Use the word "calories" and everybody loses their minds
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I would agree with this, but note that it is getting better. I never offered advice unless asked, but as soon as I mentioned calories - or God forbid - the counting of the calories...then the eyes glaze over, the mind and body go slack... So you do keto? So you no do keto?
Recently though I've seen a number of people using MFP or similar tool. I hear "how many calories does that have?" more often. Of course this is only my n=1.
Taking a step back it's amazing to see just how much misinformation and disinformation is out there designed for weight management failure - much of this coming from our alleged "trusted" institutions.
A woman cornered me for advice a few weeks ago and when I told her what I did she said "awww" with a mournful sigh inflection. I took it to mean she wanted a sexier answer.
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Its funny because people ask how you do it? They want you to tell them youre doing some kind of "lifehack". Its Keto, its intermittent fasting, its cutting out certain foods, its eating certain foods, its working out, etc. No, all that stuff can help, but at its core its all calorie counting thats doing the real work.8
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I go to a monthly meeting where we have potluck before our meeting. I usually make a dish that I can also enjoy. My best friend who knows how I've lost weight gets her feelings hurt when I don't have some of what she brought. Last time she brought a pasta dish heavy with cream sauce. I tasted it & said it was good but didn't have any. After all this time I don't know why she doesn't understand. If I had a bite of this & bite of that i'm sure i'd gain weight. My husband is always offering me bites. Other than them, I don't talk about calories to anyone (unless they ask how I lost weight) I don't want the comments2
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Pretty much everyone in my department at my work is trying to lose weight. We have 3 on WW, 1 doing keto, and then there's me just counting calories and trying to walk more (to start out). The WW group constantly asks what I'm doing to lose weight as soon as I say counting calories they look horrified and tell me that's way too hard. Ummm on WW you count points so... They constantly ask how many points are in something I'm eating, and I will just tell them the calorie amount. Always, makes me laugh that they think what I do is so hard. I mean MFP does the calculations for me I just follow it.
Ya, WW was good back in the 90s but now that there are free apps like MFP, I don't see the point in paying for WW.
I don't believe I spent significantly less time with WW than I do with MFP.6 -
kshama2001 wrote: »Pretty much everyone in my department at my work is trying to lose weight. We have 3 on WW, 1 doing keto, and then there's me just counting calories and trying to walk more (to start out). The WW group constantly asks what I'm doing to lose weight as soon as I say counting calories they look horrified and tell me that's way too hard. Ummm on WW you count points so... They constantly ask how many points are in something I'm eating, and I will just tell them the calorie amount. Always, makes me laugh that they think what I do is so hard. I mean MFP does the calculations for me I just follow it.
Ya, WW was good back in the 90s but now that there are free apps like MFP, I don't see the point in paying for WW.
I don't believe I spent significantly less time with WW than I do with MFP.
I don't understand how the points work. To me it's easier to use this to just track my calories and nutrition.6 -
kshama2001 wrote: »Pretty much everyone in my department at my work is trying to lose weight. We have 3 on WW, 1 doing keto, and then there's me just counting calories and trying to walk more (to start out). The WW group constantly asks what I'm doing to lose weight as soon as I say counting calories they look horrified and tell me that's way too hard. Ummm on WW you count points so... They constantly ask how many points are in something I'm eating, and I will just tell them the calorie amount. Always, makes me laugh that they think what I do is so hard. I mean MFP does the calculations for me I just follow it.
Ya, WW was good back in the 90s but now that there are free apps like MFP, I don't see the point in paying for WW.
I don't believe I spent significantly less time with WW than I do with MFP.
I don't understand how the points work. To me it's easier to use this to just track my calories and nutrition.
1 point used to equal roughly 50 calories, although now I understand that the new program assigns punitively high points values to foods deemed 'unhealthy' to offset the unlimited 'free' foods.3 -
kshama2001 wrote: »Pretty much everyone in my department at my work is trying to lose weight. We have 3 on WW, 1 doing keto, and then there's me just counting calories and trying to walk more (to start out). The WW group constantly asks what I'm doing to lose weight as soon as I say counting calories they look horrified and tell me that's way too hard. Ummm on WW you count points so... They constantly ask how many points are in something I'm eating, and I will just tell them the calorie amount. Always, makes me laugh that they think what I do is so hard. I mean MFP does the calculations for me I just follow it.
Ya, WW was good back in the 90s but now that there are free apps like MFP, I don't see the point in paying for WW.
I don't believe I spent significantly less time with WW than I do with MFP.
I don't understand how the points work. To me it's easier to use this to just track my calories and nutrition.
1 point used to equal roughly 50 calories, although now I understand that the new program assigns punitively high points values to foods deemed 'unhealthy' to offset the unlimited 'free' foods.
Thanks! I was really confused as to how it all worked.
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My personal pet peeve lately.
Asker: "I've been working out, and I eat healthy, and I do low carb, and I'm not losing weight. It's so hard! It must just be my metabolism. Or maybe it's the pump or the insulin making it impossible." (9/10 times, this is happening in one of the non-MFP diabetes groups I belong to.)
Me: "Are you weighing and tracking your food? That might be a good place to start."
Asker: "No. I shouldn't have to. I'm eating healthy."8 -
my friends are convinced keto is the only way to lose weight and to cure all autoimmune disorders.
i tried explaining but they don't listen so i just smile and eat a sandwich8 -
Going from one bar to the next with a group of neighbors, I decided to log my calories from the bar in MFP since I had a few minutes to kill. The next thing I know, someone is saying "are you logging your drinks?!? Seriously?" I said yeah, thanks for fitness shaming me for it! The same group also think I'm a lunatic for going to the gym at 5am and running during my lunch hour when working from home - none of this has made any difference to me or changed my behavior at all 🤷♀️16
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I just remembered something!
I remember having the TV on in the background very early one morning and one of those entertainment news type shows was on and they were talking to celebrities about how they manage their weight. Kate Hudson said she used MFP.
We could all just say we're using some Hollywood diet tip we picked up!
ETA: I remember Kate saying she maintains on 1800 calories and logs and knows as long as she sticks to that, she's good.19 -
I generally try my hardest not to even mention it to people, but if I'm asked, I won't lie. But when I talk about how I'm just trying to watch the amount of calories I take in, people get a glazed look. It's funny. People keep offering me food and I just say "I've got to fit into this dress for x event," and generally they will leave me alone once they think it's just for vanity. If it's for my health, everyone gets uber concerned and want to make sure I'm not going to extremes.6
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Counting calories hits people where it hurts. There is no free lunch so to speak. People want a diet that allows no limitations on something and are willing to cut out a lot of things for autobahn eating. As long as you can eat as much as you want of something, then it’s doable. I think that is why dieting tends to be so frustrating. Portion sizes don’t change as much as the types of foods on the plate and to lose/keep weight off, portions and calories matter. If you never make that adjustment, you don’t learn moderation. And in the end, lack of moderation is what we need to fix.10
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I often forget how far I've come in the 3 years maintaining weight since I lost 80lb.
At home and at work people have slowly got used to me not eating every single thing I'm offered due to sometimes not having enough calories left in my daily/weekly limit.
I sometimes forget how so many people freak out when you mention the word "calories" as if they think you mean starvation and debilitating OCD and spending 5 hours a day scribbling figures in a bookkeeping ledger.
Have you encountered that reaction too?
Yep.
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I have had this conversation exactly fifty billion times:
me: I lost 100 pounds.
them: Wow, really? But you're so small!
me: Yes, I was very obese for my height.
them: That's amazing! How did you do it?
me: I tracked all of my food and stayed within my calorie goal.
them: You didn't go low carb?
me: No. You don't have to worry about carbs. Weight loss is about making sure you eat fewer calories than you burn.
them: But you're a runner. That had something to do with it.
me: Not really. Running just means I get to eat back my exercise calories.
them: It's because you're vegetarian.
me: I was an obese vegetarian for about ten years. That didn't have anything to do with it.
them: But you bake cookies all the time! And you have chocolate in your office!
me: Yes, I fit sweets into my plan for the day, and I give away most of the things I bake.
them: ...so how many carbs do you eat?24 -
"Calorie counting is super unhealthy, you have to lose weight by doing 'X'" - with X being some new fad diet that is actually unhealthy.
Somebody in real life told me "you have to shock your body" to lose weight. I said "well I tried dressing like a clown and jumping out at the mirror, but it didn't work." That was the end of that conversation.38 -
Nope. Of course, I don't bring it up until I'm asked (e.g., "Wow, you look great! Do you mind my asking how you lost the weight?"), and even then I would keep the response short and general (e.g., "I just kept track of my calories to be sure I wasn't eating too much and started walking a little more"), not talking about weighing food and logging and using MFP unless they ask for more details.
I never once have had anybody freak out.2 -
NorthCascades wrote: »"Calorie counting is super unhealthy, you have to lose weight by doing 'X'" - with X being some new fad diet that is actually unhealthy.
Somebody in real life told me "you have to shock your body" to lose weight. I said "well I tried dressing like a clown and jumping out at the mirror, but it didn't work." That was the end of that conversation.
It's comments like this that really make me miss the awesome button! I feel like "like" isn't strong enough and "hug" is creepy.14 -
GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »I just remembered something!
I remember having the TV on in the background very early one morning and one of those entertainment news type shows was on and they were talking to celebrities about how they manage their weight. Kate Hudson said she used MFP.
We could all just say we're using some Hollywood diet tip we picked up!
ETA: I remember Kate saying she maintains on 1800 calories and logs and knows as long as she sticks to that, she's good.
Yes! Now the WW group at my office won't look at me like I'm crazy for saying I just watch my calories, and try to walk more.4 -
Calories are apparently the devil, but people have no issue saying, "OMG, do you know how much fat (or carbs or sugar or sodium or whatever else they think is the key to success) is in what you're eating!?!?"3
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