To think calorie counting can help get some control over my eating?!

[Eatinghabits86]

I just seem to be out of control at the moment with food. Eating bad foods, binge eating and just not considering what I'm putting in my mouth.

I am about 2 stone heavier than I should be and I'm thinking of starting calorie counting to establish some control. Has anybody had success doing this and been able to be consistent with it?

I used Clear Minds hypnotherapy for this. At 62, after a lifetime of binge eating, it worked. Took about 3 weeks to be really locked in and I still use it to go to sleep to.

I’ve been calorie counting and having a set protein amount since February. It’s working for me. I use My fitness pal. I want to lose in a slow and sustainable way. So I have chosen to have a slower weight loss. Since Feb I have lost 8.3 kilos.
Protein is key to feeling full between meals and keeping blood sugar stable. So I go for 120g a day.
I was and now occasionally am an emotional eater. But now I notice it and can stop myself or recognize after a smaller amount of food that it’s emotional eating.
i kind of see if as like a salary/bank account and that takes the emotion out of it.
However I weight and log everything. I have found pre planning my food really helps me to keep on track and be accountable.
Im in my late 40s and I notice that if I eat more carbs/had a day or two off my protein/calories plan my weight goes up. But it’s usually just water and comes off reasonably quickly.
on MFP Im on to lose 0.5kg a week. Initially I lost a lot more but now it has settled down.
Food luck.

Hi OP - yes been in the exact same situation as you - I was more than 2 stone too heavy actually but I hear you completely!

what helped me was going on a strict diet/exercise plan of 1300 cals a day and a form of exercise for at least half an hour a day be it running /swimming /aerobics etc

This sounds encouraging thank you. I do want to lose weight but absolutely fine with it being slowly. I more just want to stop treating my body like a bin and filling it with rubbish.

I will start logging on MFP from tomorrow and aim to up my physical activity as well.

Good advice about protein. Any tips on quick high protein breakfasts?

I lost 7 stone in lockdown by calorie counting insanely strictly.

It will definitely help you lose weight as being in a calorie deficit is the only way to lose weight.

just be careful how you go about it if you’re the type to become obsessive. I found myself eating happy meals when we were out and about rather than a fresh salad for exqmole
because I knew exactly how many calories were in the happy meal. But that might just be me 🙈

I prefer nutracheck to my fitness pal- a mumsnetter suggested it and it's been great

To be honest that sounds like something I would do! So yes good advice!

I'll look into that thank you.

Of course it will . The basic science of Losing weight is when you burn more calories than you consume.

use a maintenance calorie calculator to work out your own then deduct 20%. Use a calorie counting app and as long as you’re strict, you’ll see the pounds drop off.

So I am enjoying 2 main breakfasts
overnight oats
250mls Almond milk
50-60g mashed banana
6g chia seeds
30g vanilla protein powder
50g oats
Mix that all together. Stir in 100g frozen raspberries. In fridge over night. Eat in morning.
Approx 446 calories and 33g protein.

I also like plain Skry yoghurt - it’s low fat. With ground flax seeds or hemp hearts and some berries.

Hi OP, I bought a 10 quid omelette maker - it's fab! I use 3 eggs, mushrooms, tomatoes and a tiny amount of ham and cheese - no oil required and it's wipe clean. I make it before work, and eat it on my 10am break. Keeps me going to mid afternoon, easily!

Ooh that sounds good, I love an omelette 😋

@Candlesandmatchesdo you mind if I ask how many calories you are restricted to per day please? I only ask because I'd like to try having your suggestion for breakfast but then I would only have 800 calories left for lunch and dinner, which wouldn't be enough for me, so I've been slipping breakfast entirely. What do you have for lunch/dinner to fill you up but still stay within your calories?

Where are you getting your calorie allowance from? It sounds very low. Too low isn’t going to be sustainable long term. What’s your height and current weight, if you don’t mind me asking?

I downloaded the nutracheck app and typed all my details in and it gave me a 1200kcal per day limit. I'm 5'2" and am 10.5 stone. It's going quite well and I make sure I have two good meals per day and I don't seem to be hungry but I don't know how anyone can have three meals per day with only 1200 calories!

I use My Fitness Pal and 1200 calories per day. Between 10k to 15k steps. Log EVERYTHING. I bought a spoon weighing thing from eBay and for a few weeks weighed all food until I got used to better portion size. Also wrote out recipes when cooking from scratch and added them into diary.
my portion sizes were way bigger than I thought they were. Losing slowly and steadily.

You might want to have this moved to the Weight loss part of the forum

Don’t use Nutracheck to calculate your calories… if you say you want to lose 2lbs a week it’s going to say 1200 calories or something very similar. You need a proper calculator. Have a look at the one James Smithj has on his site. I have lost weight with calorie counting as I have with many other weight loss methods and like all of those I’ve gone great guns for 3 or 4 months and then it’s petered off. It’s very labour intensive calculating the calories in everything especially if you cook from scratch.

Everyone is different. Calorie counting creates very disordered eating for me.

The only thing that’s helped me is mounjaro. I eat low carb diet wise but the MJ just turns off the constant hunger I used to have. I still have an appetite, still eat decent portions, just don’t think about food all the live long day which was miserable.

I am much the same! I have started the 12 week NHS weight loss plan, finding the app really good, only lost a couple of pounds so far but it's encouraging me..finding it difficult having to count my cups of coffee and milk but it's letting me see where I need to cut down and is pretty motivational.

Folllwing with interest as I’m trying and failing massively with calorie counting. I’m ok during the day but by evening I’m starving and end up binging or eating massive evening meals.

I find it can: when I need to drop a couple of kilos I do low carb and use a calorie and carb counting app, and the process of logging everything I eat in it, seeing the metrics, and being able to track them across days and weeks really keeps my momentum going. I don’t think it’s disordered. Seeing a record of the things you are actually eating and where the calories come from can be really useful: it’s very easy to disregard a handful of peanuts or a biscuit here and there as not really being much food, but when you see what they represent nutritionally and calorie wise, and have to acknowledge exactly what you’ve eaten, it helps to reinforce better habits and choosing different foods.

I’ve lost almost 3 stone since August on 1600 kcals a day and 140g protein goal. That goal is based on 1g protein per lb of your target weight (which I’m now at - yay!) I found it quite easy once I got into it - I use My Fitness Pal and I tend to log a few days in advance so I can fiddle with choices / amounts etc to make the kcals and protein add up to the right numbers! I find that much easier because I just check the app during the day to see what I’m eating next! The protein keeps you pretty full. I eat a lot of chicken and fish, and Greek yoghurt is good (not greek “style” yoghurt - look for one with 10g protein per 100g). I also have a glass of clear whey protein drink which is basically like juice but with 20g protein in.

ive learned so much about what I’m eating, and it’s really made me think about my choices. I still have treats but I know if I’m using up calories I’m going to use them on something that’s worth it - so if I have a donut it’s going to be a bloody lovely one not a half hearted one that I might regret 🤣

I do a couple of strength training classes a week though and I go to a spin class, and I do at least 10,000 steps every day. If I didn’t do the classes I’d probably drop the locals to 1400 to still lose weight.

The maintenance calorie calculator says exercise 1-3 times a week, eat 1350 calories a day and you can lose 0.5kg a week (just over 1lb).

A tip I’ve found useful is if you’re going to miss chocolate and crisps then go to the supermarket and buy crisps and chocolate biscuits that are about 100cal each. That way you can still have a treat without blowing your calories.

also invest in a set of kitchen scales, if you don’t already own a set. This can be used to weigh out your food, which is essential if you want to accurately track your calories.

yes of course it works - when I use my fitness pal to count calories I lose weight if I stick to it.