Does Calorie Counting work for everybody?

The reality is that unless your calories eaten are less than your calories burned, you will not lose weight. If a person cuts carbs, and loses weight, it would be for that reason, not because they cut carbs. So while they may not be intentionally counting calories, they are cutting calories to create a calorie deficit. There is no evidence that a person can cut carbs and still eat at a surplus of calories and not lose weight.

I know people who don't count calorie but they are fit and within the acceptable BMI. They don't even have the principle of carb, protein, fats portioning

Now for overweight and obese it's different, i think it's vital for them to calorie count since we're considering changing of habit and eating awareness. As for myself, i just realize how huge I go overboard in my calorie and carb, so it goes.

Calorie Counting doesn't work for those who don't know how to count, those who are too lazy to count, or those who are in denial and refuse to count every single calorie they eat :bigsmile:

Yep. Cutting calories cuts weight. Eating cleaner cuts out more. The first part is the part that matters most, the second part is better health. Not eating enough will slow all this down. Wishfull thinking and faking it to yourself will also slow this down. Cheat days and not logging will help fake yourself out on your efforts. Looking for the easy way out and the fast way through: This will also be slower.

It works for a lot of People. Tons of people don't realize how much they are eating until they start counting. For those people It can be very educational and benefitial. For me on the otherhand I never counted calories and lost 58 lbs and been keeping it off . I got mfp months back and never really used it until recently. I've been using mostly to track protein grams and carbs because I started doing some bodybuilding. So my answer is for some people this can be a life changing program, for some it may just be a handy tracker.

Calorie counting works for me. It is very time consuming but it helps.

Calorie counting has never worked for me. The only thing that ever worked long-term was a low carb diet (with lots of fresh veggies, the occasional fruit, and mostly lean meats and dairy, almost no grains). I struggled for most of my childhood and into my late 20's with my weight. I followed Weight Watchers religiously for months on end with literally no results. I tried Jenny Craig, I worked out while dieting, I tried portion control, I wrote down everything that went into my mouth with no results. I started Atkins Diet, and lost 16 pounds in 2 weeks. During my Atkins journey, I tracked everything, including my body fat percentage and muscle mass (to track any muscle loss). I consistently ate more CALORIES on my low carb diet than I ate on my low calorie diet, and did not exercise any more, yet the weight continued to come off. After losing 75 pounds in about 9 months, my muscle loss was less than 5 pounds -- the rest of the 75 pounds lost was all fat. My blood pressure and cholesterol were pretty much perfect. I kept it off pretty easily using low carb maintenance (which is really moderate carb) for about 8 years, until my doctor wouldn't let me continue to follow the diet through my pregnancies.

After 2 babies in 3 years, and a few other unrelated health bumps in the road that did permanent damage to my thyroid and adrenals, cutting calories still doesn't work at all, but unfortunately low carb isn't getting me far either. (I've since been diagnosed with a metabolic disorder whereby my cells don't correctly process carbohydrates, and don't efficiently process certain fats and proteins either.) I'm doing everything I can -- cutting calories AND carbs, and exercising, taking my thyroid and adrenal meds religiously, taking pharma-grade vitamins under the direct supervision of a medical doctor and certified nutritionist -- but not seeing much progress. (By the way, the MD / certified nutritionist is RECOMMENDING the low carb diet for me). I'm still hopeful that with continued work and perseverance, my metabolism will start to heal enough that I can get back to my healthy weight.

The bottom line is that cutting calories does NOT work for everyone. If it were that easy, most fat people would be thin. I can tell you from experience that many, MANY overweight people - probably most - are not lacking willpower, are not lazy, and are not ignorant regarding how to track their calories. (Yes, you can all point out exceptions walking through any mall and looking at the fat chick obliviously stuffing her face with ice cream.....of course, you don't mention the thin dude at the other table doing the same thing. They're both eating equally poorly at that moment, aren't they?) Yet, despite their best efforts, they remain overweight. Cher used to say, "If it came in a pill, everyone would have a body like this." Along the same lines, if it was as simple as just cutting calories, we would have far fewer overweight people in this country. What I would really love to see here is support and tolerance for anyone who is trying to become more healthy by tracking what they eat and making an effort to eat healthy, rather than the assumption that those who do not succeed must be cheating (I'm new here, but wow I've seen a lot of that already on some of the threads).

Kudos to all of you for making the effort, and Godspeed to you on your road to better health.

I have finally learned that calorie counting does not work for me. Nor does carb counting, etc. If I think in terms of "these are the groups/types of foods I can enjoy freely and those are the foods I need to go light on" I do well. If I have to convert my food to numbers and math problems, all I can think about is what math problem I can eat next, and then just like in college, the math gives me stress munchies. I need for my food to be FOOD, not an abstraction. What is more basic and concrete about being alive than food?

Figure out what works for YOU! Good luck with your fitness journey!