so I've been counting calories since October and I desperately want to stop because I have found that it's quite obsessive ... I used to do it by paper and will literally fill tons of pieces of scratch paper with plans of what to eat ... luckily for the past 2 months I've been using fitday so I'm not crazy anymore but the thing is, summer is starting I'm almost at my goal weight and I don't want to feel that it all depends on calories because when that happens I don't think I eat as healthy because I just concern myself with the calories not the nutritional benefit (a cookie vs. an apple) ... so I'm wondering if anyone has any suggestions to weed myself off of calorie counting? or if anyone else has the same problem? thanks so much

I personally plan on journaling/calorie counting the rest of my life. I have also read that those who journal have better success losing the weight, and MAINTAINING that weight loss. I am not "obsessed" over it so much...but it has just become sort of a second nature thing in my life now-just like showering and brushing my teeth.
It all comes down to making healthy choices, but also calories in vs. calories out. What you can look forward to, since you are very near to your goal, is slightly raising your calories when you reach goal to "maintain" your weight loss. Start with a 100 calorie a day raise from what you eat for losing weight. If you maintain your weight successfully after a couple weeks of that...then raise it another 100. Find the level for you that you can eat and maintain your weight loss.

thanks ladies ... I think I will just have to accept it, it's true ... its weird this weekend I sort of counted, just kinda estimated because who knows what was in that food that other people cooked hehe but yeah and when I stepped on the scale I had lost 2 pounds this past week after I had increased my calorie intake! so I think that my body was kind of low .. but aphil I like your idea because I dont want to take it up all of a sudden and gain weight back ... thanks for the advice

Icecreamjunkie, you have really had some wonderful progress .
I want to be at 140 soon, my short term goal is to be weighing 150 by the end of the month, I will get there, I am motivated and determined . I count all of my calories and that is what works for me, it took some time for me to find something that did work for me, but I did.

Sandy

I've just recently found 3FatChicks and I'm calorie counting. It is a big commitment of time and energy to weigh and count everything, but it works. I am a habitual fatty and have tried many, many methods of weight loss, but it has only been over the past month that I have worked out I always eat much more than I was aware of. Counting may be an obsession, but you are aware of everything that goes in your mouth. And I am convinced that it is amnesia and food blindness that makes us fat.

I assure you, that after you count calories for a while it isn't as obsessive and time consuming. As I said, you memorize a lot of the calories in foods, so you don't have to look them up any longer. Right off the top of my head-1c. of strawberries is 45 cal, a small apple is 80, a Yoplait Light yogurt is 100, a can of Mountain dew is 170 (I don't drink Dew, but my husband does and I know the label! ) I am at the point now where I only have to look up things when I eat in a restaurant, or make a recipe and figure the single ingredients in it. It becomes much easier.

I eat more than necessary if I don't journal as well, and this keeps me honest, by keeping what I am eating in check.

You too. I find that my interest in my diet is waning. I'm about ten pounds from my original goal weight. However, I think I've reached a comfortable weight, one that is healthy and easy to maintain. All this counting of calories has got me grazing throughout the day and adding number on the top of number in my head. For the most part I can keep a running total in my head and can calculate my current calorie needs fairly instantly ( though I will write the level down occassionally to simpley keep track).
However, I feel myself getting hungrier. My brain is always on some level thinking about food and about what I will be eating next. My energy levels and concentration have suffered along with a busy day schedule. I've becoem obssessed with food.

I also started the diet without my doctor's reccommendations. Not out of any relucatance on my part ( my health insurance was temporarily crazy). Only recently did I aqctually speak to her about my diet but only briefly. When I told her I was cuttign calories she told me frankly you'll dirve yourself crazy. Although I know I haven't broken any conventional rules. I'e begun to regret countign calories because I fear this is not a program I will be able to keep up and the last thing I want is to gain it all back and then some.

It's jsut so good to see that I'm not the opnly one worrying about this problem. Gah, it's so difficult sometimes.
(p.s. I'm at 149 now, I'm just too lazy to update my counter).

I pretty much stick to the 100 Pound Club area at 3FC, but tonight thought I'd check out this forum since this is the way Howie and I have tackled our weight loss. Making sure the calories you consume are in the form of healthy foods is the best thing you can do for yourself. For years we dieted off and on, counting calories but not really eating healthfully. This time it's different, and we both feel satisfied at the end of the day.

My secret tip (not so secret, but it got you interested, right?): Calories as cash. I love to bargain shop, so equating my 1500 daily calories to $1500 helps me. Which is the better bang for the buck, the cheeseburger....Or some low-fat yogurt, fruit, and some really good nutty bread with some peanut butter?

One's an impulse buy that will satisfy me for a short time, while the other has staying power for my body and is good for me. See what I mean? It's kind of fun to budget those calories like that.

Hope that encourages you!

I honestly think that maybe you SHOULD start writing down what you are eating, rather than keeping a running total in your head. This will "free" your brain of having to worry about it when you are not eating. I go to the grocery store, and I "count" in my head how much I am spending through the store, and when my kids talk to me halfway through and I lose count, I have to stand there and "rethink" and add it all back up in my head "Eggs-$1, bottled water $6, bread $8, bag of apples $11..." If you are keeping track in your head-I would imagine that it is affecting you. You don't even have to write down the actual "food" if you want to make it really simple-take a small notebook and write down "80" for the apple...you know what you ate. It will affect you less honestly, if you take the 2 seconds to record it, rather than keeping a running total in your head, or taking too much time making some drawn out journal. Just make it simple.

I honestly think your doctor is wrong.
Whatever you do to lose weight and KEEP IT OFF must be a lifestyle change. Whatever you choose to do, whether it be calorie counting, South Beach, Atkins, Weight Watchers, Body For Life-whatever-it has to be a lifestyle change. And it has to be a CHANGE from whatever you were doing before that made you fat. Every plan or program forces you to be mindful in your eating habits in one way or another. There is no plan out there where you don't have to think about what you are eating at all-because that is what made us all fat. You have to be mindful of what you are consuming...and that IS the lifestyle change. It doesn't have to control your every waking thought if you don't let it.

I have "accepted" that I am going to calorie count and exercise for the rest of my life. Just like I have accepted that my friend Jenny can sit on her butt and eat Doritos and weigh 120 pounds. I am not Jenny, and I never will be.

I don't obsess any longer over the calories-I just quickly write them down, and get on with life. I believe that most of it is in the attitude-just like with exercise. I don't moan and groan about working out for half an hour, and then shuffle my feet going about it. I just do it, just like taking a shower, getting the mail, and every other part of my daily life. I find that it is over and done with if I just get on the ball and get it done. (I know a lot of people who take more time complaining about not having time to exercise, than doing the exercise would actually take! )

Gardenwife-Welcome!!!!! I have read some of you and your husband's posts over there! His progress pictures are fabulous!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I love the idea of spending the calories like cash! I tend to do the same thing! When I am faced with temptations, I think along the same lines...yes, I could "spend" 400 calories on that fast food sandwich...but if I ordere the grilled chicken salad instead (when husband wants fast food) I will have 150 calories to "spend" later!!!

I think that losing weight successfully means you have to change your lifestyle. Not just for now, but for life. There are a couple users here that have some awesome quotes in their signatures that sum it all up pretty well:

~If you do what you have always done, you'll get what you've always gotten.

~If you really want to, you will find a way. If you don't, you will find an excuse.

Thanks, Aphil. I should stop by here more often. There are so many posts to keep up with in the 100 pound club and in the gardening site we frequent, I rarely venture out into new areas! I love how we can subscribe to threads across all the boards, though.

i don't think it's wrong to count. i plan to always count and write down my calories -- forever! when i stopped before, i started gaining it all back. maybe your doctor is like jenny of the doritos. some people are not like that. you are right, in that being obsessed with food and counting is not good, but if you just spend a few minutes on fitday, i think you are o.k. calorie counting is a lifestyle, you know, like the low-carb "lifestyle." there are 2880 calories in an awesome blossom. i just know it, like some people know their state capitals and presidents.

Hello, I have enjoyed reading all the posts about calorie counting. I am also counting (1200-1400). I love it. It keeps me on track. I make up a weeks menus at a time and then choose what I want to cook according to my daily schedule. I always place some home cooked meals and some things that do not take as long, such as a chef salad with lots of good turkey and veggies. I also plan snacks so I have something on hand. This helps me feel better about my day. I am a stress/emotional eater and if I have something healthy on hand I reach for that instead of chips,cookies or candy. I have been trying to eat 5-6 meals per day and I can truthfully say I do not get hungry this way. I still crave some things after 3 months but I look for low calorie substitutes. I have lost 15 pounds since June1st and I am thankful for everyone of them. Only 74 to go!!!. Good luck to everyone. Connie

I too expect to have to count calories, measure and weigh food, etc. for the rest of my life - to a degree.

In the beginning I was very diligent about logging every morsel. It worked and I couldn't have gotten this far without having done that. But now that I am more familiar with proper portions, the calorie counts of various foods, and what being satisfied (as opposed to full) feels like, I find that I usually eat MORE when I count calories as strictly as I once did.

If I just listen to my body and make the healthiest choices I can during the day I find that I am perfectly happy eating 1200-1300 calories a day. But, I still lose weight eating in the 1500-1600 calorie range. If I'm counting calories religiously I find that I'll talk myself into more food (I'm only at 1300 calories, hey, I have 200 more to go). So, what is working for me right now is logging my calories after I've decided that I'm done eating for the day rather than logging them throughout the day. From time to time I still buckle down and log every bite - but only to make sure I'm staying on track.

I know that I will always be aware of my eating habits but I don't want them to take over. I've spent the majority of my adult life thinking about food - either trying to figure out how to eat less of it or day dreaming about what I would shove in my mouth next. I am emotionally drained from it. I am thankful that I've gotten to a place where I am not constantly focused on food in one way or another so I don't mind the occasional reality check that is required to help me reach my goal weight and maintain it from here on out.