Weight-Loss How effective are food diaries and counting calories?

[emsahib]

Hey, I've always been put off by counting calories before, just because it seems really confusing, and I guess its got this image of being obessessed attached to it. But it does sound like a good way of knowing what you're eatting.

Could someone explain a bit about calories to me. I've read the couple of stickys posted, but found the formula for BMR confusing. I found a calorie caluclator that suggested I eat 1611 calories per day. I'm 5 foot 7, 150 pounds, aged 25 and well try to do exercise 3 times a week, sometimes its more sometimes its less. Do those calories sound about right? Sorry if this is another annoying question about calories lol

I guess maybe I should start with working out how many calories I eat first, to see how many I take in now.

Also are there people here that don't count calories but do keep a food diary? Do you think you need to count calories? And what help does keeping a food diary or counting calories have?

Also are there any other wise of controlling what you eat that people do, like weighing foods or something instead of counting calories, just encase there's a less confusing option

 

[Snezy]

I'm not a huge fan of counting calories but I'm a big fan of diaries/journals. I know how much food my body needs and I know what's good and what isn't so I haven't been keen on counting calories. But the journals are very helpful. They're effective in seeing how your diet and exercise affect your weight on a day to day basis. If you update them daily, it's a daily reminder to keep eating healthy and exercise. Plus the people on these forums are very helpful so they can help you with any troubles you're going through, they'll answer any questions you have and they'll be there to congratulate you throughout your journey. I would suggest starting a journal.

 

[amy1985]

I find counting calories to be incredibly effective. It doesn't have to be confusing, and depending on your setup (and I suppose definition of "work") it doesn't have to be that much work. I use a calorie counting program (cron-o-meter) which has some things already programmed into it (but is US-based), and you can enter the nutritional information of your own foods (which can be quite a bit of work at the start- particularly for me as my food largely isn't in the program- but eases off). I weigh my food (using a digital scale, it takes seconds per item) and record them into the program, and the program tells me the calories . Some people may regard it as a bit obsessive, but for me it's just become habit.

The advantage of being this strict is that you know exactly what you're eating and how it compares to your goals- every other dieting method I've tried before has been pure guesswork (not to mention ineffective and leading to me trying to deprive myself). If my goal is 1745 calories and I've had 1300 calories with good nutrition, I can have chocolate and not feel guilty about it.

This is also the only weight loss technique I've used where I've seen consistent results. I've been at this since April, and while I haven't lost the same amount every week, I've been losing steadily with no gains. If I did gain weight I could look back at my calorie counter (which is still a complete record of everything I've eaten since April) and work out what I'd done wrong or differently, and try to remedy it.

It does involve some thought and effort, but it's worked wonders for me.

 

[emsahib]

thankyou both for your replies. I think I will start a food journal, I think that's something I'll be able to keep up longer than counting calories, and it will begin to give me an idea of what I'm eatting. I may give counting calories a go in the future though, once I'm confident with the food journal, see how it goes

 

[amy1985]

It's all about what works for you

A compromise position is probably to have an awareness of your calorie allowance (find a BMR calculator that incorporates activity level to work this out) and the calories in the food you're eating (or the calorie density- so how many calories per unit of weight). I haven't done this- I've calorie counted all along- but it would be useful so you have some idea of your intake and what you might need to change if you're not seeing the results you want (this is as simple as looking at the nutritional values on packets).

 

[emsahib]

yeah I could look at food labels more. I do this a bit, particularly if its something that I know is going to be bad for me. Like if we're having mexican and we get sour cream there's a couple of different choices at the supermarket. The doritos dip has 22.9 g of fat per 100g, but the one we get which is a be good to yourself range has 7.5g of fat per 100g. So yeah I guess I could look at food packets more Is it difficult to work out the calories of something you cook yourself?

 

[amy1985]

I wouldn't look at the fat, I'd look at the calories. It's the calories that will cause you to gain or lose weight. (Fat has more calories in it than the other macronutrients- carbs and protein- but it's not what you should be looking at) And I can heartily recommend the Be Good to Yourself/ Light Choices/ etc ranges, I use them a lot.

I'm looking at the Sainsbury's website, and the "Doritos Sour Cream & Chive Dip" (the fat is right, not sure if that's the one you're talking about) is 244 calories/ 100g, whereas the Be Good to Yourself plain sour cream is 101 calories/ 100g. So the latter is less than half as fattening. You need to be quite careful with things like that, as a serve may be less than you think it is (the more calories per 100g something has, the more careful you need to be). For sauces, less is always better.

To work out how many calories are in what you cook, you need to know the calories of each ingredient and how much of it you use. I do this sort of thing all the time for my calorie counting- the more accurate you want to be (I want to be quite accurate) the more fiddly it is (I weigh all my food- for recipes I weigh the ingredients, write it down, run it through my calorie calculator, then divide by number of serves). Even with my system, which is about as (pardon the expression) anal-retentive as you're going to get, it's not hard, it's just fiddly.

There are also recipes online (such as on BBC Good Food's website) which give you calorie estimates- I don't always find them to be accurate, but they're a good start.

 

[Snezy]

If you do decide that calorie counting is too much for you, I would suggest following these tips.

Eat slowly! Eating slowly is very important, the key to having success without having to calorie is count is only eating what your body needs. If you eat too fast your body won't register how full you are becoming and you'll eat too much. Take a breath in between bites and only eat until you are no longer hungry. Don't eat till your full, that's too much. This way of eating may require you to add another meal to your daily diet, which is actually healthier because it keeps your sugar level in your body more consistent.

Don't eat what you know is bad for you. Clearly we have an intuition on what is good for us and bad for us. A salad is a lot less calories than a chicken dinner would be. Ensure you are eating healthy. Include vegetables in every meal, only drink water, and try to stay away from fatty meats. Keep it lean. Stay away from processed foods as much as you can. Fruits and vegetables are always good choices.

Plan your meals. If you don't plan your meals you'll get to a point where you're hungry and don't know what you're going to eat. You much more likely to eat something quick and easy and probably unhealthy if you find yourself in this situation. Plan your meals ahead of time, even if it's just a mental note of what you're going to make for supper. Just don't look in your fridge or freezer with hungry eyes looking for what you want for dinner, bad things will happen.

Good luck my friend, I hope these tips have helped you!

 

[emsahib]

thankyou both again. Ok I am going to have a go at the calorie counting, I don't know if I'll manage to do it for everything I eat but maybe it'll get better. And I'm gonna start a food diary which I'll do at the end of the day. Also I have no worry staying away from chicken as I'm a vegetarian, I should have mentioned that.

 

[Monster2]

I'm going to answer this as simply and as accurately as possible:

How effective are food diaries and counting calories?

YOU determine the effectiveness of these weight loss tools.

 

[medicalevents]

Counting calories will effect on your body weight but only Calories will never effect on Faty Body, Actually If we take more calories then it should be suggest to burn them also. their are many tool to track your observing calories in body, take less calories diet with short warm Up .

 

[clever_plant]

Well calorie counting in itself won't do anything to your weight. What it does is it gives you information upon which you can base your desicions. If I don't count calories I might come home from work and figure "Ah ok, I had such and such which was allright and now imma have me a big dinner and it'll be a healthy day" but without being aware I could be eating like... on average 100 calories above maintenance each day. Over 10-12 weeks thats a couple of pounds, over a year maybe 10 pounds, thats how it creeps up on you.

With calorie counting you know somewhat exactly (depending on what you put into it) how many calories you have eaten, and you can decide exactly how many calories to eat and control your weight loss or gain precisely.

 

[imaninjadangit]

Lol really? So...the 35lbs I have lost since May came off magically? Guess all of that calorie counting was for not.

"Plaudite, amici, comedia finita est."

 

[clever_plant]

Magically? nah, it was the result of you using the knowledge gained from counting calories to reduce your intake to below maintenance, not the result of counting them itself.

[insert latin to make me look more intellectual]

 

[emsahib]

I bought myself a set of digital kitchen scales and on friday I weighed everything that was going in my curry and I was going to try and work out roughly how many calories. It took ages! and I've lost the scrap of paper I was writing everything on! lol ah well. I am starting to look at packages more. I do think packages are sneaky sometimes, a box of cereal I have says its 116 cals per 30 g so with my new scales I weighed this amount and was so surprised by how small a portion this was, I reckon I normally eat about 50 g or 60 g but that would probably depend on what cereal it was. I still think its quite a lot to do counting calories but it is starting to open my eyes to how many calories foods really have. Don't worry though I'm not going to start starving myself

 

[imaninjadangit]

Magically? nah, it was the result of you using the knowledge gained from counting calories to reduce your intake to below maintenance, not the result of counting them itself.

[insert latin to make me look more intellectual]

You are just contradicting yourself. Counting calories, if done correctly, can lead to weight loss.

I don't appreciate the jab about my signature, either. I've played violin for 21 years. In doing so, I've played much Beethoven and developed a true love for his work. My signature is the last phrase he supposedly said.
Don't be rude.

"Plaudite, amici, comedia finita est."

 

[Snezy]

You are just contradicting yourself. Counting calories, if done correctly, can lead to weight loss.

I think what he meant was that counting calories doesn't mean that you're going to lose weight. Counting calories is basically giving you information about your diet. The actual weight loss is effectively using that information to achieve a calorie deficient diet, resulting in weight loss. If you count your calories but still eat unhealthy foods and do not exercise, you will not lose weight, you will just know how many calories you are taking in!

I think that's what he meant by

it was the result of you using the knowledge gained from counting calories to reduce your intake to below maintenance, not the result of counting them itself.

Treat other's the way you want to be treated. I don't see why you expected to be treated with respect after giving a sarcastic comment such as:

Lol really? So...the 35lbs I have lost since May came off magically? Guess all of that calorie counting was for not.

 

[emsahib]

It sounds like a misunderstanding to me. I don't think anyone set out to upset anyone. Anyway thanks for all your thoughts on calorie counting. I'm giving it ago again, but I really don't think its for me (although I am pleased when I can work out the maths lol)

 

[clever_plant]

You are just contradicting yourself. Counting calories, if done correctly, can lead to weight loss.

I'm actually not. But someone else already explained it.

I don't appreciate the jab about my signature, either. I've played violin for 21 years. In doing so, I've played much Beethoven and developed a true love for his work. My signature is the last phrase he supposedly said.
Don't be rude.

"Plaudite, amici, comedia finita est."

Well, I don't appreciate the sarcastic "oh you're so obviously wrong because of my anecdote" reply either, but I assumed it was made with a smile And I assumed it was connected to you "lol you're so wrong" comment since the latin means something like "The comedy is finally over" or some such thing, latin isn't my strongest field. Likewise my "jab" was made with a smile. If I offended you I apologize but like the one above me said. You set the tone I think we're in agreement tho, you just misunderstood me pointing out that counting the calories in itself won't magically make fat go away, it is using the knowledge you gain to eat lesser calories than you use that makes the fat go away I'm an avid calorie counter myself, it is the only way I can control my weight.

 

[imaninjadangit]

If you paid attention, you would notice that the Latin is on almost every post. It's my signature when I post from my phone. I'm not being snobby about it. Sorry that I am educated.

As for your first post... the OP asked if calorie counting worked. Instead of saying that it could, if done properly, you seemed to imply that the OP was stupid. It is obvious that just counting calories won't make you lose weight, but the proper knowledge of counting calories can. You could have said, "yes, it has worked for me! There is a lot of nutrition knowledge that goes with it, as well as commitment." Your post just made no sense.

"Plaudite, amici, comedia finita est."