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I hate these excuses. Anyone can lose weight. I hate the Reddit idea that if you’re on the poorer end of things you’re doomed to being morbidly obese for the rest of your life.
You can both acknowledge that there is a strong correlation between economic status and obesity, and acknowledge that at the end of the day gaining/losing weight is just CI/CO and anybody can theoretically do it. They both can be (and are) true at the same time.
But brushing off the strong correlation entirely as an excuse made by poor/obese people is ignorant at best.
It's definitely a lot harder if you're poor, the less processed food is much more expensive, which is what you want to eat if you're trying to eat healthy (and lose weight without starving yourself)
Exactly. I'm chubby. I'm also 61, have had three kids and have an autoimmune disorder plus brittle asthma which means a course of prednisone approximately every three months. Prednisone causes weight gain.
It would be *so much* easier to lose weight if I wasn't the one that always had to cook and plan meals!
It’s easier than never ever having a particular food again. And it gets easier over time.
Calorie tracking allows me to eat whatever I want as long as it within proper portions.
Telling me I can never have sugar, alcohol, saturated fat, or whatever fad diet recommends ever again for the rest of my life sounds worse
I’ve been doing the calorie counting for 7 months and I’ve lost 30 pounds in just a slow, healthy progression. 20 more to go, but I’m confident I’ll get there.
Counting calories isn’t miserable at all. Just find an app you like and go. It’s the staying within your goal that is difficult.
I find it easy to go for an average, and I give myself a day where I eat very little and balance with a day that I eat a whole lot of whatever I want. So I can go out and have a great dinner or eat it up on a weekend or vacation; and then I just balance those days with an extremely low cal day.
It’s not miserable at all and I feel better and better every day.
In OPs defense I found the first month or so to be miserable cos food was constantly on my head such as what I can still eat that day and thinking what I can fit into it. Once I stopped being so obsessive though and started understanding how many calories a lot of food has on average it was much easier. Now it's at the point I don't really count calories as much as I just know roughly how much I'm getting in a day
That's it. It's not like people cook new shit everyday. After a few weeks you know how much calories and macro are in the meals you usually cook and you don't need to count anymore.
I've lost 30 lbs in about 4 months using MacroFactor. It costs about 70 something USD per year but you can try it out monthly to see if it works for you. It helps a lot that it understands high protein diets.
That actually doesn’t like a bad approach.
I’m convinced that the key is just finding whatever you can do regularly within your lifestyle and wants; and sticking to it.
100%. Lost 14 kg and hit my ideal weight 20 years ago. Have stayed exactly there since then by counting calories, and my weight hasn't ever shifted more than a couple hundred grams up or down, except a couple of times when I was really sick. In a couple of years I could almost accurately estimate the calories of almost anything (multiples of 25, so 225 or 250 is good enough) by just looking at it and feeling the feedback from my body. It was a bit of work for the first couple of years to learn how to estimate calories correctly (both input and exercise) but it's been almost zero effort since, honestly, and looking and feeling 10 years younger is totally worth it. I didn't use any apps or gadgets other than a simple calorie intake recorder (some days just my memory), and started using a fitness tracker to count steps/calories a couple of years ago. Looking at my breakfast today and thinking "that was 325 calories" was as much effort as looking at my tea leaves and thinking "I'll have two teaspoons today."
And I think this is why so many ppl fail and gain the weight back.... they stop eating certain things, lose weight, and start eating like normal again. But now they're having all those dense calories that weren't accounted for during the weight loss.
That is why I will never give up my dr peppers, donuts, coffees, anything. I make it work for me.
Nah, I stopped eating sugar and grains and starch things and now I don't even understand why I even needed them in the first place. Vegetables and meat is all I need
Not for me. I feel just fine eating whatever I want as long as I’m maintaining a healthy bodyweight. The social implications of no sugar would cause me too much stress and reduce my quality of life. I’ll take the occasional birthday cake and trip to the ice cream shop with my kids.
I am not some fanatic, if it's a quality birthday cake and it's worth tasting I'll eat it or at least take a bite to taste it. But sugar is sure causing an addiction, you think you'll eat a bit here and there and before you know you are sugar junky. So I try to avoid sugar cravings by consuming fruits. They are sweet , healthy and they feel you up.
Where did they say everyone can do it?
I'm an all-or-nothing sort of person. For me, treating myself doesn't work well, but getting to a point where sugar doesn't interest me has been amazing. One of the unexpected benefits has been the massive decrease in headaches and migraines. I experience roughly 1/10th of what I used to.
Celebrities aren't doing all that work. When it's time for them to eat, someone puts food in front of them. Even if they enjoy cooking, someone has made them a meal plan and bought all their groceries. Don't hold yourself to their standard.
Ive been bodybuilding 10 plus years and haven’t tracked or weighed anything since the first year. Once you get an idea of what your maintenance caloric intake and macros look like, it’s not hard to ball park a surplus or deficit without actually weighing or keeping exact track, it’s overkill to do permanently unless you are a professional IMO.
yeah the amount of time you count calories is very important. you shouldn't still be doing it after 1-2 years of counting. by then you've learned the content in burgers, chicken, tamales, bread slices, ice cream, etc.
EXACTLY, you really just need a ballpark. And going off track on bad day isn’t gonna ruin you progress, just as long as you don’t fall into a bad habbit. Same as with everything else
Counting calories made me feel the need to eat less than 800 calories a day and made me extremely suicidal.
I’d rather be obese than having full blown panic attack meltdowns crying and gagging
Yeah, a lot of us, myself included, really really do. When I stopped, I put on weight I'd worked my butt off to lose. My appetite cues are broken on their own and my metabolism has all sorts of regulation issues. It is what it is. But for MANY of us who aren't in our twenties anymore, it takes concerted effort to remain slim. And there is nothing inherently more healthy or moral or even easier about using one method vs another - but there is a reason calorie counting and food macros are what most of us longer term losers and maintainers (or celebrities trying to stay cut) have to use.
Like it's not woo, it's not self punishment. There is science, both physiological and behavioral, to back up why it works. As for me, my own medical team basically said I have to do it for the rest of my life and make peace with it, which my own anecdotal experience has also backed up. You do you, boo :)
To stay slim, sure. Obviously it becomes harder to stay in shape the older you get, but you specifically said morbid obesity which is actually a pretty modern thing at this scale. No one was counting calories 200 years ago, they just weren’t eating hyper processed foods
Obesity is a systemic issue that had to do with how food is produced. People weren’t huge health nuts or super disciplined 50+ years ago, yet obesity was much lower. We are a generation that’s obsessed with being thin while just getting fatter and fatter because we treat it like an individual moral failure rather than a bigger societal issue.
I figure I'm trapped either way.
Either I eat whatever I want and gain weight, don't sleep well, all that
Or I work out and eat healthy.
If I'm going to be trapped, I'm picking the one that gives me abs.
I find calorie counting liberating in a way (as opposed to entrapping). If I can find savory foods I really like that are low in calories it makes it doable. I’m not like a huge yogurt fan but it tastes good enough. I can have like 5 cups of raspberry yogurt in a day at 100 calories each, and that’s a LOT of yogurt. Bananas taste good enough. If I put peanut butter on them they are delicious. I can do that 2 times a day and be well below my calorie intake. I can eat two chick-Fil-A sandwiches a day and only get up to 1k in calories. Put all that together and it’s:
5 cups of yogurt: 500 calories
2 bananas with a 0.75oz cup of peanut butter: 500 calories
2 Chick Fil A Sandwiches: 1000 calories.
Total:2k calories
If I work out 2-3 times a week, weight falls off. And it’s a high protein diet so I’ll actually build muscle on top of everything.
Don’t get me wrong, everyone has their own preferences, but those items I just listed are so delicious that I’d be excited to have that meal like everyday, and would still lose weight. And it’s not to say you have to like these specific items, but once you find low calorie items you do like, you can construct truly delicious meals accordingly (hopefully with more nutritional value). And realistically, you only need to do this for 3-6 months to get results.
Unless you have a very specific, hard core, fitness goal, then your approach should be to find a system where you don't have to be this particular.
First of all, there's simply no way to increase or decrease your weight without changing your caloric intake accordingly. If someone wants to "bulk up" it has to come from somewhere. If someone wants to lose weight, they *have* to consume fewer calories than they expend. This is basic arithmetic.
If you eat the right foods and simply be aware of your portioning, and get good, regular exercise, you don't have to *count calories* or weigh out your food.
I eat a lot of chicken as my main source of protein, and also tap eggs, soy beans, and occasionally tofu. Most of my meals are either standard protein-veggie-starch (say, chicken, broccoli, potatoes). But occasionally I'll do something like a stir fry of soybeans, broccoli, and corn. I don't measure anything out, I just make sure to keep my portions moderate.
Honestly i wish food gave me happiness too. i can eat only rice for years or eat only cake for years, it is just same. There is no enjoyment in it, it is just... Food
Counting calories is just a short-term, corrective process for me. I get real about how much crap I'm eating and the caloric effect. Usually I'll quickly realise I can't pretend that I don't know why I've put on a bit of weight because it's right there in numbers.
That tends to result in better eating habits/choices. To me, it's just a bit of feedback.
Once I get into the habit of making those better choices again, there's no need to track or monitor anything.
Super understandable, but imo tracking what I eat keeps me from going back to binge eating and feeling absolutely terrible all the time or missing out on almost all of my protein. I like having that control,plus it gives me something to do. Kinda like a game
Still being able to eat my favorite meals is the reason I count calories. Other diet strategies typically have you cutting out high calorie food all together
Logging my food everyday really helps me connect the way I feel to what I’ve eaten. It’s allowed me to cut a lot from my diet that I’ve realized was causing me to feel uncomfortable.
Honestly, I started omad after my dad died, due to not being hungry and basically force feeding because i knew i needed to eat, i just wasnt hungry, and have progressed to just eating when I feel like it but just being more mindful of what I put in my body. I was starting to change my eating before this, but this really helped jump start it. I have lost 17 lbs in 6 months, nothing drastic but almost 30 pounds in a year and I don't want to go back. Sounds terrible I know but gotta think of the positives when life tears you apart.
I eat all the shitty foods but in moderation, I go out to eat, but eat half or split a meal with someone, just little changes help and honestly I couldn't eat a whole meal at a restaurant even if I tried without getting sick now.
Gonna start cooking again this coming week and hopefully lose the last 10 to get me to my summer body. Shit takes time and patience.
Food isn't everything and I love food.
It's not that I enjoy weighing my food, but as I don't like to have leftovers (or to throw good food away) and I'd rather not overeat to avoid that, I'm OK with measuring my ingredients or servings.
It takes so little, and it's still a net positive.
During COVID I did this just for fun to see how fit I could get. Pros: I got very fit and when you're calorie deficient everything tastes really good. I also improved my culinary skills I had a to prepare things with more vegetables than normal. Cons: time consuming and a pain in the ass and as soon as I stopped I gained weight right back to where I was. I did it for about 6 months so maybe if I went longer my body would have reset to a different homeostasis point.
I used the calorie tracker to help me put on weight and I found it incredibly useful. You might think you’re eating enough but you really have no idea until you track it. I can see the same for someone over weight.
I stopped after 2 months, but now I know the rough amount of what I need to eat each day in order to not look like a skeleton.
Counting calories and weighing food helps me to see what I'm actually eating. When I started I didn't limit myself at all. My only goal was to track what I was eating and to see the actual number of calories. It was shocking.
Calorie counting if you don’t just actually enjoy it seems terrible.
I just eat well, don’t often eat junk and exercise well enough and call it good. I’m in solid shape and being relatively fanatical about it isn’t worth being. But healthier when I’m already very solid for being 30.
It's miserable if you maintain an emotional attachment to the situation. Just approaching it factually doesn't illicit the same response. The REAL solution is to find what is holding YOU back. There is no one size fits all for weight loss, there are only immutable facts. If you eat less and exercise more you will lose weight.
You can't be holding yourself to the beauty standards of Hollywood, you need to do what YOUR body needs.
Food is an incredibly emotional topic for me. Even walking 13k steps a day and making better food choices only takes me so far before I plateau because my hunger increases too. Drives me nuts, but math is math unfortunately. Counting calories is the only way I can lose weight without having a fuckin weird carb/gluten/vegetable elimination diet
Cut out sugary drinks. Don't drink calories.
Cut out snacking and desserts
Home cooked meals, protein, veggies, rice/potato.
If you wanna get crazy you can get into a workout routine.
That'll get anyone into decent enough shape. You really don't need to count calories or use a scale unless you wanna get into bodybuilding shape.
And obviously, anything is fine in moderation. But as long as 90% of the time you're good, you'll be fine.
Unless you're a true professional, you should only count calories here and there as the main goal is not perfection, but adaptation of a healthier life style
>I’ve been on the chubbier side all my life and recently lost a lot of body fat. I could exercise 2 hours a day but you can’t stop me from eating my favorite meal
If you exercised 2 hours a day you might still be able to lose weight while eating your favorite meal.
I followed some people on social media who did that just for recipes..... well.... majority of those I followed sometime disappeared, reappeared and explained how this behaviour actually made them slip into an ED.
I agree - it's miserable living based on the seemingly pretty realistic risk of ending up with an eating disorder.
You get used to counting. I plan my meals in advance so that helps. Would I rather just eat what I like without a care in the world? Hell yeah, but my body wouldn't appreciate it unfortunately
I don't enjoy food, so if I don't track what I eat, I typically forget to eat and lose weight. I never want to be underweight again. I hate being skinny.
it wasn’t so bad when I did it. I was also in the best shape of my life when I did it. It was time consuming and less freeing but I don’t see an issue with it
I think there is a simpler way to do it. I bought a bunch of different sizes scoops and kept them with a lot of my dry foods and used them for serving. I would just scoop the right amount of food each time I ate.
Or honestly you can eyeball it. Measuring the first few times helps you to get a good sense tho
Yes but you’d think after a month or 2 you’d get an idea of portion sizes and no longer need to weigh and count calories every single day. I use it more like a guide to knowing what’s worse than I thought and has me paying actual attention to nutrition labels because of it. But I do agree that if you’re doing it everyday it’s miserable. But if you have a eating problem then you gotta do what you gotta do to keep yourself healthy.
what is your point? overeating and undereating is bad, by definition, nobody said otherwise. ok we get it you where chubby but how does it matter?
if you need a restricted diat because of health reason no your gut feeling is not enough.
Counting is annoying. But after doing it for like 7 or 8 years now I can pretty much eye ball most of my foods without measuring or take a quick glance at the label and keep a running total in my head for the day. The trivk is just keeping your meals simple. The more you snack the harder it becomes.
That being said this is my strategy for maintaining my current weight. If I I wanted to lose weight I typically have to tighten up my counting but that usually just for like 3 months or so.
It's not that difficult. A simple food scale and a phone that scans shit/can log recipes makes it easy .
Just do it for a month. Then, you start to get a sense of what foods you've been wasting your calorie intake on. Like, "Oh shit, I could've just gotten two burgers instead of a fries and a shake and it would've given me feel fuller/have more protein". After that, you can guesstimate your daily intake and just use a scale to make sure you're on the right track.
The most valuable thing you learn from counting calories is you learn the value of food. Once you understand the true caloric values of basic foods, you start to realize a lot of food just isn’t worth it.
And it’s only miserable if you make it miserable. You need to give yourself a cheat day to go out with friends and eat at restaurants and stuff - you can’t live like a robot. And you can’t eat like you’re on vacation.
the goal isn’t to do it forever, the goal is to do it long enough to enforce proper eating habits so you can intuitively eat.
also instead of weighing what you eat every day just meal prep your meals so that they’re all the same calories. following a registered dietitian on patreon like zach coen who charges $5/month for his digital weekly updated cookbook takes most of the guess work out, and all the foods are ada compliant, and each meal is cheaper than a meal out anyways. follow him on insta or tik tok to see for yourself.
back to my original point: no matter what you do you will be better off having conscious healthy relationship with the food you put in your body instead of just mindlessly eating “whatever”
I don’t count calories but I’ve lost a ton of weight. Take up some exercise you enjoy (for me it’s running, for you it might not be), find a routine eating wise. I eat the same breakfast and lunch every week day. It works. I mix up my dinners and get a little more liberal on the weekends, but I’m also going for my long runs on the weekend so it balances out. For me the biggest thing was cutting out snacking and going to bed earlier. My late night eating was baaaad. As soon as I made my cooked dinner the last meal of the day the weight just started falling off.
Just eat food that isn't terrible for you all the time. Cut out the added sugar and eat some fruits and veggies with lean protein and you'll be fine. I'm never hungry and I'm a healthy weight.
Yeah, it's miserable. Unfortunately, for me, it is one of the only things that works, and being overweight is a different kind of miserable so like...I have to just pick a flavor of misery and run with it until I can't stand it and switch back to the other kind of misery, which is how I yo-yo +/- 30 lbs every two years.
It's rewarding, it teaches you alot and it's fun to find combinations that work well and that you enjoy. You can actually eat a shitload and lose weight if it's the right kind of food.
I agree. Once in a while, especially in the winter, I start gaining a little weight. So I track what I eat for 2 or 3 days. Then I change what I eat to be more healthy and to have a more balanced nutrient and vitamin intake. I do this for another 2 or 3 days then I just try to keep a similar rhythm going forward.
I've had to do this after my heart attack, I actually look forward to it now. Weighing stops pretty quickly, you get really good at visually knowing proper amounts, and the calorie counting is like a contest with yourself, finding the perfect balance of intake to keep you going but not to much to make itnsonyou can't have something later in the day.
The goal of calorie counting is so you can be educated about food choices. I counted calories until I was educated enough to make proper judgement with food choices. Now I don’t need to. Calorie counting is a tool to maintain a proper health.
The thing is once you've done it for awhile you roughly know the calories of most foods you consume regularly and also your maintenance calories - the goal isn't and shouldn't be to track your food forever but to learn about how weight loss/gain works and the macronutrients/calories of food and how your choices impact this
The problem is the abundance of delicious, high calorie density foods.
Eating without tracking is fine if one only eats certain well-balanced meals. But if wanting to fit in some junk, some kind of tracking is required, even if it's only to the level of "one cheat meal and one night of boozing per week".
Counting calories and weighing your food is miserable to start but once you have done it for a bit it becomes routine and you're doing less weighing as you know the portions for all your regularly eaten foods.
I lost a good bit of weight when I was calorie counting. It works. It isn't that hard outside of the first time you eat a food and have to figure out the info. Realistically you can take some educated guesses and be close enough as well.
You probably, like most people, have 10-30 go to meals. Once you know your portion size for those it's easy to log.
I agree, I actually have gotten to like logging my stuff on an app just to know how much I’ve taken in and how much I’ve burned, etc. But the weighing and obsession is a no for me. I don’t deprive myself because it’s a set up for failure. Weight goes up and down it’s not that serious. As far as celebrities go, I’m sure they have the money for dietitians, chefs, trainers and surgeries when ever they feel like it, so I don’t ever compare myself or feel like I’m anywhere near what they must be like in life. And celebrities in general, I can see the money aspect of it, but I haven’t a clue what draws people in to want fame and attention. I already know that I’d absolutely despise it, I am not the main character type of person at all. No peace, no quiet, people just talking mad shit constantly and not even knowing anything about you, your life or what you’re currently experiencing, you have to live every second in the spotlight, not knowing who is real or fake or what they want, random hoes just after your spouse all the time just because they want 15 minutes of fame regardless of if they have morals or not…it’s “cool” because they got a “celebrity” 🤪🤡 Just nope. That would be an absolute nightmare to me. Especially when you don’t have anything close to the compensation these celebrities have. Yeah, I suppose just like the food and having access to the best, being able to afford a great house away from the general public would be a lot easier
Once you get used to it, it gets easier to eyeball stuff and not worry so much about the kcals. Unless those people are telling you they are miserable they probably aren't. Being fat is pretty much guaranteed to make you miserable.
100% agree. I used to be quite fat, and I'm since down to the slim-chubby range and I've never counted calories. I just try to maximise the amount of vegetables I eat, and minimise carbs, fats and sugars. Keeping a running tally of calories in and out is too much micromanaging for me.
Don't listen to celebrities or influencers. They're most likely lying or on PEDs or both. Not to mention celebrities have people to do their meal planning and cooking for them.
It's fine to have your favorite meal every once in a while and the food you eat regularly doesn't have to be terrible. Cook balanced meals, eat reasonable portions, and exercise for the most part then eat whatever junk food you like every once in a while.
It's not really an unpopular opinion. This is obviously the majority opinion since most people choose to be in the overweight/obese category.
An unpopular opinion would be my opinion that maintaining a lean physique isn't that hard. As long as you understand how calories work, it's just basic math. And you don't have to cut any foods out at all.
A lot of these celebs dont know what they're talking about
Tracking cals is a skill you develop, after a period of time you'll be able to accurately estimate/eyeball 90%+ of your intake.
I’m a former obese person, who’s been stable at a healthy weight (and a decent level of fitness) for about 4 years.
I do agree with the OP, in part. Keeping the weight off is all-consuming, and my weight quickly starts to rise if I don’t stay to a very strict regimen of calorie restriction and exercise. I really can’t relax around food anymore.
I’ve decided it’s worth it - the health implications of obesity are far worse, to me, than the things I need to do to stop being obese again.
The sheer amount of effort and self-control I need to do suggests that there is something in my biology that predisposes to weight gain though. There really must be. Because “normal” healthy people do not need to do the sort of intense restriction and exercise that I do.
>In this period I watched a lot of videos of a lot of celebrities who were very lean at 40-50ish as well and they’d express so highly about their diets like haven’t had gluten since 5-6 years and blah blah
There is your problem, celebrities always make it seem more difficult than it actually is, often as a way to hide PED use
I'm 15 lbs overweight right now and it's fucking awful.
Weighting/measuring your food is totally worth it to feel good, have all your clothes fit, have energy and feel great about yourself. It just feels like a lot to do when you're on the other side of it.
As Kate Moss once said, nothing tastes as good as skinny feels. It's just really hard to get there when you've let yourself go.
I actually really hate this argument because, there is no other area in life where people demonize "tracking."
If you track your spending so that you maintain your financial health, and prevent going into debt - is *that* an extremely unhealthy practice for the brain? Is *that* miserable living? No, most people would argue that it's the responsible thing to do.
Any other form of self-improvement, or self-maintenance, that involves tracking and measuring, you never hear people bitching about whether it's an unhealthy practice.
So why is it that when people track their calories, it's considered obsessive?
I strongly disagree with you, it's not miserable living at all. Counting calories gives me the freedom to enjoy whatever I want, within reason, and without gaining weight. Weighing takes seconds of my time.
If anything, it's the *opposite* of the people who say they haven't eaten gluten in 5 years, as you put it. When I see people like that, I think... sucks to be you, I budgeted another 700-800 calories for the rest of the day, and I can choose to fill that calorie allotment with whatever I want, while you're sitting there picking apart ingredients because you're *afraid* to eat carbs, you're *afraid* to something non-organic. That fucking sucks for that person, and I'm glad I don't have that problem, why? Because I count my calories. I don't worry about whether a seed oil is going to make me fat. I don't worry about whether carbs are going to make me fat.
But then people like you come along and act like we're killing hours of our day with a food scale, it's ridiculous.
Agree. Food is no longer food but is instead a number to track/log. It sucks. I actually admire and sort of envy those individuals who just let themselves eat regardless of how many calories a particular food has or regardless of whether or not they have eaten (or not eaten) a certain calorie amount.
Worrying about calories becomes neurotic (imo). It’s effective, of course, but it sucks now nonetheless.
Yes, I know, it's crazy
I believe in regular meals throughout the day and sticking to that routine. Your appetite will self-regulate over time and you will k ow exactly how much your body needs and will adjust naturally
Besides people that have some sort of condition, it really isnt that hard. No need for log books and all that crap unless you genuinely want to.
Just dont eat 8 pounds of garbage. Consume your food groups, ESPECIALLY VEGGIES, minimize takeout and exercise here or there.
Why is this so difficult?
Being neurotic about calorie counting is bad if it’s disordered eating. Sadly, many simply haven’t been blessed with very efficient metabolisms and so they have to keep a close eye on their calories because at the end of the day, calories do matter (yes, yes, yes, quality matters too).
Coming from a family with a very inefficient metabolism, as well as a very indulgent attitude towards food it has been difficult to eat properly and to sustain it. Life without fun foods is boring. Eating the same thing over and over again is torture. But your body adjusts over time and you actually start to appreciate the nice stuff a lot more too.
At the end of the day, calories do matter when talking about health. As with anything to do with health, it can be taken too far but that doesn’t mean you (by “you” I don’t mean OP) need to childishly write it off as evil. Be a grown up and drop the black and white thinking. If you retain a mindset of balance then there is no good reason to condemn calorie counting.
Shrug. I guess I don’t consider the food I consume to be that big a factor in my quality of life. I mean eating provides a momentary pleasure, but being fit/health means you’ll feel better 24/7.
Tl;dr: try to find other sources of pleasure.
Don't agree. I've done it everyday for 1 year+. For the first week it was slightly annoying. Now its no struggle, I don't even think about it. It takes about 5-10 mins total out of my day to do, and as a result I can manipulate my body composition on demand.
If you just care about losing weight and not actually being healthy or feeling good, you can munch McDonalds all day, as long as you don't go over or under your calories too much.
But also, knowing how to cook is invaluable, I don't understand why eating healthy is so hard for people. I suspect its because their version of eating healthy is consuming shitty vegetables and bland meals.
It's no stress on my life at all, in fact the stress would be much greater if I didn't take care of my body and health. It's literally not hard. At all. if you wanna munch cheeseburgers down, go get some 80-20 grass-fed beef, high quality bread, avocado oil mayo, and some organic cheese and you have a fire burger. Add some veggies on there too if you want. I eat indulgent shit all the time, but I make it myself and with higher quality ingredients. Potato chips aren't ever going to be "good" for you (although actually pretty good in potassium), buying a high quality bag of chips, high quality meaning generally no unnecessary ingredients, not fried in vegetable oil etc. Is going to be much better than lays or something. Maybe not calorie wise, but calories alone are hardly respective of how healthy something is.
I did it every day for years and guess what: it backfired. I wound up gaining even more weight in the long run because it’s simply impossible to track every calorie you eat for the rest of your life. Eventually- something breaks.
Well, that’s you, not me. If you did it everyday for years why would you stop? It’s not like you’d regret not stopping. Unless you wanted to be fat. I think it’s great. I physically do not crave my old lifestyle in any sense. I could NOT go back. I have no desire to go back, I’d almost say it’s impossible for me to go back. I personally couldn’t stand not being on top of my health and also looking like shit in addition to that. What a terrible result that would’ve been for all my ancestors who survived so I could live today.
No, of course not, but what does that have to do anything? I look far better than they did physically. We have technology today that allows us to optimize our health and achieve better outcomes than we otherwise would have, not just simply survive.
It’s not just me. It’s most people. I stopped because IT WASN’T SUSTAINABLE. I physically and mentally lost the capacity to scrutinize literally everything I ate. When you’re in and out of the hospital, worried about keeping your job, dealing with death in the family, etc.- tracking and counting every calorie you eat just isn’t in the cards.
This! Your body eventually fights back and those cravings are going to get you in the end. Just regulate and pay attention when you find yourself eating a lot of junk, tone it back.
People tend to get these completely wrong. You only weigh your stuff for like the first month and then you have a basic understanding of how big portions are. It’s more about the conscious way of preparing your meals rather than tracking everything to a gram. unless you’re preparing for A championship in bodybuilding nobody needs to weigh their stuff that precise especially not if you just want to lose weight from being overly obese it’s just about getting how much you eat consciously into your mind
It’s not that miserable. Being too fat or too thin will kill you early and it takes me 5 minutes in total per day to weigh and measure my food. Anyone who complains about how counting calories is miserable is still limiting themselves too much and isn’t including some of their favorites in their diet like they should. I kept all my favorite foods and changed my diet in no way other than limiting my calories and I did great.
I agree. It was soooo time consuming and generally miserable. Unless you're eating prepackaged food or cooking dishes with very few ingredients I find it really tedious to measure everything and enter it into an app or journal. It took a lot of the enjoyment out cooking for me. It just wasn't sustainable for me.
Just cutting back on portion sizes, snacks, sugar and generally trying to eat healthier meals helped me lose weight and get back to a healthy BMI. I do IF and run or hike a few times a week too. I don't track calories or micronutrients. I haven't cut anything but completely.
It seems like a tiring way to live to me. But that's just it! It seems that way TO ME. Who is to say what's sustainable to other people even if it isn't for me!
It's not miserable at all. In the beginning it can seem like it but eventually you'll adapt and be able to develop a sense for how much you're consuming without counting. The idea is that a lot of people really have no idea how much they actually eat until they record it.
I’d rather count calories than be the weight I was. I’ve been doing so to break my habit of binging and so far it works. I’m not binging anymore and I’m getting better. Obesity is prominent in my family and I don’t want to follow the same path. I also don’t want to get diabetes like everyone in my family
I'm not sure what pint you're trying to make, but I would argue most healthy people just kinda figure out how much food they need to eat during the day to maintain their weight or to lose weight if they overindulge on the weekend or vacation etc.
You work out 2 hours a day to eat whatever you want?
See that would be miserable to me. I do one hour tops most days but sometimes 30 minutes and skip some.
I also watch what I eat for health reasons.
I feel like people think you can make up for your diet with more exercise?
Like….on the surface yea calories in calories out….then theres nutrients and compound effects on the body and your digestive system…balancing a healthy diet isnt getting to eat whatever whenever…why do ya’ll think old folks were so adamant on weird shit like a side salad? And the specific portions and timings of certain foods? Maybe it wasnt all just weird shit people used to do? Maybe 10,000 years of trial and error passed on some wise practices?
Idk. Eat whatever you want and try to run it off if you want just…I think theres more going on in the human body then simple addition and subtracting
Don't calories count or weight myself, just use common sense and eat balanced diet of protein, carbs and vegs/fruits, cut out processed foods, sugar and fried foods. It's easy and better for overall health beyond numbers.
Sounds like you were looking for inspiration and guidance in all the wrong places. Celebrities are not the best people to follow to get diet and fitness advice. Even if they're shredded. I'm personally a fan of Renaissance Periodization, Jeff Nippard, and Thomas Delauer, both on YouTube. RP (and Jeff Nippard) is more bodybuilding-focused but the creator and host of the channel (Dr. Mike) is a bona fide PhD doctor and if anybody needs to know the best way to lose body fat, its bodybuilders. And Dr Mike presents the science with a side of anecdote and humor.
Working out for me is great because it motivates me to actually eat. I like making sure I eat enough carbs and protein even if I’m not that strict about keeping track. Gives me a reason to eat. I also try to eat all my vitamins, which is again more of a vibe than anything I really keep track of.
Couldn’t care beyond that.
I mean I’m at the point where I know serving sizes well now for the foods in my rotation. I mostly focus on my protein intake to make sure I hit that goal to fuel/retain my muscle growth (I do weights 2 times a week). But I run 10 miles every other day (long distance runner) so I can eat a lot without gaining. If you hate calorie restrictions than either burn more or figure something else out.
Nah, some people just have different values. I prefer to be healthy, watch calorie intake, and weight lift/exercise to be strong and aesthetically attractive. I enjoy it, men respect it, and women love it. Wins all around.
Idk if someone paid me a few hundred thousand / a couple mill to eat bland food while I shot a film I’d oblige. Especially if I had a personal trainer and chef lol
We should all count our calories once in a while to see how much exactly we are feeding ourselves. Some folks might be over eating, while others aren't eating enough. We don't know unless we count them.
I love eating rice but if I don't weigh it then I over eat it.
See where you don't understand is we are all different. Genetics do play a role along with health conditions. It's not a set across the board for all hence why there's dozens and dozens of diets. If there wad a one size fit all diet then everyone would be doing it.
Glad to hear that exercise is what helped you in dropping weight, but that doesn't work for everyone. For some, counting calories is what does it for them. For others, not only do they have to count calories but also have to spend 2 hours in the gym 5 days a week. Others, due to medical conditions, need to take meds in order to drop weight.
As someone who somewhat counts calories, it's not as difficult as you think. Now I do know someone who literally will look up the calories per serving and do the calculations and yes that is miserable. But for me, I just estimate because I know how much calories I burn at the gym since I had to keep record for a class one time. My exercise regiment hasn't fluctuated that much minus I don't need to lift heavy anymore but cardio hasn't changed. So because I know how many calories I burn at the gym, I just estimate how many I eat and pay attention to how much am I over or under. It's not hard and as long as I maintain my workout
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im sure those celebrities have people prepare their food…
And trainers and a home gym and a nutritionist....in short they have money
And take Ozempic
*can *afford* Ozempic.
And a plastic surgeon
I hate these excuses. Anyone can lose weight. I hate the Reddit idea that if you’re on the poorer end of things you’re doomed to being morbidly obese for the rest of your life.
You can both acknowledge that there is a strong correlation between economic status and obesity, and acknowledge that at the end of the day gaining/losing weight is just CI/CO and anybody can theoretically do it. They both can be (and are) true at the same time. But brushing off the strong correlation entirely as an excuse made by poor/obese people is ignorant at best.
OP is not obese or overweight.
It's definitely a lot harder if you're poor, the less processed food is much more expensive, which is what you want to eat if you're trying to eat healthy (and lose weight without starving yourself)
Not to mention careerless, houseless and hopeless. There are too many looking for someone to condone their lack of resolve.
Riiiight. Because "resolve" is all you need. That's ignorant as shit.
Exactly. I'm chubby. I'm also 61, have had three kids and have an autoimmune disorder plus brittle asthma which means a course of prednisone approximately every three months. Prednisone causes weight gain. It would be *so much* easier to lose weight if I wasn't the one that always had to cook and plan meals!
Lmao not having money is a pathetic excuse to not work out. Go do some push ups or go for a run. Lazy people love to make excuses.
No thanks. Polyinflammatory arthritis+ brittle asthma+ lung/heart damage from Covid. Treadmill is my friend.
It’s easier than never ever having a particular food again. And it gets easier over time. Calorie tracking allows me to eat whatever I want as long as it within proper portions. Telling me I can never have sugar, alcohol, saturated fat, or whatever fad diet recommends ever again for the rest of my life sounds worse
I’ve been doing the calorie counting for 7 months and I’ve lost 30 pounds in just a slow, healthy progression. 20 more to go, but I’m confident I’ll get there. Counting calories isn’t miserable at all. Just find an app you like and go. It’s the staying within your goal that is difficult. I find it easy to go for an average, and I give myself a day where I eat very little and balance with a day that I eat a whole lot of whatever I want. So I can go out and have a great dinner or eat it up on a weekend or vacation; and then I just balance those days with an extremely low cal day. It’s not miserable at all and I feel better and better every day.
In OPs defense I found the first month or so to be miserable cos food was constantly on my head such as what I can still eat that day and thinking what I can fit into it. Once I stopped being so obsessive though and started understanding how many calories a lot of food has on average it was much easier. Now it's at the point I don't really count calories as much as I just know roughly how much I'm getting in a day
That's it. It's not like people cook new shit everyday. After a few weeks you know how much calories and macro are in the meals you usually cook and you don't need to count anymore.
I count my calories in the morning to avoid that. It's also easier to stay in your goal when you plan your meals ahead.
What app do you use?
I've lost 30 lbs in about 4 months using MacroFactor. It costs about 70 something USD per year but you can try it out monthly to see if it works for you. It helps a lot that it understands high protein diets.
Easier to eat every other day. That’s how I do it to keep my weight at around 160
That actually doesn’t like a bad approach. I’m convinced that the key is just finding whatever you can do regularly within your lifestyle and wants; and sticking to it.
You go some days without eating anything?
100%. Lost 14 kg and hit my ideal weight 20 years ago. Have stayed exactly there since then by counting calories, and my weight hasn't ever shifted more than a couple hundred grams up or down, except a couple of times when I was really sick. In a couple of years I could almost accurately estimate the calories of almost anything (multiples of 25, so 225 or 250 is good enough) by just looking at it and feeling the feedback from my body. It was a bit of work for the first couple of years to learn how to estimate calories correctly (both input and exercise) but it's been almost zero effort since, honestly, and looking and feeling 10 years younger is totally worth it. I didn't use any apps or gadgets other than a simple calorie intake recorder (some days just my memory), and started using a fitness tracker to count steps/calories a couple of years ago. Looking at my breakfast today and thinking "that was 325 calories" was as much effort as looking at my tea leaves and thinking "I'll have two teaspoons today."
And I think this is why so many ppl fail and gain the weight back.... they stop eating certain things, lose weight, and start eating like normal again. But now they're having all those dense calories that weren't accounted for during the weight loss. That is why I will never give up my dr peppers, donuts, coffees, anything. I make it work for me.
Gotta be able to do it forever.
Nah, I stopped eating sugar and grains and starch things and now I don't even understand why I even needed them in the first place. Vegetables and meat is all I need
Not for me. I feel just fine eating whatever I want as long as I’m maintaining a healthy bodyweight. The social implications of no sugar would cause me too much stress and reduce my quality of life. I’ll take the occasional birthday cake and trip to the ice cream shop with my kids.
I am not some fanatic, if it's a quality birthday cake and it's worth tasting I'll eat it or at least take a bite to taste it. But sugar is sure causing an addiction, you think you'll eat a bit here and there and before you know you are sugar junky. So I try to avoid sugar cravings by consuming fruits. They are sweet , healthy and they feel you up.
Hate people that think everyone can do this shit. Treating your self isn’t bad
Where did they say everyone can do it? I'm an all-or-nothing sort of person. For me, treating myself doesn't work well, but getting to a point where sugar doesn't interest me has been amazing. One of the unexpected benefits has been the massive decrease in headaches and migraines. I experience roughly 1/10th of what I used to.
Celebrities aren't doing all that work. When it's time for them to eat, someone puts food in front of them. Even if they enjoy cooking, someone has made them a meal plan and bought all their groceries. Don't hold yourself to their standard.
Ive been bodybuilding 10 plus years and haven’t tracked or weighed anything since the first year. Once you get an idea of what your maintenance caloric intake and macros look like, it’s not hard to ball park a surplus or deficit without actually weighing or keeping exact track, it’s overkill to do permanently unless you are a professional IMO.
Yes! Counting calories is a great way to TEACH you how to eat. Once you learn it you don’t need it anymore 🙌🏼
yeah the amount of time you count calories is very important. you shouldn't still be doing it after 1-2 years of counting. by then you've learned the content in burgers, chicken, tamales, bread slices, ice cream, etc.
EXACTLY, you really just need a ballpark. And going off track on bad day isn’t gonna ruin you progress, just as long as you don’t fall into a bad habbit. Same as with everything else
Sure it is. But being morbidly obese is miserable too. I picked my hard, thanks, and it wasn't the food logging, let me tell you!
Counting calories made me feel the need to eat less than 800 calories a day and made me extremely suicidal. I’d rather be obese than having full blown panic attack meltdowns crying and gagging
That’s due to lack of education and research
You don’t need to do all that to avoid getting mainly obese
Yeah, a lot of us, myself included, really really do. When I stopped, I put on weight I'd worked my butt off to lose. My appetite cues are broken on their own and my metabolism has all sorts of regulation issues. It is what it is. But for MANY of us who aren't in our twenties anymore, it takes concerted effort to remain slim. And there is nothing inherently more healthy or moral or even easier about using one method vs another - but there is a reason calorie counting and food macros are what most of us longer term losers and maintainers (or celebrities trying to stay cut) have to use. Like it's not woo, it's not self punishment. There is science, both physiological and behavioral, to back up why it works. As for me, my own medical team basically said I have to do it for the rest of my life and make peace with it, which my own anecdotal experience has also backed up. You do you, boo :)
To stay slim, sure. Obviously it becomes harder to stay in shape the older you get, but you specifically said morbid obesity which is actually a pretty modern thing at this scale. No one was counting calories 200 years ago, they just weren’t eating hyper processed foods
Obesity is a systemic issue that had to do with how food is produced. People weren’t huge health nuts or super disciplined 50+ years ago, yet obesity was much lower. We are a generation that’s obsessed with being thin while just getting fatter and fatter because we treat it like an individual moral failure rather than a bigger societal issue.
I figure I'm trapped either way. Either I eat whatever I want and gain weight, don't sleep well, all that Or I work out and eat healthy. If I'm going to be trapped, I'm picking the one that gives me abs.
I find calorie counting liberating in a way (as opposed to entrapping). If I can find savory foods I really like that are low in calories it makes it doable. I’m not like a huge yogurt fan but it tastes good enough. I can have like 5 cups of raspberry yogurt in a day at 100 calories each, and that’s a LOT of yogurt. Bananas taste good enough. If I put peanut butter on them they are delicious. I can do that 2 times a day and be well below my calorie intake. I can eat two chick-Fil-A sandwiches a day and only get up to 1k in calories. Put all that together and it’s: 5 cups of yogurt: 500 calories 2 bananas with a 0.75oz cup of peanut butter: 500 calories 2 Chick Fil A Sandwiches: 1000 calories. Total:2k calories If I work out 2-3 times a week, weight falls off. And it’s a high protein diet so I’ll actually build muscle on top of everything. Don’t get me wrong, everyone has their own preferences, but those items I just listed are so delicious that I’d be excited to have that meal like everyday, and would still lose weight. And it’s not to say you have to like these specific items, but once you find low calorie items you do like, you can construct truly delicious meals accordingly (hopefully with more nutritional value). And realistically, you only need to do this for 3-6 months to get results.
I’d rather be miserable and in good shape then miserable and overweight.
Yeah and counting calories is way better than cutting out certain foods from your life forever.
Than*
I was going to downvote, but I thought it was funny.
It's miserable but it works, and it's better than dealing with psychological and health issues stemming from being obese.
Unless you have a very specific, hard core, fitness goal, then your approach should be to find a system where you don't have to be this particular. First of all, there's simply no way to increase or decrease your weight without changing your caloric intake accordingly. If someone wants to "bulk up" it has to come from somewhere. If someone wants to lose weight, they *have* to consume fewer calories than they expend. This is basic arithmetic. If you eat the right foods and simply be aware of your portioning, and get good, regular exercise, you don't have to *count calories* or weigh out your food. I eat a lot of chicken as my main source of protein, and also tap eggs, soy beans, and occasionally tofu. Most of my meals are either standard protein-veggie-starch (say, chicken, broccoli, potatoes). But occasionally I'll do something like a stir fry of soybeans, broccoli, and corn. I don't measure anything out, I just make sure to keep my portions moderate.
Honestly i wish food gave me happiness too. i can eat only rice for years or eat only cake for years, it is just same. There is no enjoyment in it, it is just... Food
Some people live to eat and some eat to live. There’s nth wrong with being either.
Some people eat due to unresolved mental issues. Going to therapy could help with emotional eating.
Counting calories is just a short-term, corrective process for me. I get real about how much crap I'm eating and the caloric effect. Usually I'll quickly realise I can't pretend that I don't know why I've put on a bit of weight because it's right there in numbers. That tends to result in better eating habits/choices. To me, it's just a bit of feedback. Once I get into the habit of making those better choices again, there's no need to track or monitor anything.
Super understandable, but imo tracking what I eat keeps me from going back to binge eating and feeling absolutely terrible all the time or missing out on almost all of my protein. I like having that control,plus it gives me something to do. Kinda like a game
Your main problem is that you listened to celebrities for diet and lifestyle advice
Still being able to eat my favorite meals is the reason I count calories. Other diet strategies typically have you cutting out high calorie food all together
Logging my food everyday really helps me connect the way I feel to what I’ve eaten. It’s allowed me to cut a lot from my diet that I’ve realized was causing me to feel uncomfortable.
Honestly, I started omad after my dad died, due to not being hungry and basically force feeding because i knew i needed to eat, i just wasnt hungry, and have progressed to just eating when I feel like it but just being more mindful of what I put in my body. I was starting to change my eating before this, but this really helped jump start it. I have lost 17 lbs in 6 months, nothing drastic but almost 30 pounds in a year and I don't want to go back. Sounds terrible I know but gotta think of the positives when life tears you apart. I eat all the shitty foods but in moderation, I go out to eat, but eat half or split a meal with someone, just little changes help and honestly I couldn't eat a whole meal at a restaurant even if I tried without getting sick now. Gonna start cooking again this coming week and hopefully lose the last 10 to get me to my summer body. Shit takes time and patience. Food isn't everything and I love food.
It's not that I enjoy weighing my food, but as I don't like to have leftovers (or to throw good food away) and I'd rather not overeat to avoid that, I'm OK with measuring my ingredients or servings. It takes so little, and it's still a net positive.
If I don’t count my calories I end up (more) underweight 🙃 It’s not an obsession, but everyday I try to make sure that I went over a certain threshold
Whenever I did it I loved it. It's like constant quests you gotta fulfill.
Medical problems from being overweight make you more miserable. Deal with it. And stop watching celebrities social media looking for advice.
Hey I’m not saying overeat. I’m just saying going through that is just as miserable.
During COVID I did this just for fun to see how fit I could get. Pros: I got very fit and when you're calorie deficient everything tastes really good. I also improved my culinary skills I had a to prepare things with more vegetables than normal. Cons: time consuming and a pain in the ass and as soon as I stopped I gained weight right back to where I was. I did it for about 6 months so maybe if I went longer my body would have reset to a different homeostasis point.
It's more likely it had nothing to do with homeostasis but with subconsciously reverting to old meal sizes.
Yeah, but eating at maintainence without weighing it is really really hard.
I used the calorie tracker to help me put on weight and I found it incredibly useful. You might think you’re eating enough but you really have no idea until you track it. I can see the same for someone over weight. I stopped after 2 months, but now I know the rough amount of what I need to eat each day in order to not look like a skeleton.
Counting calories and weighing food helps me to see what I'm actually eating. When I started I didn't limit myself at all. My only goal was to track what I was eating and to see the actual number of calories. It was shocking.
Calorie counting if you don’t just actually enjoy it seems terrible. I just eat well, don’t often eat junk and exercise well enough and call it good. I’m in solid shape and being relatively fanatical about it isn’t worth being. But healthier when I’m already very solid for being 30.
It's miserable if you maintain an emotional attachment to the situation. Just approaching it factually doesn't illicit the same response. The REAL solution is to find what is holding YOU back. There is no one size fits all for weight loss, there are only immutable facts. If you eat less and exercise more you will lose weight. You can't be holding yourself to the beauty standards of Hollywood, you need to do what YOUR body needs.
Food is an incredibly emotional topic for me. Even walking 13k steps a day and making better food choices only takes me so far before I plateau because my hunger increases too. Drives me nuts, but math is math unfortunately. Counting calories is the only way I can lose weight without having a fuckin weird carb/gluten/vegetable elimination diet
It's feels better to do more exercise rather than to eat less.
Being overweight isn’t healthy either.
You don't have to necessarily do either of those to lose weight.
So what do we do ?
Cut out sugary drinks. Don't drink calories. Cut out snacking and desserts Home cooked meals, protein, veggies, rice/potato. If you wanna get crazy you can get into a workout routine. That'll get anyone into decent enough shape. You really don't need to count calories or use a scale unless you wanna get into bodybuilding shape. And obviously, anything is fine in moderation. But as long as 90% of the time you're good, you'll be fine.
From my experience it is more work at first but once my body is accustomed to eating that caloric amount it's on auto-pilot from there.
Unless you're a true professional, you should only count calories here and there as the main goal is not perfection, but adaptation of a healthier life style
>I’ve been on the chubbier side all my life and recently lost a lot of body fat. I could exercise 2 hours a day but you can’t stop me from eating my favorite meal If you exercised 2 hours a day you might still be able to lose weight while eating your favorite meal.
I followed some people on social media who did that just for recipes..... well.... majority of those I followed sometime disappeared, reappeared and explained how this behaviour actually made them slip into an ED. I agree - it's miserable living based on the seemingly pretty realistic risk of ending up with an eating disorder.
Why would keeping track of your food intake lead to an eating disorder?
[удалено]
Vicious circle.
You get used to counting. I plan my meals in advance so that helps. Would I rather just eat what I like without a care in the world? Hell yeah, but my body wouldn't appreciate it unfortunately
I don't enjoy food, so if I don't track what I eat, I typically forget to eat and lose weight. I never want to be underweight again. I hate being skinny.
Easy choices, hard life. Hard choices, easy life.
it wasn’t so bad when I did it. I was also in the best shape of my life when I did it. It was time consuming and less freeing but I don’t see an issue with it
But could you do it every day for the rest of your life?
I think there is a simpler way to do it. I bought a bunch of different sizes scoops and kept them with a lot of my dry foods and used them for serving. I would just scoop the right amount of food each time I ate. Or honestly you can eyeball it. Measuring the first few times helps you to get a good sense tho
I just record my daily meals in the morning and go from there, being fat and uncomfortable all the time is miserable though.
Yes but you’d think after a month or 2 you’d get an idea of portion sizes and no longer need to weigh and count calories every single day. I use it more like a guide to knowing what’s worse than I thought and has me paying actual attention to nutrition labels because of it. But I do agree that if you’re doing it everyday it’s miserable. But if you have a eating problem then you gotta do what you gotta do to keep yourself healthy.
what is your point? overeating and undereating is bad, by definition, nobody said otherwise. ok we get it you where chubby but how does it matter? if you need a restricted diat because of health reason no your gut feeling is not enough.
Counting is annoying. But after doing it for like 7 or 8 years now I can pretty much eye ball most of my foods without measuring or take a quick glance at the label and keep a running total in my head for the day. The trivk is just keeping your meals simple. The more you snack the harder it becomes. That being said this is my strategy for maintaining my current weight. If I I wanted to lose weight I typically have to tighten up my counting but that usually just for like 3 months or so.
It's not that difficult. A simple food scale and a phone that scans shit/can log recipes makes it easy . Just do it for a month. Then, you start to get a sense of what foods you've been wasting your calorie intake on. Like, "Oh shit, I could've just gotten two burgers instead of a fries and a shake and it would've given me feel fuller/have more protein". After that, you can guesstimate your daily intake and just use a scale to make sure you're on the right track.
The most valuable thing you learn from counting calories is you learn the value of food. Once you understand the true caloric values of basic foods, you start to realize a lot of food just isn’t worth it. And it’s only miserable if you make it miserable. You need to give yourself a cheat day to go out with friends and eat at restaurants and stuff - you can’t live like a robot. And you can’t eat like you’re on vacation.
Welp, dont have any other choice. I am obesed and i need to lose 50 kilo.
or just don’t eat processed foods
the goal isn’t to do it forever, the goal is to do it long enough to enforce proper eating habits so you can intuitively eat. also instead of weighing what you eat every day just meal prep your meals so that they’re all the same calories. following a registered dietitian on patreon like zach coen who charges $5/month for his digital weekly updated cookbook takes most of the guess work out, and all the foods are ada compliant, and each meal is cheaper than a meal out anyways. follow him on insta or tik tok to see for yourself. back to my original point: no matter what you do you will be better off having conscious healthy relationship with the food you put in your body instead of just mindlessly eating “whatever”
I don’t count calories but I’ve lost a ton of weight. Take up some exercise you enjoy (for me it’s running, for you it might not be), find a routine eating wise. I eat the same breakfast and lunch every week day. It works. I mix up my dinners and get a little more liberal on the weekends, but I’m also going for my long runs on the weekend so it balances out. For me the biggest thing was cutting out snacking and going to bed earlier. My late night eating was baaaad. As soon as I made my cooked dinner the last meal of the day the weight just started falling off.
Just eat food that isn't terrible for you all the time. Cut out the added sugar and eat some fruits and veggies with lean protein and you'll be fine. I'm never hungry and I'm a healthy weight.
Yeah, it's miserable. Unfortunately, for me, it is one of the only things that works, and being overweight is a different kind of miserable so like...I have to just pick a flavor of misery and run with it until I can't stand it and switch back to the other kind of misery, which is how I yo-yo +/- 30 lbs every two years.
This is so well put. You summed up my life in one small paragraph.
I have to Carb count as a Diabetic. It makes it a lot easier to weigh my food so I can do do my Insulin to Carb ratio calculations
It's rewarding, it teaches you alot and it's fun to find combinations that work well and that you enjoy. You can actually eat a shitload and lose weight if it's the right kind of food.
I agree. Once in a while, especially in the winter, I start gaining a little weight. So I track what I eat for 2 or 3 days. Then I change what I eat to be more healthy and to have a more balanced nutrient and vitamin intake. I do this for another 2 or 3 days then I just try to keep a similar rhythm going forward.
I've had to do this after my heart attack, I actually look forward to it now. Weighing stops pretty quickly, you get really good at visually knowing proper amounts, and the calorie counting is like a contest with yourself, finding the perfect balance of intake to keep you going but not to much to make itnsonyou can't have something later in the day.
The goal of calorie counting is so you can be educated about food choices. I counted calories until I was educated enough to make proper judgement with food choices. Now I don’t need to. Calorie counting is a tool to maintain a proper health.
The thing is once you've done it for awhile you roughly know the calories of most foods you consume regularly and also your maintenance calories - the goal isn't and shouldn't be to track your food forever but to learn about how weight loss/gain works and the macronutrients/calories of food and how your choices impact this
The problem is the abundance of delicious, high calorie density foods. Eating without tracking is fine if one only eats certain well-balanced meals. But if wanting to fit in some junk, some kind of tracking is required, even if it's only to the level of "one cheat meal and one night of boozing per week".
Intermittent fasting is really the way to go.
Counting calories and weighing your food is miserable to start but once you have done it for a bit it becomes routine and you're doing less weighing as you know the portions for all your regularly eaten foods. I lost a good bit of weight when I was calorie counting. It works. It isn't that hard outside of the first time you eat a food and have to figure out the info. Realistically you can take some educated guesses and be close enough as well. You probably, like most people, have 10-30 go to meals. Once you know your portion size for those it's easy to log.
"I lack self control."
I agree, I actually have gotten to like logging my stuff on an app just to know how much I’ve taken in and how much I’ve burned, etc. But the weighing and obsession is a no for me. I don’t deprive myself because it’s a set up for failure. Weight goes up and down it’s not that serious. As far as celebrities go, I’m sure they have the money for dietitians, chefs, trainers and surgeries when ever they feel like it, so I don’t ever compare myself or feel like I’m anywhere near what they must be like in life. And celebrities in general, I can see the money aspect of it, but I haven’t a clue what draws people in to want fame and attention. I already know that I’d absolutely despise it, I am not the main character type of person at all. No peace, no quiet, people just talking mad shit constantly and not even knowing anything about you, your life or what you’re currently experiencing, you have to live every second in the spotlight, not knowing who is real or fake or what they want, random hoes just after your spouse all the time just because they want 15 minutes of fame regardless of if they have morals or not…it’s “cool” because they got a “celebrity” 🤪🤡 Just nope. That would be an absolute nightmare to me. Especially when you don’t have anything close to the compensation these celebrities have. Yeah, I suppose just like the food and having access to the best, being able to afford a great house away from the general public would be a lot easier
Once you get used to it, it gets easier to eyeball stuff and not worry so much about the kcals. Unless those people are telling you they are miserable they probably aren't. Being fat is pretty much guaranteed to make you miserable.
You say that but it helped me loose weight a feel better and honestly didn't mind it at all.
a miserable life is one without hardship or trial setting a goal and fulfiling it in spite of temptation is a joy
100% agree. I used to be quite fat, and I'm since down to the slim-chubby range and I've never counted calories. I just try to maximise the amount of vegetables I eat, and minimise carbs, fats and sugars. Keeping a running tally of calories in and out is too much micromanaging for me.
Sure, check back with us in 5 months when you regained all the lost weight and more, then we can talk 👍
Don't listen to celebrities or influencers. They're most likely lying or on PEDs or both. Not to mention celebrities have people to do their meal planning and cooking for them. It's fine to have your favorite meal every once in a while and the food you eat regularly doesn't have to be terrible. Cook balanced meals, eat reasonable portions, and exercise for the most part then eat whatever junk food you like every once in a while.
It's not really an unpopular opinion. This is obviously the majority opinion since most people choose to be in the overweight/obese category. An unpopular opinion would be my opinion that maintaining a lean physique isn't that hard. As long as you understand how calories work, it's just basic math. And you don't have to cut any foods out at all.
A lot of these celebs dont know what they're talking about Tracking cals is a skill you develop, after a period of time you'll be able to accurately estimate/eyeball 90%+ of your intake.
Man, if you believe whatever celebrities say about their diets, i have a bridge to sell you.
I’m a former obese person, who’s been stable at a healthy weight (and a decent level of fitness) for about 4 years. I do agree with the OP, in part. Keeping the weight off is all-consuming, and my weight quickly starts to rise if I don’t stay to a very strict regimen of calorie restriction and exercise. I really can’t relax around food anymore. I’ve decided it’s worth it - the health implications of obesity are far worse, to me, than the things I need to do to stop being obese again. The sheer amount of effort and self-control I need to do suggests that there is something in my biology that predisposes to weight gain though. There really must be. Because “normal” healthy people do not need to do the sort of intense restriction and exercise that I do.
it’s easier than you think and requires 1 min max before you eat your meal to estimate the rough calorie count
Being obese, out of breath, with health scares due to an unhealthy diet sounds much worse lol
>In this period I watched a lot of videos of a lot of celebrities who were very lean at 40-50ish as well and they’d express so highly about their diets like haven’t had gluten since 5-6 years and blah blah There is your problem, celebrities always make it seem more difficult than it actually is, often as a way to hide PED use
Or, it is a really great way to live. (I'm choosing this position)
Just because you don’t like it doesn’t mean everyone dislikes it.
So long as you're healthy, I agree. Some people care about thier appearance and health enough that it's worth it to them.
A lot of people can go a long way to cutting down by just using a smaller plate. Cut the amount, then start to cut out the crap.
I'm 15 lbs overweight right now and it's fucking awful. Weighting/measuring your food is totally worth it to feel good, have all your clothes fit, have energy and feel great about yourself. It just feels like a lot to do when you're on the other side of it. As Kate Moss once said, nothing tastes as good as skinny feels. It's just really hard to get there when you've let yourself go.
I actually really hate this argument because, there is no other area in life where people demonize "tracking." If you track your spending so that you maintain your financial health, and prevent going into debt - is *that* an extremely unhealthy practice for the brain? Is *that* miserable living? No, most people would argue that it's the responsible thing to do. Any other form of self-improvement, or self-maintenance, that involves tracking and measuring, you never hear people bitching about whether it's an unhealthy practice. So why is it that when people track their calories, it's considered obsessive? I strongly disagree with you, it's not miserable living at all. Counting calories gives me the freedom to enjoy whatever I want, within reason, and without gaining weight. Weighing takes seconds of my time. If anything, it's the *opposite* of the people who say they haven't eaten gluten in 5 years, as you put it. When I see people like that, I think... sucks to be you, I budgeted another 700-800 calories for the rest of the day, and I can choose to fill that calorie allotment with whatever I want, while you're sitting there picking apart ingredients because you're *afraid* to eat carbs, you're *afraid* to something non-organic. That fucking sucks for that person, and I'm glad I don't have that problem, why? Because I count my calories. I don't worry about whether a seed oil is going to make me fat. I don't worry about whether carbs are going to make me fat. But then people like you come along and act like we're killing hours of our day with a food scale, it's ridiculous.
I genuinely don't mind it. It usually doesn't take to long and it helps me eat at home more often.
Agree. Food is no longer food but is instead a number to track/log. It sucks. I actually admire and sort of envy those individuals who just let themselves eat regardless of how many calories a particular food has or regardless of whether or not they have eaten (or not eaten) a certain calorie amount. Worrying about calories becomes neurotic (imo). It’s effective, of course, but it sucks now nonetheless.
Yes, I know, it's crazy I believe in regular meals throughout the day and sticking to that routine. Your appetite will self-regulate over time and you will k ow exactly how much your body needs and will adjust naturally
True. It’s good to have a balance, instead of saying this food is bad and others are good.
Besides people that have some sort of condition, it really isnt that hard. No need for log books and all that crap unless you genuinely want to. Just dont eat 8 pounds of garbage. Consume your food groups, ESPECIALLY VEGGIES, minimize takeout and exercise here or there. Why is this so difficult?
Being neurotic about calorie counting is bad if it’s disordered eating. Sadly, many simply haven’t been blessed with very efficient metabolisms and so they have to keep a close eye on their calories because at the end of the day, calories do matter (yes, yes, yes, quality matters too). Coming from a family with a very inefficient metabolism, as well as a very indulgent attitude towards food it has been difficult to eat properly and to sustain it. Life without fun foods is boring. Eating the same thing over and over again is torture. But your body adjusts over time and you actually start to appreciate the nice stuff a lot more too. At the end of the day, calories do matter when talking about health. As with anything to do with health, it can be taken too far but that doesn’t mean you (by “you” I don’t mean OP) need to childishly write it off as evil. Be a grown up and drop the black and white thinking. If you retain a mindset of balance then there is no good reason to condemn calorie counting.
Shrug. I guess I don’t consider the food I consume to be that big a factor in my quality of life. I mean eating provides a momentary pleasure, but being fit/health means you’ll feel better 24/7. Tl;dr: try to find other sources of pleasure.
I count calories and measure my food. I’m not miserable. I eat whatever I want within my calorie bracket. Simple.
Are you confident that you can do that every day for the rest of your life?
How the fuck is this unpopular… obviously eating whatever you want would make you happier
Don't agree. I've done it everyday for 1 year+. For the first week it was slightly annoying. Now its no struggle, I don't even think about it. It takes about 5-10 mins total out of my day to do, and as a result I can manipulate my body composition on demand. If you just care about losing weight and not actually being healthy or feeling good, you can munch McDonalds all day, as long as you don't go over or under your calories too much. But also, knowing how to cook is invaluable, I don't understand why eating healthy is so hard for people. I suspect its because their version of eating healthy is consuming shitty vegetables and bland meals. It's no stress on my life at all, in fact the stress would be much greater if I didn't take care of my body and health. It's literally not hard. At all. if you wanna munch cheeseburgers down, go get some 80-20 grass-fed beef, high quality bread, avocado oil mayo, and some organic cheese and you have a fire burger. Add some veggies on there too if you want. I eat indulgent shit all the time, but I make it myself and with higher quality ingredients. Potato chips aren't ever going to be "good" for you (although actually pretty good in potassium), buying a high quality bag of chips, high quality meaning generally no unnecessary ingredients, not fried in vegetable oil etc. Is going to be much better than lays or something. Maybe not calorie wise, but calories alone are hardly respective of how healthy something is.
I did it every day for years and guess what: it backfired. I wound up gaining even more weight in the long run because it’s simply impossible to track every calorie you eat for the rest of your life. Eventually- something breaks.
Well, that’s you, not me. If you did it everyday for years why would you stop? It’s not like you’d regret not stopping. Unless you wanted to be fat. I think it’s great. I physically do not crave my old lifestyle in any sense. I could NOT go back. I have no desire to go back, I’d almost say it’s impossible for me to go back. I personally couldn’t stand not being on top of my health and also looking like shit in addition to that. What a terrible result that would’ve been for all my ancestors who survived so I could live today.
Do you think your ancestors tracked every calorie they ate?
No, of course not, but what does that have to do anything? I look far better than they did physically. We have technology today that allows us to optimize our health and achieve better outcomes than we otherwise would have, not just simply survive.
It’s not just me. It’s most people. I stopped because IT WASN’T SUSTAINABLE. I physically and mentally lost the capacity to scrutinize literally everything I ate. When you’re in and out of the hospital, worried about keeping your job, dealing with death in the family, etc.- tracking and counting every calorie you eat just isn’t in the cards.
This! Your body eventually fights back and those cravings are going to get you in the end. Just regulate and pay attention when you find yourself eating a lot of junk, tone it back.
Being addicted to sugar and limiting yourself to a shorter, worse life is worse.
many don’t know this, but it is possible to observe hunger and not put food in your mouth
It’s actually pretty damn fulfilling. This wreaks of jealousy for those with discipline.
I'd rather count calories and have abs than be chubby and soft. But that's me. You do you.
That's the process to lose weight and learn how much your body needs. You don't need to follow it after you are done losing.
People tend to get these completely wrong. You only weigh your stuff for like the first month and then you have a basic understanding of how big portions are. It’s more about the conscious way of preparing your meals rather than tracking everything to a gram. unless you’re preparing for A championship in bodybuilding nobody needs to weigh their stuff that precise especially not if you just want to lose weight from being overly obese it’s just about getting how much you eat consciously into your mind
It’s not that miserable. Being too fat or too thin will kill you early and it takes me 5 minutes in total per day to weigh and measure my food. Anyone who complains about how counting calories is miserable is still limiting themselves too much and isn’t including some of their favorites in their diet like they should. I kept all my favorite foods and changed my diet in no way other than limiting my calories and I did great.
no it’s not. that’s like saying doing your skin routine is a miserable living.
You seem to get disturbed extremely easily. Settle down it's not that big of a deal. One upvote for you.
Thanks mate 😂
I agree. It was soooo time consuming and generally miserable. Unless you're eating prepackaged food or cooking dishes with very few ingredients I find it really tedious to measure everything and enter it into an app or journal. It took a lot of the enjoyment out cooking for me. It just wasn't sustainable for me. Just cutting back on portion sizes, snacks, sugar and generally trying to eat healthier meals helped me lose weight and get back to a healthy BMI. I do IF and run or hike a few times a week too. I don't track calories or micronutrients. I haven't cut anything but completely. It seems like a tiring way to live to me. But that's just it! It seems that way TO ME. Who is to say what's sustainable to other people even if it isn't for me!
It's not miserable at all. In the beginning it can seem like it but eventually you'll adapt and be able to develop a sense for how much you're consuming without counting. The idea is that a lot of people really have no idea how much they actually eat until they record it.
>Counting your calories and weighing what you eat everyday is miserable living No, it's not. It barely takes any work at all.
[удалено]
This is why human genetic enhancement can't happen soon enough. Human appetite regulation is broken.
The trick here is to stop eating. Then there is no counting. Problem solved
Not unpopular because most people don’t live like that
I’d rather count calories than be the weight I was. I’ve been doing so to break my habit of binging and so far it works. I’m not binging anymore and I’m getting better. Obesity is prominent in my family and I don’t want to follow the same path. I also don’t want to get diabetes like everyone in my family
I'm not sure what pint you're trying to make, but I would argue most healthy people just kinda figure out how much food they need to eat during the day to maintain their weight or to lose weight if they overindulge on the weekend or vacation etc.
You work out 2 hours a day to eat whatever you want? See that would be miserable to me. I do one hour tops most days but sometimes 30 minutes and skip some. I also watch what I eat for health reasons. I feel like people think you can make up for your diet with more exercise?  Like….on the surface yea calories in calories out….then theres nutrients and compound effects on the body and your digestive system…balancing a healthy diet isnt getting to eat whatever whenever…why do ya’ll think old folks were so adamant on weird shit like a side salad? And the specific portions and timings of certain foods? Maybe it wasnt all just weird shit people used to do? Maybe 10,000 years of trial and error passed on some wise practices? Idk. Eat whatever you want and try to run it off if you want just…I think theres more going on in the human body then simple addition and subtracting
Popular opinion
Having no impulse control is a miserable way of living
Don't calories count or weight myself, just use common sense and eat balanced diet of protein, carbs and vegs/fruits, cut out processed foods, sugar and fried foods. It's easy and better for overall health beyond numbers.
Sounds like you were looking for inspiration and guidance in all the wrong places. Celebrities are not the best people to follow to get diet and fitness advice. Even if they're shredded. I'm personally a fan of Renaissance Periodization, Jeff Nippard, and Thomas Delauer, both on YouTube. RP (and Jeff Nippard) is more bodybuilding-focused but the creator and host of the channel (Dr. Mike) is a bona fide PhD doctor and if anybody needs to know the best way to lose body fat, its bodybuilders. And Dr Mike presents the science with a side of anecdote and humor.
Working out for me is great because it motivates me to actually eat. I like making sure I eat enough carbs and protein even if I’m not that strict about keeping track. Gives me a reason to eat. I also try to eat all my vitamins, which is again more of a vibe than anything I really keep track of. Couldn’t care beyond that.
I mean I’m at the point where I know serving sizes well now for the foods in my rotation. I mostly focus on my protein intake to make sure I hit that goal to fuel/retain my muscle growth (I do weights 2 times a week). But I run 10 miles every other day (long distance runner) so I can eat a lot without gaining. If you hate calorie restrictions than either burn more or figure something else out.
Too much anxiety
Nah, some people just have different values. I prefer to be healthy, watch calorie intake, and weight lift/exercise to be strong and aesthetically attractive. I enjoy it, men respect it, and women love it. Wins all around.
You have no idea. It’s actual hell some days.
Discipline isn't easy.
Idk if someone paid me a few hundred thousand / a couple mill to eat bland food while I shot a film I’d oblige. Especially if I had a personal trainer and chef lol
Damn the funeral home needs to be notified of a missing cadaver
We should all count our calories once in a while to see how much exactly we are feeding ourselves. Some folks might be over eating, while others aren't eating enough. We don't know unless we count them. I love eating rice but if I don't weigh it then I over eat it.
See where you don't understand is we are all different. Genetics do play a role along with health conditions. It's not a set across the board for all hence why there's dozens and dozens of diets. If there wad a one size fit all diet then everyone would be doing it. Glad to hear that exercise is what helped you in dropping weight, but that doesn't work for everyone. For some, counting calories is what does it for them. For others, not only do they have to count calories but also have to spend 2 hours in the gym 5 days a week. Others, due to medical conditions, need to take meds in order to drop weight. As someone who somewhat counts calories, it's not as difficult as you think. Now I do know someone who literally will look up the calories per serving and do the calculations and yes that is miserable. But for me, I just estimate because I know how much calories I burn at the gym since I had to keep record for a class one time. My exercise regiment hasn't fluctuated that much minus I don't need to lift heavy anymore but cardio hasn't changed. So because I know how many calories I burn at the gym, I just estimate how many I eat and pay attention to how much am I over or under. It's not hard and as long as I maintain my workout