# Calorie Counting Tools?



## kimmahan (Sep 8, 2013)

Does anyone out there use a tool for keeping track of what they eat?  A specific calorie tracker or journal? Do they work - i.e. are they easy to use and you are able to keep up with them?

Thanks!
Kim


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## rkunsaw (Sep 8, 2013)

Not me. I don't count calories or follow any diet plan. Just eat less, cut back on carbs and exercise.


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## JustBonee (Sep 8, 2013)

I don't use anything special, but I do like to count calories and keep track of what I'm eating.  Any loose leaf notebook paper will work.  But get a food counter/evaluator book to have handy, when the calories aren't readily known to you.  Then just keep a running list for the day, in two columns,  of  food consumed  ..... calories.  
It's good to keep a record, because we probably always eat more than we think we do.  
And I find  you stay more aware of what you're eating if you write it down.
And exercise is very important..


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## That Guy (Sep 8, 2013)

rkunsaw said:


> Not me. I don't count calories or follow any diet plan. Just eat less, cut back on carbs and exercise.



Me, too, Pappy.


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## Diwundrin (Sep 9, 2013)

People count calories?  

 


 
Have they tried a hobby?  



If too much food is a problem then counting it doesn't seem an effective way of restricting it to me.  
I've known people who have been on 'calorie counting' diets for 40 years and all that's improved is their maths.  
They're still every bit as cuddly as I am, but I can guarantee that they haven't had half the fun.

I work off this little rule of thumb, it's not for weight reduction, it's for reduction of *stressing* about weight reduction.
Is your figure vital to your income? Are you a super model?
If not then why worry?  
Health risks?  If you were really and honestly desperate to reduce weight because there was imminent danger of it killing you then you'd be too damned scared to eat. You wouldn't be diddling about with potions and calorie counters, you'd be off to a qualified nutritionist and would follow their menu like the gospel.  

Just relax, stop obsessing over it and it'll even out.  I'm fatter than I should be, so what?  Other than not mixing certain foods for digestion reasons I never 'diet'. I got to a certain weight and stayed there.  It plateaued at what is probably my normal, optimum good times living, genetically pre-ordained level. I was fit enough to work and walk as far as I had to though marathons were out of the question.  But I suffered no medical danger signals.  So I stopped worrying.   I continued to eat the same amount of rubbish food but I didn't get any fatter than that.  It didn't change for decades.  ... and nor did my calorie counting acquaintances'. 

  

They weren't really worried about their weight, they were just addicted to pretending to be worried about it. 
It was a guilt trip.  
It became a way of life to them and kept them miserable.  And who the hell else cared how fat they were?  ... and if anyone did, so what?  Health issues aside,  are we worried about our shape for ourselves?  or for the approval of passing strangers?
Once we figure the reason out weight becomes controllable to the extent that  we deem it worth the effort, and the stress factor eases off.

Why exactly we're worried about it is the key to solving it.  If genuine health worries aren't enough to keep you on the straight and narrow then odds are it's just a guilt trip.  We forgive you, now get thee out and count chocolates!


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## JustBonee (Sep 9, 2013)

If a person is really concerned about losing weight, whether for blood pressure, diabetes, or other concerns ...  writing down what they eat does work for some crazy reason.  
Being a health nut, I've never been able to just relax and forget about it .. old age or not. layful:
And the exercise part is great for your mental outlook.


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## Diwundrin (Sep 9, 2013)

yourself.  



I guess it works for some Bonnie, it's up to the individual to find their optimum comfort level, I just have a thing about people who make their weight a focus to stress about *for other **than **diagnosed  health* reasons.  
Sometimes, often, stress is a bigger factor in health problems than weight is.  We have enough pressures of life on us without burdening ourselves further with attaining unnecessary goals. 

If exercise works to improve mental outlook for you then that's different to those who stress over doing it, and actually put themselves into more physical danger,  because they feel they must to meet some arbitrary weight goal.  To satisfy who exactly? It's obviously not satisfying them.

You're a self confessed health nut, I'm the diametrical opposite, nothing is going to work for both of us as we have different outlooks and priorities on the weight question.  

I'm coming up on 10 years past the use by date that  the majority of my 'fitter' family didn't make it to, and I have no idea if I would have made it this far without chocolate, cigarettes, TV and whatever other destressing pursuits were available.  But that's just me, won't work for everyone. Neither will calorie counting reduce anyone's weight without the honest mental conviction that it's worth it not to cheat.


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## JustBonee (Sep 9, 2013)

Yeah,  stress is the pits and defeats everything!  
 Di, I think the secret is to 'just do it' ... and not think (be obsessed) about it.. whatever *it* is!
Doing what comes naturally is always the easiest road.  ..agree there.

....... now I'm off for my morning walk ..


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## Diwundrin (Sep 9, 2013)

Well now you're just showin' off. 

  Enjoy it Bonnie.


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## GeorgiaXplant (Sep 12, 2013)

Back in the olden days (when I was much younger and much larger!) I had a little book about the size of a 3x5 index card that showed the calories in common foods. I carried it with me everydamnwhere. After a while, I knew how many calories in the things I ate and would just keep track in my head. For 1000 calories a day, I allocated 300 for breakfast, 300 for lunch, 400 for dinner. It wasn't easy for the first few weeks, but I got used to it. It was a big help to quit "tasting" while cooking and eating that little bit after dinner that's left over but too little to sav.e Think you're hungry? Drink water! 

One of the things that I learned when dieting was that you need to also feed your "fat" tooth and your "sweet" tooth. Within reason! Allow yourself some treats. Did you know that a butterscotch hard candy has 35 calories? LOL! A teaspoon of sugar has about 17 calories so a cup of tea with a teaspoon of sugar in mid-afternoon won't blow a diet. Or a cup of black coffee and a hard candy mid-morning and again mid-afternoon helps to keep hunger at bay until mealtime.

 Another thing I learned was that you can't consume 500 calories one day in order to eat 500 "extra" the next. You have to be aware of the nutritional value of the things you eat and make sure that what you're eating has real food value.

And...don't skip meals!!!! Especially don't skip breakfast. Something that will encourage you to eat more than you should is getting too hungry.

These days, I doubt that there's a doctor who would recommend 1000 calories a day...1200 minimum but 1500 would be better. It took me a year and a half to lose 100 lbs. After the first 30 lbs, I had to maintain that 30 lbs for a month without losing or gaining any, but by then I was used to eating less and it was hard to stop losing. Once it became obvious that I was losing a lot of weight, you couldn't have paid me to eat too much! All in all, I lost enough weight to make another whole person!


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## SaraJ60 (Sep 12, 2013)

I was set up with an Application on my iPhone called MyFitnessPal.  It works really well for me!


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## Jambi (Sep 16, 2013)

I've never counted calories, just eliminated high glycemic foods from my diet.

Works real well; lose weight and never feel hungry.

Way too many myths about diet and weight loss out there.


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