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Is counting calories/macros destroying our enjoyment of food?
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leanitup123 wrote: »Love reading everyone's opinions on the subject. Though many of you are saying that counting calories has no negative influence on your enjoyment of food, do you think it has had an effect on your relationship with food (example: looking at 2 choices on a menu and seeing only numbers, choosing the lower calorie option, etc.)?
I'm a picky eater, so I tend to go with what I like even if it's higher in calories. It's very convenient that I love grilled chicken.
I also do what mph323 does. It's great because I get to eat a delicious meal twice. However, I do avoid high fat meals because I get acid reflux (which started after losing weight, go figure). 2 -
I think this is going to be very individual. But for me the answer is no. First, I enjoy playing with numbers and puzzles and that carries over into counting cals for me. Second, I used to stress out about whether I could eat something or not. I was constantly either feeling deprived for not eating something or guilty for eating it. Now I make informed decisions and those negative emotions are no longer a part of my diet.
There are some things that I don't eat anymore because they are calorie bombs but I still eat plenty of yummy foods so I rarely miss that stuff.10 -
Well, I know that the calorie count at McDonalds sure irritated me. I don't eat there myself, but I treat my niece & nephew occasionally because they love it.. and all that stuff on the board makes it completely illegible.2
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For me, it has and hasn't.
Due to a myriad of issues, I went rather rabid on counting and tracking...and made myself and my family (and probably quite a few friends) miserable. It took me hitting my goal weight, sustaining, and then running into a different medical issue, that I was humbled (smacked upside my head with a harsh reality.) It's something that my mum has said *forever*...'all things in moderation'.
So now I'm more even-keeled about things, fitness and nutrition-wise. I aim to enjoy food, but on more healthful terms. Like so many other folks here, I've learned to cook *so much better* and try new-to-me healthier options. When I go out for food, I *might* take a gander at nutritional content, if it's even available...otherwise I just look at the base ingredients and think about how the food is prepared. Being thoughtful about it isn't a drag like it used to be. I look at it as a treat to myself, that I care enough to consider where my body's fuel is coming from. 7 -
I think this is going to be very individual. But for me the answer is no. First, I enjoy playing with numbers and puzzles and that carries over into counting cals for me...
Same here. I view it almost like playing Tetris or Jenga or something, making the pieces fit in my calories and macros. It's fun to me.12 -
Far from it in fact. It has encouraged me to find new foods, new ways of preparations and new combinations!
Cooking has always been a hobby, now I combine it with my new lifestyle I have found a whole new range of herbs and spices that I use instead of just grabbing the fats to boost the flavour5 -
The exact opposite for me. I enjoy food even more now, because I make sure every bit of it is worth it. I'm no longer mindlessly grabbing whatever then consuming it just because I want to keep my jaws moving. I'm now a bit pickier and tend to not go for mediocre versions of things. No stale popcorn, cheesecake instead of donuts (I don't like donuts), special foods are now special again and not part of my daily mindless munching...etc.
I wrap my calories around my foods way more often than I wrap my food around my calories. If I did it the other way, I can understand how it would destroy food enjoyment.10 -
Counting calories (and macros) took away my fear of food and weight gain. I finally learnt how much food I need and what foods work best for me. Without the fear/guilt, the necessary amounts of foods I like is what I want. I don't count calories anymore, but I'm aware of portions and don't routinely overeat, as I used to when I was fat.5
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my question would be how could it ruin our enjoyment of food.
Calories and macros are numbers that is it...enjoyment of food comes from tactile senses like taste and smell...
If you find you are not eating the food you love due to calorie restrictions you are doing it wrong....just eat a smaller portion or exercise to allow for it.8 -
my question would be how could it ruin our enjoyment of food.
Calories and macros are numbers that is it...enjoyment of food comes from tactile senses like taste and smell...
If you find you are not eating the food you love due to calorie restrictions you are doing it wrong....just eat a smaller portion or exercise to allow for it.
It's not so much the enjoyment of the food itself as it is the over-reliance on numbers and the strange eating habits and thoughts about food that some people develop from long term tracking.14 -
I think it means I think about and enjoy my food more than I did before, where I ate the same things a lot anyway and just ate a tonne of it instead of a reasonable amount. I don't feel "guilty" about fitting some ice cream into my calories like I did before I started tracking. I don't feel "bad" about carbs because when I see all the carb bashing, I ignore it safe in the knowledge my carb eating ways work.
I do think there's no going back to "blissful ignorance" though. Once you know, you know, and you can't un-know. You can ignore, but you can't un-know it.
"do you think it has had an effect on your relationship with food"
I'll be honest - I often factor the calories in to my thought process before choosing, but I'd say most of the time it doesn't affect my actual decision because I order what I want, it only factors in when I cook and I only cook things I like anyway. Maybe I'll make a lighter dinner for a bowl of ice cream after where before I'd have eaten a huge dinner then half the tub and felt nauseous and guilty.
There was a cool time recently though when I thought something said 8xx calories only to see it was actually 6xx calories (I did double check it, my eyes are just so bad even my glasses couldn't help me see those little numbers). It was fast food and I enjoyed it at 8xx, the extra 200 calories I didn't eat were just a nice surprise.7 -
I'm sort of a data geek so if anything, it's helped me enjoy it more. No more guessing about what nutrient I must be deficient in that was making me fat, or my bad metabolism or whatever else I told myself before realizing a sedentary female shouldn't be smashing 3K cals daily lol13
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my question would be how could it ruin our enjoyment of food.
Calories and macros are numbers that is it...enjoyment of food comes from tactile senses like taste and smell...
If you find you are not eating the food you love due to calorie restrictions you are doing it wrong....just eat a smaller portion or exercise to allow for it.
It's not so much the enjoyment of the food itself as it is the over-reliance on numbers and the strange eating habits and thoughts about food that some people develop from long term tracking.
I see the over reliance on the numbers as an issue for some for sure and the thoughts about food...which can lend itself to disordered thinking...
I guess that was my point of asking...if you aren't enjoying the food per say or not eating what you love because of numbers time to take a step back...re-evaluate and get some perspective.4 -
Not for me. I enjoy that special treat even more, because it's a special treat.6
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I wouldn't say it destroyed my enjoyment of food, but it did lessen it. It especially diminished my enjoyment of cooking. But it's not an absolute necessity for weight control. When it became clear it wasn't for me I simply stopped doing it.5
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I think this is going to be very individual. But for me the answer is no. First, I enjoy playing with numbers and puzzles and that carries over into counting cals for me...
Same here. I view it almost like playing Tetris or Jenga or something, making the pieces fit in my calories and macros. It's fun to me.
This is exactly how I am too!
I'm baking like crazy and enjoying actually cooking all the time instead of just warming up something convenient. Last weekend I cooked an entire pork roast with roast veggies for myself to meal prep for this week. My husband was totally SOL, ha!5 -
Even if it does, it's something that I have to do. My choices are
A: count calories/macros
B: gain 10 or more pounds every year
I choose A.
My high weight was 320. I choose to take control now rather than being a My 600-Pound Life candidate later.
My highest enjoyment of food comes with high-calorie and high-volume meals. If I didn't have to deal with the consequences, I'd happily eat fast food 3-4 times a day at 800+ calories per meal. Right now I'd love to get a Dairy Queen 6-piece Chicken Strip Basket (1250 calories), a medium Coke (280 calories) and either a medium Chocolate Xtreme Blizzard (800 calories) or a Peanut Buster Parfait (710 calories). Another meal that I'd really enjoy would be half of a medium Meat Lover's Pan Pizza (1320 calories) from Pizza Hut.
My mouth is watering and I'm getting a bit of a rush just thinking about it.
However, I do have to deal with the consequences. Sigh. Every day that I don't gain weight is a victory.
THIS^^^^^^ When I was heavier, I never thought twice about what I ate. I just knew that my clothes sizes were creeping up and up and I was having to spend more money on clothing and not liking what I saw in the mirror staring back at me.
Do I LIKE counting calories, weighing every portion and working out on a daily basis? Not particularly. Do I like buying smaller clothes that fit me well? Absolutely!9 -
I did the calorie counting thing for about 9 months...it didn't necessarily ruin my enjoyment of food, but I went to a pretty bad place in regards to obsessing about the numbers, scared to eat out, miserable on vacations that were supposed to be fun because I couldn't drill down to "exactness", etc...
I stopped when my wife had a sit down with me and told me she thought things were a bit over the top and out of control. I've been in maintenance for a bit over four years now and haven't counted and I've also been able to drop my winter fluff every year not counting. I focus much more on doing the things that lean, healthy, and fit people do...I eat well for the most part in that the majority of my diet is derived from whole foods...I'm pretty mean in the kitchen, and I exercise on the regular. I'm much happier now not obsessing about the minutia and every little detail and just doing my thing. As long as I'm exercising on the regular, it's actually pretty hard for me to overeat.15 -
my question would be how could it ruin our enjoyment of food.
Calories and macros are numbers that is it...enjoyment of food comes from tactile senses like taste and smell...
If you find you are not eating the food you love due to calorie restrictions you are doing it wrong....just eat a smaller portion or exercise to allow for it.
For me it lessened (not destroyed or ruined) my enjoyment of food because I my enjoyment of food comes from cooking as much as from eating. But I don't cook from recipes and don't measure ingredients. There isn't much point in logging if you don't measure and having to measure made cooking a lot less enjoyable for me.4 -
I never found myself obsessing about numbers to the detriment of my enjoyment, but I do find logging to be detrimental to my enjoyment, sometimes, if it feels like something that makes cooking more burdensome (not usually, but occasionally) or, more often, if it feels like a chore to try to deconstruct a restaurant meal afterwards. I am okay with just estimating in those cases, though, or not logging the day, but I can understand why people find it more trouble than it's worth.
I find the following macros and numbers interesting and since it doesn't tend to make me obsessive it's a good way to get myself to actually focus on a deficit (or seeing what affects energy or the like), but I do (again) find the logging part itself more work than I like and so find it easier to focus on other options, especially when I'm maintaining.3
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