Alphabet series calories cheat day cheating Counting Calories empty calories food food mistakes Food update How to Lose Weight limiting calories Losing weight measurement portion sizes portions relationship with food snacking snacks weight gain weight loss

C is for Calories

C is for Calories

Lisa Eirene

About Lisa Eirene Lisa lost 110 pounds through calorie counting and exercise. She swims, bikes, runs, hikes and is enjoying life in Portland, Oregon. Her weight loss story has been featured in First Magazine, Yahoo Health, Woman's Day and Glamour.com.

Related Posts

18 Comments

  1. Becky

    There has been a LOT of cheating on calories from me lately. It’s terrible! I keep telling myself the snitches don’t count, but the scale tells me otherwise. Rough!

    1. Lisa Eirene

      Ha! Me too! “This totally doesn’t count.” Um, yes it does! I do the same thing lately.

  2. Beth @ Beth's Journey

    At Weight Watchers, we call them BLTs – Bites, Licks, and Tastes. I think your point about being SELF accountable is huge – yes, your tracker won’t know that you forgot to put something into it, but your thighs and the scale most certainly will! Since I so recently hit my goal weight and have gone through some major life changes, I’m still working on finding that healthy balance.

    1. Lisa Eirene

      Finding that balance is definitely hard. I go through spurts where it’s easy and sometimes when it’s a struggle.

  3. Lori

    I tend to nibble at lot (working at home and all). I always assume 100 extra calories of nibbles per day.

    1. Lisa Eirene

      I nibble a lot too. Especially while COOKING! I’ll bite and nibble and then before I know it I’ve eaten probably 100-150 extra calories.

  4. Roz@weightingfor50

    We can lie to our tracker, but the scale doesn’t lie to us. (wow…that was profound! NOT…)
    Thanks for this great post Lisa. Have a good Wed.

  5. Zalary

    I struggle with this, and with not having much leeway between what it takes to lose and maintain.

    One of the reasons I don’t like MFP is that it never just lets me enter my cals without it’s own motherly comment. If I’m under by 50 if yells at me that I’m under for the day and if I’m on track it gives me some unrealistic version of what I should weight in 5 weeks (which has never happened, ever, even if I ate perfectly for 5 weeks).

    And since I’m so short, I haven’t found a setting to give me a decent range yet.

    I try to remember myself that the truth is the truth (about more things than just weight or calories) and that just because I don’t record what I eat or when I gain, it doesn’t make it less a fact. And that really what’s going to help me not eat poorly or gain in the future is looking at those failures and fixing them.

    But it sure is no fun sometimes 🙂

    1. Lisa Eirene

      I don’t like that “projected” weight loss either. It tells me that in 5 weeks I’ll weigh 136 pounds? Yeah right! I’ve NEVER weighed that!

  6. Maria (RealFitMama)

    I used to count calories religiously. I did it for years and it helped me to lose almost 75lbs. But now I kind of keep a running tally in my head and that works for me. I have put on a few extra pounds in the last year (about 7 I think) and instead of counting calories I have just been very mindful of my workouts and don’t eat after 8:00.

    I promised not to weight myself again until January 1st (after keeping with all the body lovin promises I made) and hope to see a drop in the number or at least a pair of jeans that fit me the way they used to!!

    1. Lisa Eirene

      I was religious in my calorie counting when I lost the 100+ too. Now, after three years of maintaining it I’m a little looser in my calories. I still write it down but I’m not as strict. I need to reign it in a bit.

      Good luck with your goals! 🙂

  7. Cheryle

    I have found that using the MFP app on my phone is super easy and convenient, so I have been logging consistently for six days out of seven. I’m not a big taster/snacker so it works for me. Through tracking I have found the number that enables me to lose weight steadily and slowly. I am at 157 and a size 8 trying to get to 145, and then see how I feel. It may take months but I am fine with that because I don’t have to starve.

    1. Lisa Eirene

      I love MFP because I always have access to it. There’s no excuse NOT to record my calories!

      Sounds like you have a good goal to work towards.

  8. Mary

    I am very guilty of this lately – 20 calories here and 50 there add up to quite a bit by the end of the day. The other day on Tumblr I saw someone had posted this: “Your body logs it even if you don’t.” Food for thought, pun intended.

    1. Lisa Eirene

      I love that quote. Thank you for sharing it! It’s one I need to remember.

  9. ragemichelle

    I do NOT count calories or keep track of what I eat..which is a big reason I’ve gained back some of the weight I’ve lost.

    I need to do this.

    You are awesome!

    1. Lisa Eirene

      And your hubby sounds like a good support system for you!

Leave a Reply