no more calorie counting

[anne]

There was an article in Google News today that said that calorie counting is really not considered the way to go for losing weight anymore.

It’s healthy lifestyle changes overall. Eat healthy, exercise regularly, and that will get your weight down. The reason is that not all calories are created equal. We all know that carbs, fats, and proteins are processed in different ways, so thinking that just looking at the calorie count will tell us whether or not we’re on the right track seems a bit foolish, when you really think about it.

The article itself recommended more veggies, lean meats instead of fatty ones, less deep fry, fewer sugary foods, and all those things we’ve known are really healthy for us since we were children. If it turns out that the secret to dieting is something I’ve known all along, I’m going to be very frustrated with myself haha.

[CuJo1992]

I still think that calorie counting has some value. I agree with you that it shouldn’t be the be all and end all of a diet, but it is just one more tool that you can use to gauge whether or not a food is appropriate for your meal or your snack, and how much you can have.

Just like you can’t simply choose a food based on its fats, carbs, or proteins, you can’t just decide because of calories, either. It used to seem like it was that easy, but now that we know so much about dieting, and science is always learning more, a lot of different factors all have to be considered.

So while I do completely agree that you should eat healthy and exercise to lose weight, you can still pay attention to the number of calories and the nutrients and macronutrients that you consume in your meals.

Just my opinion.

[Kyra]

I HATE counting calories. If this is the case and I can pretty much dump calories and just eat lots of veggies and healthy foods then I will be one happy camper!

There is something about counting calories that I find almost offensive. I feel enraged when I'm at the grocery store and I think I have something really great for my diet and it turns out it has huge numbers of calories in it because it's just some marketing scheme to trick you into thinking that it's good.

Now that it's summer, especially, and there's lots of fresh things in season, I'm going to go with this great advice, skip the calories, and just go without junk food while eating lots of good veggies and healthy things. We'll see if it works!

It beats thinking about my meals as a numeric total!

[anne]

I think what I've decided to do instead of counting calories is to simply try to trust myself to only eat very healthy foods. If I eat an unhealthy food, the consequence will be that I have to count the calories. Otherwise, I'll try to stick to primarily veggies, a little bit of fruit, whole grains, and lean proteins. That way, as long as I eat reasonable portions and make sure that my plate is filled mostly with vegetables, then I should be alright.

I'll monitor my weight carefully to make sure I'm not causing my diet harm, but I think I'll feel a lot better doing it that way than feeling like I should be carrying a calculator around with me everywhere I go.