**** I should have titled this thread who DOESN'T COUNT EVERYTHING?*****

I have always been curious about whether or not counting claories is "necessary". Meaning when I think of back in the day when my grandmother and older relatives were growing up they didn't have scales or count calories they just ate until satisfied mind you mostly fresh whole foods from their garden or meat from their farm animals.

I'm just curious does anyone on here just do portion control verses actually counting calories?

i think that's what people are refering to when they say they are intuitive eaters, and I've seen a few of them on here. And of course there are all the other non-calorie counting programs: atkins, south beach, neolithic (that one was new on me when I came here), etc.

I don't even look at the calories posted in packages anymore. And I went from weighing myself every day to not doing it at all. The other day, after more than a month, i stepped on the scale and the number hasn't changed at all.

Sometimes I wonder if we should let ourselved be a bit freer...

as Aclai said, it sounds like you're on your way to being an intuitive eater. Maybe you'd like to join us here http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/gene...ting-11-a.html ??

Oh I'm sure there are plenty.

But *for me*, nothing BUT calorie counting would work. I need the accountability and forced portion control that counting calories provide.

If eating *intuitively* worked or even exists for me, I wouldn't have gotten to be 287 lbs. My intuition tells me "it tastes good - have more - and more".

And as for the older generation not having scales and the such, they also didn't have McDonald's and Dunkin Donuts and Pizza Hut buffets and processed garbage to eat. They did not have the overabundance of food that we have and the overabundance of altered foods, which I believe send us (some) into a feeding frenzy. Had we not had all these things, I believe things would be much different.

I used to count *everything* but after 6 years of maintenance, I no longer count for home prepared meals. I still do when I go out for fast food or restaurants.

I'm not counting calories, I get flustered tracking my calories for each meal I eat. I'm just doing portion control and eating healthy. I'm trying to include a protein, a fat and a carb in every meal I eat, but I am not stressing over what foods I eat, just that they not be fatty. I really like what this diet is about.

I can't post the link, bc I'm relatively new to this site. Bill and chelle . com / fitness / index . html

However, I'm not trying to be on a "diet". I am making a lifestyle change, and focusing on eating healthy. I just started my weight loss journey, and lost 2 lbs this week. Eat less, exercise more is my motto.

Well, I don't exactly count calories. I don't do the actual math. I eat three times a day, as clean as I can with no rice or bread or sweet stuff. I eat as "clean" as I can. I will only eat if I am physically hungry and won't if I'm not. For me, planning out 5 to 6 mini meals a day is not realistic to my schedule. I can't see myself eating something every couple hours. I gained weight grazing all day. Of course, it was all the wrong kind of food but that isn't the point.

The one thing I've learned to do is stop when I'm satisfied. That's the only reason I've gained so much weight in the first place. I could never get myself to stop. Now for the first time I actually feel my eating habits are normal. I never want to focus on calories and planning. I do realize in a way I am calorie counting... just not doing the math.

I say if you're comfortable with eating mostly food that is good for you nutritionally, know your portion sizes well and can stick to them, listen to your hunger cues, you're good to go. But if not, for me personally, calorie counting is the next best thing. Whatever you choose, good luck with it.

I'm horrible at counting calories but I keep struggling to try because I believe that is what is partly hindering my weight loss progress.

I've lost 160 lbs not counting calories but eating better foods and cutting down my portions. It means I've eaten less calories without counting them. I wouldn't consider it intuitive eating at all. Those that follow other diets like Atkins, South Beach Diet and multitude of others also generally don't seem to count calories but they are still reducing their calories using the methods followed in the diet.

I feel like it's better to start out counting calories or points so you can get an idea of what good portions look like. But I couldn't imagine counting everything I eat for the rest of my life. That seems a little obsessive.

Oh and one thing I forgot to add is I am definitely aware of calories of things I eat and I read labels and what not. I also have a food scale so that I can measure out portions. I didn't get my food scale though until I had already lost at least 140 lbs, I can't remember exactly when I got it but I love it.

I did do calorie counting for a bit, but then changed to a more intuitive way of eating. I find it works really well. My plan in focused mostly on not bingeing (so I'm a frequent visitor of Chicks in Control). Outside of that, basically I follow a pretty basic plan: When I'm hungry, I eat heathy foods. When I'm not hungry, I don't eat anything. If I think I'm hungry, I drink some water to make sure it's real hunger. Also, when I'm with people, out in restaurants, for example, I eat what I want (but when I'm satisfied, I stop eating). This is more to prevent the bingeing--before when I would binge, part of it was from being out, and not getting what I wanted because I didn't want to fit the stereotype of the "fat person", then overcompensating at home, alone. (Which lead me to fit into the stereotype of the "fat person" anyway!)

It helps since I live alone, so most of my eating is alone, and my rule is that when I eat alone, it has to be healthy. I figure that when I get to a lower weight, I'll have to be stricter and maybe go back to calorie counting, but right now this is working much better, and I feel like I have way more control with the bingeing.

I don't count calories. I eat sensible portions, make healthy choices, (I have never eaten this many vegatables before) and drink plenty of water. I am never hungry and never real full either. I eat three healthy snacks from a list of 100 calorie snacks I found on the internet, but that is just to help give me a bunch of different ideas. It is working for me so far.

I half way calorie count if that makes sense. I DO NOT write down every single bite of food that passes my lips or account for every single little thing (if I have a tiny bite of a snickers bar or a piece of gum, for instance) that I consume. I have a pretty good general knowledge of the calorie counts of most of the foods I eat and am good at estimating as well. And that's how I do it. It's a form of "intuitive eating", but I'm still setting that limit and giving myself structure.

I think the dangerous part of intuitive eating can be that sometimes, we really have no idea what the nutritional information is of the food we eat. How many times have you looked on the back of a package of a food you assumed was healthy only to find out it wasn't at all?? I know it's happened to me quite a few times....and I would have kept right on eating it thinking it was just fine if I hadn't given myself that calorie limit.

I haven't counted calories for close to a year and a half now.

Calorie counting makes absolutely no sense to me so I don't do it. However, like Nelie, I am aware of how many calories there in various items. If anything, I focus on how many carbs versus how much protein any given meal contains. I don't worry about fat.