Stop Counting Calories

I need help on how to stop calories, its gotten to the point that i am weight fruits and veggies. I am just sick and tired of this thing and want to stop. Lately i listen on how my body feels and when its hungry and when to stop. but still i count calories. Should teen count calories or focus on nutrition and eat a healthy diet?

Anyone?

teens should just focus on nutrition and eating a healthy diet, if you feel the need to address your diet at all! teens, especially teenage girls (male? female?), really shouldn't be too worried about their diet, unless you're eating mainly junk food and white flour and sugars (unhealthy sugars, not fruit sugars or the a few cookies a day :) ). teenagers are still developing and your body needs the nutrients and energy and calories to be able to grow strong and help your body develop properly. don't think of it just as food for today, think of it as food and nutrition for tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow, and next year; your whole life.

if you're weighing fruits and veggies, which are really healthy and you can eat as much of as you want, it sounds almost like ed behaviour... be careful you don't get too obsessed with calories, etc, especially of fruits and vegetables! if you think you may be developing an ED, don't hesitate to get help or talk to someone about it. an eating disorder is an eating disorder, no matter how much weight you've lost or gained, or whether you count calories or not, or whether it's been going on for a long time or a few weeks; it can still be an ed.

for stopping counting calories, just stop. trust yourself and stop. it might take a few days or weeks, but eventually you'll find yourself becoming less obsessed with it. the trick is to just not let yourself do it. i'm still working on it ;) trust yourself, love yourself. you can do it!

Thanks a lot

I too weight fruits, veggies, EVERYTHING. I've had people tell me that I've been doing it for so long that I can probably eyeball the amount. I haven't quite summoned up the courage to do that yet, but it sounded like a pretty good suggestion. Try eyeballing the amounts of your fruits and vegetables.

As for whether teens should count calories, I agree with the poster above me.

I recently was exactly in your position. I was getting really insane with weighing EVERYTHING. I had a minor brush with bulimia for about a week (which I never though I would ever do), and I recently pulled myself out of it and I have never felt better.

What has been working for me is exactly like you said: listen to your body. There will always be another meal, there is no reason to finish your entire plate, just eat when you're hungry, stop when you've had enough. I know it sounds painfully obvious and simple, but it's what we all seem to forget.

My diet consists of 100% whole foods. Fruits (1-2 a day) unlimited veggies, sprouted grains (Ezekiel), grass-fed and organic beef, pastured chicken and eggs, wild salmon and other fish, olive oil, grapseed oil, coconut products, larabars, raw nuts, raw chocolate, and a variety of superfoods that I've recently gotten interested in. One thing that has dramatically improved my mood is raw cacao nibs.

As to your original question, I have come to the conclusion that counting calories is not a good idea. The first obviously is that it can create this obsessive behavior that will catch up with you and wreak havoc on your body. The second is I don't believe all calories are equal, and that eating healthy, real food is far superior to counting calories. And a lot of packaged things have off counts anyways. Realizing when you're full, eating slow, taking a step back to appreciate food as just being food - that is what has helped me. It isn't effortless, but I find it a world away from how I was when I was obsessively counting calories.

PS. Eliminating refined sugar has done wonders.

Let me know if any of this helps or if you want more info. Good luck... you seem like you are very self aware and you can definitely get a hold of yourself!!! :)

Tanks any more tips?h

Actually I counted calories for around 18 months I finally had to just stick the stupid scale up and ignore my calorie counting progam on my pc...it worked...I basicly have no clue what my caloric intake is but I eat and exercise and I figure where I end is where I end...I think most can tell by how they feel...if you feel sluggish or tired or whatever your body pretty much triggers you to what you need to do...well at least mine does....plus I recently read someone who said they know by how their clothes fit...seems obvious duh...but it does make sense...

I suggest a book called "In Defense of Food."  Boiled down to seven words - 'eat food, not too much, mostly plants.'  Stop thinking about "nutrition" and think about food - real food, not processed food - as fuel for your body to be active.  The human body is designed to move - so move it.