I am currently just doing calorie restriction (around 1300/day). I have been doing it for two weeks with good results, but I hate having to constantly measure ingredients and order weird things when I eat out with people. If I start IF, can I stop keeping track of calories as long as I still focus on eating healthy and not eating past feeling full? Also, can I order somewhat normal food at restaurants once or twice a week (like a burger instead of a salad)? Thanks.
In my opinion, you really need to continue tracking calories if your ultimate goal is weight loss. You can’t do IF alone and expect weight loss without a calorie deficit. You should have room in your calorie budget to order a burger sometimes but skip the fries.
I lost 80 lbs and am keeping it off. I recommend you count calories during the time you are focused on weight loss. It gets easier, especially if you eat the same kinds of foods alot.
I go out and splurge a bit now and again….but doing this while trying to reestablish a healthy way of eating while trying to drop weight would never work for me. My experience anyway!
For context, that burger alone can be up to 800++ calories! Surely, there is more on the menu besides the burger v salad?
I started with IF and quickly moved to counting calories as I learned that I don’t have a clue what a serving size really is. 30g of almonds, anyone?
But it only took a few weeks on LoseIt app and a kitchen scale to get myself oriented. When eating with others, I ballpark and generally use the higher if the recommended values on the app for things like pizza, enchiladas and baked goods.
You’ll only know if eating a burger is in your calorie range if you actually count calories…. You could also base it on 1300/day over a week, thereby “saving up” some calories for a splurge day.
I’ve lost 62 pounds and I eat whatever I want, I just keep it around 2000 calories, but yes, just be careful as some foods are full of calories and not as filling, as long as in a deficit it don’t matter what you eat, of course other health reasons, it’s better to eat healthier stuff, but just wieght loss only deficit matters