Back to calorie counting after a 6 month break .... Is it tough?

Last year I lost 30 lbs from February to September and became a very happy person with myself! 

Before I joined Calorie Count, I lost the first 10 from February to April basically by not eating enough and "trying" to eat healthier. I wasn't more successful than losing 10 lbs though, as I merely didn't know what healthy living was nor the caloric value of certain foods (I thought white rice was good for you & lower calorie!).

I stumbled upon Calorie Count because I literally couldn't do my home-made diet any longer, I was soooo hungry and felt desperate. That's when I found Calorie Count. Call it FATE!!!

Then I started counting religiously from May to Mid-September and lost about 18lbs! Calorie count CHANGED MY LIFE!

Then when entering maintenance I just stopped counting altogether. I had gone on vacation with my mother and sister and, though they were so very happy I lost weight (they knew how miserable I had been and I certainly looked a lot better!), they found my counting a bit freakish. I also was worried I was taking it a bit too seriously so I stopped altogether and just tried to keep LIVING HEALTHY.

Funny thing is I continued to lose for another 1.5 months - another 2-3 lbs and in mid-December was the thinnest I have been since 15 years ago! It all seemed so EASY!

But then, like everything in life, all good things come to an end and the holidays came. And ever since Christmas it's been nearly impossible for me to keep on track. It's not like I don't know how to eat properly, I do but I have NO SELF-CONTROL. I don't binge but I definitely feel out of control in regards to food and OVER-EAT and do so until I am maximally stuffed. Also in the past 2 months I started to overeat on things I knew were horrible for me: huge amounts of candy, white rice, fried foods, Chinese food galore. As I was doing it I felt like I was purposely sabotaging myself. I felt like I was punishing myself (some serious psychology there I am sure, LOL!)

Now I am 5 lbs heavier and though I am still thin, which is great, I feel really unhappy. I don't feel WELL and want to regain control. So I am GOING BACK TO CALORIE COUNTING! I don't want to lose weight as much as get back in control of HEALTHY LIVING.

So, has anyone else gone back to counting after a long break? Is it tough to regain that once lost self-control or do you just slide back into it?

I am sort of dreading it to be honest and need all the motivation and support I can find. I need a change and need it fast. 

I am getting married in 5.5 months and want to be as hapyp on my wedding day as I was in December at my engagement party. Unfortunately for me, so much of my happiness is related to the quality of my diet!

Thanks for your support and for listening!

I didn’t take nearly as long a break from it as you did, but it doesn’t seem to me like it should be hard to go back to counting, if you use this site.  I started counting calories (not with calorie count) in March 2007 and kept it up for several months.  I gradually drifted away from it in June – August, during which time I gained a few pounds back.  Tried to go back to it in September and started losing weight again, but I failed to count more often than not.  I continued to live by healthy principles and worked out, but my weight loss was very slow--slower than when I was counting earlier in the year.  Too many little splurges.  In December, I realized that I had to get grips on it, and found Calorie Count.  It changed my life, too.  I slid into it easily.

By all means, go back to counting.  Here’s what I recommend, and what I plan to do if I find I’m gaining again after reaching maintenance.  (I’ve thought about this quite a bit).  At first, don’t try to control, just record EVERYTHING for a few weeks and see where your diet is, as far as total calories and the carb/protein/fats balance.  Just seeing the totals will probably help you refrain from the biggest excesses.  When you’ve got a few weeks of data, start slicing and dicing it, to see where your biggest mistakes are (what foods, when, how often) and make a plan to attack the problems.  Create a small deficit (less than 500—maybe 300) to gradually lose the five pounds you’ve gained while decreasing the amount and frequency of the “bad” things.

You did this once, and you can SO do it again.  Go for it!

I know that you can do this!!!!

A friend of mine is in your situation.... returning to counting calories after 7 months off. She decided that since she always was fine/healthy for breakfast and lunch, she'd start just by counting calories from 4pm onward each day ... since that was the time period when she got into the most trouble! (She basically had the same breakfast and lunch every day, and knew how many calories those were ... so she just logged "Breakfast and Lunch" as XXX number of calories.)

Let us know how we can help!!!!!

MOLLY

You can totally do this! 

I don't have any personal experience to relate, since I'm still on the first go-round.  But I think that Sharz96's plan is a good one - just log for a while so you can see where your weak spots are, then address those.

Also, even though I am actively working to lose weight right now, I'm also trying to do it in a way that doesn't restrict me too, too much, to keep from feeling deprived.  So, I plan out all my meals every day and log and so on, but when something comes up - for instance, someone calls me up and says "let's go out to eat" - I don't freak out.  I just go and try to make a decent choice and then log it when I get home.

I find that even if I went over my goal for the day, so far I haven't gone over maintenance calories even once, and in fact, usually still have a deficit.  Since I'm planning for most of the time, that every now and then thing doesn't do as much damage as it would if I was just eating whatever, whenever. So approaching it from that angle might help, too. 

Just get back into the groove and when you fall off the wagon, pick yourself up, dust yourself off and get right back on. You've done this before - you can totally do it! 

I'm in the same boat, sorta!  I started with CC last July, and lost 10 lbs by October.  Then I gained it all back by January.  Now I'm starting over again 2 lbs heavier than when I started.  I'm having trouble getting back into it, but I'm easing into it.  Just being here on the site has helped with my awareness.  I figure that's the first stage.  I think the next stage is to reduce portions.  THEN I'll start counting calories!  Good luck - we both need it!

lost lots of weight about 1é years ago by counting, gained it back after some years, now back, and counting. for some reason i do not find it harder

I am totally with you. I think this is my third round of trying to log. My family (a 2yr old, a 4 yr old, husb and MIL) and I keep getting sick and I stop having time to log, but I am doing my utmost this time.

I am actually trying to lose 80+ pounds for health reasons (5'2" and started at 216ish). My plan has been to make changes in how/what I eat, trying for A foods as best as possible, using good fats, etc and logging it for a month or two prior to seeing a nutritionalist my Dr recommended. I figured once I had some history, it would be easier to document where I needed the change.

I think it may be hard keeping this habit to counting/choosing good foods. Good habit usually take a while to become automatic, so I keep reminding myself to hang in there and eventually the urge to lax off will diminish.

Good luck!!!

hi all

my comment is that after a while of using the calorie counting method dont you get it naturally without counting, you can feel  approximately the calories without logs or physical measurment of food portions..

what do you think?

one thing is being able to estimate-and here i agree.

but me and some other people tend to kid themselves, "not" cound some cals, underestimate etc., so i feel it is a good method

Original Post by superhero:

hi all

my comment is that after a while of using the calorie counting method dont you get it naturally without counting, you can feel approximately the calories without logs or physical measurment of food portions..

what do you think?

Well my issue is not that I don't understand how many calories are in things or that I actually need to look things up. Like you have pointed out, I naturally get it now without counting. That doesn't mean I have self-control. I seem to have lost all the self-control to stay at 1500 calories like I did for so many months last year! How do I get my self-control back? I thought/hoped counting would help motivate me ...

Original Post by superhero:

hi all

my comment is that after a while of using the calorie counting method dont you get it naturally without counting, you can feel  approximately the calories without logs or physical measurment of food portions..

 

what do you think?

 

 

 

 

 That is somewhat true but it is SO easy over time to just increase portion sizes by 10 or 20% without realizing it. It's also easy to sort of forget that little treat yesterday afternoon, yada yada, when you're not logging. That can easily add up to 50-100 extra cals a day and BINGO: Ya got another 5 to 10 pounds on your tush before you know it! That's what happen to me I'm sure.

Once I get solidly back into maintanance, I plan on counting one week out of every month. My hope is that doing that will keep me more aware of portion sizes, etc.