I find that not really counting calories helps me stay on track a lot more.

What usually ends up happening if I stick to it too much is that I realize I have calories "to spend" (and I probably went over from miscalculations and all) and then I'll overeat cuz I'm always thinking well I could go up to 2000, I won't gain at least.

Or the sugar will just get my body going and I won't stop eating cuz I crave more, and it takes a good 30 mins for your body to tell your brain, stop it stupid!

What do you guys think?

Now I just sort of keep track but I'm using Turbo Jam's recipes so I know about how things go, and I overcalculate my calories to be sure (in my head).

I actually am addicted to calorie counting. I don't buffer my calories, I plan a day targeted around 2250 calories, and usually hit between 2200-2300. Works well for me. I love the way Traineo.com evaluates the diet score bases on proximity to target.

Vern

I sometimes round them upp...but it does not seem to matter. I do not eat more then 1500 except maybe some saturdays and i still seem to gain, i train 3 to 4 times a week, ecleptical machine and lifting weights. and i walk at least for 1 hour at a good speed every day. I blame some hormones but i still think it is strange. for some reason, i kind of lost track and do not really believe in calorie counting any more

The past few weeks have made me a firm believer in counting calories. The first few months I lost good weight but when I started to slow down and found Traineo I started counting calories. I have lost between 3-4 lbs a week since then and feel like I am eating a lot more.

The calorie counting for me has helped me realize how much worse certain things were for me. As an example, I tend to only eat one piece of bread with my dinner instead of much more. It also helped me understand how many calories are in juices etc that you would think were just wonderful for you.

I guess I say all that to say - it helps me stop at dinner time and stay consistent during the day, but most of all it keeps me conscious of what I am eating.

Tim

I've always read that people who are successful at staying thin keep a journal of what they eat. From my experience counting calories is a must. I don't enjoy it and I've tried many many times to lose weight without counting calories and failed miserably. What often happens is I try to eat very healthy but eat too much. I'll have a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice in the morning, whole grain bread at lunch, almonds on my salad, etc... all very good stuff but they add 500-600 calories to my day. I think the trick is to allow yourself enough calories and to try and stay within that limit. If the number is too low you will starve and eventually fail.

VM, you have set a good limit. Korinna, you may be a little low but I don't know your size so maybe it's good if you are around 120-140lbs. My girlfriend always goes ridiculously low (800-1000) which lowers her metabolism and she can't last more than a few weeks. I've tried telling her but she insists that it will work.

I like using Weight Watcher's point system which is easier than counting calories. Keeping track of 30 points (or so) is easier than 2000 calories.

I took 2-3 months off traineo and when I came back i started counting my calories and the pounds dropped alot easier.

For me the biggest thing was changing my snack habbits.... and eating smaller portions of 'treat' snacks... (dang those 1/2 cup servings of ice cream...)

I also find that I do better when I count calories. If I try to guestimate then I will undoubtedly fail!

Also tracking food at www.fitday.com helps me to see that I am including too much fat or carbs in my daily diet and then I back off.

I thought that I could "fudge" it by working out more and recently conceded to counting calories. I am also using fitday.com to track my efforts. My nutritionist insisted that I eat breakfast and 6 small meals throughout the day. I think this will help me a great deal, because I haven't been budging, despite working out really hard for the past 5 weeks.

Somebody I know (if she reads this she will know who I am talking about) is trying to do the same thing - She works out a lot and she watches what she is eating..... but refuses to count calories and is not losing as much as she would like to. I think she is doing a good job, but could be doing so much better.

(we have had the discussion about counting calories - but I won't go there again )

Tim

I am also a fairly recent convert to counting calories.

I worked first on controlling or eliminating my bad eating habits (soda with meals, eating late at night) and that helped me lose some weight at the beginning. I also tried to eat less processed foods and fats in general. On the advice of my acupuncturist I started logging everything I eat and then my weight. That helped a bit too.

Then I started logging/tracking calories online, I looked at fitday but I ended up choosing 'the daily plate' and I too am addicted to counting calories now. Its really helped me to think about what and how much I eat. I like that I can set a weekly weight loss goal and get a target of how many calories I can have. I like calorie counting because its something quantitative not just 'eat less' or 'reduce carbs'.

Calorie counting has changed the way I think about food. Or I think its more appropriate to say that I am much more deliberate about what I eat now. It has inspired me to pick up some other good habits like trying to have a good breakfast and to carry healthy snacks with me that I can munch on throughout the day. (I had a bit of a problem with running to the candy machine at around 3pm most days. Now I just pull an apple or kashi bar out of my backpack.)

well like I said I'm using TJ recipe guide, I know each meal is about 200-250 cals and that the shakes are about 300 cals so usually, my whole day will add up to 1200-1400 (depending if I slip a bit or not)

and I workout everyday too which usuallly burns minimum 200 calories so I'm usually really really good on how much I'm consuming and how much I'm burning!

I think counting calories is important because most people (me included) have no idea what they're putting into their bodies. When I started counting, I noticed the same thing as Tim: a lot of the things I thought were alright were actually way too calorie-rich. That said, I think once you know roughly what sorts of food are good for you and what size portions are acceptable, once you're in a good pattern, it's not necessary to religiously count every calorie for the rest of your life. Jessipoo - if not counting each calorie works for you, then go with it.

I have been religiously counting calories every day for three months now, and like others have been surprised by just what I was getting through previously and how they add up!

I am getting a bit jaded now though, and finding it quite tedious (maybe why we fail and go back to 'normal'?) I *think* I have enough of an idea to stop counting and yet carry on with the plan; but I just don't trust myself enough yet.....

You may be right about that though, Jess - not counting means you don't feel the need to 'spend' those unused calories (I tend to do that). It probably balances out with days when (unknowingly) you're a little over.

I have found that counting calories keeps me honest and accountable. It works best when I food journal and trade it with a friend once a week.

Sometimes I have almost met my calorie limit before dinner time. When that happens, I have a bowl of soup or something low cal for dinner. Before I started counting calories, I would have had a regular dinner and then wonder why I haven't lost any weight.

Counting calories and food journaling is the key to weight loss for me.

This has been my experience too. I find counting calories to be much simpler than calculating points. I have a budget of up to 1500 a day and I try to stay below that most days, with the occasional (1-2 a month) splurge. Have lost 78 lbs so far just by doing this and walking.

Ack, I don't even know where to begin. I've been off the wagon and on it and back off again (most recently trying to eat better after a recent trip to hawaii derailed my plans for ab-domination!) I've checked out fitday.com but I'm not in love with it. I'm also going to check out thedailyplate.com - that seems a little more user-friendly so far.

I'm going to being tracking my eating - at least with a food journal and then maybe segue into calorie counting.

I've given myself this entire summer to clean up my diet and blast some of that fat and of course, get those arms in fighting shape. Any motivation is greatly appreciated! Be well

I count calories and can't stop, when I gain or lose it's clear why if I go back and look at my logs, fitday.com has excellent reporting tools and
I find it to easy use. I kept a written journal before but got sick of doing all the math.
This website adds to fitday.com, open them both in seperate windows and it will add brand name/resturaunt foods to your fitday.com account.
http://dietfacts.com/

I've counted calories pretty intensly for over six weeks now, and it's definitely changed the way I eat. I had no idea about the real nutritional value of the things I was putting into my body. As an experiment I'm going to try some time without counting calories, now that I'm much better equiped to deal with the kitchen on my own. So far (almost a week in) I'm on track and I feel like I've been eating as much as I used to.

Have you looked at www.my-calorie-counter.com ?

I think counting calories is a scam. As a general tool, its Ok. But to actually count them down to say, "oh, I ate 2136 calories today" is lame. I concentrate on what I am actually eating with portion control. Butter? bacon? mayonnaise? salad dressing?..not a good idea. The high calorie foods I choose to eat are like almonds, avacados, walnuts, olives..

Jay,

So it doesn't work for you, but it does work for others (like me) so that makes it a scam? Nice post, very helpful to the thread and well presented. Thanks.

Vern (a lame Calorie counter)

Calorie counting is not an accurate practice in general. Your estimate of portion size and its classification (divided between % carbs, protein, and fat) can introduce a wide margin of error.

That doesn't mean it's not useful. Calorie counting helped me quantify a dietary imbalance and modify my diet to counter it. I find it useful to have a measurable, visual representation of my dietary intake to motivate me to change it for the better. It just means that you shouldn't obssess over the smaller numbers -- round to the nearest hundred and be aware that it might be off by a few hundred calories.

Calorie counting or simplified versions of it are used by reputable doctors and hospitals as well. My wife's OB/Gyn team at Thomas Jefferson Hospital in Philadelphia had her monitor food intake for a week (using a simplified food pyramid checksheet) to check for dietary imbalances that might have complicated pregnancy.

In the end, whatever helps you stick to a healthy diet is what's best.

It depends if you are trying to lose weight or not.

I don't believe that anyone should live the entire rest of their life counting calories. Ideally you would train your body to know what food it wants and how much it needs - feed it good food and listen to the signals that will tell you what you want. However, this applies really only to maintaining weight, not losing it.

For losing weight, I find that counting calories is really useful. I do it in FitDay so it also gives me all sorts of graphs and tells me my breakdown of protein, carbs etc. (The only annoying thing is that being a US site, none of it is metric so I have to figure out things like pounds and ounces).

You might prefer to count Weight Watchers points, or units of proteins, carbs, fats, or you might prefer to follow a set meal plan. Whatever. But the trick is that if you want to actually lose weight, you need to go beyond what your body is telling you. You need to eat enough calories that your body still has fuel but there may be times when you feel a little hungry and it's not quite as much food as you want.

Exercise is great but for weight loss, what you put in your mouth is really important. Whereas for maintenance, having a more natural, intuitive approach works quite well and is healthier mentally since you are not obsessing.

Thanks for the link! I had no idea that it existed.

I used to count them everyday but it became very tiring to have to track every single food every single time I ate everything. Also, it's much harder to count calories when you are on the go all the time. So I've started counting calories about half the days of the week instead of every single day.

I agree with you completely. It is hard to count calories when I am on the go all the time, however that is when I find I eat the most high calorie food so that is when it is most important for me.

This week has been crazy for me being out of my normal schedule every day. I know that if I wasn't counting I would be eating much more than I intended.

I guess it could be because I don't trust myself yet - I think there is probably a point when you need to be able to start trusting that you are just more aware of what you are eating as far as calories.

I also agree that counting calories can be hard to do. But like so many things it becomes easier if you make it a habit. For about 2 months before I started counting calories I kept a food log. I looked online for a solution when I started to get frustrated for the occasional day that I would leave my logbook at home or in the car. I work at a computer all day, so its easy for me to visit a site for a couple of minutes a few times a day and log my food. The calories counting was a just a nice bonus.

But quantifying my caloric intake really opened my eyes.

Now I find that counting calories online is easier that logging my food in the little notebook I was using before. Because I am more cognizant of what I eat I also am better at remembering what I eat when I go out to eat and have to enter it into dailyplate later that night or the next day.

As Itadaki pointed out there is plenty of room for error in counting calories so its wise to keep that in mind when you're reviewing your intake. Of course there are ways to mitigate the margin of error like making all your own food and rigorously measuring everything especially portions.

I don't really get what 'Jay' is saying and its unfortunate that he chose to characterize calorie counting as 'a scam' and 'lame'. My experience has been the complete opposite.