Tracking Calories...a diet killer

I wouldn't say it's a "diet killer" but I do understand what you are saying. If you can manage your calorie intake by not counting calories, more power to ya. I like the fact that after logging all this stuff that I'll be able to print it out and show my doctor what I'm eating. I also like being able to go back and on the weeks I've lost more sort of track what I was doing that week. The logging does take time and that can be frustrating when you have a very busy life, like I do, but I think the benefits outweigh the cons. Maybe you don't need it now, but it is something worth trying again if you need to lose quite a bit of weight, which is why I'm using it. Good luck to ya! :flowerforyou:

***By the way, all other members, I'm new so how do you post the little "how many calories lost" picture underneath your posts???

***By the way, all other members, I'm new so how do you post the little "how many calories lost" picture underneath your posts???

Its called a weight loss ticker and it can be found under the Tools tab at the top of this page.

I don't find counting calories to be a 'diet killer'. For one it's a lifestyle change, as some people here have stared. Secondly it is so easy to underestimate a portion size and over eat. Do I plan on counting all the time and measuring food? Probably becasue it keeps me accountable for every thing that goes in my mouth and by measuring my food out it keeps me in the shape that I strive to be in because I'm not over eating or underestimating my portions.

I don't consider what I'm doing to be a diet but a healthy lifestyle that I intend to keep.

I don't find tracking calories difficult using this site, so I certainly wouldn't call it a diet killer and it's easier for me than doing something like WW. I don't intend to count calories everyday for the rest of my life, but I feel like after a year or do of doing it I will know what an average day of calories looks like to me. I'm sure there will be days you go over if not counting, but I do feel tracking this way helps you to learn the calorie content of foods you eat regularly and also what the real portion size is. Before I starting using this site I'd really didn't realise how many calories were in some foods, or realise that I was eating 3 or 4 times the portion size!

I don't agree at all...I agree that it can be frustrating when you're trying to gauge just how many calories are in things (like you're aunt's homemade pie, for instance). But for me, calories are the biggest part of losing weight. And this site helps SO MUCH for everything. But hey, if it doesn't work for you, you could try something like the special K plan, the slim fast plan, or weight watchers. I know a lot of people have success doing that, just be careful when you switch from losing weight to maintaining your weight loss, unless you want to have to stay on those plans forever. Good luck

seems i am frustrated when I am over..
happy as a clam as long as i am under !!
I need to track to keep losing..besides..
then I can have a look at how everyone else is going ...!!

I've tried to wing it with eating and cut down on portion sizes but failed miserably because I didn't know how many calories was in what or I couldn't control myself. Now that I track calories it helps me to focus and keep myself balanced out. I've been doing pretty good with it so far. If I stopped I would probably fall way off the wagon at this point. I'm a very visual person and I have to see things laid out in front of me and dissect it or else I get distracted. MFP helps me to stay organized and on track.

BTW: I eat avocados just about every other day and I'm losing weight just fine!

One thing I always think about before I begin a new diet is whether or not I should track calories to make sure I am eating a certain limit. But by the 2nd or third day, I become so annoyed and can't stand to do it anymore.

Would anyone else agree with me that tracking calories can be a diet killer by frustrating you? Most people have enough to worry about already. The way I go about it is I just know what a decent portion is and I know what is much less than what I use to eat, so I eat that amount. I think calorie counting is a way that people psych themselves out of staying on a diet because its one more hassle weighing and measuring food makes it even worse.

Anyone agree or disagree?

That's where your problem lies - "every time I start a new diet"...... Most people here don't do diets - we live lives.....