Counting Calories

[Judy2]

i'm simply curious to survey this and encourage some awareness regarding what's helpful and what isn't:)  there are no right or wrong answers - feel free to share what you personally feel works (or doesn't work) for you. 

[bazera]

Yes I track calories, protein and carbs.

The reason why I track these is that I find it extremely effective when losing weight.

I've gained 30kg (66 pounds) over the last couple of years, and the only sustainable way of actually seeing decreased number on a scale for me is to eat X amount of calories (+-100). So, counting calories helps me lose weight and adjust my food intake over weeks to continue losing weight.

I could potentially just reduce the portion size instead of calorie counting, but again, I prefer to be more precise. I tried portion control, but I sucked at it. I underestimated food volume and then I discovered I was eating at maintenance calories.

And in order to not go insane with counting every day, I have the same meal routine 5-6 days a week (pre-counted) and I eat something different on the weekends just to stay sane 

As for protein, I try to retain as much muscle mass as I can during weight-loss and high (150g+) protein intake supposedly helps me with that. 

As for carbs, I need them for energy to weight lift and run.

That's it. All 3 has practical purposes.

[Judy2]

@bazerathank you for sharing!

how do you think you'll handle this when trying to maintain your goal weight? if you have given that any thought so far. 

[bazera]

@Judy2 Actually that turned out to be harder for me than losing weight in the first place.

Last year I lost 15kg but later I regain all that back and +5kg more. So now I have a very hard learned lesson that I need to change my eating habits or else losing weight wil be meaningless because I'll regain all back.

Then I analyzed my eating habits, reasons behind binge junk-eating sessions, trigger points etc, and now I'm working on fixing some behavioral patterns that are causing over-eating. It's not hunger, it's not addiction to junkfood or anything, I found it was just an emotional coping mechanism that was triggered after guilt, shame, bitterness, etc. And I did things that caused all that. 

Anyways, to keep the story short, when I reach goal weight, I'll still track calories for 1-2 months to just get additional feel for what portion size maps to what calories, and then I'll try to eat 80% clean, and break binge eating habit. Hope it goes well.

If you are considering counting calories, it's just an effective strategy if you don't want to leave weigh loss / maintenance up to chance. Also if you have unhealthy eating habits, it's a nice way to get used to and measure what's the proper amount of food for your physique / goals.

But if you don't want counting, you could always just eat less and move more. That's the golden rule. 

Edited 4 hours ago by bazera

[Judy2]

7 minutes ago, bazera said:

Anyways, to keep the story short, when I reach goal weight, I'll still track calories for 1-2 months to just get additional feel for what portion size maps to what calories, and then I'll try to eat 80% clean, and break binge eating habit. Hope it goes well.

that sounds like a decent plan!

8 minutes ago, bazera said:

If you are considering counting calories, it's just an effective strategy if you don't want to leave weigh loss / maintenance up to chance. Also if you have unhealthy eating habits, it's a nice way to get used to and measure what's the proper amount of food for your physique / goals.

But if you don't want counting, you could always just eat less and move more. That's the golden rule. 

i have gone through many different extremes, hence why i am trying to figure out what's healthy for me in the long-term and it's why i am asking what works for other people. 

i know a lot of nutrition labels by heart after having had an eating disorder for a long time, so i have a lot of knowledge about nutrition, but i am uncertain to what degree it's good or bad for me to let that influence my food choices. i'm still figuring that out. 

[bazera]

4 minutes ago, Judy2 said:

i have gone through many different extremes, hence why i am trying to figure out what's healthy for me in the long-term and it's why i am asking what works for other people. 

Me too. And in the end I'm trying to get used to what I found is most sustainable. It's just eating more or less healthy unprocessed home cooked meals 80-90% of the times and leave some room for deserts or something processed every once in a while (after I lose access fat)

Calorie counting is a temporary tool that I use to make weight-loss easier.

Quote

i'm still figuring that out. 

Good luck 🙏

[Judy2]

11 minutes ago, bazera said:

Me too. And in the end I'm trying to get used to what I found is most sustainable. It's just eating more or less healthy unprocessed home cooked meals 80-90% of the times and leave some room for deserts or something processed every once in a while (after I lose access fat)

Calorie counting is a temporary tool that I use to make weight-loss easier.

Good luck 🙏

thank you:)

Good luck to you, too!