, cook, log, and eat!
I totally quit MFP in the past after the recipe builder zonked out on me. I was so annoyed! It was the final bug that I just couldn't take!0 -
Ironandwine69 wrote: »lemurcat12 wrote: »coolvstar650 wrote: »
Right now I do have to count every nugget...but I am right there with you. It is STRESSFUL for those of us that cook from scratch (not faux scratch with a box of this added to a can of that) with real ingredients. I do the effort of making my recipes through the app but it take dedication...and sometimes, dang it, I really just want to cook, eat, and me merrily free of counting.Ironandwine69 wrote: »
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 don't agree at all, and again I pointed out how I do it upthread in some detail. I rarely use the recipe function (which isn't that great, IMO), and don't find it stressful a bit. I really don't understand how putting ingredients on the scale when chopping makes it so much more burdensome or stressful. (And I say this as someone who is so lazy that I don't really like logging, but the actual weighing of the ingredients seems easier to do when actually cooking from scratch, IMO).
You don't understand how someone finds that to be stressful, exactly the same way I don't understand how you need to depend on weighing and counting.
We are going in circles. We have personal preferences. And that's hers.
As a person that hates cooking to begin with, adding more steps to it makes it even more of a chore for me.
Your language is awfully loaded.
"Depend" is a loaded word.
People who log prefer it for any number of reasons. It's not a crutch. It's a tool. Tools were invented because they make tasks easier for some people. They aren't always necessary, but they're handy.
This discussion gets friendly, and then you keep dropping little bombs like this. This is why you've gotten pushback. It's clear you think there's some hierarchy in the ways of dieting, and that's just silly.9 -
Ironandwine69 wrote: »lemurcat12 wrote: »coolvstar650 wrote: »
Right now I do have to count every nugget...but I am right there with you. It is STRESSFUL for those of us that cook from scratch (not faux scratch with a box of this added to a can of that) with real ingredients. I do the effort of making my recipes through the app but it take dedication...and sometimes, dang it, I really just want to cook, eat, and me merrily free of counting.Ironandwine69 wrote: »
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 don't agree at all, and again I pointed out how I do it upthread in some detail. I rarely use the recipe function (which isn't that great, IMO), and don't find it stressful a bit. I really don't understand how putting ingredients on the scale when chopping makes it so much more burdensome or stressful. (And I say this as someone who is so lazy that I don't really like logging, but the actual weighing of the ingredients seems easier to do when actually cooking from scratch, IMO).
You don't understand how someone finds that to be stressful, exactly the same way I don't understand how you need to depend on weighing and counting.
Sigh, you obviously are not reading, as I've said over and over that I DON'T need to depend on weighing and counting (I've lost weight without doing it and I don't count at maintenance). I also have said over and over that I understand not wanting to count. What I find objectionable are the claims that counting is burdensome or bad or weird or SO MUCH WORK in general, or the questions which make it sound like there's something wrong with someone doing it.
Upthread, the post I responded to, asserted that it was inherently stressful for someone who cooks from scratch (like me) which is just not true. Like you, before, she was claiming that if you don't find it stressful or time consuming or burdensome you must not really cook from scratch, which is why I was pointing out that I do, and understand the process, and don't see how that makes it more of an issue.
I get having a different preference, as I've said (I don't much like the logging process, although I think weighing is not any extra work, but that's me, it doesn't mean logging is some huge weird burden). I don't get insisting that it just IS stressful and if you don't see it you must not really cook. I am familiar with cooking and don't see how putting some ingredients on the scale after chopping or the like is so inherently stressful.
If people would be clear that they mean only for them, for whatever reason, no one would care.5 -
lemurcat12 wrote: »Ironandwine69 wrote: »lemurcat12 wrote: »coolvstar650 wrote: »
Right now I do have to count every nugget...but I am right there with you. It is STRESSFUL for those of us that cook from scratch (not faux scratch with a box of this added to a can of that) with real ingredients. I do the effort of making my recipes through the app but it take dedication...and sometimes, dang it, I really just want to cook, eat, and me merrily free of counting.Ironandwine69 wrote: »
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 don't agree at all, and again I pointed out how I do it upthread in some detail. I rarely use the recipe function (which isn't that great, IMO), and don't find it stressful a bit. I really don't understand how putting ingredients on the scale when chopping makes it so much more burdensome or stressful. (And I say this as someone who is so lazy that I don't really like logging, but the actual weighing of the ingredients seems easier to do when actually cooking from scratch, IMO).
You don't understand how someone finds that to be stressful, exactly the same way I don't understand how you need to depend on weighing and counting.
Sigh, you obviously are not reading, as I've said over and over that I DON'T need to depend on weighing and counting (I've lost weight without doing it and I don't count at maintenance). I also have said over and over that I understand not wanting to count. What I find objectionable are the claims that counting is burdensome or bad or weird or SO MUCH WORK in general, or the questions which make it sound like there's something wrong with someone doing it.
Upthread, the post I responded to, asserted that it was inherently stressful for someone who cooks from scratch (like me) which is just not true. Like you, before, she was claiming that if you don't find it stressful or time consuming or burdensome you must not really cook from scratch, which is why I was pointing out that I do, and understand the process, and don't see how that makes it more of an issue.
I get having a different preference, as I've said (I don't much like the logging process, although I think weighing is not any extra work, but that's me, it doesn't mean logging is some huge weird burden). I don't get insisting that it just IS stressful and if you don't see it you must not really cook. I am familiar with cooking and don't see how putting some ingredients on the scale after chopping or the like is so inherently stressful.
If people would be clear that they mean only for them, for whatever reason, no one would care.
Yes. This. I wanted to get back to that "not really cooking if you don't find it stressful" thingy. Thank you for making this point.2 -
Ironandwine69 wrote: »That's great you can. I know I can't. Most people here can't this is why we are here. I know I gained weight by eating what I wanted at the portions I wanted. So I am eating better by tracking and losing weight.
Oh, I gain weight if I eat anything, whenever I want. I've actually gained ten pounds by doing exactly that the past year. But I knew I was overeating.
I think counting calories is great, but also very time consuming ( for me). I think it's great to do for a while, until you learn what you need, but I can't imagine spending my life measuring food and counting calories.
Time consuming?
For me, it's less than a few minutes either the night before or the morning of. That's not time at all.
Do what works for you.1 -
Ironandwine69 wrote: »GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »Ironandwine69 wrote: »GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »Ironandwine69 wrote: »Before attending these boards I had been with Precision Nutrition. Over there we never count calories. In fact, they don't believe counting is a "leverage point"--meaning that it is not worth the time-investment. So I've never weighed anything in my life. If you cared, you could look at my food blog and you would see that my feedings are super clean, super boring, and my goals are met predictably. So counting isn't the only way.
Time investment is exactly my point when I say too time consuming.
The big misunderstanding from some people who posted on this blog, is that not counting means eat what you want.
No, that's not the case.
I watch what I eat very carefully. I am not the cleanest eater but I don't eat junk. IF has been my lifestyle for years( which probably makes not counting easier since I get 80% - 90% of my food intake in one meal).
To wrap this up, I think counting is a great tool. But also, I don't know anyone that counted all his/her life( maybe there are people that do, but I wonder how many). What happens when/if you stop counting?...
That's a fair question.
What would happen if I were to stop counting?
Well, I also IF, but I eat within a window. I'd still eat within that window and to the schedule I currently eat. I pretty much know which foods have a good satiety/caloric ratio and would stick to them and would try my best to pay attention to my hunger cues, though they are admittedly broken. I would eat slowly and mindfully just to the point of being no longer hungry. I'd weigh daily like I do now and track the trend, making adjustments to intake as necessary to prevent scale creep.
So I know what I'd do, I just prefer to count calories and log because to me it removes an element of guesswork that would leave me feeling anxious.
Different strokes for different folks.
Do you mind me asking, how long have you been counting?
A little over two years, but I've been dealing with my weight issues for 40 years and tried lots of different solutions.
This clicks in a way nothing else ever has and has gotten me the results I've always wanted and never achieved.
Congratulations on finding something that works long term. That's all that matters. Making it a lifestyle, not a diet.
I logged for over a year until I lost my 70 pounds.
Then I stopped logging. It was fine. For a while. Then came portion-creep. An extra muffin or a handful of chips. Easy to do when I don't keep track.
Pretty soon I was up ten pounds. Didn't take much.
I had to lose those ten pounds again.
I don't like that.
Now I keep a tight rein on my food, because not only do I not want to eat too much, I also want to eat enough - AND more importantly, I want to hit my macros. Otherwise I find I will be cruising along and one day realize I've had nothing but peanut butter and French bread. Where are the vegetables?
So I log my food. Eight years pretty consistently. I do stop logging just before Thanksgiving and start back up after New Years every year, because delicious stuff. I am a 10.5 month a year logger, I guess.
And again, check back in with us when you are in your fifties. It's easy to maintain your weight in your thirties. Heck, they hadn't even invented the internet when I was in my thirties.9 -
jessiferrrb wrote: »Traveler120 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 cook everything from scratch and it is not time consuming for me at all. I have to put food needing to be cooked into some kind of pan or bowl so why not put it into a pan or bowl sitting on a scale? Food not needing to be cooked can be plated while the plate is on the scale.
Dump, note weight, hit tare, dump next ingredient. Rinse and repeat.
Until when? The end of time? Who wants to be a slave to the scale. Measuring or weighing should be a temporary learning tool to understand calories in food. After that, one should know enough about various foods and quantities that eyeballing should be sufficient for the long term.
I'll stop weighing and measuring when you start buying my clothes.
If you can eyeball your food and maintain, great for you. Stop whizzing in the Cheerios of people who don't have that ability.
Yeah, it makes them completely inedible!
anyone know how many calories that is?
And does whizzing in the cheerios negate the iron in them?0 -
cmriverside wrote: »Ironandwine69 wrote: »GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »Ironandwine69 wrote: »GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »Ironandwine69 wrote: »Before attending these boards I had been with Precision Nutrition. Over there we never count calories. In fact, they don't believe counting is a "leverage point"--meaning that it is not worth the time-investment. So I've never weighed anything in my life. If you cared, you could look at my food blog and you would see that my feedings are super clean, super boring, and my goals are met predictably. So counting isn't the only way.
Time investment is exactly my point when I say too time consuming.
The big misunderstanding from some people who posted on this blog, is that not counting means eat what you want.
No, that's not the case.
I watch what I eat very carefully. I am not the cleanest eater but I don't eat junk. IF has been my lifestyle for years( which probably makes not counting easier since I get 80% - 90% of my food intake in one meal).
To wrap this up, I think counting is a great tool. But also, I don't know anyone that counted all his/her life( maybe there are people that do, but I wonder how many). What happens when/if you stop counting?...
That's a fair question.
What would happen if I were to stop counting?
Well, I also IF, but I eat within a window. I'd still eat within that window and to the schedule I currently eat. I pretty much know which foods have a good satiety/caloric ratio and would stick to them and would try my best to pay attention to my hunger cues, though they are admittedly broken. I would eat slowly and mindfully just to the point of being no longer hungry. I'd weigh daily like I do now and track the trend, making adjustments to intake as necessary to prevent scale creep.
So I know what I'd do, I just prefer to count calories and log because to me it removes an element of guesswork that would leave me feeling anxious.
Different strokes for different folks.
Do you mind me asking, how long have you been counting?
A little over two years, but I've been dealing with my weight issues for 40 years and tried lots of different solutions.
This clicks in a way nothing else ever has and has gotten me the results I've always wanted and never achieved.
Congratulations on finding something that works long term. That's all that matters. Making it a lifestyle, not a diet.
I logged for over a year until I lost my 70 pounds.
Then I stopped logging. It was fine. For a while. Then came portion-creep. An extra muffin or a handful of chips. Easy to do when I don't keep track.
Pretty soon I was up ten pounds. Didn't take much.
I had to lose those ten pounds again.
I don't like that.
Now I keep a tight rein on my food, because not only do I not want to eat too much, I also want to eat enough - AND more importantly, I want to hit my macros. Otherwise I find I will be cruising along and one day realize I've had nothing but peanut butter and French bread. Where are the vegetables?
So I log my food. Eight years pretty consistently. I do stop logging just before Thanksgiving and start back up after New Years every year, because delicious stuff. I am a 10.5 month a year logger, I guess.
And again, check back in with us when you are in your fifties. It's easy to maintain your weight in your thirties. Heck, they hadn't even invented the internet when I was in my thirties.
Congratulations on your 70lbs. That's a great accomplishment!
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1. Counting calories IS IS IS time consuming when your baby or BABIES, in my case, are crying, my toddler is trying to tell me how his day went, my husband is calling me, the washing machine stopped and now the dryer needs to be loaded, OH and the urine I've been holding for 2 hours is ready to escape
2. If you are prepping for a competition, you are not able to control yourself or you just feel more comfortable counting...then you should do it
3. I TRULY believe in my heart that counting calories allows you to learn and become more nutritionally aware of eating, how to eat, what to eat and how much to eat and thus is not meant to be a lifelong journey which is why when I reach my 1 year postpartum anniversary I'll longer be counting. Yay!
That is all
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Every time I stop counting calories, I gain weight. It's like permission to eat what I really want. There is no accountability. It's the same reason I eat cake out of the pan... no one knows how much I ate. If I cut a piece and put it on a plate, there it is. That's how much I ate. I can see it. If I just take a fork and start eating off a whole cake, you really can't tell how much I ate, and then I can say, "Well I only had a few bites, I didn't eat that much." It really is denial.
That's me, exactly. I will always need to count. My brain just does not have the "whoa gal you've had enough" brake built in, unfortunately.0 -
I teach fitness classes, know a lot about healthy food and cooking, eat relatively clean, yet could not get super lean any other way except this site and counting calories. It's the only way for me. Best of luck.0
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I teach fitness classes, know a lot about healthy food and cooking, eat relatively clean, yet could not get super lean any other way except this site and counting calories. It's the only way for me. Best of luck.
Agree. I can't get super lean without counting either. I mean, I could. But I want to make sure I get enough protein to maintain muscle mass.0 -
Nowadays I barely count calories.0
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I actually enjoy counting calories. I am currently overweight and trying to become more healthy. Until I started counting, like someone previously stated-I have often said, " well I dont really eat that much." Example, I often buy wheat thins and before, while watching Doctor Who or something, I'd eat half the box. The following day for lunch I'd eat the other half the box. Now when we add it up 160 calories times like 10 servings, is a lot of calories for nothing but dang crackers.
In my mind I'd say its just crackers. However, I stopped and realized I'd been eating like 4 boxes a week. Even though its just crackers. Once i started counting calories I truly saw how much rubbish I'd been eating and getting fat from even though it wasn't much food. I eat big healthy meals now, well healthier meals, now and get full off veggies and other things. I've become better at portion control too. I can only speak for myself, but its helped give me a better mindset when it comes to what I eat now and I'm loosing weight, but gaining a better lifestyle.1
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