Can you spare a moment for me please? :)

Hello everyone!

I'm a student, and I'm collecting information on calorie counting. I've been doing it myself, but I want to get a better understanding of who counts calories and what is motivating us! I think this is one of the most dynamic calorie counting community on the web, therefor I'd like just a little information from you, if that is possible.

1. Can you give me a little background information on you? Where you live, your gender, age, and anything else you'd like to add is welcome :)

2. What motivated you to begin calorie counting, and what is motivating (or not) you now? 

I'll start!

1. I'm 21 years old, and a student living in Toronto, Ontario. I go to a University where eating healthy and organic foods is advocated by students and professors alike. I enjoy cooking, reading and blogging.

2. I began calorie counting when I realized I was overeating and packed on some noticeable pounds. I am no longer calorie counting but I do watch the calorie content on foods, just to be on the safe side. 

Thank you for taking you time to help out a student! :D

1. Can you give me a little background information on you? Where you live, your gender, age, and anything else you'd like to add is welcome :)

Well I live in MN, Female, 29, live with my wonderful (well sometimes wonderful, sometimes pain in the ass lol) boyfriend for the last 7 years (finally gettin hitched in May)

2. What motivated you to begin calorie counting, and what is motivating (or not) you now? 

I decided to start calorie counting in May after being sick of my weight bouncing up and down for at least the last 10 years.  I have tried every diet there is and I always lost weight quick but then gained it right back.  I decided I needed a change so I started just counting.  I figured this way I can eat whatever I want just as long as I stay within my calorie guidlines.  Granted I have cheated but generally get right back on track again.  This is the first time I have felt like I wasnt on a "diet" since I havent forbidden myself of anything and that is what keeps me motivated.

Yep gettin married in May and I am just crossing my fingers that the weather will be nice since its an outside wedding..  May tends to be a little touch and go here so we shall see.  And Thanks :)

i'm 38 yrs old, female, from the jersey shore.

i think i started counting calories because of an eating disorder.  (well i had an ed i was never overweight before)

anyways i still count calories honestly because i never want to be overweight.  so right now it is bc i want to remain healthy, my dad has had a heart attack  so heart disease runs in the family.

hoe that helped.   =) 

Why are you collecting info on calorie counting and motivation? is it for an assignment or just personal interest? What ever reason, it would be really great if you could let me know any conclusions you come up with.  I really need help with motivation

1. I live in New South Wales, Australia. I am female, 33 yo and married with no kids. I have complex health issues.

2. I have been overweight since I was 22, until then I had been very thin - sometimes too thin.  I went from 120lb to over 250 in 4 years.  Then 2 years ago today, I was diagnosed with cancer and given 6 months to live.  The same day, my Dad broke his neck, and was not expected to live.  We both fought back, and 2 years later, I am cancer free and Dad has completely recovered.  I had tried to lose weight before, but never was able to stick to it.  I am sure that it was because I never had significant motivation.  I went from 253lb to my current weight of 182 lb, and I need to lose another 40lb. 

It has got harder to stick to my diet, I am trying to get the motivation back.  I was hoping that losing weight would help with my arthritis pain, unfortunately the pain has got significantly worse.  That has put a big downer on things. Which is why I need help with motivation!

21 year old female in Connecticut.

I've been overweight my entire life (i'm currently at my lowest weight ever with another 10 lbs to go). I've done the diet thing once or twice before throughout my pre-teen and teen years.

Source of motivation and success this time: I've just graduated from college and no one will hire me! haha. So while i wasn't job searching i had all this free time. I'd aced a nutrition course i took my last semester at school and i realized that i finally had all this time to focus on my health. I'm reinventing myself.

I'd be happy to help!

1. I'm a fifteen year old female, nearly sixteen, and I live in Melbourne, Australia.  I'm currently studying at a private school in year eleven, so not long to go until I'm finished!

2. I've been overweight for about four years, pretty much because me and my friends spent so much time and money at the canteen haha. Teenage girls and their obsession with food! I'd been unhappy with my weight for a while, but on January the 1st 2008 I decided I was sick of being the overweight girl...not exactly fat, but I didn't want people to judge me because I was bigger than the other girls. I'd tried to lose weight before by exercising (Which I HATED) and eating healthily...but I'd always fail. So I started to count calories, and it just worked for me! I'm really glad I managed to lose about 45 pounds and bring my BMI down to 21.8 while I was a teenager, because now I've picked up lifestlye habits that I'm sure will carry me through to adulthood. 

1. Can you give me a little background information on you? Where you live, your gender, age, and anything else you'd like to add is welcome :)

26 year old female from San Antonio, Texas. I am currently a graduate student planning on entering the education field.

2. What motivated you to begin calorie counting, and what is motivating (or not) you now?

I began calorie counting this year as a healthy way to make sure I get proper nutrition while trying to lose 30 pounds I gained after getting married at 23. I have never dieted before, but watched my mother go through all sorts of diets and exercise fads and I wanted to make a healthy lifestyle change instead. I have since lost 10 lbs from calorie counting and the results have motivated me to continue.

hi im 44 yr female from uk,im on medication for anxiety depression when im really low the dr upps my dose when this happens i tend to put on about 45 pound a mixture of meds and me eating more because of the depression,ive been yo yo ing like this now for about 4 yrs,1st of july this yr i was sat outside and my hubby took a pic of me i was huge(252 pounds)also my dad and brother both died from heart attack age 44 and 36 ,i was thinking im the same age as my dad was when he passed away and to be honest it scared me,so since that day ive been losing weight 38 pounds so far,ive also started the gym 3-5 days a week which i love, i prefer calorie counting because if i want a bit cheese i can as long as i include it in my logs,i am eating a lot healthier but nothing is forbidden so does make me feel guilty x

Hi,

I am 72 years old,  USA, very active, love hiking, playing bridge and traveling.  Married to my wonderful husband for 51 years I am a nurse, he is a physician. So I know what to do! .  I was never overweight until about 20 years ago and since then have yo yo ed too much.  It usually takes me about 5 years to totally gain back the 40 pounds I play around with!  Not this time tho.  I am taking it slowly, exercising and eating my favorite foods just less of the high cal ones and more of the "good for me" ones.  I am told I look much younger than my age and I want to stay that way.  Good luck with your project.

Barbara

1. Can you give me a little background information on you? Where you live, your gender, age, and anything else you'd like to add is welcome

I am a 24 f from New Brunswick who is attending university in Newfoundland, completing my last year of a Social Work degree.

I have been overweight my whole life. I had very poor eating habits and absolutely hated exercise. Now, I have better (not perfect) eating habits and I exercise just about everyday!

2. What motivated you to begin calorie counting, and what is motivating (or not) you now? I started calorie counting in Feb because after only a month of dieting on my own, my weight loss had slowed (my motivation to start CC). My motivation to start losing weight was that I had gotten engaged, I wanted to look great for my wedding and I was 90 lbs overweight. I have had success with CC (losing 55 lbs) and so this is my motivation to continue to count calories for the remaining 35-40 lbs.

Do you need any other info. As another university student who understands the stress of papers, I am willing to help so PM me.

1. Can you give me a little background information on you? Where you live, your gender, age, and anything else you'd like to add is welcome :)

I am a 33 yr old mother of 3 and I live in Oregon.

2. What motivated you to begin calorie counting, and what is motivating (or not) you now? 

I was always skinny until after I had my first child and then I went on the Depo-provera shot and gained 75 lbs in a very short period of time. Over the years I have tried numerous diets and always plateaued after losing less than 10 lbs. I was always tired and had constant headaches. My hubby finally made me go to the Dr. She ran tests and found that my Thyroid was messed up. It took 2.5 years to regulate it. I then decided to start trying to diet again and now I have been able to begin losing the weight. I have lost more than 50 lbs so far, but still have another 28 lbs to go.

My only motivatation is that I want to be healthy.

1.) I am an 18 year old female, attending college in Wisconsin. My school does not offer many healthy options.

2.) I started calorie counting about two years ago when I put on about 20lbs simply from overeating. After just 4 months of eating 1,200 calories a day, I lost 25lbs. I now eat about 1,600 calories to maintain. :]

-Adrea

Original Post by andyclara:

Why are you collecting info on calorie counting and motivation? is it for an assignment or just personal interest? What ever reason, it would be really great if you could let me know any conclusions you come up with.  I really need help with motivation

1. I live in New South Wales, Australia. I am female, 33 yo and married with no kids. I have complex health issues.

2. I have been overweight since I was 22, until then I had been very thin - sometimes too thin.  I went from 120lb to over 250 in 4 years.  Then 2 years ago today, I was diagnosed with cancer and given 6 months to live.  The same day, my Dad broke his neck, and was not expected to live.  We both fought back, and 2 years later, I am cancer free and Dad has completely recovered.  I had tried to lose weight before, but never was able to stick to it.  I am sure that it was because I never had significant motivation.  I went from 253lb to my current weight of 182 lb, and I need to lose another 40lb. 

It has got harder to stick to my diet, I am trying to get the motivation back.  I was hoping that losing weight would help with my arthritis pain, unfortunately the pain has got significantly worse.  That has put a big downer on things. Which is why I need help with motivation!

Reading your struggles and triumphs, i would say that YOU and your success of beating cancer are probably the best motivation. If not for you, then maybe for others.

You are bloody amazing!

Don't give up so close to the finish line. You have been given a whole new lease on life, so make the most of it.

Massive props to you, madam!

As for me...I'm 36, female, mum of 2, married, living in South Wales (the one in the UK!) since 1998, originally from Holland.

I started in May 2007, when my sisters in-law dragged me to my very first WW meeting. I weighed 355lbs.

In August 2007 i had lost 43lbs, but got pregnant. So i took a 9 month break from calorie counting and got busy feeling sick and tired 24/7.

When i rejoined in May this year, my weight was still the same at 312lbs.

6 months on and i now weigh 254lbs. I have another 100lbs to go. At the moment i am struggling health-wise, having been hospitalised with gall stones, severe acute pancreatitis, jaundice, and splenomegaly. I'm doing much better, but i am slowly gaining weight.

My daily calorie budget is 1800. This is regardless of doing any excersize, so some days the deficit could be higher. I find i eat too much junk if i eat my calories back that i swam or 'wogged' away. So my inactive days balance out the active days.

Why am i doing this? To feel better, to look better, to not to embarrass my kids at the school gates. (And to get wolf-whistled for once in my life!)

1) I am a 27 year old engineer living in Washington.  I am female, married for 1 year and have no kids yet.

2) After getting married and getting settled in washington I joined a gym and started watching my diet (again).  I gained a lot of weight in the first few years of college (132 to 195) and have spent the years since trying to get it back off.  My motivation is to get down to a "low health risk" weight and develop a healthy lifestyle and healthy relationship with food so that I can pass my good habits on to my future children.

Hi there - I thought your project was interesting so here goes:  I am 79 years old (will be 80 in mid-December).  I live in Baltimore, Maryland, USA with my son, my daughter-in-law, my granddaughter and a 6 month old pug puppy.  I am only 5 feet tall and at present I weigh 120 pounds - BMI is 23.  I really owe this healthy weight to the Caloria Count site.  I had put on weight slowly over a period of years after bearing children and then I started trying every fad diet I heard of.  I did liquid diets, South Beach, Dr. Atkins, Weight Watchers and I can't even remember how many more.  They all worked for a while but then I always seemed to gain back - to about 160-165.  My sister who was two years younger than me and heavy all of her life, developed diabetes and heart problems and she passed away last December 6th.  I think that was a wake up call for me.  I found this web site and decided to try calorie counting - I cannot believe how easy it was and still is.  It gives me the flexibility to eat anything I want and just keep my portions in check.  The fact that I log what I eat and also log my weight daily is also a way of keeping things under control which I like.  I believe caloria counting is really the way to go as long as you make sure you are getting enough protein, carbs, fiber, etc.  I hope this is helpful to you and good luck!

1. Can you give me a little background information on you? Where you live, your gender, age, and anything else you'd like to add is welcome :)

I live in Birmingham, AL going to college there. I am 2o and female. I am 5'3 and 117 lbs. My goal is 110, or 108.

2. What motivated you to begin calorie counting, and what is motivating (or not) you now? 

I had tried sugar busters diet, which worked for me the first time, but the scale wouldnt budge after a couple months. I had already been a member of this site, I just was not counting. I liked the idea of trying it because NO food is off limits. If I wanted my favorite alfredo pasta, I could have a cheat day. Or just work out more that day. To me calorie counting encourages portion control and moderation, which is my problem. :)

Original Post by jeannieism:

 

to onlymikesstacia:

sorry to hear about the complications with depo-provera. i'm guessing that it was the shot that did something to your thyroid? glad to hear that you got it back on track! i didn't know thyroids could be re-regulated. you're passed the mid-mark to your goal, i wish you all the best in the last stretch :)

 

 Yes it was most likely the Depo that made my Thyroid get out of whack. I am now on pills and probably will be for the rest of my life.  Thank you, I am very determined to make it to my goal weight and then I might decide to go lower, depending on how I feel.