Counting Calories ???

brown bear

Hi
Ive lost 3 1/2 stone between last june and christmas following weightwatchers and playing sport. Since then i have hit the dreaded plateau and not lost a bean. I still have 1 1/2 stone to go (I was 19 and need to get to about 14 stone)

The WW just is'nt doing it for me anymore so i want to try just counting calories. Now it may seem a bit daft, but is it just as simple as "Counting them" and then not exceeding whatever your daily max is for either maintanence or weight loss.

I know it seem a bit of a simple question, but im about to pull my hair out

Thanks

seamus

Basically, yes, that's what counting calories is about. Weight Watchers is counting calories for all intents and purposes, just simplified a little bit.

What you need to do is figure out your normal daily calorie requirements. Let's say for the sake of argument that this is 2,500 calories. Then take a certain percentage off that - I think the max recommended by most people is a 20% reduction in calorific intake.

Then count. You can get a whole lot more complicated and keep track of the protein, carb & fat intake, but unless you eat the same thing for every meal, then simply keeping track of your calories should be enough.

Things which have helped me break plateaus in the past are:

- Drink more water. I'm really bad for this, but I've found that making a conscious effort to drink at least 2L of water while sitting in work, will aid weight loss.

- Take a break. Take a week off from counting. That doesn't mean splurge, but for a week or so, just eat what you would normally eat without making a note of it in your head. Going out for dinner on Saturday? Great. Don't worry about having 3 courses and a side of chips with your mains. Unless you go totally nuts, the impact on your weight will be minimal (if anything) and in my experience switching back to a normal counting set up after that can get you over the hump.

www.fitday.com will let you keep track of calories and also has a big database of foods.

Amtmann

Other things that can help to bust through plateaus include intermittent fasting (say for 24h) once per week and pushing yourself into ketosis.

mmc2010

as in complete fasting?? not eating anything? I think I might keel over....:eek:

Amtmann

mmc2010 wrote: »

as in complete fasting?? not eating anything? I think I might keel over....:eek:

Yes! But it's not as bad as it sounds. It's easier on a high-fat diet such as the primal blueprint or paleo.

One example: last Friday I had 250g grilled beef patty, 300g veg drizzled in butter, and 250ml whipped cream plus .5kg strawberries (that amount of whipped cream was absolutely enormous). Total calories consumed that day was about 2000 - and I need to eat 2400 to maintain my weight, so I had a deficit of 400 that day. But because of the sheer volume of fat that I ate (cream, butter, beef), I actually did not feel hungry again for 30 hours! Today is Wednesday and I have lost just under a pound since last Friday. I have gone from 92 to 62kg with only a minor slow down in weight loss, and I pushed through this effortlessly by intermittent, non-stressful fasting.

Now obviously that cream was a treat and I'm not about to recommend it as a dietary staple or anything. But by eating high fat food regularly, your appetite is diminished overall and fasting becomes much much easier.