debigulating- Thanks for that response about the scale. I do the very same thing and it never occurred to me that using oz on liquids had the potential to be a dangerous method!I'll keep this in mind in the future.

It can get annoying at times. I agree with other posters who brought up the fact that in the end, you're going to have to count something!
I do find though that I take a break every few weeks for a day or two. I don't count anything, I just eat. This gives my mind a mental break. That way I don't drive myself nuts or stop all together.
Calorie counting has become a way of life for me, or part of my lifestyle rather. The great thing is with calorie counting databases, it really isn't that hard to do.

tdiprincess- The calorie counting break sounds like a great plan. I think I'll wait until I have been successful at counting everything for a solid month before I take breaks. But that does seem like a great sanity saver.

tdiprincess,

Kudos to you for being able to take breaks but that's something I know I should not do. Experience has told me that if I stop counting for even a day the scales will show it and then I'll get discouraged, feel bad about myself, and quit. :p

I hated it in the beginning because when you're first starting out, you're always looking at everything in detail, but after awhile of doing it, it kind of becomes natural. Now it's like second nature to where I just know what to grab and stay under the limit.

For me, it depends on what my calorie level is. If it's at a decent level that I know I can handle (like 1400 calories), then I don't mind counting. If it's at a level that I know is really low (like 1100 calories), then I hate it because it always seems like what I want to eat, even if it's healthy, is too much and I have to keep knocking things down on Fitday.

However, I usually plug in a few alternate menus into Fitday to see where I am rather than religiously plug in my menu each day. I tend to eat the same types of foods/meals anyway and I find that if I use Fitday every day, it becomes counterproductive for me, since I tend to become too calorie obsessed.

Djuna

Ive tried more or less every diet going but ive always been most successfull counting calories , it can be a pain sometimes but its second nature to me now , keeping weight off is the hardest bit for me :O(

I don't hate it but sometimes it just gets annoying. Specifically when I am close to TOM and I want to eat everything in the house and cannot. Well, I *could* but it would not do me any good.

Yes, I hate it. I can't take a break either because I'll gain :(

I like the flexibility of it.
Over the years I've tried many weight loss diets/plans and I've found calorie counting to be the easiest by far.

I like being able to eat what I cook for my family, for the most part. That's a huge benefit!

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