Hey everyone, I am new to the whole foods lifestyle board and I was wondering if people do things like weighing and measuring their food or counting calories or anything? I am not planning on doing any of those things but I'm hoping by cutting out the sweets I usually eat on top of healthy foods I will be able to loose some lbs! Sound reasonable or far-fetched?
I do weigh and measure most things, since I get a bad case of portion creep after a while. A little extra natural peanut butter can add up pretty quickly. Some people manage without it. If you are losing without it, I wouldn't start, but if you plateau somewhere, it is definitely something to check. Lots of healthy, natural foods are not lower calorie.
I am very into the idea of "mindful eating." That means that I do tend to measure most foods where it's easy to eat more than you intend. I always measure: cereal, rice, pasta, salad dressing, oil, dried fruit, trail mix, nuts. I don't measure stuff like salad vegetables. I am also very aware of serving sizes.
I do count calories as well, even though I do it more like a rough estimate. You can eat nothing but healthy food and still gain weight, if you eat enough of it.
Lots of people don't like to count and are very successful losing weight without counting, you should definitely do what works for you! Personally, I was successful when I carefully counted and measured whole foods!
I measure and count calories too. I never really ate things that were 'bad' for me, but I am all about huge portions. If I do not weigh and measure I'll eat twice what I should. One thing I have discovered from 3FC is that there is no one size fits all.
Thanks for the quick replies.. I'll have to feel it out for a while because lately every time I've tried to "diet" I get quick rebellious! But it's great to know what works for others, as it might work for me too.
I don't measure or count calories right now, but only because I (like you) am just getting started. I have a lot of weight to lose, and just the changes in WHAT and how I eat are big enough now for me that I am making a difference. I do know, however, that there will come a time in the not too distant future where I will plateau and need to be more careful. For now, I am just enjoying the freedom of eating without being weighed down by junk food!
I count carbs and calories because I've been a juvenile diabetic most of my life, so reading labels was something I grew up with. I'm very aware, but I don't count each calorie and total for the day, if that makes sense. I need to know my carbs because I need to know how much insulin i need to give myself, but I don't watch them in the sense of having a certain allotment a day, i just cover what I eat. I have a measure certain foods but for the most part, due to years of portion controlling for my diabetes can tell what a serving is.
Awareness, I guess is what I'm saying. Not counting everything.
I measure mostly on a food scale, that whole fist, finger thumb thing just doesn't work for me. Though I know the reason I need to lose 50 + pounds is because of potato chips, ice cream and full fat foods, I also have a problem with portion sizes of good healthy food choices.
Thanks for the quick replies.. I'll have to feel it out for a while because lately every time I've tried to "diet" I get quick rebellious! But it's great to know what works for others, as it might work for me too.
Snowbunny, I hear you about "rebelling" against dieting!
I do measure things but not to the letter. So for example, if I'm measuring cereal in a half-cup measurement and it's a heafty half cup, I don't stress over it. I also found the trick of putting food into smaller bowls. Like I just heated up my lunch in a larger bowl but transfered it to a smaller bowl which is filled to the brim so that psychologically it looks as if I'm getting a full meal (not that I'm gyping myself out, but it helps )
Measure?
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