Tuesday, October 2, 2018

I'm lying to myself; Why calorie tracking doesn't work for everyone

Full disclosure: I am a teenager. I realize that it's especially important for me to get proper nutrition if I'm limiting my calories. Thanks for your concern. I don't have an ED.

Full disclosure 2: it's a big ol wall of text and I apologize.

Stats

6'1" now, 5'11" at SW

SW : 190 / CW : 160 / GW : 140? more visual cues towards body fat

Age stats : 13 at SW / late 14-early 15 at lowest weight (154) / 15 now

Backstory

About a year ago, I joined cross country even though I was an absolute unit. I was the slowest guy on the team, and I enjoyed it because it was a space to zone out. Now at that point, I thought it was completely normal for weight to disproportionately scale with height. I was a growing boy, right?

I slowly came to the realization that even though I gained about an inch of height, my weight didn't change. The real shock came after cross country when the pounds were melting off. I wanted to see how much weight loss was healthy, and along the way I found /r/loseit and calorie counting.

Until about April 2018, calorie counting was working perfectly. I was losing weight exactly on track. Then, one day a couple events coincided and I realized that after lunch, I still had 1000 calories left. It was exhilarating getting home from school and having calories to spend on whatever I wanted.

I tried to replicate that feeling. I started eating a little less here and there at breakfast and lunch to try and have 1000 calories left.

I realized that I burned calories on the walk home from school. I could log those.

I realized that I burned calories playing violin. I could log those. (no you can't, you dumbfuck)

The problem came when my weight loss started gradually slowing down, even though my calorie goals hadn't, and I hadn't made a change in my exercise routine. I realize now that in my effort to have 1000 calories left by the end of lunch, I started fudging amounts by a little bit each time. 1 oz cheese became 0.8 oz cheese, which became 0.66 oz cheese, until I was consistently underestimating.

Now I'm stuck on that plateau. My weight still isn't changing, even though it's been a month since I realized I was underestimating, and cross country started again. I'm wondering if I should go back to the intuition that lost me the first 10 lbs, or what I can do to be more accurate without a food scale. I'm wondering how to stop lying to myself.

TL:DR Lost weight without calorie counting, then lost more with calorie counting. Now, im underestimating without realizing it, and wondering if it's best to quit calorie counting.

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