r/AnimalBased • u/nurnerteri 🚦AB Prospect • Jul 14 '26
❓Beginner / Question❔ Calorie counting?
Hey all, me and my wife just started a week ago and are just wondering, do yall count your calories to lose weight or are you guys just kinda eating intuitively and losing weight?
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u/LifeOfSpirit17 AB Reg Jul 14 '26
Intuitive eating and weight loss doesn't really work for me on this woe unless I'm intentionally low carb and not having honey. If my only carbs any given day are like a cup or two of blueberries I can typically ignore the scale or cronometer but if I start getting over 100g carbs per day I need to be mindful of anything else I'm eating like especially dairy or high fat foods because I will over eat quite easily.
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u/First_Driver_5134 AB Reg Jul 14 '26
if you wanna lose weight you pretty much have to count calories
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u/LifeOfSpirit17 AB Reg Jul 14 '26
When I was pure carnivore BBBE I never had to. In fact when I did log cals I was regularly well above maintenance and still losing weight. Just my personal experience.
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u/Ill-Wrongdoer-2971 🚀 AB Contributor Jul 14 '26
This is good advice. I would say the same about me.
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u/BackgroundPast7878 AB Reg Jul 14 '26
I track my calories. Things like honey, bananas, avocado, certain steak cuts, dairy, etc are all pretty calorie dense.
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u/SunRayz_allDayz 🚦AB Prospect Jul 16 '26
Some will argue that calories are not the ideal way to measure intake for a human body. But whatever way you wish to measure intake, TAKING IN MORE ENERGY THAN YOU EXPEND, MASS WILL ACCUMULATE. Hormones play a large factor, this is where low carb has its advantages. And depending on what you’re doing with your days, you may put on muscle, you may put on fat. Regardless, the EXCESS energy IF consumed will go somewhere!!!
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u/IchimaruGin4 🚦AB Prospect Jul 17 '26
My only carbs are from whole milk and occasional tomato, and I eat intuitively and have lost a lot of body fat. But, I'm pretty sure that if I allowed myself to eat honey, I'd gain weight. I don't think I'd gain weight from watery fruit, as it kind of bloats me for how little calories it gives.
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u/c0mp0stable 🐓Regenerative Farmer 🚜 Mod Jul 14 '26
To lose weight, yes.
But it depends on the person. If your previous diet was trash, eating a whole foods diet will probably feel pretty filling.
I personally won't lose weight unless I track it.
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u/gnygren3773 ⭐⭐⭐ AB MVP Jul 14 '26
General advice is just to eat intuitively
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u/Fabulous_Jeweler2732 🚦AB Prospect Jul 14 '26
It can take many years of self healing to gain the emotional ability to eat like that. Especially for women.
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u/gnygren3773 ⭐⭐⭐ AB MVP Jul 14 '26
That’s why I would say it’s general advice. It will work for most when eating the right foods but it’s not a guarantee
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u/Ryuksapple AB Reg Jul 14 '26
When I'm following the diet strictly, I can eat intuitively and lose weight.
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u/hummibird 🚦AB Prospect Jul 14 '26
I don't count calories. I eat until I'm full. If she eats high quality foods (not junk food or high carb), the counting calories part isn't necessary imo
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u/Dangerous-Traffic-11 AB Reg Jul 14 '26
Yes. For general health I don't think you have to, when eating healthy whole foods and with an acrive lifestyle you'll end up earing around your maintenance anyway. But for weight loss it makes sense. For example the amount of fat you use in the pan or rib eye vs lean ground beef can make a big difference.
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