If you successfully lost weight with calorie counting and kept it off

[Anonymous]

If you used calorie counting as a way to lose weight and were successful in keeping the weight off, how strict or lenient were you with counting? I signed up with My Fitness Pal and after putting in my weight/ height, etc, it said I need 1200 calories a day, to lose weight, and any more than that I will be gaining weight. I have been logging in my food/calories on their app daily, for 45 days and have lost a total of 4 pounds. While this is some progress, I was hoping it would be at least 6-7 pounds lost by this point. So I am wondering if maybe I am underestimating the calorie count of foods I am eating. If you've been successful with this, what tips/tricks/advice would you recommend?

[Anonymous]

OP again. I forgot to add that I think for me this is the best way to go, as far as controlling my food intake because otherwise I tend to over eat by a lot. This is my down fall and is the reason I seem to gain weight easily, because I know I will go way over my daily needed calories.

[Anonymous]

1200 calories is really low.

What kinds of foods are you eating? I've been successful with calorie counting years ago.

I like caloriecount.com for tracking.

[Anonymous]

OP here, I'm 5'4 very small frame, 142 pounds. I need to get back to 120-125, which is my healthy weight.

[Anonymous]

A little different here, but I'll share. I was counting "points". Was told a number and followed the plan. I reached my goal and was so happy. Looked forward to a new maintenance-point number to follow. Turned out the difference was 1 serving of margarine. eeerrrrr.

[Anonymous]

I had to be measure and weigh everything accurate. It went really well when I was, when I wasn't as careful I always stalled. I would enter a jolly rancher into mfp.

[Anonymous]

Used mfp and lost 35 lbs. I was diligent about entering the calories and tried to over estimate if I wasn't sure about something. I would give myself a cheat day once a week and always increased calories during my period (advice from gyn). I've kept the weight off for 3 years. Now I only count when I feel like I've gotten too lax about it.

[Anonymous]

I'm 5'4" and 1200 calories is my lose calorie level too (and I have a lot more to lose).

1200 calories is tough - really really hard. I find it's easier if I up exercise which gives me more calories to eat. 1400-1500 cal per day is enough to have fairly normal (but smaller) meals and a treat.

Losing weight is hard, especially depending on your age. My guess is you're not exercising, or you are under estimating how much you eat. It's possible you are exercising and adding muscle while losing fat, so the question might be - how are your clothes fitting? Are you noticing a difference? If not, I think you have to be stricter with food (and not just only 1200 -1400 calories, but making sure they're quality proteins and good stuff), and up exercise. Even 30 minutes of walking a day will make a difference.

[Anonymous]

Unfortunately, just reducing calorie intake doesn't work for me. I usually stall around 6 pounds. If I ensure I exercise for 35 minutes or have 15,000 steps a day I start to lose weight.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Used mfp and lost 35 lbs. I was diligent about entering the calories and tried to over estimate if I wasn't sure about something. I would give myself a cheat day once a week and always increased calories during my period (advice from gyn). I've kept the weight off for 3 years. Now I only count when I feel like I've gotten too lax about it.

I'm curious why your Gyn said to increase calories during your period?

[Anonymous]

Calorie counting worked for me, but only if I did two things.

(1) I had to use a digital kitchen scale to weigh everything. Yes, it really was a pain. But even when you are eating healthy foods, at such a low calorie level of 1200, eating a medium versus a large apple made a difference. I know, I know.

(2) I had much more success eating an AVERAGE of 1200 calories over each two day period. I ate 600 calories one day (with lots of salad, no fat dressing, steamed veggies, fish, broth soups) and then 1800 calories the next. Back and forth, back and forth.

This technique allowed me to eat a few things I wanted that were outside of 1200 calories and also be able to have a lunch out with friends now and then and so forth. I did truly try to keep my calories healthy on the higher days ... no twinkies and icecream!!

1200 calories a day is very low, but you can keep your metabolism from ratcheting down on you by using the every other day technique. I went from 125 pounds to 103 pounds using this method ... it was SLOW (8 or 9 months). And for those that will criticize my weight, I am barely 5 foot and small framed, so relax!

Good luck and keep your food as healthy as possible!!

[Anonymous]

1200 calories seems very low to me, unless you have only a bit to lose or are very sedentary.

[Anonymous]

I used calorie counting and daily exercise to lose 20 pounds in 20 weeks a few years ago, after full time job + grad school took a toll on my eating/exercise habits. Counting calories meant that I was more mindful of the snacks and sweets (and booze) that I was consuming. Knowing what fast food items really contained was very helpful in making choices. I'd still eat the fast food, but it might steer me toward one chain over another, or one sandwich vs. a higher-calorie one.

I'm 5'8" and went from 160 to 140. (my usual weight.) I figured out pretty quickly that if I didn't have at least 1,500 calories PLUS what I was burning in exercise, that I'd feel light-headed. So most days I was eating at least 2,000 calories. (more when I started marathon training.)

Are you exercising? I think it's really hard to lose weight and keep it off without exercise.

[Anonymous]

I counted points and lost 15lbs recently. I was always a hardcore exerciser but the weight didn't come off until I really made an effort with the food. I was never gained, but I wasn't losing. The food is 80% of weight loss but you need exercise too.

[Anonymous]

I used LoseIt for tracking my food. My husband uses MFP. 1200 is really low, even with your frame. Does MFP let you select what rate of weight loss you want?

I've lost 18 pounds over the last 6 months, and am now trying to just maintain my current weight.

You really need to get a scale and weigh your food, it is the most accurate way to track calories. Using measuring cups is more prone to error because of packing the food in (or not) or having the food mound over the top. And don't think you can just eyeball how much it is, that is even worse than the measuring cups.

It is a pain at first, but soon just becomes part of the routine.