A few weeks ago, I created a goal list to complete by my 25th birthday that included weight loss. This specific goal feels like the biggest challenge on the list. How am I supposed to drop pounds when my Fibromyalgia keeps me housebound? When I can barely cook for myself? When I can't digest a lot of vegetables?
It seemed like a throwaway goal. Like I set the bar too high. Still, I set the goal because I wanted to achieve it. I didn't give myself a specific amount of weight because I felt that was unfair. I didn't want to fail to meet a certain level and then backslide because I was ashamed. So, I decided to research weight loss techniques that were more flexible. I needed something that let me eat whatever I wanted while not feeling deprived. You know, the ideal diet that everyone wants when they set out to lose weight... Yeah, I didn't think I'd find anything.
Then I did. I stumbled upon weight loss discussions in various forums that discussed Calorie Counting. I always thought that it was bad; it made me think of Weight Watchers and Jenny Craig, systems that were expensive and didn't work very well if you ate food off menu. However, from my research I soon discovered that weight loss was a simple equation. "Calories In" needs to be less than "Calories Out". That's it. If I could eat just a little less than I burned, eventually the weight would come off with very little effort on my part. This meant I could still eat at restaurants, that I could still have sweets and pasta. I just needed to portion things better and plan my meals accordingly. So, I went to TDEE Calculator and sorted out my numbers according to my activity level. It was somewhat low because of my height, gender, and activity level. Still, I could work within it. I could also eat dinners with my ravenous partner as long as I followed portion control rules.
The most involved part of this was tracking everything I ate. This meant snacks, drinks and even licking the spoon after cooking. The piece of gum I chewed to freshen my breath? Count it. That little nibble off my partner's fork? Count it. The sip of my friend's drink to prove how bad it tasted? Yep, count it. It felt a little daunting, but I already had a tracking function built into my Fitbit App. This would come in handy because my Fitbit already tracked my calorie burn. It tracked how many calories I expended just by existing and how many I burned while doing basic daily tasks. This gave me a much higher number than my estimates on the calculator and I was able to eat until I was full each day while still losing weight! It feels like I've actually found something that works.
As of today, I've lost 7 lbs just by calorie counting. It's a small number, but the losses have been steady every week. If I keep this up maybe the weight loss goal won't be so bad after all.
-Dana.
Have you ever tried calorie counting? What diet works for you? Do you use apps to assist in your weight loss? Tell me what you think below!
