Counting calorie really work?

[mummymummymummy123456]

I feel it does but rarely spoke about

Easier than that. I can Iose around a stone in 3 months just by cutting out sugar, choc, biscuits and snacks. Not eating between meals. Using skimmed milk instead of whole. Without counting calories and no exercise. It's not rocket science if you eat less you will lose weight.

Yes it does work but doesn't make companies as much money as all the daft points/syns so that's why you don't hear as much about it.

It does work but it also helps to make good choices when doing it. E.g. eggs, mushrooms, tomatoes, beans instead of a mars bar.

Like the PP said - cut out the junk!

So you can’t keep it off. 3 stone is a lot

Better to count carbs, we have spent the last 30 years thinking it was calories to count but its not, carbs- think of them as sugar, as that's what happens when they are digested ' sugar ' lowcarbfreshwell.com' is a app, honestly its amazing how much sugar we eat un knowingly, like bread, pasta, some fruits and veg, a GP designed the app and it free, really gives you a shock, Dr david unwin ' and his wife,

Yes, as long as you remain in a calorie deficit and accurately and honestly track what you eat, you will lose weight - barring the interference of medications etc. that is a biological certainty.

Calorie counting has many advantages - you can eat whatever you like as long as you factor it in; you can adjust your allowance over a day or two to allow for, e.g. a special meal out.

If you weigh and measure to begin with, you can then just measure once you know how many calories are in a cup of rice and so on. & pre-packed foods state a calorie value, so it's not complicated to do.

Most commercial diets boil down to the basic principal of consuming fewer calories, they just dress it up in different ways by points counting or restricting foods with higher calorie counts or giving part of your allowance in the form of meal replacements.

The biggest disadvantage with pure calorie counting is that it doesn't automatically give you a healthy diet. You could calorie count by eating 1000 calories a day of Mars Bars and it would work, but your health would plummet. So you do need to be sure you are getting a balanced diet, which generally means not using too much of your calorie allowance on high fat/high sugar foods.

I’ve lost over 5 stone recently just calorie counting and a bit more exercise. Works well for me.

Thanks how many did you eat

Yes, but it’s important to get the right balance of macronutrients and I’d say not to try and lose too fast, if you want to feel good and have energy for exercise. Even more important in menopause. Around a gram of protein per pound of ideal weight is a good goal.

1 stone in 3 months.

‘Rarely spoken about’?!? You’re kidding. It’s how weight loss works. CICO. For example, stick ten people in the forest with no food and collect them a month later. Guarantee you every one of those people will have lost significant weight.
Im post menopause and have type 1 diabetes. I lose weight by walking and keeping my intake to 1500 or less calories a day. I make sure they are healthy nutrient dense calories, but even if I ate chocolate and crisps instead I’d still lose weight, though would eventually be malnourished and feel awful.
It requires discipline and weighing/measuring all your food and people get fed up, but it works with consistency.

Took you 13 weeks to lose 14 lbs? Wow that’s crazy slow

No food? Than the body has to eat itself

I started on 1850, then reduced to 1750. Still gradually losing now. I did have 7 stone to lose, which makes a difference.

Took you 13 weeks to lose 14 lbs? Wow that’s crazy slow

No, it isn't - that's steady, healthy rate at which to lose weight.

Agreed.

I've lost 4lb in 4 weeks mainly from counting calories and rather than worry it's not the big losses like you read about where people are on weight loss drugs, I'm thinking if I can continue like this for 6 months I will have lost 26lb or nearly 2 stones which is my goal.

That's without paying anything for weight loss drugs. I've nothing against them by the way but I had bad side effects when I tried them so now I'm trying the slow, steady route of just eating less/exercising more.

Yes I’ve done 3.5 stone in the last 19 months calorie counting - it’s has completely stopped working though at the last half a stone and I remain in the overweight bracket. I really have to eat so little to lose anything now so it’s great and works but it’s not an easy fix

In your shoes I would just accept that the last half a stone is a step too far and just work on maintaining your current weight. Maybe that's just me but I'm in the obese category at the moment and would happily settle at "just" being overweight combined with still being able to eat fairly normally not a tiny amount.

You've done amazingly well to lose 3.5 stone, congratulations.

Yes It works I have lost 7 stone by calorie counting and I have kept it off by calorie counting. It helps if you eat well as you can eat much more food that way but if you want a Big Mac then have one as long as you count it in

I’ve calorie counted for years. It’s just habit to me now. I don’t count on holiday and my weight stays stable so I’m obs aware of portions/what to eat but I just do it as habit now. I lost weight a few years ago now, think about 5, and have kept it off. Some people hate it tho and find it laborious, each to their own.

A pound a week is ideal not 'crazy slow'

@Twiglets1 I agree. I also lost around 3 stone calorie counting but I can’t shift any more without reducing more and then maintaining at lower calories. I’ve accepted that this is ok as I feel so much better at “overweight”, enjoying my food, eating well, and fluctuating weight within a few pounds.

That rather depends on how you quantify ‘work’.
If by work you mean is it possible to count calories and lose weight temporarily then yes this is possible.
The trouble is our bodies don’t deal with all things we consume in the same way and relying on ‘calories’ as a measure means that some people will rely on heavily marketed ‘diet’ foods and these are not designed for lasting weight loss or health, quite the opposite. Additionally our bodies don’t have a little furnace which burns what we consume to produce energy. The energy measure ‘calorie’ came about by measuring the energy produced when say a slice of bread was burned, that’s why we talk about ‘burning’ calories.
So if you need to drop a few pounds before going on holiday this can be achieved by calorie counting but it won’t lead to long lasting weight loss and health unless the reason for the weight gain is addressed it will be a temporary fix until the next time otherwise known as yo-yo dieting.
The billion dollar dieting industry thrives and depends on our continued belief in this method of weight loss and considerable money is spent perpetuating the belief that weight is equal to calories in v calories out.
What we really need to do is fuel our bodies and exercise for maximum health, if we do that our weight will look after itself.

I count calories but don’t eat diet food. The two things don’t necessarily go together. Every food item has calories including fresh fruit, meat, fish, dairy, that slice of bread… you just need to know how many calories are in each item and there are apps that can help with that.

@Twiglets1 , we’ve certainly all been taught to believe in calories. We’d be better off thinking in terms of how each particular thing we consume is dealt with by our bodies, they are very different things.
I hope that eventually the calorie myth will be understood as such by people but that doesn’t suit the agenda of big food companies who spend billions perpetuating a way of thinking which has made them very wealthy but many of us very fat and unwell.