Does anyone else feel like this?
 

Calorie counting is a pain in the butt. I count my calories and yes, it is tiresome. I hate having to keep track of every little calorie that enters my mouth. It's infuriating. I am also a big picture kind of gal. I have over 140 pounds to lose before i get to where i want to be. I can tell you I've been there. I'm still there. I don't like dieting either. I keep trying to convince myself it's a lifestyle change but really... it's dieting. I try to put on a happy face for others, encourage others... but really I should be encouraging myself. I'm not happy. But I trudge on anyways because if i don't do anything... nothing's gonna happen.

I agree!!!!! Today I looked at the tablet I write in and gave it a big ol :p. wanna know what happened......I ate cereal for breakfast and a BLT and brownie for lunch. Then got frustrated trying to plan a menu for the week and decided ice cream, jelly beans and mini snickers would make a GREAT dinner. I ate more than that but I think you get the point. So even tho writing everything down does become infuriating for me is it soooooooo what I need to do to keep myself on track and eating the right foods. I am sure tomorrow I will wake up feeling like crap and wishing I would've just opened the tablet and wrote things down but until tomorrow I still say :p to the tablet.
Also I would like to say one of the great things about calorie counting is you can plan for those treats that you want to enjoy such as ice cream. If I know I will indulge in something I normally can reduce my calories other times of the day to fit in what ever it is I want.
And I envy that fact that you like to exercise. I wish a had just one little tiny athletic bone in my body but I am just a off balance, uncoordinated mess when it come to anything physical.

I feel you! I spent my entire life over weight and finally am doing something about it. It sucks, but I know for me its a for life thing so its really not a diet in the sense that its something I'm doing for a short time to lose weight. It is a diet in the sense that this is what I eat daily and that's it. Counting calories gets to become second nature and isn't so bad after awhile. You mentally tally up everything and you can start to see portion sizes by comparing them to other things, like a deck of cards is a serving of meat. I don't cut out foods I love, I just opt for healthier versions of them. I love cheesecake, so I can have a 300 cal tiny slice of cheesecake OR a yoplait light raspberry cheesecake yogurt (which I also loved before) for 110 calories. It really is about making choices you can live with that will help you get to where you want to be. You aren't alone in how you feel. We all get bummed about it at one point or another. It seriously helps to ditch the big picture. I am a big picture girl and when I got numbers of how much I had to lose I wanted to cry. I had 310 lbs to drop to be borderline overweight according to the BMI chart. Apparently for my height I should be rocking 110-140, but 145 and OMG I'm overweight again. I've dropped almost 2/3's of that weight off already and it happened before I knew it. You say you have 140 to lose right. If you lost 1-2 lbs per week for the rest of the year, you could potentially lose 45-90lbs (estimated the # of weeks left) by Christmas. That would knock a huge chunk of your overall goal right out. How's that for a big picture. :D Mini goals help you get there but you've got to stay positive to do it or you're more likely to say screw it and give up. At least that how it seems to be for most people. Have faith that you will get there. You can still enjoy the foods you like, just eat them in moderation and workout to counter the extra calories. Weight loss isn't a punishment even though it can sometimes feel like it is. You should try the positive thread! I'm a wicked negative person and it has helped me try to keep my goals in view. We often forget the good things we have going for us and focus on the bad. From my time in there, it seems that positive thinking is contagious. ;D Hope to see you there.

Calorie Counting does NOT have to be painful.;) That said it does require some "effort" (but then again, anything you do to lose weight WILL require effort). It's all in the way you do it. I pre-prepare all my lunches/dinners bi-weekly. Then I portion them in trays and freeze them. Ex...I make 5 new entrees...I've portioned them and calculated the calories in each meal. This makes calorie counting a BREEEEZE since the work is already done in advance. Adding in snacks is not difficult (yogart, protein bars, popcorn, muffins).

Sure...we'd all like to be able to eat whatever we want without worry and not gain weight...but that's just not going to happen. Truth is...you CAN eat whatever you want...but "in moderation". To find out how much your body can process, it's imperative to monitor your calories (at first). You won't have to count calories for all eternity, but you will have to watch your portion sizes. After a while of doing this...you will get pretty good at just "eyeballing" sizes.

I think it's GREAT that you enjoy exercise. That's probably WHY you don't look your weight...exercise builds/tones muscles!;) However, weight loss is 90% diet. So, until you get your diet in check...all the exercise in the world will not help you reach your goals.

I just wanna comment about being all "cheery". I think "attitude" is of UTMOST importance in SUCCESS. Excuse makers and whiners usually do not succeed in reaching their goals. Their attitude is negative and by default, they're already "self-defeating". Sure...this is hard...sure I want a piece of cake...sure...running at 10pm stinks...but I don't have to FOCUS on the negative....nor does anyone else. You can learn to see the glass "half full"...such as "if I get my exercise in tonight at 10pm, I'll reach my goal this week"....or, "if you eat this lower calorie item...I WILL get into that bikini this summer"...

Lastly...if the best years of your life are over at 23...I guess I need to shoot myself immediately!:crazy: just kiddin!:lol: Your quite young and beautiful...your life has only just begun....true story...your life starts from the time you decide you want to better it.;) All the best!:hug:

I get the feeling sometimes like my best years have passed me by. By the time I was 23 everyone around me was already treating my like a spinster. Even though I wasn't very overweight at that time. Everyone I knew at work or from school that was my age already had at least one child, in many cases 2 or 3 and were telling me I was too old to start trying for one at that point. I'm 33 now and all of the women I know that are in their early 30's except for one have teenagers now! lol. I understand where she is coing from feeling like she's wasted time.

I also wanted to say that I think when you hit 3 digits of lbs you want to lose it becomes a whole lot more daunting of a task. I'm not really a negative attitude person, but I have trouble convincing myself that all of the effort is worth it. Maybe perhaps SOME day I will lose some of the weight, but I see people who have struggled to lose weight for YEARS, some for decades, who appear to have really put in effort and have gotten little return on it. I am never sure until I step on that scale what the result will be, so telling myself that if I beat myself up for 2 hours I'll see the result tomorrow isn't working out for me. Maybe that's why I have such a difficult time with motivation.

When you go shopping do you look at price tags? Do you check your bank balance to make sure you can afford the things you want to buy? Does that exhaust you?

It's just like keeping track of a budget. If you want to weigh less, you need to make drastic changes from what you were doing before. Just as if you were spending out of control, racking up massive debt and never once looking at your bank balance or the cost of what you wanted to buy.

And it's very easy to get the hang of calorie counting, just as it would be easy after a little while to be able to handle routine expenses, just checking in when you wanted something new or knew your bank balance was getting a little low. If you didn't have the money (or calories to spend) you could either wait until you had room in your budget, or work overtime (or exercise more) to make some more resources available for that treat.

This. This, this, this! I quoted Seagirl's whole post because every line of it is worth reading again. Joyful and Seagirl are correct--calorie counting does not have to be an exhausting, cheerless task that leaves you eating nothing but shreds of cardboard and kale.

Believe me, I used to feel as you did about it. I really rebelled against the notion of counting and watching and budgeting. "ARGH, can't I just eat in peace and enjoy a meal? How does anyone savor food when they're watching every bite?" I'm a native New Orleanian and my husband's worked as a professsional chef; I love food and consider enjoyment of it mandatory. Eating is celebratory, it's something to appreciate and look forward to.

I haven't lost a bit of my enjoyment of great food; I just eat consciously now. In fact, I derive more enjoyment from food now that I'm involved in choosing it, preparing it, and cooking it as well as eating it. You don't get that from a box of doughnuts or a bag of cheetos.

I truly thought counting calories was going to be a miserable drag. I'm astonished to find that not only does it interfere very little with my daily life, I also enjoy it. I like understanding what's going in my mouth, I like the variety it imposes on my meals, I like the fact that CC allows me to eat anything I want as long as I portion it, and needless to say, I LOVE the effect it's having on my health and appearance.

If you're really finding it a miserable grind after giving it a good long try--at least a month or so to get used to it--you might want to reassess some aspects of your plan. Are you feeling deprived or hungry? You might be eating too little volume for your calorie intake and need to revamp your menus. Don't like having to measure? Get a food scale and you'll cut your portion-control prep time to seconds. Does it make you uncomfortably numbers-focused? Try another weight loss system like WW's points, an exchange plan, or a low-carb program.

No matter what means you use to lose weight, you're going to need to make changes. For me, changing portion size was an easier change than overhauling my diet and drastically shifting the macronutrients I ate (low-carb or low-fat). Your mileage may vary and another plan might be ideal for you.

Whatever you do, please don't get disgusted with the process altogether and give up on it. There are so many people here who've changed their lives as they've changed their bodies and they've each had to find their own way. It's so worth finding the plan that works for you, and there is one--there always is. Even if it isn't CC, your best plan is out there somewhere.

Right there with ya!
 

I am just beginning my new plan for weight loss... this very minute. I have been reading through posts for the past hour in my bed trying to decide what I want to do to lose weight. Unfortunatly, there is no forum entitled "Im new, don't know what I want to do, need help deciding from someone who has lost the 130 that I want to lose." I ran across this thread, and loved that I was in the same boat as you reallytrying. I really am horrified by the thought that I have to count everything. My life is hectic enough without having to figure up what the calories were for the bagel I just ate and writing down every nuance. Sigh...... I don't really have an alternative ideas though.... Let me know if you want a buddy. I'd love to have one, I think I need the accountability. We are around the same starting weight and have about the same amount to lose, and are the same age (from what I can descern from your post). We could figure it out together?

The hour that you spent lying in bed reading posts, you could have spent on a site like Sparkpeople or Fitday or DailyPlate setting up an account, and starting to learn the calorie counts of different foods.

When you are ready, you'll stop making excuses like "my life is so hectic" and you'll cut out things like tv or internet and make time for things like your health and exercise.

Like anything worth doing well, no matter what plan you choose, it's going to take some time to figure it all out. Then, that part gets a lot easier.

Also, there are plans where you don't have to count calories, but there are other things you have to do instead, like significantly change the kinds of foods you're eating. You might find you like plans like that better

But when it comes down to it, there's no magic pill for weight loss. To lose the weight and keep it off, you have to get to the point where you're willing to do what it takes to get that goal you want.

The good news is, it's worth it! AND, we can be there for you the whole way!

Good to hear you're feeling better! And I finished a Ph.D., so I get that dissertation stress!!!!

One thing to add... I've found that sometimes, something that worked for you initially, does not work later. So while you do need to make a commitment to weight loss, I don't think you need to make a commitment to all the specifics.

For instance, when I lost weight I did it with a number of small meals everyday. Maybe I'd eat every 2-3 hours, so maybe 6 small meals. Now I'm finding that on a number of days it makes more sense for me to eat 3 larger meals, and maybe a snack, rather than eating 6-7 times a day.

So, you have to be able to be flexible too, as you think of how to fit the eating and exercise in long-term.

WOW CAKEGIRL! You are doing great...Congratulations. :)

Reallytrying..... I have to count every little thing that goes in my mouth or I mess up.
I am losing more than I thought I would when I started my diet last year.

I eat what I want, but have to keep a talley every day. And my diet is balanced.

I gave up all junk food, ice cream, processed food, TV dinners and fast food restaurants.... soda & sweetened ice tea.

Losing weight and keeping it off takes diligence. It is a lifetime change that has to take place.
There is no easy fix. I have to deny myself large portions of high calorie foods.

It is a very tiresome slow process, but every week I see a change for the better, so it is well worth it.

And I soooo love throwing out my baggy clothes.
Best of luck to you!

:snail:....:snail:....:snail:

I'm not going to try to add to the excellent words of wisdom you've been given above, but I did want to say that I *absolutely* get where you're coming from, and YES I've felt that way. I still do, sometimes, to be honest. In fact, as I near maintenance, these feelings are even stronger at times because I don't always have the reward of seeing the numbers on the scale drop.

But here's the deal, and here's what I focus on when I am discouraged/negative like this: Being overweight and obese was, for me, 1000% more difficult (physically, mentally, financially, emotionally) than counting calories. When I remember that, and acknowledge counting calories is much better than the alternative, then I am in a better mental headspace about the whole thing.

Some things in life are always going to be difficult/tedious/annoying/icky. But between being fat and tracking my food, I'll take the second every time. :)

You can do this, I promise!

I've been morbidly obese for nearly all of my life. I was put on my first diet in kindergarten, and I've been dieting ever since (I'm going to be 45 in a couple weeks). In the past 40 years, I've spent more time ON a diet than off one (It does such that gaining can be acheived far more rapidly than losing).

I've felt exactly as you express in this post, except I hate the gym even more than I hate calorie counting, so I can feel doubly screwed if I decide to go down that path.

I only started succeeding when I learned to stop seeing weight loss as a horrendous chore that sucked. We're taught to see weight loss that way, but it doesn't have to be.


You have three ways to look at weight loss and weight management.


1. You can choose to look at weight management as fun, interesting, and exciting (and you can make it that way).

2. You can look at weight management as a chore, but one that is emotionally neutral (like brushing your teeth). Certainly not something you dread, just something that isn't the highlight of your day.

3. You can also choose to hate every minute of weight management and see nothing positive about it at all.


At least you've found that you can see exercise as #1 (I'm not there yet, except for swimming).

I've found that weight loss can be as fun and as interesting, and as exciting (and conversely as evil, horrible, boring) as I choose to make it.


I chose an exchange plan, because checking boxes seems like a game. Calorie counting seems like math (and I never liked math).

I make grocery shopping fun. For example I love fruit. I've always loved fruit, but I never thought of fruit as fun or exciting. Now I do, because I make choosing fruit a mini-adventure. I explore grocery stores and ethnic grocery stores and markets, and farmers markets as if I were a tourist. I look for fruits and varieties of fruits I haven't tried before.

I do the same with vegetables and other food items. Looking for healthy condiments and pickles, ready-to-eat items.

I made sticker charts with little rewards for every 5 lbs lost.

There are so many ways to make weight management fun. It doesn't have to be miserable and boring. Miserable and boring is just our "default" setting because it's how it's most commonly done.

You don't have to love every minute of your plan, but you've got to design a plan (or change your views toward you plan) so that you experience more positive than negative. Because you will quit (with good reason) when the negative outweighs the positive. And the way dieting is usually done, we set ourselves up for failure by tipping the balance towards the negative.

So you have to find a way to make this a more positive experience for yourself.

I have mentioned this before, but to me, calorie counting is like having to take daily medication. It has it's moments of feeling 'outside' the norm of life but in the end, it saves my life. The more I just do it and make it a routine part of my day, the less annoying it is.

Here are some tips that work for me.

Invest in a nutritional software, mine was $30. This way you can set up your favorites foods, create recipes, group common foods together and soon it takes merely a few minutes to enter foods. If you eat the same things most days, often it is no more work than copying over a previous meal. They all help with finding calories ranges, keep track of all kinds of things like exercise, measurements, medications, periods, blood work....you name it. Mine even allows me to build my own tracking data base. lol...I could even track how many times a day I sneezed if I wanted to. That's the beauty of your own personal software...you get to set it up to your needs. And you don't have to be online to use it.

Invest in a digital food scale. Great reality check. Get one that has "tare" ability. Then you can take your plate, put it on the scale, zero it out, add food one at a time (like building a sandwich) and zero it out between food items. Saves time. I have a small dry erase board on my fridge, I mark down my amounts and tally it up later. I find it much easier to weigh food in the bowl/plate I am going to eat from than using measuring cups and spoons.

I plan my next day's meals the night before (can be done weekly too). I enter it all in. Then each evening I make any adjustments to the amounts or the foods I entered to match what I actually did eat. I pull a report to see what my average is, which helps me with any adjustments I need to make.

Most packaged goods don't need to be weighed. Enter the nutritional information for one serving and then pay close attention to how many servings are listed. Then you can enter the number you ate. Let the nutritional software do the work for you. You hate half a bag? 4 servings to a bag? Easy...select the food, enter 2.

If you cook up a big meal, have storage containers ready to fill. If you made a pot of soup, scale the individual ingredients as you throw it in the pot, cook, divide the entire pot into equal servings and enter the all the ingredients in the recipe section, and you then have your calories per serving already figured out. Once entered, just use the same recipe!

Very easy calorie counting...use prepared single serve items like cheese sticks, pre-made hamburger patties, etc.

And most importantly, pay more attention to calorie averages rather than a single day's total. Force yourself to record binges, if they happen. Make only one rule about your diet, that you RECORD it all. This is the only way to become fully aware of what you eat over a long period of time and how it affects you, your weight and your eating habits. Averages keep things in perspective, overeating now and then get blended in with the low calorie days and you may often be surprised that it is not as bad as you thought when you focused only on the one day.

And last tip, PLAN a higher calorie range for holidays and special occasions. Restaurants are always going to be caloric, take the time to check out their nutritional information menus on the web and jot down on a piece of paper some meals from favourite places and keep it in your wallet. It's so much easier to have a meal you know you can have before you get to the restaurant. if you are at a restaurant unexpectedly, try to opt for a meal that has mostly individual items of food. Eggs and bacon for instance would be easier to count later than a plate of spaghetti.

It all comes to be second nature after awhile. Soon you can use a standard calorie count for an apple, rather than weighing it, be able to gauge when you've had 'half" a bag of something and so on. You'll know which foods that need weighing and which ones you can figure a standard count for.

yup this is a great place if you just need a moment to moan, whine, complain or scream..haha

i actually don't mind calorie counting at all, and i keep a little paper going with my daily totals and throw away the messy pages of adding..so its kinda neat...something i will be able to look back on later and be wow i have come far.

i envy anyone that enjoys exercise...in my head i want to enjoy it.. i am going to start walking in the warmer weather, for now, i just do a little weights, or some wii games etc..... did the first week of c25k but it got cold outside again..so now im just waiting it out. sometimes i try to just walk around our house...but we got a lot of stuff and you can't get very far without having to turn around haha!!

but you have been counting since dec and stressed out with your paper...so yea!!!! you deserve your day of frustration. and congrats on sticking to your plan so long...oh and p.s. judging from your picture of your face...you don't look like you weigh as much as you say, and you are already very pretty..so you are gonna be one **** of a drop dead knock out vixen type...if you aren't already!

oh..and i feel you about the best years of your life...i will be 32...and sometimes i look back and think...i ruined my childhood and teen years being fat...my 20's are gone...sometimes it makes me cry...and other times i say..hey i can make my 30's what i want...and these can be the best years of my life..
best of luck on your journey :)

Its great you have decided to start your new weight plan.. ( "Im new, don't know what I want to do, need help deciding from someone who has lost the 130 that I want to lose.") would be a great new thread lol I am new here also.
I understand your frustration in counting calories. It really works. Its hard but it works. I have lost a lot of weight before. I always seem to find it again lol
This time I am counting calories and I plan on keeping it up long after the diet is over. I think that is where I went wrong in the past.

awwwww girl, i think most of us fill that way at some point :( hang in there :) I am rooting for you.

Hey! it happens. For me, I count calories and watch what kinds of carbs I eat (I am insulin resistant so I have to make sure my blood sugar doesnt spike) For me, I plan on when I get to maintenance weighing in every 2 weeks to keep myself. even if I go off key for 2 weeks I cant gain 100 lbs in 2 weeks is my thought. I count calories, but I eyeball most things so I don't have to weigh every time miniscule. It works for me. I mainly eat protein and veggies with one or two meals having a grain (normally only my breakfast which is usually toast or a whole wheat bagel) I also have time I go walking a lot. For now it works for me. For my mother however, she likes weight watchers, she will not under any circumstances count calories period. That is ok too. Its whatever works. Have fun with it you can do it ! :cheer: :hug:

This has been an excellent and helpful thread.

I have started calorie counting SO many times, and get thrown off when I get to a food that I can't get an exact count for--such as a homemade dish. (Perfectionism does me in.)

I'm at the point somebody mentioned though, where it's worse to stay my size than to keep trying to do something to change it.

Reallytrying, I'm glad you're feeling better!

I know you're over it but I can so relate, I am horrible with the food. Give me workouts ANY day, I like tracking when its easy. I miss fit day, the online version is too slow with my slower-than-dialup internet. And I have a MAC now not a PC (I miss my fit day!) programs like that made it so easy to record stuff. I liked that I tracked activity with it too. And could make charts (i'm nerdy like that!). Doing it on my own , well... i end up quitting after a couple days. :-|