losing weight is simple (not easy) for most people.
it is just calories in vs. calories out. losing weight is making sure you are eating (and drinking) less calories than you are burning. (yes, there are health things and exceptions to this rule... but for 97% of people this will hold true)
(note: if you've struggled with eating disorders, calorie counting may not be the best option for you! it may trigger you into disordered/restrictive eating again. I will eventually cover other ways to work on weight loss while not counting calories. and if you are struggling with ED *here* is a link to people who can help!)
counting calories seems like an impossible task when originally brought up... but it can be SO SIMPLE. mostly thanks to phone apps.
I no longer track calories (i track macros ~ but i'll go into that later) but i still use My Fitness Pal for all my food tracking.
It's great for so many reasons:
1. GIANT database of food, and a lot of it is verified (meaning you rarely have to manually add food into it)
2. Fantastic community (i have met some AMAZING people on MFP! Having people in on your health journey who support you, even virtually, is SO helpful.)
3. easy way to actually see how much you are eating every day so you can make the necessary adjustments
there are some drawbacks though. when calculating your calories it is pretty generalized (as expected) and if you say you want to lose major weight it will calculate your calories to 1200 per day. which is not really the best way to start your calorie counting journey because:
1) that will be a HUGE cut to your current calorie intake and is hard to maintain
2) long term calorie cutting will ruin your metabolism (which I did... It can be fixed, it just takes time).
SO! here is my recommendation... don't use their calorie calculator! there are a couple different things you can do!
1) 100% track every single thing you eat for several days in a row (including a weekend day) and just cut calories off of that number. for example... if you track and find that you are eating 3000 calories per day... i would recommend cutting 10-20% of the calories off of that number. So if you wanted to cut 15% of your calories for weight loss you would be at 2550 calories per day. BUT you could even go easier than that and just cut 50-100 calories off your typical diet and then once you plateau you can cut a few more calories (at a SUSTAINABLE rate) and so on until you hit your weight goal.
2) there are about a million calorie calculators on the internet that you can use! *this* calculator will give you your TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) & BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate). Your TDEE is basically an estimate on how many calories you burn on a given day that includes exercise and BMR. Your BMR is how many calories you burn just being alive... eating, breathing, organ function, maintaining body temp, etc.
For weight loss off of that number you would want to calculate 10-20% off that TDEE number UNLESS it goes below 1200 calories (which you should not do ever!)
"but what about low carb or keto or low fat or vegan or if it fits your macros or intermittent fasting or whatever other thing i heard about??"
do it dude. or don't. honestly, do whatever you can maintain. if you can maintain a low carb diet for an extended period of time... do it!! if you can't or it will make you miserable.. don't!! and that goes for any other diet style. do what you can and will be able to maintain! this is not (or at least should not be) a quick fix. (personally, i've gone into macro counting/ carb cycling and it has been really great for me! keeps my calories in check while not focusing on being below a certain threshold of calories which works better for me mentally).
"i haven't lost weight in like 3 weeks should i cut more calories??"
first things first... sometimes the scale will stall for weeks on end. it happens. chill out and keep tracking and doing your thing but that being said maybe you do! but before you do... check these things out first!
1) measurements & progress photos (maybe you haven't lost a pound... but you have lost an inch around your waist! that happens!)
2) are you tracking accurately?? (double check that you are tracking your intake correctly! maybe you aren't using the right calorie info in MFP, maybe you need to be weighing your food to make sure that you are correctly tracking how many calories are in it)
3) are you tracking consistently?? (if you are tracking really well Sunday - Thurs but aren't Friday & Saturday you could be sabotaging your progress!)
Some tips:
1) let yourself have foods you enjoy! do not totally cut out foods you like otherwise you won't stick with it long term. i have a dessert of some sort worked into my daily intake basically every day since i started tracking
2) figure out easy low calorie foods you can easily incorporate (watermelon or strawberries or baby carrots are an easy snack that will fill you up. zoodles or spaghetti squash instead of pasta are an easy sub too! wraps instead of sandwiches. things like that!)
3. if you have a bad day/meal/drink/night/whatever... remember you are never more than one bite to being right back on track. don't let one meal/treat/etc spiral you out of control. (that's a la Syatt Fitness who is full of great advice/tips/etc)
calorie counting is a really, really great way to hit your weight loss & health goals if you do it right and you do it consistently! this definitely does not cover everything about calorie counting so please let me know if you have any questions!