In my opinion, it depends on WHY youre counting.. if youre already working out hard then calorie counting to drop weight is unhealthy (both psychologically and physiologically) and will only make you weak, slow, dysmorphic and unhappy in the long run.
On the other hand if youre working out hard and you are calorie counting to make sure youre getting enough nutrition and energy to sustain your activity i’d say this is healthy and promotes self love and self confidence.
Nothing unhealthy about calorie counting to lose weight. I did it, made me a lot healthier, started running, felt good about myself etc etc.
Anyone who _doesn't_ calorie count to lose weight is likely to fail, unless they are doing a lot of exercise. Calorie counting establishes a healthy relationship between how much that mars bar is going to 'cost you'.
Basic to make sure you are eating enough to keep you fuelled.
gbgb wrote:
Nothing unhealthy about calorie counting to lose weight. I did it, made me a lot healthier, started running, felt good about myself etc etc.
Anyone who _doesn't_ calorie count to lose weight is likely to fail, unless they are doing a lot of exercise. Calorie counting establishes a healthy relationship between how much that mars bar is going to 'cost you'.
What this guy said.
Another benefit is realizing that your hour long run still didn't burn enough calories to enable you to eat "anything."
You WILL lose weight if you cut calories and are patient. The real trick is finding the right calorie limit that enables you to lose weight and still feel good enough to run (or whatever activity).
I try to keep it under 40,000 a day.
It is helpful for losing weight, however, it made me obsessive about eating. It really sucked all the enjoyment out of eating. When counting everything and trying to have a daily deficit to lose a few pounds, I logged everything. The log showed me just how deficient I was in almost all nutrients. I attribute that to constantly trying to eat less calories. Excluding vegetables, low calorie foods tend to be pretty worthless, nutritionally speaking. Calories are only one part of a healthy diet. It made me constantly tired, irritable, running was slow and my legs were tired all the time. Really not enjoyable at all. So I stopped counting, it was no longer worth it.
Now I just eat whatever I want really, within reason. I focus on making good decisions on what I eat. i.e. eat fruit instead of cookies, choose lean meats and whole grains. I don't get concerned about calories anymore, I get concerned when the quality of the food I'm eating drops off.
I doubt I lost those 5 pounds, but who cares, at this point in my life, I'm trying to be healthy, not set any world records. I stopped weighing myself too, another obsessive measurement that I really don't need to concern myself with.