Add some Norah Jones, a glass of red wine, and a couple candles, and a good book while things are in the oven and it's a stinking fantastic Sunday night :) But that's just me :o

Takes me about 5 minutes to plan my menus for the day. I count what I am going to eat and not what I have already eaten. Plan ahead .

WW is similar to counting calories, except you have to count more pieces and those pieces are not calories. their new plan puts a little more emphasis on eating more healthy food because the healthier food counts fewer points than the same calorie junk food item, etc.

No, you do not have to count calories. There are lots of people out there who have lost weight and maintained without counting calories. If anyone doubts this, I can offer several specific examples of people I've encountered throughout the internet who have lost weight and kept it off without obsessing over numbers. Just because it works for some people doesn't mean it's the only solution.

Accountability is important, though! Maybe you don't have to look up every single thing that you eat, but something that can help a lot is simply writing down what you eat. That takes maybe five, ten seconds after each meal and is likely not going to impact your busy schedule. Read over your food choices at the end of each day and notice where you could make improvements. Did you put a lot of cheese on your salad? Maybe try a larger variety of vegetables instead. Take it gradually, do what you can! Maybe when life calms down, if you decide that counting calories is helpful to you, you can do that. But certainly some type of change now is better than no change at all.

The way some posters have responded to this is extremely disheartening. Counting calories has never been the end-all solution to weight maintenance--for some people, it simply doesn't make sense! Personally, I'm keeping loose track of my calories, but I know if I become very strict with them, I'll slip into eating disordered behavior. I have the calorie content of so many foods memorized from past attempts to lose weight, and guess what? I'm still fat. When I count calories, I just hate myself more. Sometimes, it's more of a mental obstacle than anything else.

I'm finding that just listening to my body and eating fewer processed foods is helping me immensely. That, and being kind to myself. Do what works for you, not what works for somebody else.

You make a valid point.

And I have a confession. I don't know a lot about cooking. The idea of cooking/freezing my food appeals to me.. but it also feels really overwhelming and I have no idea where to start or how to do it :(

A few months into my weight loss journey, I ruptured a disk in my back. For two months, I could barely make it off the sofa to the bathroom, let alone get up and cook dinner. For the next couple of months after that, I was still in a lot of pain - and things like standing at the stove or chopping vegetables were likely to leave me gasping. I'd been successful losing 30 lbs or so, and I was terrified that I was going to slip back into old habits and stop losing and/or gain all the weight back. So every two weeks, I had my husband buy me enough frozen meals to eat two a day - lunch and dinner. They were easy enough that my kids could make them for me without much effort. On the days my husband was off work, he would cut up fresh veggies and make individual sized salads for me. So I could ask my 9 year old to grab something from the freezer and bring me a a salad to go with it. I lost tons of weight. Tons. I even managed to keep my sodium underneath the level my doctor wanted. So, even if it isn't the best way to go about losing weight - you do what you have to do.

Although my life has slowed down a bit, I've had times where I didnt have as much free time on my hands. And this is what I did. I think other people have suggested very similar ideas, but here you go...

Have like 2 - 3 options for each meal that you know the calorie amount and is quick to prepair.

Example, breakfast half cup egg beaters, slice cheese omelette, slice of taost...I dont know, you need to pick stuff that works for you.
If you prefigure out a few 300-400 calorie meals, then you can just decide which meal to make. No figuring calories because you'll know already that you prethought meals are 300 calories, or whatever.

Or just start making replacements to your current diet. Start with the oatmeal cookie, lol, dont start the day with a cookie! Even though that sounds super tasty. :) Cut back on your portions. Every little bit helps.

Step 1. Decide what to cook. Check out the whole host of recipes and threads on this website. Specifically look at crockpot recipes, and make ahead recipes.

Step 2. Get the items you need to cook it.

Step 3. Cook it.

Step 4. Freeze it in small reheatable containers!

Step 5. Heat and eat! :carrot:

While I love the idea a lot of people have posted about planning my meals and then cooking/freezing ahead of time... I feel so overwhelmed by the notion and have no real idea where to start. But your idea about just writing down what I eat, not so much counting calories... I think I could ease myself into that. Maybe it would be easier to just dip my toes in first and then figure out which end of the pool to jump into. I think I may do the just writing down my food for a bit, and then go from there. This idea leaves me less overwhelmed, and I think it might lead to more later :)

Oatmeal cookie = can eat and drive, LOL Its way better than eating the breakfast they serve at school... usually bacon/sausage and toast, or Cocoa Puffs cereal :)

Yay for getting your feet wet! :carrot:

I'm on a low-carb plan, and I have to track my carbs just as others have to track their calories. There really isn't a shortcut to weight loss. You could try intuitive eating, but that might only get you so far.

I once found a really yummy recipe for an oatmeal "bar" with raisins, and apple sauce, etc. Tasted like a cookie but a whole lot more balanced... perhaps something like that could be your first endeavor into the world of cooking? :D

I've spent too much time posting on here, LOL. My lesson plans are done for next week, and I have dogs to walk and laundry to do before bed. I want to thank all of you for your encouraging words and advice. I hope I can log on again soon to read updates and posts. God bless you all :) Later :)

The problem with our busy lives is that we make everything a priority except for ourselves. I didn't count calories throughout most of my weight loss, but now that I'm at the end I had to start counting because my weight loss completely stalled. Once I started counting I started seeing my weight go down once again.

I work full time as a Systems Engineer for the Missile Defense Agency, I'm working on my second Masters Degree, I'm running to and from hospitals 6 days a week because my husband is fighting cancer and I have absolutely no problem taking a few minutes to count calories.

If you feel like it should take priority in your life then make it so.