Counting Calories - I hate hate HATE it!

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  • momtokgo
    momtokgo Posts: 446 Member
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    I actually really like it. It's kind of fun lol. Like a game sort of. I don't know maybe it's just me.

    Nope, not just you. It doesn't bother me at all, and I like the challenge of figuring out how to make everything balance each morning.
  • EllaScarlet
    EllaScarlet Posts: 165 Member
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    I think you hit the nail on the head there... I think I want the nice body, without needing to watch what I eat. That seems to be my last stronghold. And so far, I've been ok, but if I want that last bit of success, i need to change my mindset... either that, or be happy with what I have and who I am now. :)

    Thank you!

    This is exactly how I feel too! Bit of a dilemma, really....
  • linz1125
    linz1125 Posts: 441 Member
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    I hated it too...so I don't do it anymore! I have started clean eating, which is eliminating processed foods and sugar from your diet. Basically eat things in the most natural form possible. I have never felt healthier! I am down 3lbs so far, and I am on week 4. The first two weeks I was still getting used to the concept of clean eating, so I didnt lose anything....but now it's kinda melting off of me! The best part is, I don't feel restricted in what I eat. Mealtimes are much more fun!
  • jodycoady
    jodycoady Posts: 598 Member
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    mfp does it, that's why I love this site! Don't give up :)
  • christenwypy
    christenwypy Posts: 335 Member
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    When I see myself losing weight which I have not been able to do until I counted calories, then I know it is worth it.
  • Tink_889
    Tink_889 Posts: 244 Member
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    My worry is that I almost become obsessed with counting calories, rather than hating it. It becomes something I have to do which isn't always great.
  • HealthyNFit4Life
    HealthyNFit4Life Posts: 185 Member
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    My worry is that I almost become obsessed with counting calories, rather than hating it. It becomes something I have to do which isn't always great.

    I agree. I've always been an emotional/binge eater and sometimes I think that counting calories fuels my obsession with food. My ultimate goal is to eat healthy, eat good portions, eat what my body craves, and stop when I'm satisfied. In other words, eat mindfully and intuitively. I will have to overcome my binge eating to be able to do this.
  • IamJacksColdSweat
    IamJacksColdSweat Posts: 106 Member
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    I've been obsessed with counting calories since I was 11- I'm nearly 27 now. After 16 years of counting, being obsessed, not being able to stop thinking about it and going through periods of eating disorders (bulimia and binge eating), I have stopped counting.

    Just decided a couple days ago to focus more on eating clean, healthy foods and getting at least 60 minutes of exercise per day. For the first day, I still wrote everything down, minus the calorie counts, but I found since I know the calories of literally every food I eat, that even having them written them down, I was adding it up. Starting yesterday, I stopped tracking and I ate healthy. Same thing with today. Its difficult, and sometimes I still add certain things up- its a wicked hard habit to break- but I'm getting better at it and less obsessed. I also find that I only eat when I'm actually hungry and I'm listening to my body more than when I was logging every single meal.

    Just sharing my experience and I'm not saying it will work for everyone, but eating mostly clean is helping me stay at a deficit without obsessing quite as much.
  • tigerblue
    tigerblue Posts: 1,525 Member
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    It's actually a real postive for me. Instead of looking at it as restrictive, I see it as freeing. If I have enough calories left, I can have a treat without guilt. (Or if I have a treat early in the day, it is simply a challenge to stay within my "budget"). If I wasn't counting, I'd probably have given up by now, because I would always feel deprived. I guess it's all in how you look at it.

    By the way, I've been at this for over two and a half years, and I plan to count forever, to maintain my healthy weight!
  • Pinoy_Pal
    Pinoy_Pal Posts: 281 Member
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    I like to incorporate a "I just don't give a f'k" attitude once in a while...as long as most of my meals are healthy, I don't really sweat it!
  • Umeboshi
    Umeboshi Posts: 1,637 Member
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    I've never really hated it, then again I don't obsess over my macros.
    If you really hate it though, maybe you should work on loving your body the way you are, and spare your emotional wellbeing by quitting calorie counting. :) It all depends whether the physical health benefits or emotional health benefits are more important to you, or bigger in one situation.
  • sengseng74
    sengseng74 Posts: 35 Member
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    For me, I was able to stop counting calories after a few months of getting used to the foods I was eating. To make things even easier, I narrowed down my diet to things I loved to eat, and would do quick math in my head to make sure I didn't accidentally double my calories for a particular meal.

    I think calorie counting is designed to be a tool, and once you begin learning portion control and which foods go well with each other (combinations of protein, carbs, and fats), you no longer worry about it.

    This is especially true if you exercise, because you'll have a significant deficit of calories each day that you can choose to "eat back", even if by accident.

    So my advice is advice I used on myself with great success: "Go easy on yourself!" Your caloric burn varies day by day anyway, so who cares if you are short 100 or over 100. If you get freaked over what you're eating, your mind will begin resisting, instead of enjoying.

    For what it's worth... :-)
    Steve
  • grinch031
    grinch031 Posts: 1,679
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    I hate it too. Its easy to do when all you eat are packaged, processed foods that are less good for you. If you eat more whole foods and raw ingredients in your cooking, it becomes very tedious to measure everything and track. I don't know if people generally use a mobile app for MFP inputs, but I don't have a smart phone so I use a laptop that isn't always on hand, especially when I'm eating outside the home. For all of these reasons I don't even bother doing it because in the past I've tried and it never lasts too long. I only use MFP for the forums.
  • ElizaGeorge
    ElizaGeorge Posts: 140 Member
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    Honestly, I love all of this. The weight loss, the exercise, looking up and logging all of my food. For the first time in my life I am doing great things for myself. I think it's super important to log everything I do so that I am more knowledgeable next time. If I never log the food and look at the nutritional content, I won't know to tweak the recipe next time/ not order what I ordered.

    Take a step back and look at your journey! This is a place to grow your mind and shrink your waistline!
  • Elf_Princess1210
    Elf_Princess1210 Posts: 895 Member
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    I take a break every now and then. It saves me frustration!
  • christenwypy
    christenwypy Posts: 335 Member
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    My worry is that I almost become obsessed with counting calories, rather than hating it. It becomes something I have to do which isn't always great.
    I relate to this. Not even just with counting calories but for me it is more with exercise. Like I HAVE to exercise no matter what even if it is a rest day. I am trying not to get obsessive because obsessive behavior is what got me into this in the first place but it's tough.
  • kfitzpa
    kfitzpa Posts: 326
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    I actually really like it. It's kind of fun lol. Like a game sort of. I don't know maybe it's just me.

    I totally agree with you! It's like a new challenge everyday lol. I only dislike it when I go over.... duh!
  • kfitzpa
    kfitzpa Posts: 326
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    My worry is that I almost become obsessed with counting calories, rather than hating it. It becomes something I have to do which isn't always great.
    I relate to this. Not even just with counting calories but for me it is more with exercise. Like I HAVE to exercise no matter what even if it is a rest day. I am trying not to get obsessive because obsessive behavior is what got me into this in the first place but it's tough.

    I know what you mean :( Someone called me out on having OCD about counting calories. It's like whenever I get something to eat I have to log all the calories real quick before I start eating. Even when I go out to dinner I'm at the table logging in my calories. UGH
  • Melampus
    Melampus Posts: 95 Member
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    I have to say I don't regard it as a chore though obviously it does take a little time to do it. Actually I find it an education because as I enter things into MFP I get to learn which foods are very calorie dense and therefore I should eat sparingly and which ones I can eat more of.

    I think if the effect of counting was that I had to eat tiny meals or skip meals because I had busted my allowance I might feel differently but as an example I have very quickly come to reduce the amount of breakfast cereal I eat and make up the difference in volume with fruit or berries. I was also quite surprised to learn how calorie dense bread is so if I ever have sandwiches I have fewer rounds of bread with more filling in each.

    It is certainly still possible to have treats too and I don't "take a holiday" from counting in order to have the treat. I enter the treat and then, if necessary, make an adjustment elsewhere to accommodate it, for example eating slightly less rice, potatoes or pasta later in the day.

    Whatever you do needs to be sustainable which means you need to include food in your diet that you enjoy eating otherwise you won't be able to keep it up. There is an incredible range of food to choose from though so the trick is to choose things which are nice but also consistent with your calorie allowance and for the things that are very calorie dense limit the amount rather than ban them completely.
  • Melampus
    Melampus Posts: 95 Member
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    I hate it too. Its easy to do when all you eat are packaged, processed foods that are less good for you. If you eat more whole foods and raw ingredients in your cooking, it becomes very tedious to measure everything and track. I don't know if people generally use a mobile app for MFP inputs, but I don't have a smart phone so I use a laptop that isn't always on hand, especially when I'm eating outside the home. For all of these reasons I don't even bother doing it because in the past I've tried and it never lasts too long. I only use MFP for the forums.

    Long before I finally took the plunge and started to diet I had always assumed pre-packed foods would be the easy bit because they had the information printed on the label and that the non-processed foods would be harder but actually sites like this have a big database (derived from the same source, I think) on non-processed foods such a meats, vegetables, fruits etc.

    Granted I do have a smartphone and when I was looking for a site like this data entry via the smartphone was an essential requirement because it is the one thing I always have with me, even if I don't have a pencil and paper and one reason for choosing this site is because of a very good App for Android.

    I do find that 80-90% of the entry is at home though so without a smart phone I guess you could use a pencil and paper and then enter the data later.

    When making a meal where a number of ingredients are cooked together, for example in some kind of sauce, I tend to measure and record the ingredients as they go in, some of which I would have to do anyway, and then just apportion a certain fraction of that to me when I serve it up.

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