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Is it bad to count calories?

I was thinking of counting calories but my family said it is bad

Posted from TSR Mobile

Good for enabling weight loss if you're overweight and are looking to lose weight or gain weight if you're bulking etc

Bad if you have an eating disorder - I know several recovering anorexics who count calories in their head religiously.

So the answer is... depends :smile:

Reply 2

C380

Great if you are trying to lose/gain weight or just keeping an eye on what you eat. However calorie counting can get a bit obsessive and out of control. E.g. not being able to eat a meal without knowing its exact calorie content. I use to count calories but that was for weight purposes, wouldn't recommend doing it just for kicks.

Reply 3

Sunny_Smiles

no way, that's the sensible and intelligent thing to do (within reason of course)

Reply 4

doodle_333

personally I think it can encourage less healthy approaches to food (e.g. saving calories so you can go out for dinner, using your calorie allowance to eat chocolate/cake then not eating enough nutritious food as a result) there is more to adopting a healthy lifestyle than the exact number of calories you consume and no calculator will be able to give you an exact number to eat

Reply 5

Laura57

don't do it it ****ing ruins your life
if you need to lose weight, focus on healthy foods and exercise, also cutting down on portions
but once you start counting calories you see food as numbers and a game and one day you'll wake up terrified to eat :smile:

)))

Reply 6

Dancelikejones

Count them until you are pretty good at guessing calories in food, then you know roughly how much you're getting and then it'll probs be a lot less worrying for your parents. Rather than if you've downloaded an app and are counting them down to the single digits.

Reply 7

txo

No of course not, it's a good way to ensure you're eating the right amount. I do it all the time.

Reply 8

Stinkum

I wouldn't say it's bad. If you've always had a healthy diet and find yourself at a healthy weight and in good shape, you don't need to worry about counting calories, just stick to your healthy lifestyle and you're fine.

If someone wants to lose weight, it's a good idea to get into the habit of counting calories. It helps when you know exactly how much fuel you're putting in the gas tank, in a manner of speaking. If you want to clean up your diet or lose some weight, it's good to count calories so you get a good sense of how much calories are in different foods. You'll be shocked at just how high in calories some types of foods are - things like fast food and snacks which are very high in sugar and fat. Once you see how unhealthy they are, you might want to avoid such foods and switch to healthy foods which are not too high in calories while still being quite filling. For people who eat a lot of fast food, sugary snacks and sugary drinks, all that sugar can potentially add up to a huge amount of calories.

Reply 9

zKlown

Depends on your personality type

Look more at having a weekly calorie count more than daily

Reply 10

vanessa409

If you're overweight and looking to lose weight then roughly counting calories is a good idea, as long as you're not obsessed it's no problem :smile:

However, counting calories largely contributed to my obsession with numbers and I ended up developing an eating disorder. Calorie counting wasn't the only cause of this, however it certainly made things worse very quickly. Just be careful okay!

Reply 11

Yiechang

Just know an approximate amount for everything you eat. If you count religiously it becomes an obsession.

Reply 12

Puck_1991

Original post by toonervoustotalk

I was thinking of counting calories but my family said it is bad

Posted from TSR Mobile

Depends on your personality, and the purpose of the calorie counting.

If you're trying to lose/gain weight, it is one of the best ways to keep track, but only if you're KEEPING TRACK, certainly not if how many calories you're having/had affects what you eat (this is, if you're ok with going over/under your limit once in a while, it's probably fine, if you use it as a guide rather than as a rulebook).

About the personality thing: are you obsessive? If you are, then don't do it. It can take over your life and your eating habits and become extremely unhealthy. If you won't be able to have a meal without checking the calories, or go out and eat with your friends because you won't know how many calories you're consuming then definitely DO NOT start counting calories.

If you're trying to manage your weight/be healthy, the best thing to do (though it is harder) is to adopt a healthy lifestyle, exercise regularly, eat well, etc. etc.

Reply 13

Old School

It's not bad, just largely pointless.

Unless you're weighing everything you eat every single time you eat something that doesn't come out of a packet you won't get an accurate figure.

Reply 14

WGR

Was thinking of making a thread about this

From experience calorie counting is bad because it gan get complicated and stressful and as others have said, an obsession. I just eat less until I start to lose weight, works for me. A good thing to count is the weight of your food especially carbs. Randomly dishing out rice on my plate gave me about 900 calories just from the rice alone in my meal, actually weighing out a portion size cut it right down to 300 calories.

Reply 15

WitnessMO

No, it isn't. If I don't count calories, I tend to under eat my minimum daily requirements which is bad because my work involves a lot of running around.

Reply 16

hermitthefrog

Depends on your personality I guess. I would advise anyone to stay away from it though as it has become a total obsession for me. I spend all day every day thinking about calories and I can't look at food as food anymore, it's all numbers to me. It's not a healthy outlook to have on life and has definitely made me unhappy.

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 17

fGDu

In my opinion you should just count the calories of your most common meals for a few weeks, take note of them and keep them in a spreadsheet. Then when you want to count a days calories it is as easy as adding the 3 or 4 meals of numbers together. BTW myfitnesspal is a great site that helps you work it all out. I think though, you don't need to constantly mention it to other people, it does often make them feel bad about themselves. Just focus on improving yourself and not other for the time being.