Convince me calorie counting is enough

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Tzippy7
Tzippy7 Posts: 344 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi everyone,
I have successfully lost 45 lbs using MFP this year. I have about 10 more to go. But for the summer I am in Haiti and my food situation is pretty bad. There is really nothing I can do about it, I already spent most of the money i brought on buying fruits and veggies to incorporate into my diet, but they are so expensive here and the store is over an hour away, its not really something i can keep doing. Mostly we eat carbs. I am calorie counting and mostly staying under. I hope that is enough! Prior to this summer I was eating mostly veggies and lean protein so im very very worried about all the rice and plantains. I have skipped a few meals, but that is not ok, I need to eat.
Basically I need to know success stories where people only counted calories and still ate unhealthy food. I hope there are some out there!


( I am going for some short runs and doing lots of crunches and pushup things on my own, that is all I am allowed to do for safety reasons)

Replies

  • Tzippy7
    Tzippy7 Posts: 344 Member
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    please helppp me
  • Nailrep
    Nailrep Posts: 966 Member
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    Hi everyone,
    I have successfully lost 45 lbs using MFP this year. I have about 10 more to go. But for the summer I am in Haiti and my food situation is pretty bad. There is really nothing I can do about it, I already spent most of the money i brought on buying fruits and veggies to incorporate into my diet, but they are so expensive here and the store is over an hour away, its not really something i can keep doing. Mostly we eat carbs. I am calorie counting and mostly staying under. I hope that is enough! Prior to this summer I was eating mostly veggies and lean protein so im very very worried about all the rice and plantains. I have skipped a few meals, but that is not ok, I need to eat.
    Basically I need to know success stories where people only counted calories and still ate unhealthy food. I hope there are some out there!


    ( I am going for some short runs and doing lots of crunches and pushup things on my own, that is all I am allowed to do for safety reasons)

    I count calories. I don't cut out any specific type of food - just stay within my caloric range. The last time I lost 30 pounds, that is exactly the way I did it. Never stalled. Lost it in 4-5 months!
  • Glucocorticoid
    Glucocorticoid Posts: 867 Member
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    Track macronutrients too
  • Tzippy7
    Tzippy7 Posts: 344 Member
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    Track macronutrients too

    I dont even want to think about the lack of nutrients I have going one right now. And the only meat or fish available is fried, so protein is pretty much only beans and peanut butter, which is ok I guess.
  • Kimi0371
    Kimi0371 Posts: 19 Member
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    Calorie counting is enough! Not ideal for good health, but you can still lose weight (or at least maintain).

    I do mission trips to 3rd world countries and I know what you mean. I bring a bunch of protien bars and accept that I'm going to eat too many carbs and not enough fresh fruits / veggies. Do the best you can and control your calories and exercise as much as you can. It will be fine.

    I ate so many plantains in Hondouras last fall...yummy! Gotta enjoy the ethnic food too. Everything in moderation. :)
  • Dhemeyer
    Dhemeyer Posts: 157 Member
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    yikes... you are in a tough spot. But let's think about this. Are all the locals overweight? If you are eating mostly as the locals have available, and not all the locals are overweight, then with some wise practices there is no reason to believe that you will gain much (if any) weight while in the area. Keep counting your cals. Don't swing too high over or too low under what you had been consuming while you were losing weight when you had your choice of food options. If you can help it, please don't skip meals. That will only lead to feeling deprived, low on energy, and emotional... therefore increasing the chances that you will overeat at your next meal and blow you calorie "budget". Finally, try to limit your carb intake within the 3 hours before you go to bed. This will help reduce the chances of these carbs processing into sugar and then fat stores.

    Do the best you can... your hands are tied. Good luck in Haiti and best wishes!
  • Acg67
    Acg67 Posts: 12,142 Member
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    What is unhealthy about rice and plantains?
  • UsedToBeHusky
    UsedToBeHusky Posts: 15,229 Member
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    How long do you plan to be there? You will probably be okay for awhile. I would suggest that you just work on maintenance calories while you are there. At least until you can work out a nutritionally balanced diet.


    *special note: I love me some plaintains!!
  • Tzippy7
    Tzippy7 Posts: 344 Member
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    yikes... you are in a tough spot. But let's think about this. Are all the locals overweight? If you are eating mostly as the locals have available, and not all the locals are overweight, then with some wise practices there is no reason to believe that you will gain much (if any) weight while in the area. Keep counting your cals. Don't swing too high over or too low under what you had been consuming while you were losing weight when you had your choice of food options. If you can help it, please don't skip meals. That will only lead to feeling deprived, low on energy, and emotional... therefore increasing the chances that you will overeat at your next meal and blow you calorie "budget". Finally, try to limit your carb intake within the 3 hours before you go to bed. This will help reduce the chances of these carbs processing into sugar and then fat stores.

    Do the best you can... your hands are tied. Good luck in Haiti and best wishes!

    Thanks! Nutrition is actually a huge problem here, lots of women are obese or overweight. (yet somehow the men all look like they have gym memberships).
  • Tzippy7
    Tzippy7 Posts: 344 Member
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    What is unhealthy about rice and plantains?

    The plantains are fried and Im just really not that comfortable with so many carbs, personal preference. I had trouble losing weight until I limited carb consumption.
  • Springer007
    Springer007 Posts: 84 Member
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    Hi everyone,
    I have successfully lost 45 lbs using MFP this year. I have about 10 more to go. But for the summer I am in Haiti and my food situation is pretty bad. There is really nothing I can do about it, I already spent most of the money i brought on buying fruits and veggies to incorporate into my diet, but they are so expensive here and the store is over an hour away, its not really something i can keep doing. Mostly we eat carbs. I am calorie counting and mostly staying under. I hope that is enough! Prior to this summer I was eating mostly veggies and lean protein so im very very worried about all the rice and plantains. I have skipped a few meals, but that is not ok, I need to eat.
    Basically I need to know success stories where people only counted calories and still ate unhealthy food. I hope there are some out there!


    ( I am going for some short runs and doing lots of crunches and pushup things on my own, that is all I am allowed to do for safety reasons)

    I can speak a bit to this. I eat a lot of junk but above all else, I count the calories as close and honest as I can. If I go over my cals, I work it off with a run or elliptical. So far I have had great results. Ive lost about 21 pounds in 7 weeks. Ive eaten things like mcdonalds chicken nuggets, Hershey bars, etc... Its all a matter of trade off. Your junk food tastes good and costs a lot of calories, however you can feel more "full and satisfied" eating veggies and stuff.
    You just have to know that you get less stuff if you choose unhealthy. But You to Answer your question: For me, AT THE END OF THE DAY, IT IS SIMPLY CALORIE COUNTS THAT HAVE MATTERED.

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