I "calorie count." I put it in parenthesis because usually I track Mon, Tues Wed and then fall on Thursday, Friday and Saturday and track again Sunday. Also, shockingly, I don't lose weight. This week I committed to track all week. No matter what I ate, just track. Well I did. And stayed within my calorie range every day (on Sparkpeople) even when I went out to a pub with friends or had bacon for dinner.

And I lost a pound!

So, lesson learned. Tracking won't kill me, and will probably help me more days than not.

I also realized from tracking that if I eat a high protein, high fat diet with some carbs, I can eat fewer calories and not be hungry.

Did you find more success when you tracked regularly? Did you discover things about your eating habits?

Whoo congrats!

I learned the same thing after a while; even though how much we eat matters, certain foods keep us full longer than others Great job for sticking with it!!

Tracking actually drove me insane I can't do it beyond keeping an estimate of calories in my head. When I tracked in an app I got overly obsessive.

Way to go seagirl!

I find tracking to be very useful too. I'm always surprised at how fast those BLT's (bite, licks, tastes) add up!!

I find that adding protein to every meal keeps me satisfied longer so I try to add some protein to every meal.

Anyhoo, congratulations on finding what works for you!

Congrats! I track Mon-Fri, I try to lol and then let myself cheat a little Sat sometimes Sun and I usually see a 1-2lb weight loss every week.

I track almost every single day. At first I was obsessive about it but I'm not so bad any more. There have only been a handful of times that I have skipped counting for an entire day. Sometimes I won't track a particular meal but if that happens, I will track my breakfast, lunch and snacks so I have an idea of how many calories I have available for that particular meal.

Tracking like this has helped me lose a total of 27 lbs. since Feb. 3, 2012.

Congrats on the loss! Keep tracking!

I religiously track my calories Monday-Friday. Then on Saturdays & Sundays I allow myself one "go for it" meal (usually at a restaurant). But I've learned it's still important to reign myself in on those days, so outside of the freebie meal I try to stick to around 800 calories. That way I'm not working all week to shed the weight I put on over the weekend.

I also try to stick to high protein snacks. Hormel makes turkey pepperonis that are awesome... not only are they packed with flavor (and protein!) but you get 17 of them for a mere 70 calories.

Tracking calories is the way to go. It's not even painful with all the handy sites around

You and me. I use Fitday, and I've got a month's worth of blank weekends.
No good.

Not this weekend.

Yay!
I have a beach day planned with friends tomorrow. Putting lunch in now, and planning the rest of the day around it. Went for a run today, biking 6 miles to and from the beach tomorrow.

Yes tracking is definitely helping me. I have even started tracking the unplanned snacks this is 1) letting me see that a couple of mistakes is not the disaster I always thought it was and 2) making me much more accountable instead of pretending on paper it never really happened. Can't see the point of tracking if I am not being honest with myself. Keep up the good work

Even though I'm still new to calorie counting I've started "slipping" on fridays. So I would just leave the day blank.... I knew it wasn't good b/c I'm only hurting myself right?

Well, I tracked what I ate yesterday, which was a lot of junk I didn't really want just ate b/c I gave myself a free for all day. The best was hitting the "complete this entry" button on mfp and seeing I would gain all my weight back in 5 weeks if I kept up my eating habits...

It's definitely an eye opener. Not to mention, I will still keep my relaxed eating day for friday but I will only eat foods I really want, not food that's just there...

Great job on tracking and enjoy your day at the beach!!!!!

sounds like progress Meikmeika.

I find it hard to track constantly, I have been eyeballing it and I'm sure I will have less than stellar results next weigh in, the week I track religiously is the week I lose a chunk of weight, I know for me it is still calories in vs calories out and pretty straight corellation to weight loss its just motivating myself to DO it that seems to be the issue. Even though I'm in my 30's It seems like if I do the math, I see the results when I am lazy and don't do the math but try to "just make smart choices" I generally maintain my weight which gives me hope for the future I don't know if I can comitt to tracking for life, but if I can maintain without tracking and then track and lose... I can live with that

I'm loving the comments in this thread!

Still tracking. Even last night when I thought I was done for the day and then went out with friends (I had pre-tracked a couple of vodka drinks) and ended up having a little dish of polenta and scallops. I came home and tracked. Yes, I went above my limit by 300 calories for the day, but that's not bad and I'd biked 12 miles that day so a few extra cals were probably needed.

It felt good to be accountable, see the facts and move on.

Glad to hear that tracking calories is working for you .

For me, I find that regularly tracking calories makes me obsessed with them to the point where it's not healthy. I start to play the "how low can I go" game where I shave off stuff to see how low I can make the calories (like eating 1/3 cup of beans instead of 1/2, etc) and it starts to get too much.

What I usually do is come up with a standard menu plan and plug one sample menu into Fitday to see what the numbers look like. If they fit the calorie level and nutrient level I want to go, then I don't track from there.

Tam