Hi Everyone,
I've tried calorie counting in the past and sometimes it has work but sometimes it hasn't. In May of last year, I started the McDougall plan, which is a very low fat (no added oils or other fats whatsoever) plant based diet. There is a regular plan (which includes mainly fruits and veggies, beans, whole grains in the form of unprocessed and processed foods, and fat-free condiments) and also what is called a Maximum Weigh Loss Plan, which is very strict - mainly you eat only unprocessed whole plant based foods and limit fruit to 2 servings. I was doing the regular plan and did pretty good on it (went down from a size 16 to a size 14) but I slipped into eating non-allowable foods (like a little bit of dark chocolate - like 3/4 oz - and soy milk).

So since I really want to focus on weight loss for the next 2 months (I'm seeing my family for the first time in a few years in April and I really want to look better than I do right now), I was looking into doing the Max plan.

So just looking at some forums for some food ideas, someone gave a recipe for a baked oatmeal that had unsweetened applesauce in it (a common ingredient used for vegan baking to replace oil).

The annoying thing was that some idiot came in with "you're not allowed applesauce on the Max plan, it's a processed food."

Applesauce??? Seriously???

That's when I said, "well, forget this. I'm going back to calorie counting where you don't have to deal with the Diet Police."

I still plan on going by the main idea of eating plant-based (because I'm a vegan) and whole foods, but I'm not going to cut out stuff like whole grain bread or pasta or dark chocolate if it fits into my calorie count.

Anybody else sick of the Diet Police who try and tell you this or that is not allowed?

Djuna

I've never followed a diet that tells me what I can/cannot eat. Probably because I'd question it too much! I do fast twice a week according to a specific diet, but my food choices are always my own. I much prefer to count my calories. If I want 3 glasses of wine at a party, I will have it, but I will allow for it in my calories and work extra hard at the gym the next day. I prefer to take responsibility for my own eating.

And btw...apple sauce isn't a processed food if you make it at home right? I've made apple sauce in the slow cooker, it's just apples, water and a little brown sugar, although maybe you'd remove the sugar, it really doesn't even need sugar if you get Macintosh apples or another sweet variety. If you bought it at the store, then yeah, I could see how they would label it "processed".

Chardonnay, that's exactly my point :-). Some people have such rigid definitions of foods, it's laughable. This person obviously thought of applesauce (homemade or not) as processed not because of any of it's ingredients but because it's pure ring the apple instead of eating it whole. That just is totally insane to me. If you take an apple and put it on a blender and wat it, pulp, fiber,skin, and all, to me, that's not processed.

Djuna

That's why I don't really follow a plan or listen too much to others when it comes to my food choices. I know what is processed when I can't understand what's written on the labels! But I think that with any eating plan or ideal, there will always be hardcore folks who are rigid with rules because they follow what works for them. I was vegan for a year and got "scolded" by a worker at a health food store for buying a L'Oreal hair dye product. Whatever, her beliefs are her own, I do my own thing.

If counting calories worked for you in the past, why not go in that direction? And you know, there's always alternatives, if you mostly like the Mcdougall plan, you can continue doing it, but just alter it to your own needs too as long as the diet is still effective for what you expect.

No matter what plan you follow, even calorie counting, there will be diet police - both from outside the plan and from within, telling you that you're doing it wrong, regardless of what "it" is.

Some calorie counters will say you have to watch some or all macronutrients too (fat, protein, carbs). Some will say you don't have to count veggies, some will say you need to count everything, even your medication (so how many calories in an aspirin? You can bet some calorie counters know, and can tell us). Others will tell you how many calories you should be eating, and whether or not it's ok to estimate to the nearest 5, 10, 25, or 50.

No weight loss plan is free of diet police or busy bodies, or even well-meaning people trying to be helpful, so whether you count calories or use another method, there will always be people telling you their way is better.

That's as true in calorie counting as in any other plan.