@ Lori Bell. spoken like a true winner at the losing game. As much as I hate counting every single calorie that goes into me - the alternative is my fat cells putting away every single calorie I overeat as more body fat. And that would be a worse burden than the counting.

I'm not sure how to describe what I do. I don't really calorie count- but I've been on a gazillion diets in my life and have a pretty good idea how many calories are in basic things. I do read nutrition labels and choose food at the grocery store accordingly, and at restaurants look at the lower cal options and calorie counts, and leave off ingredients like cheese off most dishes. But I don't write anything down or add in my head.

I think this works for me though because I'm eating so much less packaged food and more fruits and veggies, so I know the bulk of what I eat has negligible calories and I just watch the rest. I do think it's a skill you have to learn, and then down the road it becomes more intuitive for some people. I would never advise anybody just starting out to ignore calories.

I also tend to eat the same breakfast and lunch every single day, and don't even vary dinner that much. I know some people can't stand that, but I've always kind of done that with food. I pack breakfast and lunch to eat at work, so the less thinking I have to do about it, the better. Not just calorie wise, but shopping wise, packing wise, etc.

I have just started "technically" counting calories. When I first started losing, I was very restrictive with carbs and fats, but now I just can't do that anymore. I always say I lose weight on high protein diets because I can't stand eating that much meat and end up living on veggies, which is true. I was also single and without a steady job then, but now that I have a job and a fiance, being that restrictive is not working so well, meaning I just eat whatever and have been maintaining with exercise for way too long. Hopefully it helps me...but I honestly just eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Trying to keep track of snacks is way too much for me to handle right now!

I think if you plan ahead, you can never be in the situation where you're too busy to count calories - that's an awesome thing and as long as you can plan foods that you like and that fill you up, you almost can't fail.

I encourage you to try planning just tomorrow's meals/snacks and see what happens. When I didn't pre-plan I'd tend to under-eat (like another poster said) because I spent all day cutting out calories just in case I needed them later, then I ended up with a huge calorie surplus at the end of the day. Now I even it out so that I'm still eating my biggest meal at night - following my body's hunger - but I'm not "frugal" all day, because I know it all adds up in the end, AND I've built in the ability to eat every few hours so I'm not hungry.

Today, for example, this is my plan:
Breakfast: Fold it bread (90), egg white (20), spinach (5), hot sauce (5), 1/2oz blue cheese (50) = 170
Snack: Orange (70) = 70
Lunch: 1 cup carrot peanut soup (160) = 160
Snack: 84g grape tomato (30), 30g pepperjack cubes (120) = 150
Dinner: 2/3 cup brown rice (150), chicken/cauliflower/pea curry (250) = 400
Snack: TJ individual popcorn (130) = 130
Total: 1080 (*I'm very short and not that active)

As long as I follow it, I'm all set for the day.

No, I don't. This is the easist 'plan' I've ever tried. FOR ME.

I don't think I'd do it if it was a chore, or made me obsess.

I kind of like measuring and weighing my portions, I spent so many years not having any idea what I was putting in my body, the knowledge makes me feel strong.

I use Loseit.com. The easiest calorie counting system I have ever used. I'm kinda liking it because sometimes when I think I blew it-my calories turn out not so bad.

a friend at work who lost a ton of weight recommended this app for me:

calorific.

it doesn't use exact measurements or even specific foods. it gives you examples of "good" foods, "bad" and "ok". you select what you've eaten and about how much, and it creates a daily pie chart for you so you can see your ratio of the type of food you eat. its all very loose, but the idea is to just get your mind on what you eat. it acknowledges that counting each and every calorie is time consuming and silly. (and makes most people want to quit)

I count them. I count them every day. I count everything that goes in my mouth. Everything. No exceptions. If you don't count them how do you REALLY know what you're putting in your body? I've been counting them for more than 5 weeks and I've lost 14 pounds. It does take some time to get into but once you do it's fantastic. You can eat whatever it is you want if you plan it out correctly. There are no taboo foods. It is the ultimate in flexibility. Once you spend some time doing it and use the tools out there, it becomes incredibly simple and I can account for a whole day in just a few minutes.

Having said that, you also have to set yourself up for success. I don't understand how it can NOT be for everyone, but nonetheless, it's not, for whatever reasons, some people just hate it. You have to find what works for you and something you can sustain.

Folks that have been doing it a while know from experience what they are consuming without having to count, but they got that experience from counting. Counting calories makes sense to me, works for me, and is indisputably an effective way of losing weight.

But why? Because it allows you to understand how to create a caloric deficit based on individual needs. When it comes to weight loss, one size does not fit all. But the laws of thermodynamics will not be denied. If you eat less than you use, you'll lose weight. Period. We don't always lose at the same rate, due to other factors. Portion control, Paleo, those things are designed to also create a caloric deficit, but can easily get out of control if you let your portion sizes creep up.

I have just officially started calorie counting, and it's been a lot easier than I thought. I was (and still am) on South Beach though, and South Beach does require some pretty extensive meal planning, so I guess Calorie Counting is taking it one step further.

I've only been counting calories for the last 3 days though. We'll see how I feel a month out from now. :)

I'm going to try this app, thanks for posting about it.

As I said previously in the thread I round calories and keep an approximation in my head. I loathe writing things down.

For a week though I wanted to keep track of my calories in an app more to see how I was going along nutrition-wise. I'm on day 2 and I can already see that I can't do this long-term. While the app makes it easy, I'm starting to obsess over macros too much (when my real goal was to just see how many carbs and protein I was getting). I can already see that a typical day I'm on target when it comes to eating more protein and less carbs, but I need to step back and focus on just calories, carbs and protein again and stop obsessing over all of the other macronutrients.

I could see why someone who was counting each and every little calorie might give up.

Yes.
Several years ago I lost about 65 lb by calorie counting. It seemed exhausting even then, but I stuck with it and lost the weight and am very glad I did.

However.. after I lost the weight I switched to a vegan diet and stopped calorie counting, and I believe because of the vegan diet was able to maintain the weight loss almost effortlessly.. but now that I want to lose a bit more weight, the first thing I think is "I should count calories again!" and yet can not get back in the swing of it.

Exhausting it feels indeed. Furthermore, this time around every time I attempt calorie counting, I get so obsessed with food that day- calories in food, measuring food, portioning food- I can't get food off the mind and end up overeating. On a regular everyday basis, I just don't think about food that much anymore, and so calorie counting makes me think about it in a way that now feels like obsession and takes me the opposite direction from where I want to go.

It was a great tool when it worked for me, but this time around it doesn't seem to be working for me. And I know exactly what I need to do- if I can maintain my weight with the way I'm eating now, I just need to cut my portions and I should start losing. It's that simple. I just need to stick with it.

So I am going to focus on that this time instead of calorie counting.

I'm with Carter and RunningFromFat. It's all work. It all gets easier. But if we don't eventually learn what to eat without looking it up, what have we accomplished? Learn what a portion (a real portion, not what we think of as a portion) looks like for meat, starches, breads, etc. Limit carbs, sugars, fats. Eliminate junk. In other words, eat a healthy, balanced diet. And don't stress too much. My one big rule while I was losing was that if I had to question whether or not I should eat something, I probably shouldn't.

I think we're all better at this than we think. It is not an exact science. No one measures exactly like another person. No one exactly knows how much they really burn or eat. We come close. We lose. The rest of my life is a long time (I hope) and it would be awful to be stressed the whole time.

Lin

I find calorie counting to be a lot easier and less restrictive than I thought it would be. I use the My Fitness Pal app on my phone to log in my foods, and it is SO easy. I can eat anything I want in moderation as long as I budget my calories for it. Of course, trying to make healthy choices and limiting calories from junk food is what I'm concentrating on, but I'm glad I don't have to feel deprived.

I don't plan on strictly counting calories for the rest of my life. Once I reach goal (and I have a long way to go), I hope that I will have learned how to make better food choices, how to control my portions, and how to listen to my body's hunger cues. But for now, I'm still learning and I don't trust myself to NOT count the calories I'm consuming because I know how easy it is to overeat without even realizing it!

<<I just need to cut my portions and I should start losing. It's that simple.>>

Yes. I think we all have an internal monitor that tells us the truth about how much we're eating. As long as we listen to it, we can lose or maintain weight without obsessively counting calories, carbs or anything else. The trouble arises when we try to "sneak" stuff past out internal monitor (a.k.a. try to fool ourselves).

Freelance

I was never a calorie counter but a couple weeks ago I discovered 'My Fitness Pal' app and decided to give it a try.

Before that I had no idea how many calories I was eating or how many I needed to take in to continue losing weight. It's certainly made the process of accounting for my food and exercise much easier, and dare I say, fun!

I like to challenge myself to be consistently under the 'red line'. If I go over no biggie, but I will be interested to see if I can push through the 'semi-plateau' I have been on for a few months now. It's early days but in the last week I've already dropped 100gms (now don't anyone laugh at me ok, for me, this is a good loss! since I don't want to lose it too fast. Just steady and even) so it's looking promising.

I'm actually eating more food now than I was before i started counting, because I don't want to under eat either.

I like to sit just under the line when possible, if I'm still hungry after dinner and need a snack, I'll try to pick the healthiest, lowest calorie food I can find. It's definitely making me think more about what I put in my mouth. I'm also thinking of those calories as my 'energy dollars' - do I really want to spend 150 energy dollars on one particular (Aussie) chocolate biscuit? Hmm... naaah, not worth it when I think of the extra work needed to fit them in.

The other good thing about My Fitness Pal is it calculates the proportions of protein, fat and carbs too. I'm definitely eating less junk now I'm making myself accountable.

Oh and weighing food.. I'm definitely doing more of that since I started counting, because then I get a better idea of how much I'm eating. I just realised today I was overestimating the amount of porridge I was having in the mornings by like 40%. So my kitchen scales will definitely get more use now.