Using fitness pal for a lifestyle change?

I have to accept this fact of life. Because of my body's true needs, I can eat anything I want. But I can't eat "as much as I want" whenever I want it. It has to be in balance, because the more nutritious choices are higher quality fuel that provide me with more energy . So I tell myself!!! We can only take it one day at a time. Rather overused phrase, but true.

In fully understanding what impact different foods will have on my over all energy intake, I have found myself confident to eat just about anything just some things now get eaten in small quantities or very rarely (for example, I limit the cheese on my pasta to one serve instead of half the block, mmm cheese, for another example, if I get to the end of dinner and half a spare 150 calories and a bit of a craving, I may treat myself to some dark chocolate where as in the past, I would have avoided it). You're welcome to gawk at my diary to see one way of approaching weight loss (I ended up deciding I was happy to lose slooooow and willing to exercise lots to eat more)

I also am picking up on the notion of more vegetables with everything and cooking at home yields much better meals.

If you really don't want to focus on calories but want to focus more on your macros and fiber (as well as exercise), maybe you could just remove calories from your counter?

well i haven't been doing this very long, my new lifestyle healthy-choices change only began august 1. so just wanted to say that my advice is working so far, and hopefully will continue, but i am by no means an expert.

i find MFP to be a wonderful tool and i have already learned alot about calories, etc. that i never knew before (plus i never cared before!) my husband and i will now guess the calories in a food (usually something naughty like a cupcake or pie, etc.) and we can usually get with a few calories of being correct. beforehand, i would have had no idea. we also added up one day the amount of calories i had in one day before starting this plan. a "typical" day was about 3,000 calories. and that was NOT 3,00 calories of fruits veggies & whole grains! that was take-out, drive-thru CRAP! just KNOWING what i was putting in my body and actually seeing in black&white the numbers has really gone a long way to help my overall lifestyle.

i've had two days since august 1 where i have eaten anything i want for a meal. (chili dog, cheeseburger, onion rings, etc.) those have been the only two days i've had a Coke to drink. (i used to drink 2-3 per day!!!) the 2nd time i had my "cheat" day, i actually didn't enjoy it too much. the first couple of bites were heavenly, but honestly, i could have been fine with those two bites and stopped there. it's like my body is starting to reject all that food that i once craved. i have passed-up cake on numerous occastions, it doesn't really even appeal to me anymore. for me, having my body do without all that has helped me to crave more healthy things. i think if i still allowed "one small piece of pie here" or "one small cupcake there" i would still be hanging on to those old ways. there is nothing wrong with that for some people, but for me, i kind of have this attitude of "all or nothing" and so far, it's working well for me.

to not get obsessed, i take one day off per week from MFP & the gym. that doesn't mean i can eat everything in sight! i just don't log-in and i dont' go to the gym and i just relax and not count calories for that one day. i still eat healthy and i still have it in my mind to make the right choices, but i just need a day to not have to log-in and worry about every little thing. and again, i plan "cheat/treat" days where i can eat one meal of anything i like. i plan one per month. my next one is set for October and my cousin is having her wedding shower, so i plan to have my treat day on that day so i can have cake and all the yummy food my aunts are making. until then, i stick to my healthy eating plan!

good luck to you!