I've tried Lose It and Spark People and tracked my calories obsessively for years, to no avail. I went for a while at 1,500 calories per day and my weight loss stalled. My doctor said to drop to 1,200 calories and exercise more. This resulted in my BIGGEST enemy: binge eating. I go for a while, counting calories, craving food, hating being hungry... until I just can't take it anymore. Basically, I have zero will power. I feel weak and powerless because I can't do this. I feel weak and powerless when I binge. And I feel gross.
Either counting calories isn't working for me or I'm just weak. But my doctor says the only thing I can do is eat less and exercise more. I just don't know how to increase my willpower to fight through the hunger.
Come 8:00pm I'm starving but I have no calories left. Do I have to count calories? Even veggies and fruits have calories. So if I eat too many calories, even if its veggies and fruits, I'll gain weight, right?
There are other ways. Of course I'll chime in with intermittent fasting (I do 5:2) but there are a ton of other ways to lose weight represented on this board. You may also want to look into Volumetrics. Peruse this board, ask some questions, do some research. Calorie counting is not the only way, and I hope you find something that works for you!
OK, now that's a relief. My family doctor only tells me the same thing: eat 1,200 calories and exercise 60 or more minutes per day. And it isn't working for me. When I tell her that, she shrugs her shoulders. So I'll look around. Thank you!
I'm a calorie counter but it's definitely not the only way! Look around at all the various forums and you'll find people succeeding on lots of different plans.
Can you post a typical day's menu? Maybe we can help you tweak it a bit so you don't feel as much hunger.
I find things like non-starchy veggies, protein and fiber to be pretty filling. With those, I can eat a lot of volume but keep my calories where they need to be.
The answer to this question is sort of complicated: You don't have to count calories, but the only way to diet is to reduce calories.
That is to say, IP, Atkins, Weight Watchers, fasting, volumetrics, paleo, keto, the twinkie diet, the cabbage soup diet, whatever it is, it's only going to work if you're reducing calories.
For example, if you cut carbs, but replace carbs in your meals with bacon and cheese and big servings of peanut butter and such, you may not reduce your calories, and you may gain weight even though you cut carbs. If you cut carbs and replace them with whole vegetables and fruit, lean chicken and fish, you will probably reduce calories and therefore lose weight.
You don't have to count your calories - you can reduce them other ways - but the best way to be really certain you're reducing your calories and not accidentally going over because that looked like an ounce of cheese I swear is to count your calories.
I'm fairly calorie aware which is a good knowledge to have but I've never consistently counted calories. If you find yourself stuck and not losing weight, then I'd count your calories very careful for a week or so just to see where you are at. Sometimes extra food creeps in due to boredom or what not.
I think it depends on the person. Counting calories using spark people didn't work for me. Now I just do the modified Paleo diet- I eat nuts and beans. I don't count anything except protein grams. I'm able to do this because I'm not a binger. I have a cheat day ever week or 10 days. If I'm craving something, I write it down and eat it on my cheat day. This really works well for me.
For whatever reason I've always failed when I tried calorie counting. For me calorie counting always included telling myself that I couldn't have certain types of food (and I know it's not that way for everyone, that's just my personal association with it). This go around I've been doing weight watchers, and it's the longest that I've stuck with a diet change.
Counting points is similar to counting calories, you're still counting something, but I don't feel the need to say I can't have sweet things or whatever else. I am making the choice to eat healthier, but it's more because portion sizes are larger and more filling than because I'm actively denying myself certain foods. It seems like a very small difference, but it's played a huge role mentally for me. When I tell myself I can't have a food, suddenly I crave it and then I binge. So that element is gone with Weight Watchers.. plus it's more of a lifetime change and relearning to eat healthy than it is just a diet I'll eventually drop.
So no, you don't have to count calories specifically, but as someone pointed out earlier, you do need to reduce calories. There are lots of ways to do that, keep trying stuff until you find what works for you.
For example, if you cut carbs, but replace carbs in your meals with bacon and cheese and big servings of peanut butter and such, you may not reduce your calories, and you may gain weight even though you cut carbs.
I personally don't follow high-fat-low-carb (HFLC), but advocates claim that by switching to this type of diet (ketogenic), hunger is greatly decreased which leads to eating much less and therefore lower calorie intake despite eating high-calorie-density foods.
The Volumetrics approach is the opposite, filling up on low-calorie-density foods (e.g. soup, veggies).
The Intermittent Fasting (IF) approach means you eat less often, so it can be possible to eat without counting calories at other times.
The Intuitive Eating approach rejects dieting and restriction (partly because that can lead to binging). There's a thread flagged with "IE" if you want to look more into that approach.
I counted calories for years (with the "success" of reaching my goal again and again and again). I found it very enervating and time-consuming, especially since I was following the standard mantra of eating several small meals a day.
Instead, what seems to be working well for me is a form of IF: eating just once a day (with a few rules for exceptions). I also throw in a little Volumetrics (filling up with a first course of low calorie veggies), I keep my starchy carb servings on the small side and I usually have a very small dessert. But I eat as much as I want of any entree & non-starchy sides, don't count calories, enjoy eating dinner out often, and I'm much happier this way.
FWIW, I did take a while to make the adjustment to one meal a day, and I didn't know ahead of time that I'd end up like this. I just started with an "eating window" of 10 AM to 10 PM (IIRC) and slowly shortened it over the months until it ended up being essentially just dinnertime! It also took me a long time to lose the weight, but I thought of it as practice at maintaining, which I seem to be doing very successfully for the first time.
The way i see it, i'd say: NOT AT ALL. I've lost close to 50 lbs without counting calories. I did count calories in the past and i got so obsessive with it that it was not a good feeling at all. A lot of people manage to do this in a healthy way, but not me. It leaves me thinking of food all day long and the adding numbers and calculating everything feels nerve wracking. What i do now is a mix of intuitive eating with portion control (kinda). It's helped me a lot. Maybe you can try to lose weight by using diferent methods and see what works best for you.
Last edited by Marina Brasil; 10-11-2014 at 09:26 AM.
You don't have to count calories to lose weight, I've lost 20lbs doing intuitive eating. Any time I have to measure what I do, be it calories, weight, I can't even wear a pedometer anymore because it leads to feeling restricted and causes binging. I have a serious issue with numbers, numbers send me into a feeding frenzy. Yesterday my friend casually told me how much she weighs and it sent me into a panic, I immediately had the urge to get on a scale. Good thing I've hidden it and can't remember where it is lol! I can't do numbers.
Intuitive eating works for me.
Last edited by Palestrina; 10-12-2014 at 07:01 AM.
I eat more now than I ever did at my heavier weight and am still losing weight (just). The trick is to find foods that work for you and, combined with exercise, create a calorie deficit.
I don't count calories (I did for a while) but I know what foods work for me through trial and error. So try eating new things and cutting existing things. One step at a time.
Is counting calories a must?
