[sm177]

I'm not depriving myself of anything, I don't feel the need to binge! It's easy and costs nothing! It's also sustainable and after a while I just know what I should be eating and how much.

[JulieJ08]

I really hope I'm not calorie counting my whole life, but it really teaches you what a healthy amount and mix of daily foods feels like.

[Zima]

I chose to calorie count because I know it works, especially along with exercise. All these other fad diets are like putting tape over a leak in the ceiling: sure, they work for some time, but eventually something's going to give and the tape (or diet) will fail you.

And I love bread! Atkins and all those other no carb diets are ridiculous. There are healthy carb choices. I found this Healthy Life bread that is only 35 calories a slice, and very low in carbs as well. I love it!

Anyway, we all know that you have to burn more calories than you consume in order to lose weight...so counting calories just makes the most sense!

[chipper15173]

i can't live on veggies alone, and won't. if i want something i will have it. i don't want to feel guilty by eating it. for instant tonight we picked up our granddaughters for a few days and went to burger king. i planned before we left and had a whopper jr, side salad, sm onion rings, was only 525 cals. fit perfect into my day. no points, no carbs, fits my life. i have to have something that fits my life. since this is a life style change.
that's why i like it. and do it.

[MarleysMama]

I am making the switch to counting calories that I can actually slow my weight loss. I know, it sounds rediculous! LOL

I have been off and on Atkins since 4/2005 and here I sit, the same exact weight i originally started. I am not downing Atkins, I personally think it's a GREAT plan and I like how at the end you end up reintroducing a LOT back into your diet and you can eat very similiar to those doing a low calorie, healthy balanced diet. That being said, I didn't have the patients to work myself up through the diet that I was supposed to. I knew I could stay on induction lose so much weight SO fast, I would let myself mess up..and then it was just a vicious cycle. I couldnt have all the things I wnted and once I fell off the wagon, I could never pick myself back up, it was always a binge of everything I couldnt have and then back to square one. I just didn't have the will to say good bye to all of the things I so dearly wanted,. I didnt wasnt to wait to reintroduce them, I wanted what I wanted when I wanted it and I am paying for it now.

Watching my calores will hold me accountable b/c I know I can have anything I want. I know I can make room for a special meal one day without risking gaining 5 pounds of water by the next day like I did on Atkins. I feel like with this, I will be able to live. And plain in simple, I might want that food, but it will translate into me gaining and I have so much more say so than I thought I ever could. I think the ability to have what I want, but I use my own discression is what is going to make me succeed.

Sprry this is so long, I truly cannot wait to get started and change my life, for good this time

[yoyonomoreinvegas]

Originally Posted by bargoo

Flexible, reliable and free!

Ditto, ditto and ditto

I'm a "seat of my pants" flyer in the kitchen so it's much easier for me if I can add a little of this and throw in a little of that then simply stop adding when I hit the calorie ceiling.

[KateB]

I agree with everyone else. Flexibility being one of the things that first drew me to counting calories. The other thing being I FINALLY realized that whatever I did...I would have to do it FOR LIFE...in some form or another.

Did I want the UPS man bringing me my meals for the next 40-50 years?? Not really.

Will JC bring me a meal when my family goes to a restaurant??? Probly not.

Will the server graciously prepare my prepackaged meal that I brought to the restaurant when my family goes out for a meal? Yeah Right!!!

There are ways to budget my calorie alotment. A little lighter brakfast or lunch so I can have dessert with supper. I can put in extra gym time if I go "way overboard".

Also....I like that it has made me lable reader...and not just how many calories are in something. I compare brands, serving sizes, protiens, fiber, carbs and it has made me so much more aware of what I am eating...and made me really think about what I was eating.

I think in many ways being a calorie counter has made me more in control that anything else i have tried.

Maybe.....I am a "control freak after all