Is calorie counting really going to work?

To answer your questions first...

1. Yes, calorie counting does work. But you have to make sure you are weighing and logging your calories accurately and be patient.
2. Starvation mode does not exist.
3. You can certainly eat only one meal a day if you wish. Meal timing doesn't have any affect on the speed of your weight loss.
4. How much do you weigh right now? Hard to say if 165 by 9/15 is a reasonable goal without your current weight.

Then to add.... breathe, don't panic. Try not to make it more complicated than it is. Let MFP determine your calorie goal, buy a kitchen scale, weigh and log your food, eat foods you like but in portions appropriate to your calorie goal, and try not to stress out with a deadline.

Calorie counting will work. Portion control is not enough, weigh your food. Once you start getting a very accurate count of what you're consuming, give it a few weeks.

LadyLeaAZ wrote: »

Yeah I did buy a scale, just one of those cheapy 5.99 ones at BBB. My husband is already making fun of me and not happy that i'm counting calories even though he told me i was fat.

Height 5'6" and i seem to flop between 169 and 172 on a daily basis currently

My dear, I don't know about you, but nothing makes me shine like discouragement. Embrace it. Make him eat crow.

Calorie counting works, period. You just need to make sure that you are measuring everything accurately and counting each teaspoon of sugar, oil, etc. Those little things that people don't think about add up very quickly!

First, I'm very sorry about your husband. That sounds hurtful.

Second, as best I can tell, calorie counting alone is probably not the best way to lose weight fast. The best way to lose weight fast would probably be to go on an incredibly restrictive diet where you are told exactly what to eat when and are given little or no flexibility. The reason these diets "work" is because they are basically guaranteed to force you into a calorie deficit, and caloric deficits are the only thing that cause you to lose weight. Every diet plan pretends it has a magic ingredient (no carbs! smoothies! points! whateverthefug paleo's rules are!), but it doesn't. All they do is make it super easy for anyone to get into a deficit by cutting out most of the foods that people tend to overeat.

Of course, the reason I put "work" into quotation marks is that almost everyone who loses weight on these diets gains the weight back and adds a bit on top of that. If you absolutely want to lose 10 lbs in a month and don't mind what happens after that, you should use one of those diets. The mostly liquid ones seem to be the best bang for your buck. However, my experience so far, and I think the experience of many people who have lost weight and kept the weight off, is that calorie counting really does work IF you give it time and a little patience.

The problem is that there is a lot of possibilities for human error when you're trying to create a deficit. I think most people can expect to spend at least a week or two (if not longer) figuring out how to make the numbers line up for them: how to accurately estimate calories in (here's where weighing your food comes in), how to accurately estimate calories out (many exercise estimates are high because, again, there are lots of variables involved, and it's very easy to fall into the "I exercised so I get a reward" trap),and figuring out what foods and nutrients and meal scheduling really work for you as an individual to get you to that deficit and keep you there. And again, the people who seem to have the most success are the only who don't try and jump ahead to the finish line, but make thoughtful choices about how to adjust their own diet and exercise to get there.

Once you get the hang of it, it honestly feels embarrassingly easy - I've lost 23 pounds this year, still eat more or less the same as I did before I started (just less of it and at different times), and rarely feel hungry or deprived - but it does take effort to get to that point. And unfortunately, it's those "last ten pounds" that tend to be the most difficult to lose and keep off. I don't say that to be discouraging, just to explain why you're finding conflicting information. I think that anyone is capable of it, but you do have to resist the siren song of the easy fix.

Personally I would just ditch the husband - you'd lose a tonne of dead weight there straight away. What a incredibly insensitive plank he is

Come here.. lots. There is plenty of encouragement and most of us are facing the exact same challenges. Counting calories does work, I think the jury is still out on eggs... and there is nothing funny about weighing your food. We're here for you.

Counting calories is the most direct appliance of the science behind weight management.

Your husband sounds a peach.

AnvilHead wrote: »

Not only "does" it work, it's the only thing that works.

^^^^^ Seconded.

The diet industry (can I call it "Big Diet"? - that term is pejorative for so many other industries....) has a vested interest to keep simple things mysterious to the masses. Whether you count them or pay someone else to (either directly or indirectly depending on the program), it's calorie deficit.



Period.