So, calorie counting it is then!
 

Holy cow, why did I wait so long to just start counting my calroies to lose weight? :dizzy: The last time I tried to lose weight (at 23 years old, between my first and second babies) I just did Curves and watching what I ate, and lost 50 pounds in 5 months. After I had my second baby I did roughly the same thing, but wasn't as diligent in watching my portions, and got back down to within 20 pounds of that low weight, and then after my third baby I again "tried it again", but *really* didn't watch my eating as well as I should have, and the baby weight didn't budge for a full year.

I first tried upping my working, switching from walking on the tredmill at the gym to doing Jillian Michael's Wii game at home, and started losing just under a pound a week, but I was frustrated with how s.l.o.w it was going, even though I told myself it was better than not losing at all!

But two weeks ago, I finally bit the bullet and started counting calories. Something I swore I'd never do. Something I always saw as "dietary slavery" and a "killjoy" to enjoying life. How much fun can a holiday or a vacation or a birthday party be if you're counting calories?

Well, since I started counting calories 2 weeks ago I've lost *6 pounds*!!! I can hardly believe it! I even "binged" on cookie dough on wednesday (was making them for our church youth group), but still kept my calories to under 1600 by just skipping my lunch and snacks, so I found a way to "enjoy" my guilty pleasure and still lose weight. I am floored! :o

So "dietary slavery" it is then! :D I've reached the conclusion that I'd rather be a "slave" to calorie counting than to my overweight body any longer!

:D :hug:

Glad you have found something that is working. But really - if you look back at your first weight loss - you actually were eating less calories in order to lose the weight. You just didn't know it. Now you are just retraining your body how to eat less again and control your portions. Calorie counting is portion control.

Yay! I made the same choice for myself...but mainly because I didn't want to pay anyone for weight loss advice ever again. I know what I have to do and wasn't doing it. Counting the calories is just helping so much with keeping on track. :) Happy for you!

Oh I know. :) But I lacked the discipline of actually keeping track, which is why the method "didn't work" so well the second and third time I tried it, because I had too good of results the first time without fully understanding what I was doing to get them. I've gotten worse at eyeballing portions as I've aged. :lol:

I'm right there with you Xuzi! Really, I am. That's why I'm 20lbs heavier than I was when I was successful at counting calories. Well, even then I didn't count, I only eyeballed but I did a far better job of it.

Then again, that was 10yrs ago too and age is taking its toll on me. Being 20something and losing weight is different than pushing 40 and losing weight.

Xuzi-Yep, it does work!:D I've found that I have gotten alot of counts memorized for things I eat on a routine basis and that has helped. It just takes a bit to get things down on portion size and amount of calories. Good luck to you!

Congrats! I actually loved counting calories.

But the only thing I wanted to say that no one else seemed to, skipping meals in favor of snacks or to make up for snacks is actually a really bad idea.
I'm not harping at you and I'm not a doctor or an expert in anything, but I, personally, would rather see someone go over their calories one day by having a snack that maybe they shouldn't have and eating a healthy meal than decide to stay within their calories by deciding not to eat real food in favor of cookie dough.
Like I said, I'm not trying to harp, but going through the entire day with no real food from breakfast to dinner isn't good...

But congrats on the weight loss and keep it up!!

I don't mind counting calories. I glad you are giving it a try and are pleased so far. :)

For me counting calories is FREEDOM! I am free to eat what I want as long as I weigh or measure out a normal serving and it fits into my calories. Right now because I am allowed so many calories to still lose weight I don't have to skip meals to work in what I want. I am really working on portion control because my idea of a serving was way out of whack when I started. For my son's birthday party, I had a sliver (not a slice) of cake and it was more than satisfactory. If I had the mentality that I was "on a diet" and "couldn't have cake" I would have wanted it desperately and wanted a lot more than a sliver. Counting calories is mentally and physically freeing. I am so glad you are discovering that.

I am SO with you. I always was "anti-calorie counting", though I've used Weight Watchers countless number of times (which is essentially calorie counting with their "points" system). I finally came to the conclusion that I need to be truly honest with myself and what I'm eating. I purchased a BodyBugg, which tracks the total calories I burn in a day, whether I'm sleeping, sitting, working, exercising or whatever. This makes me feel like I'm in complete control. If I want to "lose" a certain amount of weight, I know how many calories I can have. Welcome to the calorie-counting club! :)

Every time I've ever started a diet, I'd make it about two days and then freak out when I started thinking about birthday parties, family dinners, or (get this) baby showers!!! I love "shower" food!! Anyway, this time something clicked, and I've said this before, I've learned that I can eat anything I want, I just can't eat it all the same day! I've never been this devoted, and even though I have had some bad days, the next day I'm ready to jump right back on the wagon!! I've lost 14 lbs in about 3 1/2 weeks, and I actually feel like I'm doing it in a healthy way!! Good Luck to us All!!

I'm new to the calorie counting thing, and I've found that I actually like it. I like monitoring what I'm putting in my body so I get better results out. I also like that if I really want X food, I can just record it's calories and then work it off later. I think it's freedom too! Yey!

Congratulations on your loss so far! :)

Okay. So I've been fat my entire life, and I KNOW that it has to do with calories, yet I keep looking for "other" ways of doing this. What it comes down to, I KNOW, is that all the wacky combinations and the low-carb or the low-fat or the high exercise -- blah blah blah -- that work, only work because there is a scientific reality called CALORIES. So I've said it. And I know it. And I hate it. Why do I hate it? I hate it because, ultimately, counting calories means I have to cut my portions. And THAT is what I have been avoiding for the past 40 years that I've been trying to lose weight. Even gastric bypass backfired for me, since I found a way to keep consuming huge amounts of food -- just did it in tinier portions at a time...

There is no glitz and glamor to this, just hard-core reality.

Ack.