After a looooong break I've decided it's the right time for me to get back to doing what I know best ... plain and simple counting calories. It's worked for me in the past and hopefully it'll work for me again. I've tried various other plans over the years, but I always feel much happier when I'm counting calories.

I recently joined a UK based online weight loss plan which, in theory, was good. I had to enter my daily meals, and whilst the nutritional information provided by the site was excellent ... it told me how much carbs/fat/protein/fibre/sugar/sodium/etc, I was consuming each day and how much I needed to increase or decrease it by, as well as how many calories I was consuming, but I found it all sooooo long winded and time consuming ... I ended up spending literally hours a day on the computer!! I became so obsessed with getting everything right to ensure that I was eating a balanced diet, quite honestly, it was doing my head in!!

Also, on top of that, they worked out that I should be consuming 1200 calories a day, based on my age/height/activity level ... way lower than I have allowed myself in the past. I found it very difficult to keep within my calorie allowance and felt hungry a lot of the time. And the annoying thing was that I hardly lost any weight!! When I considered that in the past I've allowed myself around 1500 calories a day to begin with and have managed to lose quite nicely, It just didn't seem right.

Anyway, I realised that for me, in the long term, it just wouldn't be sustainable. After a few weeks of logging on and inputting everything that passed my lips, I knew I needed something simpler in order to stop me from giving up. So, here I am ... pen and jotter at the ready ... jotting down everything I eat throughout the day, which takes me just a few minutes instead of hours!! An allowance of 1500 calories a day, and a pretty good knowledge of what I need to eat to ensure a proper healthy balanced diet ... without obsessing about it!

Happy to be back at 3fc again!

I agree with your observation that counting and weighing and obsessing over every food group is just too much sometimes in our busy lives. I think most of us have a very good idea of what we should eat to lose weight.

For me, using pre-packaged and calorie identified foods works well. I actually like many of the "lean' frozen entrees and I really don't enjoy cooking or fussing in the kitchen. I just add a salad and/or fruit and dinner is done! I also use snacks such as pudding cups or the 100 calorie packs... anything that tells me how much calories I'm consuming. That's just my way... and I really think that everyone has to find their own plan for losing weight. One size fits all is not true with diets.

Glad you got back to doing what you know is right for you. I'll be rooting for you!

I couldn't agree more with that! What suits one person may not necessarily suit another. It's taken me years to figure out that counting calories is the best way for me. I've wasted far too much time trying out various diet plans in the belief that they must be better than simply counting calories ... but not for me ... this time I'm sticking with what I know works best for me!

I am a pen and journal girl, myself. I also found the online keeping track took alot of time and was confusing to me. (I know folks that LOVE it, however) I have a pretty notebook where write down my calories, water, and other things I am working on. I can check them off as the day goes on. On the back inside cover of my notebook are the calorie counts of some of my favorite food, veggies, fruits, rice, noodles. That way I can quckly weigh and measure and write it down without running to the computer. This seems to work for me.

We all find what works. I am glad you are figuring it out for yourself. YAY

I look forward to seeing your success.

I like the brutal honesty of CC.