Calories add up so quickly. Before i started counting i never realized how much i was eating. Its really gross actually. Atleast i got a hold of it now instead of later.

I know exactly what you mean! Before I started counting, I thought to myself, "I don't eat that much, why am I so fat?" I didn't change a thing, just wrote down everything I ate or drank for two weeks.

Imagine my surprise when it totalled over 5000 calories a day, every single day.

I read The Beck Diet Solution, and these days I aim for 2200 or less, figuring that's less than half of what I used to consume every day. It's working, slow and steady.

Good luck!

This! I felt the same way, and for the longest time, I didn't understand it. It wasn't until I made the switch from WW to CC that I could look back while making dinner for the kiddo or DH and see what I would have eaten pre-new WOL and see the calories there.

Along those same lines, I didn't realize the AMOUNT I was eating. I just kept shoveling it in. I used to order chinese food and down the entire container (after I put it on the plate). Now I can barely finish half. Just the realization of that made me sick. Now I count everything to be sure I'm still within my calorie range. Love the dailyplate!

Me too! But the confusing thing for me is, I was eating so many calories before, and so many less now, and still the rate of loss is so SLOW! You'd think it would fall off easy and fast considering how much less I eat. (I mean, 3 weeks of a total stall only 3 weeks in?)
I'm having between 1200-1400 daily, before I never calculated but averaged at LEAST 2400 daily I'm sure, and that's a real lowball estimate. I am a sugar addict so I would have things like a whole DQ cake within 24 hours. If one of my trigger foods is in the house, I am obsessed with it until it's gone.

OMG YES! I was eating well over 2500-3000 calories a day! My problem was no breakfast, large lunch, HUGE dinner, then snacking all night.

My overweight friend is still in denial unfortunately. She tells me she "never eats" but she'll starve herself all day then go out and eat chinese food and drink 6 sodas. I have given up trying to tell her that eating one meal a day doesn't matter if that one meal is over 3,000 calories!

OMG! I had no idea until I switched from WW to just tracking calories. No wonder I wasn't losing any weight! And potion control? I was absolutely incapable of controlling how much food I was shoveling into my face.

I mean, I still don't have an self-control, but at least I'm no longer ignorant of how much damage I'm doing!

I know what you mean. When I began weighing ozs and measuring with cups and spoons - I was surprised to see how little normal servings were. Pasta was especially shocking! I would often make thin spaghetti with meat sauce for dinner and I would put a heaping pile on my plate and pile sauce on because that was a plate full. Often times I didn't even feel full and would go back for more!! The first time I measured out a 2 oz serving of pasta I wanted to cry. So, I actually ate 4 ozs which was approx 400 calories, but I felt there was no way I would be satisfied with 2 oz and would have just been setting myself up to want more food later. Now I also eat it slower and the smaller serving is more than satisfying. Definitely shocking at the beginning though.

Same here with the pasta! I started adding veggies and stuff to my pastas to make them more filling

Yep, it adds up terribly quickly. I never really *did* eat a whole lot, at least that's what I had thought. I never tracked my normal eating habits before CC'ing, but I know I used to snack a whole lot more- and even if it was 100 calorie packs- thinking about how many I'd have...*shudders*.

I've always been pretty good about serving sizes and whatnot, so I haven't been surprised by the amounts of foods- but it is quite shocking when you compare it to what is considered "normal".

I wish everyone would track their normal eating habits before they start counting calories ... sigh ... Scary, but helpful.

I read a study published recently, actually, that says that people who eat only 1 meal a day tend to consume twice as many calories as those who eat 3 times a day. It was actually pretty interesting.

You may have seen my other posts in other subforums where I consider myself as in denial. I just refused to admit that what I was eating wasn't low calories enough for my size. Its like being a bit dilusional. Having one bite sized candy bar is one thing, they are only 30 -40 cals each. But when you have 5 or 6 thru-out the day it adds up.

Why did I stall out this past weekend. My regular eating was fine. But when I made cookies for DH on Sat I probably ate the equivilant to 5 of them while baking. Not good.

This week I'm trying to muster up the will to start calorie counting again. Its going to be a challenge for me.

I think many of us felt the same way...."well, I don't eat THAT much, I must just have a bad metabolism to be this fat." And of course we all have that skinny friend who seems to be able to eat pretty much whatever he/she wants and not gain weight, so it puts us even further in denial. But wow, when you actually add up what you're eating, it's crazy. No WONDER I got fat!

I too was guilty of saying "I don't eat that much/that poorly" to myself. OnceI started counting calories I realised that I was right, to a point... the meals I made were for the most part very healthy, and my portions were a little large, but not over the top. Where I was completely out of control was in between those meals, and when I ordered/ate out. Holy crap, I ate literally hundreds and hundreds (sometimes thousands!) in terrible snacks. Now I keep an eye on my meals more diligently than before, but I am CRAZY about monitoring my snacks. They would be my downfall again, if I let them!