success not counting calories?

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healthycurves2012
healthycurves2012 Posts: 51
in Food and Nutrition
So I've been on the weight loss train for a looooooong time now...probably about 10 years total (my entire adult life)...and I have done every single thing there is out there to lose weight. I've done fad diets, starvation/VLC diets, shakes, pills...EVERYTHING. Right now, I'm counting calories and logging my exercise. I have been doing it since before I started on MFP. This is doing nothing for me. I haven't lost any weight or inches since I've been tracking, and I feel like it's not benefiting me at all. I've learned so much along the way that I feel like I would do better just watching my portions and eating more fruits and veggies. I don't overeat normally anyway, at least I don't anymore, and I want this to be something I can maintain for the rest of my life. I just don't think I can maintain counting calories forever. I feel like people lose weight in different ways, and that not everyone really needs to count calories to do so.

Any thoughts on this? Is anyone else doing this and if so, how is it working for you?

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  • melsinct
    melsinct Posts: 3,512 Member
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    To be honest, if MFP and counting calories isn't working for someone, they probably aren't on the message boards here anymore. As long as you are accurately counting calories, theoretically you should be losing weight if you are eating in a calorie deficit. There really aren't too many people out there who do not lose any weight when accurately calorie counting, barring medical issues.

    With that said, I am a big fan of people doing whatever works for them as long as it isn't detrimental to their health. If MFP isn't for you and you think it is better to go it on your own, then just go and do what works for you.
  • healthycurves2012
    healthycurves2012 Posts: 51
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    I'm definitely accurate with my counting. I have a food scale and measuring tools that get used every single time I eat a meal. My metabolism is naturally slower due to some health issues, which is part of the problem. It's hard to tell exactly how many calories your body is burning if you can't even figure out what your actual BMR is. I've tried eating more, eating less, and eating exact, and nothing has worked. I did lose a little on Weight Watchers but I was always starving. I'm just frustrated and not really sure what the next step is.
  • snowstorme
    snowstorme Posts: 125 Member
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    If you have the money I recommend getting a BodyMedia device. You wear it 23/7 (I usually do closer to 24/7:) it tracks how many calories you are expending at any given moment. It will help you know truly how much you burn. Also I've found weight lifting is great for my metabolism. I notice a definite decrease in base calorie burned when I went for about 2 weeks with out weight lifting. The day after I started lifting again, my calorie burn in general went up again.

    I do keep tract of my calories to maintain my weight. For me I couldn't loose the weight until I went low carb. On maintenance I've continued to be moderate carb, but very little sugar and that is helping me. The times I splurged on sugary stuff my weight, even though my calories for the day was ok, would go up.

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