Anyone maintaining without counting calories

Tanie98

I am were I am happy with myself and I would like to stop tracking my food.However,I am afraid that if I do I might start overeating without knowing it and gain the weight back. So what are the tips yo maintain without counting calories? I will continue to exercise regularly and eat only when I am hungry.

Maitria

In your other post, you are struggling to eat enough calories to maintain. Why not try eating without counting but keep an eye on your weight? If you keep up on it, it's not that big of a deal to count calories here and there if your weight creeps up.

JeanCricket

I've been maintaining for 3 months and still need to track my calories. I'm planning to always track calories. That's what works best for me :-)

kelly_e_montana

I have given up calorie counting after 30 years and for once am maintaining my weight. For me, counting leads to restriction, which leads to binges. Learning how to eat intuitively around a macro plan has allowed me to stay pretty constant scale-wise while still dropping body fat over the last year.

I guess make sure you get lots of water, lean protein, and veggies...that's what's worked for me while not counting.

tulips_and_tea

What I do is just keep a log of what I eat. Yes, I note the amounts, but I don't keep the actual numbers: calories, fat, carbs, etc. Then, if I start to feel poorly or am struggling with my workouts I just look back through my log and see if I've started a bad habit, or have eaten something recently or more often than I should, etc.

ianthy

I wish.....

keefmac

Weigh once a week and keep an eye on things, I managed to lose 2 stone with portion control and avoiding snacking. Been maintaining for a couple of months with no logging so it can be done .

Hornsby

I count estimates in my head. Log every so often to make sure I am keeping in control.

cliffodom1

Since I started using Myfitnesspal I can pretty much tell how many calories the food I eat have. I don't eat many new foods so I can tell when I eat 2000 calories close enough. I don't count calories, I eat what I want and stop when I get to about 2000 calories.

middlehaitch

I have been maintaining for about 4 years and come back to calorie count once maybe twice a year if I feel as though I am a bit off ( up or down).
By the time I had finished a year or weight loss counting calories I had a good idea of how much I should eat and how many calories were in the majority of foods I eat.
Right now I am changing my exercise routine and losing the 4 lb I put on over the summer so back to counting my calories for a few weeks to make sure I am eating enough and getting enough protein.
Once I have my calories worked out for my new routine ( upped from 3 to 5 days a week) I will not have to count until I change something else.

cwolfman13

I haven't logged in over a year and a half. I logged for about a month when I went into maintenance just to see what a days worth of food looked like...other than that, I've maintained just fine without logging.

I'm currently trying to drop a few pounds to get myself down to about 10% BF and I'm not logging for that either.

I keep a pretty good estimate of things in my head...I eat pretty healthfully and get plenty of exercise. I weigh in regularly and I'm mindful of what my clothes feel like.

maria0elisa

cliffodom1 wrote: »

Since I started using Myfitnesspal I can pretty much tell how many calories the food I eat have. I don't eat many new foods so I can tell when I eat 2000 calories close enough. I don't count calories, I eat what I want and stop when I get to about 2000 calories.

yeah, I agree with this. I think it's probably easier to ensure you're not gaining if you continue to log everything, but even if you don't log, you'll have a pretty good idea of calorie estimates from the good habits you learned whilst using mfp.

If you don't drastically change your diet or suddenly start eating a lot of packaged foods, you should know what you usually have for breakfast etc and how much that usually comes in as.

as always though portion control/good choices are the key to stop it creeping back up!! keep weighing grains and having smaller portions of these, and only have treats two or so times a week.

maria0elisa

i agree it's scary to take the plunge and stop logging, so yeah just be really aware of small changes in your body during this time and start again if you have concerns.

47Jacqueline

After over a year I log... or not. It depends on the day. Like yesterday. I automatically started logging and then thought, what am I doing? So I stopped.

Yanicka1

I maintain without counting calories.....but I still eat the way I did when losing weight and I weight myself once a month. I started losing weight in 2011 and it took me 3 years logging to get to that point

allanakern

I maintain very easily, I just make better choices the majority of the time and eat the junk in smaller portions and not as often. However when I cut then I have to track my calories very closely

Sabine_Stroehm

Yup. I lost without counting. I maintained for 10+ years without counting. I'm still maintaining (13+ years). I counted for a while here as I was entering menopause, but yes, I maintain pretty much without counting, weighing, measuring... I sometimes check in when adding a new food to my diet, or mixing up my workouts, but yes. I make much better food choices. I make choices that result in a diet that is pretty low-glycemic on the whole.
I limit added sugars and other refined carbs. That's about it. Oh, and I eat when I'm hungry, and don't eat when I'm not.

(yes, I still eat pizza, I just eat better pizza)

Good luck finding what works for you.

LauraSS

I have stopped counting for over a year and actually lost another 6 pounds over this last year. I stopped because I know from counting on MFP what each meal is I eat for the most part. When I am unsure I check, but MFP taught me to read labels and eat portions sizes that are meant to be eaten, not enlarged because it tastes good.

kwantlen2051

I am maintaining for 5 months now. I try to eat healthier and limit processed foods, gluten and sugar. I don't log my food as often but still try to keep within the range. I weigh myself often though, so that is my guide.

It is a work in progress. So don't be scared to try different approaches. Good Luck!

AnthonyThrashD

I'm losing, but I could probably stop counting. Most foods I eat are routine, and amount and calorie content are known. If I wanted to stop counting, I would still check out calories in foods that aren't part of my routine.

ILoveGingerNut

if you go back to eating like when you were fat, you'll be fat again. stay away from processed stuff and cook your food, so you'll know what's in it.

Sabine_Stroehm

NoblankFRplease wrote: »

if you go back to eating like when you were fat, you'll be fat again. stay away from processed stuff and cook your food, so you'll know what's in it.

Not eating out isn't sustainable (for me). We eat out often. I choose wisely when we do.

myfitnesspale3

I logged everything for 180 days - that's over. It took some time that I can put into other activities. The main benefit was that I learned my patterns and particular food calories. Now I can estimate better.

Maintaining for the last 3 months, I've been weighing every day without logging. It's fast and convenient. For a couple days in there, I logged a whole day to see what the content was. But logging is not necessary for me, if I pay attention to weight, and adjust diet qualitatively.

dlvuyovich

Try not so much hitting calories goals, but your fat/protein/carb daily needs. I think you can take calories out of your food diary, as I did with sugar because I already know I have very little sugar intake in my diet.

jrline

I am not as strict I still try to keep a rough idea of how many calories I am eating. As long as my new smaller clothes don't start getting too snug I know I am in good shape still.

Anonycatgirl

I do "part time" logging... a few days a week, mostly to see how I'm doing, or if my weight's up a bit. I do weigh myself more often than I did while I was losing, because it helps me figure out natural fluctuation versus "uh-oh, time to log for a bit."

I_Will_End_You

I don't log. If my weight goes up a little, I eat a little less, if it doesn't....I'm good. It's really not that difficult. Just weigh yourself regularly, and pay attention to trends. Around holidays and times when there are a lot of parties and stuff, I eat like I'm trying to lose weight on normal days (in a deficit without logging) and then it levels out on the days when I know I'll be over.

johnnylakis

Tanie98 wrote: »

So what are the tips to maintain without counting calories?

Doesn't exist. You cant manage what you dont measure

SingingSingleTracker

Tanie98 wrote: »

I am were I am happy with myself and I would like to stop tracking my food.However,I am afraid that if I do I might start overeating without knowing it and gain the weight back. So what are the tips yo maintain without counting calories? I will continue to exercise regularly and eat only when I am hungry.

It takes less time to log your calories for the day using the App or your laptop, than it does to eat an appetizer.

Now, how I can drive my car without ever having to pay attention to the fuel gauge needle....? ;-)

SuggaD

johnnylakis wrote: »

Tanie98 wrote: »

So what are the tips to maintain without counting calories?

Doesn't exist. You cant manage what you dont measure

Now that's really silly. There are countless people who maintain without counting.

wibutterflymagic

I'm losing without counting calories. I stopped logging over 6mos ago. You have to change your lifestyle. I eat fewer carbs and stick with good protein and veggies as much as possible. I don't deprieve myself by any means. I have my good times and bad times but overall I'm still losing. It's not quick but it's happening and that's the whole point. This is something I can stick with for my life instead of a temporary diet.

If you are going to stick with eating unhealthy foods as a norm then you are going to have to continue to log so you know how much you're eating. If you eat healthier foods as the norm then it's not such an issue and you can eat more because the foods you're eating have fewer calories.