Is counting calories a good way to track your eating? ive tried everything,, did it work for you?

Question

ive done weight watchers,, counting points,, counted fat grams,, eating no junk,, drinking just liquids, ect ect,, ive tried it all,, for nothing!

i brought one of those calorie counter books and a new treadmill so i can keep track of how many calories i burn off

is this the best option on losing weight? cos i find even if i eat healthy foods i still wont lose weight as i eat tooooo much still

im guessing to eat around 1,200 calories to lose weight,, i burn around 400 calories on the treadmill, and have 4 kids so im pretty active

will i lose weight on this plan?,, help! xxxxxxxxxxx

Answer 1

-If you eat less calories than you burn, you'll lose weight;

-If you eat and burn the same amount, you'll stay the same (balanced).

-If you eat more than you burn, you'll gain weight.

Experts say a healthy weight loss is 2 pounds per week.

The misconception is that if you barely eat anything AND work out, you'll lose weight. It's might be true, BUT very dangerous/harmful to the body system because if you don't have enough energy to do the work out, then you're going to wear your body out and pretty soon, you may end up in a hospital bed. Because you don't eat, your body will go into minimum metabolism rate, where it will burn as LITTLE fat as possible to retain fuel sources. So by eating lesser, your body will retain that you eat longer and you won't achieve any weight loss long-term.

Check this site out to see if you should be concerned with losing weight: http://www.nhlbisupport.com/bmi/. It's your BMI (ratio of your HEIGHT to your WEIGHT), set by the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute to the standards for males and females. Healthy weight is not set using age and weight.

What you should do is change your eating habit to a healthier one and start exercising (people tell you this over and over because it WORKS!).

Disclaimer: I don't recommend any diet to you or anyone, but I just wanted to share my experience. You should talk to your nutritionist/doctor before making any drastic changes to your body.

What I did was I went on an "eating-only-corn-flakes" diet. xD I lost the weight really quickly (~25 lbs). After a 2-3 weeks of eating only corn flakes with regular milk for breakfast/lunch/dinner (NO snacks whatsoever). (You can try it with skim, 1%, or 2% milk to lose even more weight.) I went off the diet and started eating normal, and healthy foods, with A LOT of water and tons of fruits. I'm able to keep off the weight I've lost for ~6 years now. At summer camp, I've also went on a cereal-salad-and-skim milk "diet". For breakfast, I would only eat grain cereal with skim milk and drink another glass. For lunch and dinner each day, I had only a salad and two glasses of skim milk per meal. Camp was only 5 days, but I lost a considerable amount of weight for my father to notice my weight loss. xD

Currently, I've been exercising on my "air-stepper" at home, and I get on it for 15 minutes each day to get my cardio workout. I take my pulse at 5 min. intervals for 15 minutes to see if I'm improving. ^_^ Then, I get on my Total Gym and start working on my arms and legs (pulling, pushing, etc.). To tone my abs, I do 200 crunches (I lay on my Total Gym at an incline, so it's VERY easy and no back strain!); they are much easier than sit-ups. ^_^ Lastly, I do 100 of those "standing-up" crunches. I don't know what to call them, but I saw it on Hip-Hop Abs. You can see a sample of it here: http://www.beachbody.com/product/fitness...

The lay down crunches and the standing up crunches that I do gave me the flat stomach I have now. ^____^ Very happy with the results. You can do as many as your body can tolerate for ONE day and feel your stomach flatter immediately afterwards (at least for me)! It's incredible!

If you do not have gym equipment, just jumping around and running place for 15-30 minutes will get you your cardio workout. Eat yogurt, fruits, and other health foods. Drink tons of water and your daily dosage of milk. ^_^

Good luck! :D

Answer 2

yes,you should lose weight.

i counted calories and it worked for me.15lbs in 9weeks.

i didn't exactly know how many to cut back at first so i did between1800 and 2200 the first 4 weeks and lost 5lbs.

then i read and article that said it was okay for a male to eat between 1300 and 1500cals a week to lose weight.article said women could eat 1000 to 1300 to lose weight fairly rapidly. so i lost 10lbs in 5 more weeks.

i also sipped a gallon of ice water the last 5 weeks. i think it kept me from feeling hungry.

i took this week off from counting and just sort of quessed at keeping my calories between 1500 and 2000cals.

so next week i will go back to counting and try to lose another 15lbs and then i will be thru.

i only exercise 30min,3x a week lifting weights. i am trying to preserve as much muscle as possible. i have a scale that also measures bodyfat %  and i calculate  that of my 15lbs lost,4lbs of it was muscle.

Answer 3

Fat loss and fitness is about lifestyle changes. It's a lifetime commitment but it doesn't have to have the drudgery of a diet or overly restrictive eating. Find a form of exercise you can live with and vary up your routines. Never go more than 2.5 hours without at least eating a snack. This way you will not build up a voracious appetite.

One thing that keeps me on track. I work my azz off in the gym. I may burn 500 calories or so. One of those jumbo canybars can negate those calories. When I think of it that way, I am less inclined to eat any junk food. Once you stay on a program of sound nutritious eating your body changes and you no longer desire calorie dense food that makes your body sick.