Do you count calories?

Doc

Doc

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If you count calories I suspect you have some tricks or tips you might share with me. I need all the help I can get.
 
doc, my best current reply- follow the stomach's whims. it has, for me, decided how much i need. i'm aware of caloric content, yet now ignore it. i actually noticed i'll have less food if i have a hi-calorie food as opposed to a calculated meal.
 
Best advice: leafy greens, bulky, fiber filler is the most "bang for the buck, when it comes to calorie counting.

I guess the question is, is how many calories a day are you looking to stay within?

After getting sick, even though I couldn't hold food down for the longest time, the high dosage of steroids I was on popped on a quick 60LB. I have been feverishly trying to drop it in anticipation of some up coming stuff, and have been on a 1200 calorie a day "diet" for months, and months. You eventually learn, just instinctively, what is ok, and what is not.

Another important factor, even if counting calories, KEEP YOUR FURNACE GOING. EAT. 5 times a day. 3 squares, and 2 snacks. eating once, even twice a day, even higher calorie foods is bad for you, your body goes into starvation mode, and stores more than it burns as it thinks it all the food it is going to get. Get the metabolism going by jump starting you heart with more food intake.
 
I agree with Uncle Ralph.

I just got a big jolt. I have always been heavy. I took off 75# on four and a half months and kept it off for ten years. Then I discovered stress eating (If you cannot eat good, eat a lot bad). Well, got the weight back. I was however healthy. Dr's complained here and there, blood work came back edgey, but OK.

Last checkup not so much. They did a surprise A1C and decided that I had type II diabetes. I finally got caught. negotiating did not work, telling them it was an accident did not work. Anyway, the endocrinologist made a deal with me. Loose significant weight and we can forget the metformin. I gotta do it the stuff is making me sick.

Leafy greens, radishes, celery, cucumbers and surprisingly enough pickles are my snacks of choice (Well, not really my choice). I am down 11 pounds in a month and hopefully counting down.

In addition to what Uncle Ralph said, when you first start there is a two to three week period where you are just gonna be hungry. I suspect this time to the breaking point of most diets. You have to tough it out and fake your body out. Drink water. a full glass of water will help stave the beast.

I weigh daily, that does not work for everyone, I find that for me seeing a drop is a self ego feeding thing.

Oh yeah! Loosing weight is like smoking a brisket. The brisket will stall and do nothing. Your body is the same. Keep up the pressure and persevere.

I know there are other type II's on here. For at least my case, I could use any further ideas.

Thank You

Andy
 
I've had more luck losing weight counting carbs than counting calories. Losing weight isn't the problem for me, it's keeping it off. I tend to "stress eat" and get off track with the exercising. I need to drop 25 lbs and keep it off. So I am going to keep my carbs to 20-25 a day for 2 weeks (this is basically the Adkins Diet, but I don't follow their rules precisely).

I chose this route because I like the food options better than a low calorie or low fat diet and the first time I did this 2 week induction phase I lost 15 pounds just like they said. Once I get it through my thick skull that losing weight and keeping it off is a lifestyle change, not just a few weeks of dieting, then I'll be healthier and happier.

After two weeks I will add a few more carbs back in. The point of the 2 weeks/15 lbs. goal is to increase my energy level so I can then increase my exercise routine. Right now I feel like a worn out slug so an hour a day on the treadmill is agony, but it's more than I was doing.

I also had to cut back on my alcoholic beverages. That was tougher than giving up pasta! LOL! Even though my vodka and water has zero carbs, the body burns alcohol first, before it burns fat, protein or carbs and I would have to exercise a hell of a lot more to burn the fat.

Everyone has their diet of choice, one that has worked for them before. Counting calories didn't work for me because I was always hungry. I can eat 3 good meals a day, plus 2 snacks and feel full and energized and lose weight. You do hit a plateau with this diet, I'm guessing you do with all diets though.

Good luck Doc and I'm looking forward to reading other folks take on dieting. :readytoeat:
 
I don't understand fad diets. . .diets are just that, whatever anyone eats. if you eats chips, cheese, and drink beer all day, that's a diet. if you eat salads, tofu, and soy beans all day, that's a diet. . .anywho, the important thing to remember is a BALANCED diet, and a BALANCED diet includes carbs, fats, proteins, etc etc etc. the reason people loose weight on fad diets, is because it shocks the system into quick change. the reason the weight comes back is because it is a fad diet, NOT a lifestyle change.

While booze may not have carbs, it is still empty calories, and that's what counts. The only way to effectively loose weight, and keep it off, is to burn more calories than the body takes in, all while burning off the reserves the body has stored.

The licensed nutritionist side of me just gets irked when I hear so many people who gravitate towards these fad diets,it's just silly. While it may work in the short term, the long term isn't going to work, and this has been proven time, and time again.

Mind you, I am no shining example of health, so I'm not on a high horse here(I would kill the horse), it just boils down to eating smart, no matter what. everything in moderation. And the most important thing; Treat yourself. It is better to have some leeway, and treat yourself, instead of binge eating. Again, a BALANCED diet.
 
That's what I said Uncle Ralph, lifestyle change, but jump starting it is how I choose to do it and eating low carb allows me to do that.
 
Uncle Ralph said:
The licensed nutritionist side of me
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That is what turned the key for me last time. I found a really great nutritionist that built my diet around my life. Any that I have seen recently only push out of the box solutions.

Anyway - At least in my book, loosing weight and maintenance are tow entirely different things, at least in my mind. Keeping it off is the lifestyle change. Loosing it is a take no prisoners street fight.

When I maintained my loss for ten years, I had adjusted my food as Uncle Ralph suggests.
 
It is a daily battle, and it's so unfair that the BEST tasting stuff, just happens to typically be the worst for us. It's like a cruel joke.
 
Squirrel said:
That's what I said Uncle Ralph, lifestyle change, but jump starting it is how I choose to do it and eating low carb allows me to do that.
Click to expand...

I missed that part, though my response wasn't directly geared to wards you, it was more of a generalization.
 
Adillo303 said:
That is what turned the key for me last time.
Click to expand...

A lot of them are too busy pushing their own agenda in the hopes of being that next "break through" diet inventor. . .it's just like anything with "professionals", some are better than others. . .it's a real double edged sword, and a lot of them don't take the time to know the client, understand their abilities, and the habits that have.
 
I don't regularly count calories or carbs, but I did a little calorie counting exercise one time and was surprised by a couple of things. Ranch dressing, which I dearly love, is about 150 cal's for 2 T :eek:. Knorr's hollandaise sauce mix made with 2% milk, which I expected to be a lot more calorie laden than Ranch dressing, is only about 66 cal's for 2T. So, skip the Ranch dressing and use a vinegar based dressing to cut some calories.

Add fish to your diet. You'll get tired of it if you have it the same ol' way all the time. Try pan seared salmon with the hollandaise or bernaise sauce. Lately I've been making a sauce for salmon that I like better though, and it's roughly the same amount of cal's as the hollandaise. It's sour cream, cucumber (peeled and seeded), little lemon juice, and fresh dill all blitzed in a mini processor.

Now is a great time of the year to have fruit for dessert instead of the high calorie desserts like cake, pie, etc. I like a bowl of watermelon or cantaloupe or just an apple with a little peanut butter. If I don't have fresh fruit, I sometimes have low-cal vanilla yogurt with one of those single-serve cartons of Dole diced peaches (no sugar added) mixed in.
 
Counting calories isn't something I normally do because I don't eat enough to worry about it.

Although I don't worry about calories I do have to keep a very close watch on my sodium intake due to fluid build-up.
 
lifesaver91958 said:
Counting calories isn't something I normally do because I don't eat enough to worry about it.

Although I don't worry about calories I do have to keep a very close watch on my sodium intake due to fluid build-up.
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No water pills? They were a lifesaver when I was on steroids. Normally, they(the roids)make you go like crazy, but because of the chemo stuff, I was blowing up like a balloon. Water pills were AMAZING, lol. Talk about pulling the plug. . . sorry if that is a little graphic.
 
Yes I do take water pills on a daily basis but they don't do me any good if I don't watch my sodium intake. The only salt I use is sea salt and that is something that I use very seldom.
 
Ahhh, Ok. I'm sorry hon. I know in this modern age, salt/msg, seems to be in everything, and in crazy quantities.
 
I don't count calories at all.
Don't even think about.
Figure since I eat fruit if and when I do have breakfast, and just another meal a day.. whether it be homemade or something 'out'.. I'm still within the guidelines of not harming myself in any way.
I am 5ft 9 1/2 and hover around the 155-160 lbs range.
Around the holidays been known to creep toward 165. eek! LOL
 
UncleRalph said:
No water pills? They were a lifesaver when I was on steroids. Normally, they(the roids)make you go like crazy, but because of the chemo stuff, I was blowing up like a balloon. Water pills were AMAZING, lol. Talk about pulling the plug. . . sorry if that is a little graphic.
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i luv/despise 'em. i took 2 kinds a day while on prednisone. snooze- nope. too much time waking to tinkle. they took the fluid away, & quickly, tho. that was good. i cleaned constantly from the steroids. 2, 3 hrs. snooze & i'd bounce awake before dawn. i know they weren't locker-room 'roids. they made me so hyperactive, tho.
 
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When I was younger I tried to gain weight. No luck. I'm 6' and at that time weighed 125. I've never counted calories. Today I'm a little shorter due to age and I weigh 165. I'm very small boned and I could stand to lose about 20 lbs. I have found that what works for me is to stop eating when I'm satisfied not when I'm full. I do eat a lot of veggies since we garden. I rarely have dessert unless it is fresh fruit.
 
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