The FastDay Forum

http://www.burnthefatblog.com/calorie-denialism.php

Sorry, still don't think it is necessary. If you find it a useful tool, use it.

the 'sometimes' is there in the title for a reason.

Thanks for the link @MaryAnn

Calorie counting is neither right nor wrong. I do it, others don't. I'm happy with my progress/maintenance and for me it's a way of life.
It's a personal choice.

[carorees]

The author raises some very good points in the article. Whether you need to count calories really depends on whether your current weight loss/maintenance strategy is working without calorie counting. If it is not working, counting calories carefully for a week to see how many calories you are actually consuming is a useful exercise and may enable you to pinpoint areas where you could easily cut out some calories. It also enables you to get a more accurate TDEE calculation - based on reality rather than the predictions based on average people.

Found the link-through searching the FAQs. Should have done so first

I don't count, but I do look.

Eg, last night I had a belgian chocolate sponge thingy from Sainsbury's, purchased by OH, but eaten of my own free will. On the packet it tells me that one pudding (ie one serve) is 583 kcal. Wow that's a lot. It wasn't a big serve, and it wasn't all that great. Definitely not worth the kcal. In future, eat no more than half, only for a treat.

In the past, I would probably have had the pudding with ice cream too! No wonder I got fat.

I feel that I have to count. Otherwise I will eat more without realizing. However, calorie counting in itself doesn't feel restrictive to me. With the fast diet, I can eat a decent amount of calories on my non-fast days. So, it's just to make sure I don't overdo it! And if I do go over a little I don't stress about it. It's mostly for information. And I don't count on weekends. I thought this line made sense to me:

"The best diet is the one that can get you into a calorie deficit without feeling too hungry or deprived."

That's exactly how I feel about this WOE!

Not counting on nonfast days worked for me in the beginning, but not as I reached maintenance weight. Probably mostly due to lowered TDEE that comes with weight loss, but maybe also a bit of diet fatigue. Counting was eye-opening! My new TDEE is quite low, and even with 4:3 it was surprisingly easy to cancel out the calorie deficit with too many treats! Those 500cals a pop treats are shocking, aren't they?!

I'm wary of calorie counting for me, every time I do it, it flips that "binge" switch in me. The same way cutting sugar out of my diet did. Apparently, if I'm restricted - or even just feel I'm restricted - I lurch back the other way and go into excess mode. Which I suppose is why calorie counting never lasted more than a few weeks for me as a lose weight strategy.

Maybe what I need to do is keep a food diary, but only work out the calories after a week or two.

Good common sense article. Thanks, @MaryAnn.

[carieoates]

I need to keep an eye on what's going in on both days.

But, I now have bank of regular food in my fitness pal, things which I've previously spent a few mins weighing, measuring etc. so now I have them to hand at all times.

But knowledge is key for me.
Eg
Slice of ham 34 cals,
Pepsi max 3
Those forgotten nibbles add up for me.
We are all different, whatever works for one will definitely not work for all.

I HOPE I won't have to restore to calorie counting on non-fast days at any point, because freedom from counting was what brought me here. However, I'm very aware of the calories turning into pounds and I will count for a short period if it comes to it. Keeping a food diary even without counting calories tends to out me on a good path. In fact, I might do that next week. Thanks for the nudge

I had done a lot of reading online into weight loss and it never fails to amaze me how many different theories there are. Most of them are contradictory but cals in/cals out seems consistent . I am enjoying the 5:2 at the moment and started counting calories on both fasting and non fasting days. I now just count on fasting days. I just try to not pig out too much on non fast days. Its not always easy though. I guess I got fat for a reason and that is my love of food and addictive personality. I have failed pretty much every diet and but i find fasting reasonably easy. Lets hope it works!
Ps you are a nice friendly bunch on here