I am trying to find a diet that will work for me so I thought I would for some help. I am trying to decide on a diet and I do not know if it is easier to count calories or restrict food groups. Which is easier and takes less time -- keeping track of every calorie or cutting out sugar, white foods, and processed stuff?
Does anyone have any experience with this?
I cut out white flour foods, white rice, pasta, sweets, junkie snack foods, fried foods, fast foods, beef, pork (which I never ate before except bacon but now not even bacon) potatoes, and I also count calories. It is what works for ME. It takes a little time. I go in each morning and log what foods I will be having for a day into sparkpeople.com and then I am done. I follow my plan as close to 100% as possible (which is 99.99% of the time) and so far so good. Again, this is what works for ME.
I actually do a combination. I try to eat foods with powerful nutritional properties and avoid foods with little nutritional benefit - at the same time, I measure portions and count calories.
It works for me - working on 5 years of maintenance.
I actually do a combination. I try to eat foods with powerful nutritional properties and avoid foods with little nutritional benefit - at the same time, I measure portions and count calories.
It works for me - working on 5 years of maintenance.
I too do a combination of both. I greatly reduced/eliminated certain food groups (the pasta, flour, rice, sugar, etc - cold turkey in fact for a while there) AND count calories. Eating healthy foods alone without the calorie counting never worked for me. I need a calorie budged to stick to. Something to set my limits and put the brakes on overeating. Calorie counting is built in portion control and accountability. It's quite simple to overeat healthy foods too, so I will continue to monitor my calories. I've been doing it for over three years now, more then 2 of those years at goal. So yes, it works beautifully for me as well.
Last edited by rockinrobin; 09-20-2009 at 05:47 PM.
Lots of success on many different plans here.I have used a combonation of SBD and calorie counting.I have had a lot of success with WW in the past also.....so many choices!Good luck
I count calories. That kind of leads to cutting some groups, because they're so high-calorie I don't get many of them for my budget. I don't ever tell myself I've eliminated anything, because that's the best way to make me want it. OTOH, I do frequently make choices about do I really want to put that much fat/processed gunk into my body? With calorie counting, an occasional yes is not off-plan.
I'm a calorie counter. It works best for me because it doesn't restrict any foods like some "fad" diets do, and if I want a treat I can be sure to work it in. I make sure I eat lots of fruits and veggies and keep starchy foods to a minimum. I have whole wheat english muffins for breakfast a few times a week, and sometimes I'll have some whole wheat pasta for dinner. Other than that it's veggies and lean protein with the occasional dark chocolate or red wine thrown in.
I don't do either. I use an exchange plan--and I've found that I get the biggest bang for my buck when I decide to have a slice of rye bread rather than even a regular whole wheat slice (which is full of all sorts of strange stuff.)
It's entirely personal.
I judged that counting calories would be too much trouble for me--so instead my Exchange plan has already broken down the calories I wanted to eat (1600) into food groups. I like the structure. I was afraid that if I went with calories only I'd wind up eating two pieces of chocolate cake a day--and then be really hungry.
Well, not really, but you get the picture. My Exchange program puts the breaks on that sort of thing and forces me to choose real, whole food, too.
I follow the DASH program without the nuts and count calories. There are a lot of good recipes on Dr. Mirkin's site. I lose faster if I don't eat too many carbs beause being 300lbs I'm insulin resistant. I don't limit them like Atkins however.
I personally count calories, because I find that restricting whole food groups messes with my brain - I start to feel deprived, which will often lead to a binge, and I often over eat the things that I can eat because they are "allowed".
Your brain might be different though! Losing weight is all about developing new eating habits that work for you. My way may not be the right one for you.
I would, however, suggest counting calories for a week or two just to educate yourself about what you're eating. Eat nutritious, whole foods as much as possible, follow any rules that you know work for yourself, and write it all down and count the calories up. If you are very overweight, like most of us here, you should lose weight easily at about 2000calories per day. After a couple of weeks, you should be getting some idea of what works for you, and you can start tweaking and refining what your "plan" will be.
I
. If you are very overweight, like most of us here, you should lose weight easily at about 2000calories per day. .
It's very hard to tell exactly what number will provide CONTINUOUS steady weight loss for any individual. Even all those on line calculators are pure guesstimates and they usually estimate on the high side. We are all different and we all need to find the right number for ourselves through experimenting and monitoring. I'm not really sure how many would lose weight easily on 2000 calories per day. Those that can - well that's fantastic! But for me and many, they would be gaining on that number. It's all trial and error. What works for one, won't necessarily work for another.
I usually count calories, but I haven't for about a month(limited internet access) and I am starting to get the hang of intuitive eating but I would like to go back to calorie counting when I get back to the states.
I started off by recording what I was eating on fitday, along with how many calories it all contained. At the start I intended to continue with that approach, but after a couple of weeks it became so much hassle to enter everything, so I stopped doing that, but continued becoming aware of just how much I was eating (e.g. by measuring out how much rice I was cooking).
Now I tend to eyeball - which may continue to work, or it may not. My portions have become much smaller, I've become much more aware of what I'm putting into my body. I haven't cut anything out, although I eat much less meat now, and way less sweet stuff like chocolate. Having said that, if I want a bit of chocolate, I'll let myself have one or two pieces - but no more - each day (last Wednesday I bought a Toblerone for my father and myself whilst taking him to the airport. He didn't want any, so I kept it for myself - and almost a week later half of it is still sitting in my cupboard).
One of the things I'm still learning is to stop eating at the right time, and not be tricked by the old guilt trips into having a second portion in order to "avoid waste".
For me, the best combination that results in weight loss is calorie counting, eating only whole foods with limited fruits and grains and tons of walking.
In my younger years, I could just limit my calories and still lose weight. As I've aged (45) and after my hysterectomy, my hormone balance has changed. Now, I'm much more sensitive to refined foods and sugars. For some people, all calories are created equal. For many of us, the type of calorie matters quite a bit.
What do you do?
