Weight loss-calorie counting only?

I am down 52lbs just calorie counting, didn't watch my macros at all, and just walked for exercise (30min a day, maybe 1hr on the weekends if I was up for it).

I lost 20 lbs and have kept it off for two years just calorie counting. I mostly walked for exercise, randomly added strength training but just recently committed, because vanity . I did eventually start trying to get more protein and fiber, because I realized through logging that they helped me feel full.

45 lbs lost in 4 months. Got my calorie target from MFP after telling it I wanted to lose 2 lbs per week. I eat to the calorie target every day, do my 1/2 hour of cardio, and voila, the weight is falling off. I pretty much eat whatever I want, but with "healthy meals" in mind and with the portion sizes carefully adjusted on a food scale to make them fit into the caloric quota. The caloric quota is my dieting North Star and is sacrosanct. I have been known to shave 1/10th off a 40 calorie piece of chocolate in order not to exceed my calorie quota for the day.

I pay no attention to macros, other than that over time I've adjusted MFP's goal macros to 35/35/30 so I wouldn't have to stare at red numbers every night. It seems like my natural food preferences lead me to that 35/35/30 on most days. It's probably a little heavy on the fat, but so what. I'm losing weight. Maybe someday I'll address it, but not until I'm fitting back into my college jeans and am free to worry about piddly stuff.

I think people who try to "boil the ocean" by simultaneously worrying about calories, carbs, protein, fat, keto, etc., are setting themselves up for eventual diet fatigue and perhaps non compliance and then failure. Just nailing down the basics -- eat less, exercise more - is plenty to work with and plenty challenging after the first month or two, and anything beyond that is introducing additional variables into the equation that just make things more complex, difficult to comply with, and tiresome. Plus, there is not, has never been, and will never be a shred of evidence that anything other than counting calories makes a difference for burning fat. Sure, eating low carb may give you a temporary water drain, but why would that matter?

mw43230 wrote: »

If your vet told you that your pet was overweight you'd lower the calories, cut out the treats (junk) and walk him a bit more because you know that will work. No Keto, no Whole 30, no WW, no Atkins. Marinate on that for a while. Quality food. Limited calories. Focus more on movement.

I never looked at it this way, but I find this both insightful and amusing. I do have an old obese cat and it was time to address that. So we started feeding her less and trying to engage her in some activity, and presto, thinner cat. It's so intuitively obvious and sensible that this would apply equally to humans that it's hard to see why people don't get it.