Default lifelong calorie counting

Hi everyone. As the OP its been interesting to hear everyone's comments. There wasnt a 'point' to the post, just an observation about myself and my default tendency to be very aware of what eat. I love food, enjoy food and am writing this with a nice glass of merlot in hand. But along with my mostly healthy- weight calorie conscious friends i know I cant have it all. If I had eaten everything I wanted today, i'd have had a bacon butty for breakfast, a nice slice of pavlova for pud and i would have finished up the bowl of nuts with this wine. At 5ft2 i cant afford the extra weight and i dont want to be a round ball! There are some of you lucky enough to eat what you like without gaining weight but that's not me. Ultimately I want to relatively fit and relatively slim for as long as I can, and a bit of self control gives me that possibility. I dont think I'm a control freak..but maybe I am. Happy 2025 everyone!

I was quite slim in my teens and twenties, put on a bit after I had my children but lost it over the months following their births. I did start to put on a bit of weight in my 50s although I was still busy and active and by the time I retired at 62 I was about a stone and a half over my "ideal" weight. I think a lot of that was to do with my work environment, which involved plenty of social occasions and work lunches, entertaining and generally networking over food/drinks.

Once I retired, I decided that I would only eat when I was hungry and not by the clock and also that I would stop eating BEFORE I felt totally full as I know now that it takes at least 20 minutes to half an hour for what I have eaten to "hit" the stomach and digestive system. This seems to have had a positive effect and I am now back on the middle range of my healthy weight.

My dh and sil have been influenced by their upbringing,and until the mil died have watched their weight.
After she died the sil put on some weight but isn’t bid at all,dh still keen to keep his weight low.

Thanks for coming back to us Franski. I'm a little confused because your OP seemed to suggest that most people born in the 1960s watched calories, whereas you now say that's what you personally did. If people born in the 1960s did watch calories as a way of keeping weight down, I'm afraid it didn't work for them because the majority of people over 60 are either overweight or obese. This suggests they didn't watch their calories as closely as they should have done.

I don't watch calories because, like some other posters, I stop eating before I'm full. I haven't drunk alcohol for years and I think that really helps with weight. I don't feel I'm depriving myself because I don't like feeling stuffed with food or drunk, so it's no hardship.

rocketship

How worrisome it must be for some of you and how unhappy it must be to deprive yourselves once in awhile of foods you really really enjoy.

I'm overweight and according to the literature fall into the obese category.
I'm 80 years old, am fairly active... two exercise classes and a line dancing class every week.... AND I eat what I want/when I want.

I think that I'm fortunate to have gotten to the age I am, and I'm not going to extend my life being miserable.

**Enjoy your life while you can!!!

I don't really understand your concern. I have never felt worried or unhappy about the food I eat. I eat food which tastes good to me - maybe I'm fortunate that I like the taste of well-prepared meat and fish with no sauces and I'm very happy to munch my way through a plate of veg of salad with a light dressing. I don't like the feeling of heaviness after eating starchy foods, so I don't miss them. I don't have a particularly sweet tooth, so don't feel deprived by nor eating cakes or puddings, although strangely every months I crave a sugary jam doughnut - so I eat one. My desserts are usually fresh fruit salad, Greek yoghurt with some fresh berries or a single scoop of the best ice cream I can afford. I haven't a clue how many calories are in any of them.

I'm 66 and have never counted a calorie in my life, have no idea what calories are in anything. My weight is the same as 40 years ago.
While I don't diet and eat anything and everything it's mostly healthy, moderate portions and I don't snack.
Menopause made no difference.
I think it's a combination of good genes and good habits.

I have always counted calories. Being short I can’t get away with more than 1400 calories a day without gaining weight. However, I have Wegovy face without taking the drugs. Life’s little ironies.

Studies show that being heavier-I won’t say overweight-in old age is actually healthier.

I do not have a reference for this but you can probably find one.

PS
“ Mary Hickson, co-author of a review of studies published in November 2023, explains that people between 70 and 80 years old have a lower risk of dying if they are slightly overweight, compared to younger age groups. “Factors like exercise play a more significant role,” said Hickson. This is called the obesity paradox, which implies that being overweight might be linked to longer lifespans for specific groups.”

english.elpais.com/health/2024-01-03/extra-pounds-could-be-beneficial-for-older-adults-according-to-a-study.html

My older sister has been on an almost continuous diet since she was about 15 years old. She is a classic pear shape and I thought that as she got older she would realise she would never change her natural shape by being on one diet after another.

She still restricts her food which is bonkers as she is still the same shape she has been all her life. That's a lifetime of dieting and for what? A bit sad really.

That has been my problem. Always had huge legs at a time when mini skirts and hot pants became fashionable. And, at a time when body shape was all about calorie control no matter how much weight I lost I was out of proportion. In fact, I was constantly trying to be a stone lighter than my natural weight. I don’t think my metabolism ever got over it. Not helped by the fact that, after a disastrous relationship in my late teens I comfort ate and put on about two stone which I then lost in a matter of weeks by crash dieting. And I then married someone who I never seemed to be thin enough for and suffered from low esteem for decades.

growstuff**

Hi just clarifying...yes i would say most of my friends/peers do watch their calorie count. By the way. None of us coubred calories as children! More Jackie magazine influence. Like me I would say they aren't obsessed exactly but none of us eat exactly what we like when we like. My point in my second post was that its a happy medium to control what you eat but also enjoy your food too. It seems from the thread that most of you don't identify with this - which is interesting and the point of my OP. To see how others born in 60s found this. I guess my circle of friends are not typical of Gnetters. But as someone else mentioned, this wasn't a randomised controlled trial on obesity levels in 60-65 year olds. Happy New Year!

Thanks Franski I like to enjoy what I eat but I'm always conscious of supermarket shelves, all the BOGOF, special offers and new products on sale. It's mad.

As someone up thread said, it would be wonderful to be able to eat what you like but the bodily results would be horrendous (though of course some seem to be able to eat what they like and stay beanpole shaped!). I find calories a simple way to think about food intake but it's not something I regularly pay attention to.

I just found a moment to look up the F Plan Diet by Audrey Eaton which was where I came across calories, it was published in 1987. I see it's been revised and represented by someone else. I looked it up because of what you said about Jackie, I only remember Jackie as being for pony mad girls.

I understand what you are saying Franski. Thanks to Jackie magazine and my mother I obsessed over weight for years. It's not a good way to be. But neither is what I observe in friends of AC, obese in their late 20's and driving everywhere.

Franski

growstuff**

Hi just clarifying...yes i would say most of my friends/peers do watch their calorie count. By the way. None of us coubred calories as children! More Jackie magazine influence. Like me I would say they aren't obsessed exactly but none of us eat exactly what we like when we like. My point in my second post was that its a happy medium to control what you eat but also enjoy your food too. It seems from the thread that most of you don't identify with this - which is interesting and the point of my OP. To see how others born in 60s found this. I guess my circle of friends are not typical of Gnetters. But as someone else mentioned, this wasn't a randomised controlled trial on obesity levels in 60-65 year olds. Happy New Year!

I understood your post.

I believe many people watch calories or perhaps should. Many need to work out more, walk more, and push away from the table.

I'm genetically thin, love to cook, dislike food. I eat carefully to receive enough nutrients (keep track, as we all can) - but I don't enjoy eating.

Genetics and luck.

And some of us got the exact opposite when it came to genetics! Being overweight isn't always as simple as overeating. Some medications can cause you to pile on the pounds too.

MissInterpreted

And some of us got the exact opposite when it came to genetics! Being overweight isn't always as simple as overeating. Some medications can cause you to pile on the pounds too.

Absolutely, I agree.

Some people receive stick thin genes and some do not. Also some people have illness or drug interactions. A bit mystery, really.

I have been actively calorie counting since the Autumn and have been very slowly losing weight, for which I feel so much better. I have another half stone to lose to get to my desired weight.

I write everything down and it only takes about 5 mins a day as there are a lot of repeat meals. I bought a book for diabetics, which I am not, and it has been a game changer. It’s all in picture form and suits me well. It’s called ‘Cals and Carbs’.

The odd thing is that I rarely feel hungry now and on the odd occasion I do I just have a drink.

7 years ago I started the ‘Pears’ thread on GN and it is still going strong. Just a group of people wanting to lose weight all with different methods.

MissInterpreted

And some of us got the exact opposite when it came to genetics! Being overweight isn't always as simple as overeating. Some medications can cause you to pile on the pounds too.

Couldn't agree more. This applies to DH's family, a genetic inheritance that both our children have copped. DS works relentlessly to keep his weight down eat well, and stay active, but like DH before him, before he was 50 he had been diagnosed with high blood pressure, high cholesterol and pre-diabetes.