Calorie Counting Question

Mr_Wombat

Gold Member
Simple question for all you CC veterans:

If you follow a calorie counting diet, are calories all you have to focus on?

Obviously a balanced diet with all the food groups is essential, but other than that do you still need to look at fat content etc?

I'm trying to 'fix' my calorie intake at the moment (I was dangerously low before) and am wondering if things like crisps, chocolate are ok, as long as they are in moderation and as part of the CC tally? :confused:
 
When I was calorie counting I used WLR (weightlossresource). With WLR, you can just focus on calories, but most people use the tool that helps you get a healthy balance between carbs, protein and fat.

It give you a pie chart of what you need to aim for, and another for what you are actually doing. Nothing to get obsessed about, but it does encourage you to eat sensibly :)
 
So, I don't need to worry about my lunchtime bag o' crisps? :D

Also, cheese has gone back into my diet which I am joyous about.

I think my problem was that I had the mindset of fatty foods = bad, but now I am starting to learn the true meaning of 'everything in moderation'

'That is the key, young padawan' I keep telling myself.
 
I use a site called foodfocus.co.uk to log my intake and it gives a breakdown of your fat, carb, protein intake etc.
I too believe in everything in moderation- if 'normal' people can eat cheese, crisps, chocolate, beer etc. then why can't we?! I think if you deny yourself a bit of what you'd like then you're setting yourself up for a binge!
 
I include the odd Jaffa cake and packet of crisps as well as low fat cheese in my CC diet - I think if you deprive yourself of everything you enjoy you end up resenting the diet and fall off the wagon lol.

I don't rigidly count my calories but stick to roughly 1200 per day - 1500 on a Saturday for my curry or nice meal.
 
I allow myself something like a packet of crisps or some chocolate daily as long as I think I'm eating fairly healthily most of the time and it's all within my calorie allowance :). I'm sure it hasn't done me any harm!
 
I've heard of the 80/20 rule, 80% of calories to be used for good/healthy, and 20% for treats. Of course, I have no idea of what "moderation" means so I don't practice what I preach LOL
 
80/20 healthy/treat sounds pretty good actually, particularly when you consider that when not dieting most of us are eating 20/80...!
 
i would go with that until the scales stop moving and then re- assess!!!
x
 
If you want to lose weight, just calories is OK. Fat, obviously being stored energy, has lots of calories anyway, so you'll struggle to get much of it into your diet by calorie counting.

Remember that animal fat is BAD BAD BAD. Oils contain less saturates and more mono and polyunsaturates (better) and the oily fats in fresh fish are good too.

So long as the calories in your fat foods are counted, it shouldn't affect your weight loss... but really, you should be thinking about the all-round nutritional content of your food.
 
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