Not a "real" diet
 

Well, everytime I try a diet like weight watchers, or just count calories it never works! I feel like I am on a diet and I just want to binge because I limit what I can eat and then go all out.

I figured I would try just eating better. I went to the grocery store and replaced chips with 100 calorie packs. Got fruits and veggies to snack on, etc. Basically I replaced some things I love for "better versions".

If I just eat better and continue exercising, will this be affective? Because I am not very good at counting calories and points, etc....it just doesn't work for me lol.

So that is my question, will it work?

Hi,

I am currently doing calorie counting and doing well, but in the past I have had the same problems. The difference this time is that I am not limiting anything. I have chocolate every day and I just add it to my log and adjust my calories.

It can. No way but time to tell if it will. Lots of people have lost weight without calorie counting, and lots have been unable to make much progress until they calorie counted.

Well, you ultimately only lose weight by burning more calories than you consume, so you still have to make sure you don't eat too much, even though you're eating better. Just stay strong, keep at it and you will find a happy medium. Good luck!!!

For some folks it does work, and for some a more formal "counting" method of some type is needed.

Almost every plan (formal or not) works well for some folks, and not so great for others.

I can "overeat" almost anything, so for me some type of counting is essential, but many, many people do succeed just by cutting back. Only experimentation will tell.

If it turns out that you're not able to lose weight with this plan, or you lose for a bit and stop - don't get discouraged, it's not a failire at all. Every experiment teaches you something about what does and doesn't work for you, so even if your results aren't exactly what you want, they will lead you in that direction, just keep tweaking and fine tuning, until you find or create the plan that's perfect for you.

Eating only healthy foods, "watching" myself, and limiting my portions never, ever worked for me. It's sooooo incredibly easy to take in more calories then is needed. Those suckers add up quickly. I need the accountability and forced limits that calorie counting provides. To me it is the only way to know that I'm creating that all important calorie deficit that is required to lose/maintain weight. If I wasn't counting calories, therefore setting limits, what would keep me from having another 100 calorie pack or another apple? Or n extra 1/2 piece of chicken? Those extra 100 calories could just put me over my allotment, without my realizing it. And there would be no weight loss.

I do think that calorie counting "works" if you MAKE it work and STICK to. But we are all different. It's hard to say whether or not your plan will provide you with enough calorie restriction to get you that very much needed calorie deficit. I guess only time will tell. You can give it a couple of weeks, see how it goes and then re-evaluate if need be.

Thank you guys for all your help! Sometimes I am just to busy to count calories and stuff like that so I thought I would give that a try. I will try it for about 2 weeks and if I am not seeing the results I want then I will try counting calories or weight watchers again. Hopefully something works!

Thanks again!

Good luck! I tend to over estimate my portions although I did lose almost 50 pounds on Core with WW before switching over to counting points. So make sure you really pay attention to portions & listen to your body. If you choose to eat a food that has more volume like 94% ff popcorn instead of the 100 cal packs it'll help keep you from reaching for that second snack pack. Those things are the devil :D

Try to get the "I'm too busy" thing out of your head though ;) It's an easy excuse that a lot of people fall back on.....you have to make time for yourself!

Hi,
Thought I'd throw in another option. I've tried all the other diets also, including pills, but I finally did find something that works for me. I'm listening to self-hypnosis CD's and they have changed my whole attitude towards food. I eat when I'm hungry, good choices, no more junk food cravings. I don't have to count calories or grams, which doesn't work for me. It's amazingly easy, which has surprised me. So this works for me.... I had started to give up hope of ever finding someting that would. So I guess I'm saying that there's a lot of awesome ideas and plans out there, it's just a matter of finding the one that will click for you and work with your lifestyle. You'll find it...don't give up and good luck.

Well, I'm quite a busy woman myself. As are most of us calorie counters & WW points counters. But since it works so well for US, we decide that we had best MAKE time for it. We've made our weight/health a priority and we make sure we carve out the time for this very, very, VERY important task. We think it's time pretty well spent in fact.

Hey this common expression just popped in my head.

"If you don't have time to do things right, you better have time to do them over."

Glad to hear you're keeping an open mind to the counting though.

And you most definitely WILL find something that works for you. But remember, you need to MAKE it work. All the best.

I am another calorie-counter who, for the first time in my life is "getting" it. Calorie counting is time consuming but even with three kids, five and under, I make time because it's just that important to me.

If you don't have time for an on-line calorie counter, do you have time to jot down what you eat in a little journal accompanied by that small The Calorie King book? Even if you just do it for a couple of weeks to get an idea of what a day's worth of calories for you in your weight-loss range is and then try to wing it after that?

Thanks for that! I was just thinking at work and yes I am very busy with my full time job, other part time job and full time school but maybe I will give it a shot. The only spare time I seem to ever have is before I go to bed. So I will try calorie counting again! I am going to plan out my meals and snacks the night before and just pack everything up and go!

I guess there is ways of working around busyness lol I just didn't know how to do it.

I really want to lose weight for myself and I will do my best to make the time.

Thank you ladies for your advice.

I will let you know how my new calorie counting plan goes!

Your post really made me think and I just wanted to recognize it in a post. I just wrote one about my new plan and it was because of your advice. I found a way to actually do it and I am going to really try and stick to it! I hope this time around it actually works lol.

Thank you! I will keep posted

Please do keep us posted!!! Would love to hear how it's working for you and maybe we can help you through any hurdles you come across :-)

Much success to you!

I feel like you have to at least count some what (to the point that you know your not going over what your burning) for example I know that I burn something like 2000 cals just from being alive (I think its a bit more then that) and I eat threw out the day I will try to remember every thing I ate every time I go to eat something else and round them up so that I dont really go over if I have to have that one piece of candy at night. So if something is 215 cals I round it to 250 (nice whole number) 7.5 fat becomes 8 or 10 up to you how you want to do it. Then you do need to know how many calories that you can eat in a day to still lose, maintain or gain. and the rest of the stuff that goes with your cals like I can have 44 g of fat on a 1600 cal diet. This way you are not putting to much thought into it but you are still thinking about what you are putting in your body to a point. I dont do it this way I am pretty strict on myself when it comes to counting cals but I give my self a free day once in a while but I do eat some junk every once in a while but keep it with in my count for the day. How ever I used to do it this way and it did work for me just not like I want it to now! Good luck!