Has Anyone Been Successful WITHOUT COUNTING ANY CALORIES?

javalover · Sun Jul 22, 2007 5:52 pm

I posted this in the main South Beach forum, but I'll repeat it there.

PLEASE, is there anyone out there who has been successful on SB without counting any calories? After a lifetime of dieting and counting everything, I just can't anymore. I just want a simple list to follow.

Please tell me this way of eating is doable just following the SB principles.

I am planning on starting tomorrow, but I'm hearing too much calorie counting going on.

Anyone do this just following SB principles?

Thanks in advance for your help. :D

lovielareau · Sun Jul 22, 2007 8:16 pm

the only calories i keep track of are my sweet treats. other than that i just eat the foods in the plan, be sure not to overdo certain types (ex. no more than one nut/nut butter serving a day, no more than two cups of milk a day, etc.) i haven't ever calorie counted.

javalover · Mon Jul 23, 2007 12:15 am

lovie, thank you. This is just what I've been looking for. It can be done!

Mandy1982 · Mon Jul 23, 2007 2:28 am

I have counted calories maybe two days out of the three months I've been doing this. And even then it was to only make sure that I was eating enough.

cortcase · Mon Jul 23, 2007 12:18 pm

I never count calories. Of course, that doesn't mean I'm not mindful of how much I'm eating. Just because it's "SB-friendly" food doesn't mean you can stuff as much as you want down the hatch. ;) I understand why some people do it, but I never could. I would go bonkers. That's why I chose to do SB over other programs...

scormie7 · Mon Jul 23, 2007 2:49 pm

Only calories I count are for sweet treats... :D

javalover · Mon Jul 23, 2007 3:44 pm

Thank you so much for your responses. They are so helpful.

I have started today: I'm so excited! :D

RedRox · Mon Jul 23, 2007 8:03 pm

javalover wrote: Has Anyone Been Successful WITHOUT COUNTING ANY CALORIES?

yes.

lovemyvet · Mon Jul 23, 2007 9:35 pm

If you go by the guidelines for portion sizes you'll be controlling your intake without actually counting calories. It achieves the same result, just in a different way.

lisa30 · Tue Jul 31, 2007 9:11 pm

No counting and i loved it!!!

Counting breeds obsession :shock:

hellolost · Tue Jul 31, 2007 9:29 pm

I would have failed if I had to count calories.

I do count the 100 for sweet treats only though. No big deal.
1 fudgicle and one LF pudding.

WResnick · Fri Aug 17, 2007 4:55 am

I never counted calories on this diet, or any other one for that matter. I don't try to limit portion size either.

I've been on the SBD for three years. My doctor put me on it because of high cholesterol. He didn't explicitly tell me to lose weight, and despite being told by family and others that I was getting a big belly, I kept dismissing it and blaming my posture. I had love handles, and figured I wouldn't mind losing them, but I didn't want to be one of those people who go on a diet and end up even fatter.

I have a thin frame, and my overall weight was in the "normal" range, even for a person with a thin frame. But the reality is that if you go by wrist size, my waist was out of proportion. Even worse, all the fat was around my belly.

Within a few weeks, I had a strange realization one day when I noticed that my shirt was not touching my belly. I hadn't even remembered that it used to be that way. Within about two months or so, I ended up dropping about 25 pounds, and it never came back. My waist size dropped five inches too, and stayed that way.

When my belly was big, there were periods when I tried eating less. And it made no difference. I was hoping it would help the love handles, but it didn't. Then again, when I was young I ate what I wanted and it made no difference either. I was always thin when I was young. So I figured a bigger waist was just part of getting older and dieting wouldn't help.

Eating the right things was the key. Sticking to the basic principles was what it took for me.

I didn't expect to go back to my high school weight as I get within a few years of age 50. But I did. I knew that washboard abs were not realistic. But I somehow ended up with that six pack anyway. My body looks far better now than it ever did.

It's not just the diet. I also exercise every day for about 10 minutes. The important thing for me about any exercise program is the ability to stick with it. If I had decided to do a 20 minute workout a few times a week, despite what everybody says about how it should not be difficult to make the time for it, I know myself better. One day I wouldn't get to it, and I'd figure that I'll make up for it. The next thing I'd know, it would not be happening at all. But 10 minutes a day of a fitness program with different exercises each day, and increasing my repetitions by one a week, increasing the weights once every two months and dropping the repetitions back down when I do that, I was able to keep up the routine, get it to the point where it is very effective, but never had to overdo things or feel that I was pushing too hard to get there.

By the way, I was on the diet for at least 1-2 years before I got into the regular exercise routine, so the diet alone caused the weight to go. It also lowered my cholesterol significantly. It went up a bit recently, so my doctor ordered the highly sensitive CRP test that Dr. Agatston says to get. Under 3.0 is normal. 3.0 to 10 is high, and over that requires immediate intervention to find a problem. I got a 0.2. I can't be certain what it was before I started the diet, but I can tell you that I was able to lose the weight, increase my fitness, improve my cardiac health, and feel better overall ever since I started the diet.

And the great thing is that I never feel hungry. I no longer have a "crash" at the end of the day that I used to need a sugar fix to cure. I probably won't have to worry about my weight ever again. The biggest problem I have right now is finding clothes that fit, because people with my waist size are usually at least 3 inches shorter.

I can't say that what works for me will work for everybody, but aside from always sticking to the diet's principles, there are two things I keep in mind. First of all, although there are things that I used to eat that are now off limits, the thought that eating those types of things could literally kill me is a pretty good incentive. Why would I want to eat anything that's bad for me now that I can see clearly that it was what caused the problems in the first place? The other thing I keep in mind is that for everything I no longer eat, there will always be something that I can eat that I like just as much. There's no shortage of food ideas out there. Don't think of it as giving up anything. Think of it as opening up a whole palate of delicious food ideas that not only taste good, and are good for you, but leave you feeling better, keep your head clearer by not messing with your blood sugar with drastic swings, and are naturally good for you. The thought of going back to some trans fat laden junk food or some sugar coated garbage is just not appealing.

Once I got that out of my system, my tastes started to refine and I can appreciate other things. I think the whole reason that people like the sugary junk in the first place is that their bodies are so out of whack that they crave the junk as an emergency fix.

Maybe I typed too much for what should have been a short answer, but you do NOT need to count calories. That does not work anyway. You need to eat right and feel good about it. You need to recognize the good it does to your body and your health. Don't worry about a scale either. Your clothing won't lie to you, and that's a better way to judge. Throw that scale away, get rid of the junk food, and feel better than you ever have in your life. Change your mindset to recognize the garbage you used to eat for what it was. If you do that, you won't even want to have it as a rare "reward," because how can you reward yourself with poison?

southbeachergal · Fri Aug 17, 2007 11:17 am

What a wonderful, wonderful answer. I've been off this board for weeks, and it's nice to read this. What an awesome story. Thanks. :D

Still29 · Fri Aug 17, 2007 4:42 pm

I find your whole response and attitude refreshing! I have struggled with the idea of "giving up" food, but I like your approach: that you're adding a whole new palate of food opportunities! I am a bit of a food snob, so that strikes me as a fun/exciting way to look at it.

Thank you for sharing!

DebbyC · Fri Aug 17, 2007 4:49 pm

WResnick - thank you - you give me hope!!! while I would like to drop some weight and I'm sure I will just by eating healthier - I just got a shocking cholesterol of 250 after giving blood last month - my mom is skinny minny and has high cholesterol so I realize some is family....but have to admit, some is related to being an uncontrolled foodie with access to such good Mexican food!!!

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