I know there is a board here with wonderful success stories that are so inspirational. But I'd like to hear about the success stories from those of you who've lost weight through calorie counting alone. It would not only inspire me but everyone on the board who has chosen this WOE to lose weight.

You don't have to be at goal weight to post, but if you've lost some weight already, please post here how much and how long it's taken you. Also, if you could post what kind of exercise you do, if any, and how much of it you do, that would be appreciated.

Thanks!

I have never lost more than 30 lbs my entire life. And now I've passed the 100 lb. lost mark by calorie counting, both my intake and exercise. I weigh myself no more than once a month (and waited 72 days for my first weigh in after start) because I'm tracking my calorie deficit. I know I'm doing what I need to do by watching that deficit. If I know I'm going to have to skip a workout I eat a little lighter that day. If I had a restaurant meal with friends, I get the average deficit back in line over the next 6 days. Every once in a while I eat what some would call junk food for a day. The nutrition on that day is the pits, but if I stay within my calories even that kind of eating works.

This has really helped me with "all or nothing" attitude of previous weight loss attempts. Keeping my eye on the calorie deficit has worked much better for me than thinking I was doing the right things and checking with the scale.

I lost 135 pounds through calorie counting and exercise, and I've kept it off through 2 months of trying to conceive.

That said, calorie counting isn't all I did. I changed my whole way of eating--after all, if I'd stuck to my old ways, my breakfast Totonio's Pizza would have been half my daily calories, and my can-of-ravioli-with-cheese-on-top lunch would have been the rest. I'd have been pretty damn hungry the rest of the day! I dumped all the fatty stuff because it doesn't fill me up, I dumped the simple carbs because I have PCOS/IR and they screw up my blood sugar. I exercise a ton because I like to eat, and exercising means I get to eat a lot more and still lose/maintain my weight.

But calorie counting--and tracking on line--has been the key, because it let me see what was happening. Instead of being "bad" or "good", it's a matter of regulation. On other diets, I "paid" for overeating by making myself feel guilty, but that's a terrible habit: guilt doesn't burn calories, it just makes you hate yourself to no purpose. Now, if I want to overeat I can "pay" for it by cutting calories all around it. That actually has an effect.

Thank you both for your replies and congratulations on your losses!!!

Shmead, best wishes to you as you try to conceive.

I'm sort of just starting my journey, but I'm calorie counting and I've lost 16 pounds. I like it because I can eat anything I want as long as I plan for it, and I don't have to sit and figure out WW points which I hate doing. I just track it in an app on my iphone.

I try to eat around 1700 calories a day, but I also track my deficit on a weekly basis, so if I want to splurge on a day, I just make sure I have the correct weekly deficit, and it's been working for me so far.

I've been doing it since mid august, and I've had a few splurgey weekends, so my progress is slow, but I'm moving in the right direction, and that's enough for me.

I have lost more than 50 lbs since June 15th, 2010 by counting calories and exercising every day. It has gotten easier because now I know what foods have how many calories and I tend to eat a lot of the same foods over and over.

I started exercising by buying a cheap recumbent bike at walmart and using hand weights while riding. Now I am training to run a 5K with the C25K program. I try to get 10000 steps on my pedometer per day, which with the increased training has not been a problem. I joined a gym and I do cardio every day and weight training every other day. I look at exercise now the same as taking a shower or brushing my teeth. It is something I must do to keep my weight in a more normal range.

I attribute most of my weight loss to simply paying attention more to my body and not sleeping at the wheel. As long as I pay attention to what's going on and I don't eat mindlessly, I lose weight. It sounds simple, and really, it is. Best wishes.

Just posting in with a quick "hooray for calorie counting" message.

I love it, it works. It may not be super fast, but then I don't think that really matters if you're aiming to keep up a good lifestyle habit rather than a fad diet or anything.

This is my second time calorie counting/exercising. The first time, in 2008, I lost 28 pounds/13 kilograms in 4.5 months. This time around, I've lost 21 pounds/9.5 kilograms since July 19. Last time an overseas trip derailed me from counting but this time I'm taking it way more seriously.

Hi there
I started calorie counting and exercising at the end of January. I have lost over 70 pounds! I started out exercising 3-4 times per week and eating 1500 calories on most days. I had a "bad food" day about once a week for the first couple months. Now I work out 6 times per week and have a "bad food" day once or twice a month- and I don't eat TOO much on these days.
For my workouts, I do 40 minutes of cardio and 40-60 minutes of weight training. I also take extra walks around the neighborhood whenever I get a chance.
Calorie counting has worked out great for me!!! I don't know why anybody would ever do anything else.

Ive lost about 45 lbs since last year by calorie counting and excercising on and off. Calorie counting is like diet freedom! You can have whatever you'd like but as long as its counted! In turn, you learn to pick foods you can have tons of (aka healthy!) instead of very little amounts of unhealthy ones!

Hi, I have lost 48 lbs. since June 2010. I do the calorie cycling. 1200-1700 calories daily. I am losing about a pound a week. It probably would go faster if I would exercise more. But I'm kinda lazy. I use the Leslie Sansone walk at home DVD about 3 times a week. It works real well for me...it really gets my heart rate up. And the exercise steps are very easy. I don't mind only loosing a pound a week though. I'm loosing it so slow this will help me keep it off.
I really like counting calories it works really well with me. I don't even feel hungry much anymore. In the afternoons when I start to feel a little hungry I drink a mug of coffee...I even put a little fat free cool whip on top to make it like cappuccino.
I still have a way to go until I reach my goal but I sure am enjoying the trip!!

I started on February 21, 2010, and have lost 61 pounds so far. Thank god for the handy dandy calorie calculators!

Currently I do 45 minutes at 15 percent incline on the treadmill, 6 days a week, and do weight training 3 days per week. I actually do another 40 minutes of just regular old walking, as I walk to the gym and back. So I guess I do a fair bit of exercising, but I am one of the lucky ones who actually has plenty of free time on my hands.

I started On Feb. 20, 2010 and lost 46 pounds as of July 4, 2010. Got crazy busy at work the rest of July, August and Sept., so wasn't able to pay close attention to what I was doing and ate cookie dough...egads!...and had Chinese buffet a few times. I did keep hiking and bicycling, but only once or twice a week. Thankfully, I only gained back about 3 lbs. and now work is quieter again, so I can pay more attention to what I eat, and exercise every day.

I normally count calories and eat 1300-1800 a day, trying to get one on the low end one on the high end and most around 1500 cals. I try to get around 350-400 cals exercise a day and theoretically it should get me a pound or two a week. It's nice to know that food is not inherently god or bad and I can have anything I want as long as it fits my calories. It kind of self-filters so that I eat the nutritous stuff usually in order to get full.

I like the freedome I get counting calories and the way it works in conjunction with exercise.

Barb

I started July 2009 and have lost 122lbs so far with calorie counting and exercise. I'm also a GWF (now Bodymedia) user to track my deficit.

I've lost 165 pounds and have kept it off for 3+ years with the help of calorie counting.

To me, calorie counting is the end all be all. It's built in accountability and forced portion control. Having a calorie budget that I must stay within just makes so much sense. It's incredibly logical.

But calorie counting alone wouldn't have done it for me. I needed/still need to combine that with healthy foods. I need to get the most bang for my calorie buck so to speak. I need to be kept full, satiated and stave off craving for the *bad* stuff. So for me, where those calories come from and don't come from is very important. I eat mostly whole foods, very little processed.

During the losing portion of my journey I banned many foods - sugar, flour, rice, etc. Being addicted to those items, I had to go cold turkey in order to get my horrendous out of control eating in check.

Now that I'm in maintenance I still count calories, still eat the same healthy foods in healthy portions, but add in occasional splurge meals/days as my added calories.

Exercise is another component to my weight loss/maintenance.

I started calorie counting on December 29, 2008 and I've lost 108 pounds. I started at 1500 calories a day and cut back to 1400 a couple of months ago. I know from previous experience that "white carbs" tend to make me hungry, so I try to avoid potatoes, refined sugar and flour, and pasta, but I haven't eliminated them completely.

I might be unusual in that I haven't particularly tried to go "whole foods". I eat some prepackaged food and fast food (items selected very carefully), and I allow myself two cans of diet soda a day. I "save up" calories for an occasional splurge--it really has to be worth it, though (a food that I really love or an extra-special occasion).

I walk a little over a mile and a half (about 30 minutes) six times a week. I keep thinking I "should" add in some other kinds of exercises but haven't yet felt that it's necessary.

I love calorie counting. I plan to maintain at about 1750 calories a day.