Is everybody just "counting calories"?

Just counting calories. I have to exercise to lose weight, when I just made my net I seemed to only maintain. I eat back my exercise calories as well. If I didn't, I wouldn't lose as well.

My 2 cents. Don't count weight... use a tape measure instead. You also need more time - it takes a month to establish a new a habit.

Not all calories are equal. My diet is paleo-inspired and lowish-carb. I use the calorie calculator here to get a rough esitmate, but I don't like the nutritent goals - adjust the protein and fat to be 35%, carbs 30%.

Counting calories for the most part, but I try to focus more on what i NEED to eat vs what i shouldnt eat. So making sure i get plenty of good protein, veggies and lots and lots of water. Also-theres no substitute for exercise. Also- the time-tested truth is that inches disappear faster than the number on the scale, so try to focus on how your clothes feel, and how your body feels eating healthier foods!

good luck!

I count calories and exercise every day. I don't deprive myself from eating unhealthy foods that I enjoy; I just eat them less often and in smaller portions. If I know I will be eating a meal high in calorie,s then I will spend more time at the gym or eat less throughout the day. I also give myself a cheat day once every two weeks. If you continue to eat well and exercise the weight will come off but it will take time. I abused my body for years so it's going to take time to get the body I want.

I use the site to count calories and track my exercise. I don't lose much without the exercise though. I had to start kinda slow (low impact) since I was too heavy at first for my knees to take a pounding doing running or anything.
I've tried to stick to protein and keep carbs down but I still eat things like oatmeal and all.

When I stick to my calories and exercise I lose.
When I stick to my calories I maintain.
When I don't log I gain.

Also expect plateaus. Eating more for a day or two (nothing crazy) and then going back to normal can sometimes help you through it by jump starting your metabolism again. Also changing up your exercise routine can help too.

Good luck!

I count calories and exercise. i have been making better choices with food, trying to stay away from fast food and high fat foods. I also drink 8-12 glasses of water a day. I cut out soda, for the most part. I also don't allow myself to have anything else to drink other than water (and my morning coffee) until I have drank at least the full 64oz of water. My biggest problem before MFP is that I wasn't paying attention to what I was drinking and I was getting a lot of empty calories from it.

II'm wondering if 1240 calories is too little for me? my weigh is 238, lost 5 pounds in a week, and then nothing. I just started excercising 2 days ago, and still nothing. I was blaming the diet (because I wasn't following it like I should) but I was counting everything that I ate!!! I know there is something I'm doing wrong, I just can't figure out what is it?

I'd say so. When I was in the 200s I lost about 2 pounds a week by cutting my daily calories to 1800-2000. You burn a lot more calories when you're that heavy. 1240 probably puts you at an unreasonably large deficit, and that can be unsustainable if you have a lot of weight to lose.

When you say you "weren't following the diet the way you should" what does that mean exactly? How much were you eating?

When I 1st started, I weighed 185lbs. I only counted cals. I ate between 1200-1350 & the lbs just fell off. I would exercise, but no so consistently. When I got in the 140s, things started getting more complicated. I workout much more often, 6 days a week & I try to watch my fat & sodium in take. I try to stay in the carbs mfp allows me. I dont limit them, cuz that's where u get ur energy. & I try 2 eat cleaner. Although sometimes I do slip up when I'm havin a craving.
I think everyone is probably different w/ how they lose weight tho.

I count my calories almost obsessively, but only to make sure that I don't go over.

I also work out five times per week for 65 minutes per day, burning, on average, 300 calories. So far, it's working; I've lost a bit of weight and quite a few inches.

I also track what foods I eat -- no sweets, no junk, no sodas, no taking in more than one serving size, no fast food. I drink nothing but water and calorie-free, sugar-free flavored waters (sometimes carbonated).

1200 cals a day / 20 - 25 carbs a day / lots of protein. This is what I'm doing and alot of my friends and have made great progress! Good Luck!

I wasn't following the diet, it is a 1300 calorie diet, and I wasn't following the meals, but still was making good food choices, no fast food at all, sodas, candy or any sweets! Im gonna push my excercise routine and Im sure that would help, also I ordered a new scale because mine was acting up so I'm hoping the numbers are better on the new one, my old scale (wich is not even old, I bought it about 3 months ago) gives me different readings everything I step on it.

It's great that you were making better food choices, but weight loss is about calories. You could have been making healthy choices and still eating at maintenance or a surplus. Healthy is not the same as eating at a deficit, and you need a deficit to lose weight.

Back to your calories . . . If you are finding it difficult to eat at that 1300 calorie level now, imagine how difficult it will be in a year from now. Find a level you know you can stick with so that you don't get derailed. That's just my advice, coming from a similar start weight (my highest weight was 240). I could not have lost all the weight eating at 1300 calories a day plus exercise. I wouldn't have been able to keep it up. It was difficult enough to limit myself to ~1800. But of course everyone is different and what might work for me would not work for you. I think first time dieters make the mistake of severely underestimating the amount of calories they can eat and lose weight while at the same time underestimating how many calories they actually ARE eating, if that makes sense . . .

II'm wondering if 1240 calories is too little for me? my weigh is 238, lost 5 pounds in a week, and then nothing. I just started excercising 2 days ago, and still nothing. I was blaming the diet (because I wasn't following it like I should) but I was counting everything that I ate!!! I know there is something I'm doing wrong, I just can't figure out what is it?

The more you weigh, the more of a deficit your body will allow (or so they say...whoever 'they' are). As you get closer to your goal weight, your body won't allow you to have a major deficit, which is why you start slowing way down on your weight loss those last 20 pounds. Also, keep in mind that TOM (time of month) also makes you gain (or not lose) weight...mine usually hits about 5 days prior to TOM gets here and goes away the day before. Are you exercising? If you are, are you eating your calories back? I know there is big arguments over this, but I know my body didn't like it if I dropped below 1000 net calories and I would actually gain weight until I got back to around 1300 (I started at 220 pounds, now at 158). Also, if you just started exercising, you may gain up to 3 pounds of water retention just due to your muscles swelling up. Don't let this slow you down...it will go away. Evrey time I start weight training, I shoot up about 2 pounds, but it goes away once my muscles quit being sore. Your body is an amazing piece of work and it adapts to take care of itself...this includes doing things that cause the scale to fluctuate both directions. Don't panic over one week...don't even panic over two...weigh yourself and look at your diary. If you are doing what you are supposed to, just keep the faith that it will start to move. Also, esp if you are doing weight training/toning, take your measurements! I once gained 3 pounds in one month, but I lost about 10 inches and dropped to my next jean size! Take pictures too...it's nice to be able to see your progress and, if you start creeping back up the scale, you look at those pictures and tell yourself that you aren't going back!

I count calories, exercise an hour a day when I do (either swimming (twice a week) or treadmill the other 4-5 days a week (don't look at today for an example, I'm not able to exercise today and will be over my calories)

I make sure I don't have that much sugar or salt, I watch my fiber so I know when I need more. I watch my fat intake and try to hit my protein and carb macro.

Me: Count calories and exercise. There's no way I can only eat 1200 calories. I'm just too hungry. So I add in exercise. I'm also a runner and that uses a lot of calories/energy so it's simply impossible for me to simply count calories and have very of them at most.