Hey everyone,

I'm trying to find a program that will work for me and am struggling to weigh up the pros and cons objectively (no pun intended!) I've tried both the Paul McKenna and the calorie counting methods before and not succeeded with either, but after a bit of a wake up call recently I'm here to restart, but I'm not sure in which direction to go.

I'm currently 158lbs, wanting to reach 125lb by 2nd of February next year (plenty of time, I know). My exercise is 40 minute walks Monday to Friday, plus around 2 hours of cardio (split into 4 x 30 minute sessions with My Fitness Coach) across the week and 100 daily crunches. I'm also looking into getting some small dumbells to do a little free weight lifting to tone my arms. I also drink 50oz + of water each day.

So here's my thoughts on each plan.

I like the Paul McKenna ideals, though due to my lifestyle at the moment (squeezing in university, studying, work and keeping a household) I don't always have the time for each meal to sit and not do anything else like watch TV or read while I eat and put my cutlery down between each meal. I did see some results while I was on it, but very small (couple of ounces a week) which is difficult.

With calorie counting I struggled with hunger pangs, but I wasn't drinking as much water as I am now. Also, I find it difficult with some things to know how many calories I'm having, e.g. if I'm using a sauce for bolognaise and don't know whether I used closer to 2/5 of the jar, 1/3 or 1/2. I also have difficulties totalling up mixtures like homemade tuna mayo and things like that. I did use the daily plate while calorie counting, which helped, but still not sure how to overcome the mixture difficulties.

Any advice or suggestions would be most welcome - thanks for reading!

Katy

I am a calorie counter. I thought I had tried this before but really I hadn't. my biggest helper is a digital scale, it does grams and ounces and I can zero it out with each item I add it is a life saver. Im learning normal portions sizes which have always been off, I'm learning to add lots of low calorie foods because I like to eat and I like to feel full when I eat, and by low cal foods I don't mean heavily processed fake low cal foods, I mean fruits and veggies, proteins and whole grain breads and pasta(but I do limit those) Calorie counting can be time consuming but so worth it. I write down every thing I add to a meal and its measure meant in a notebook, sometimes while a soup is simmering or casserole is bakeing I am sitting at my table with all the containers from my ingredients and my computer, notebook, and pen and work out the total calories for the whole thing. Then I divide the soup/casserole in equal parts. I always fix my plate first so I can weigh and measure as I go, then I call the family in to fix theirs...lol Anyways thats how I handle making homemade things. It may not always be the perfect ecaxt amount but its close. Like the other night, I made fajitas, i totaled up the whole thing, weighed the entire about, worked out the calories per gram of mixture. sure i made have had more meat than veggie in some of the servings but it still had to be pretty close. Good luck with what ever your choice.

Hey Mandy thanks very much for the tips!

I did buy digital scales before Christmas for baking and cooking, but hadn't thought about measuring my servings as I'm putting them out - that's a great idea!

I'm trying to eat a lot more veggies and fruits etc, but where do you get your basic calorie info, like how many calories are in a red bell pepper? When I used the daily plate I would find it hard to get what I was looking for, e.g. raw pepper rather than grilled, fryed etc. I was just wondering if you had a more direct method?

I have found calorie counting and eating 5 to 6 times a day most effective for me. This combination works for me because I never find myself starving at any point in the day. I know what my maximum calorie intake is for the day and I stick to it. I also do my best to prepare things in advance to keep me on track throughout the week. Similar to willow650, I weigh and measure my food to get a close estimate to what I am actually eating. Since calorie counting, weighing and measuring, can get time consuming, I do my best to prepare things all at once or a couple times a week. I have a pretty large supply of the plastic Ziploc containers (all sizes). I have found that this helps decrease the time preparation time for foods that I eat frequently. I know how full the container should be and I just fill it up that high. It’s also good to have the food prepared ahead of time just in case I find myself in a hurry. I can grab something I already prepared and I know exactly how much I’m eating.

I also track my food/calories on fitday.com (if you have an iPhone there is an app you can download called Lose It. It’s like fitday.com…maybe a little better). This tool has helped me become more aware of what I’m eating (fat, carbs, protein, and total calories). I have found several times that I won’t eat something because I don’t want to log the calories into my daily food log and actually face the high amount of calories, fat, or carbs I just ate. However, if I do decide to indulge, the numbers show me what I have done and I try to make up for it by eating less for the rest of the day. As far as not being able to find the exact amount of calories for cooked veggies, I have run across that problem too. I usually just use the nutrition facts listed for raw veggie and then if I use oil or something else to cook with I add that in separate. I’m sure some of my nutrition is off, but I’m guessing the actual calories are pretty close?? I hope so anyway. It seems to be working out alright.

One more thing…I also drink at least 64oz of water a day and limit my intake of processed foods. I try to stick to eating whole grains, veggies, fruits, and lean proteins.

I hope whichever plan you chose gets you to your goal! Good luck to you!