I can't stick with calorie counting

I've been trying to count calories for a month and a half, but I keep getting tired of it and taking any excuse not to bother. I'm not losing weight - the same 2 pounds keep coming off. When I do count calories my deficits are around 300 cal. For the past month I've been counting calories about half the time.

I haven't been eating that much extra on days I don't count calories - not enough to gain anyway. But I'm not losing and I'm getting discouraged.

I"m male, 5'9", 220 pounds, and aiming for a 2000 calorie diet.

Maybe you're one of those people that would benefit from a more structured menu planning system rather than having to make up your own diet and count the calories?...  It's not something CC offers, unfortunately. That's how I finally started seeing results.  Having a plan to work with (into which I had a lot of input, admittedly) finally allowed me to understand exactly what a varied, balanced diet could look like and what kind of portion-sizes were going to work to hit the calorie target.  Left to my own devices I found I'd been getting the balance wrong and that I'd been sticking to very similar foods too often... which was mind-numbingly boring.  It was like being on a 12 week training course... I never looked back.

There are quite a few places that offer menu plans - obviously for a fee!  The one I used was called 'Ediets' and it was very flexible.

It sounds like your counting works to maintain your weight, but that there isn't enough leverage to lose.  I'd suggest looking for ways to exercise more rather than cut down your eating target of 2000.  Exercising generally forces your body to use more calories.  I take the time over the quality....yesterday I filled in a big hole in the yard for an hour....not quite like hitting the weights in a health club but the effect is the same.

Original Post by flamel:

I've been trying to count calories for a month and a half, but I keep getting tired of it 

Me too. I never worked anything on calorie counting actually. My tips is to just diet for life...don't get discouraged, just change to healthier foods. i basically try to eat low calorie foods all the time( greens, beans, squash, egg whites, tofu, fish) and don't care about the calories. i only log the cals if i eat "risky" foods such as high cal fruits (jackfruits), high cal veggie (lotus root, very sweet) and "dangerous" foods such as bread or nuts. When eating hi cal foods i stick to fist rule (1 portion=1 fist) and keep all foods free from dips,sauce,coatings, etc. 

i find this working for me because i dont feel the need to be anal with calorie counting and can eat whenever i feel like eating. btw when u used this way reaching 2000 kcals target will even seem such a big amount. just try this way for several weeks with more cardio and see if the scale moves.

You are the same body size as me..I was 202 Jan 09 am 174 now and heading for 167 this May 31 09...

I did the calorie counting for the about the first 8 weeks...listing all my foods I will eat, know their calorie content and nutrient values.

Then I know what amounts to eat and not to eat.  I am on a 1200 cal limit per day...sip water all day too but never enough to make me go to bathroom every hour on the hour.

I have a diary, take my BP daily and check the scales three times a week...

Avoid the white fats, sugars, flour and reduce the salt big time.

I have not counted calories in a while now but as long as I keep losing weight, sleep soundly, feel great and have stamina. 

It works for me.

Try writing everything down.  I'm currently doing this and I am hyper aware of everything that goes into my mouth.  When I didn't count my calories, I ate about the same amount of food, but I ate the wrong kinds of food.  For example, I would eat the Nutty Buddy bars.  At around 180 calories per bar.  Cereal and a lot of other carbs.  Just replace those not so good calories for good ones.  Check out www.mylifetime.com Click on the icon for Cook Yourself Thin.  They have the best recipes that are all low-cal.

The thing with CC is that you have to be comitted to it in order to work. This means being willing (at least for the first few weeks/months) to log all your activity and calorie consumption, until you reach a point where you instinctively know how much you are using and consuming.  Doing this is very time consuming, especially in the beginning. I'm still working on that myself and I am not even certain that I will ever reach that point, but that doesn't matter much to me for now.

Your post makes me wonder if you ever had the motivation to be on this "diet" in the first place. What I mean is that it is not enough to be committed to using CC correctly itself (for if you are not being precise with this site then it looses it's value, it's only as good as you make it), but you also have to WANT to loose weight for yourself, for your own benefit, instead of trying to loose weight because someone else is expecting this of you?

In any case, commitment to yourself is paramount. If you find that you can't stick to using the site, then the only thing that I can suggest for you to do is to go for Weight Watchers - they count calories too, although they use a different system. Maybe that one works for you.

Good luck in any case.