Calorie counting long term-realistic or not?

byvanzant

Just curious how many people out there see calorie counting as a realistic activity for long term. Do you think that counting calories will be a forever part of your daily life or are you doing it just to get to a certain goal then will stop doing it? I am only 2 months in and feel great about tracking my food and exercise but have been told that it isn't realistic to think I will be doing this a year from now or when I reach my goal. Thoughts? I can see myself doing this forever so that I will never be back to where I was.

WickedPineapple

I've been logging for 2.5 years now. I'll skip a rare day or two, but it generally gets easier over time. All my regular meals are saved, my recipes built, and the most accurate entry for my snacks and whatnot are all in the 'recent' section of my food diary. It only takes a few minutes to log most days.

AmazonMayan

I can see myself always doing some form of this. I am seeing such great results and that I can still eat really well. I am much more aware of what I am putting into my mouth and at what cost. Even if I were to ease up on constant logging every morsel the instant I'm eating and maybe log once or twice a day, I will still know that I'm in range.

JPW1990

Is brushing your teeth and using deodorant long term realistic? Once you've been doing it a while, it's not really something that requires effort, and only takes a few moments out of your day.

breefoshee

Here's how I see it:
Maybe I won't count calories forever... but if I count calories for a good while, I can get a better idea of how calorie dense foods are and train myself to naturally know what to eat. Right now, if I am off the grid for a while-- which I often am.. then I can easily add up calories in my head or at least have an idea for what I should eat or how much I am burning hiking around.

Wiseandcurious

I don't think it's necessarily unrealistic. The success stories forum has people who've been doing it years into maintenance - check out the "nominate success stories" thread there.

I am still only 50 days in (today - yay!) but after I reach goal (far in the future) and reverse-diet into my maintenance at my goal range, I see myself easing into monitoring weight, not calories, and only tracking calories if I need to get back down if I gain to above goal range. In order to be able to do that, I've made a point of eyeballing everything and then weighing it on a scale. My portion estimating skills are getting really very good.

Some people set fitness goals to be motivated to track after maintenance (for their macros, bulking/cutting, etc).

I am sure you'll cross that bridge well enough when you get to it. Don't bog yourself down with overthinking it now oh and obviously don't listen too much to onlookers, you have all the tools you need, your friend's opinion is just that -an opinion. good luck!

Vailara

It depends. I think the truth is that most of us (who have a weight problem) will have to do something to control our food intake indefinitely. That doesn't necessarily need to be calorie counting. I'm not calorie counting at the moment (and am losing weight).

It's not "unrealistic" to diet for life, because people do it, but I do think it's not going to be easy. I think you have the right attitude - you're planning to do it forever.

StaciMarie1974

To some extent, yes. Though sometimes that will mean being aware of how much I'm eating/what I'm eating in relation to what my body needs.

byvanzant wrote: »

Just curious how many people out there see calorie counting as a realistic activity for long term. Do you think that counting calories will be a forever part of your daily life or are you doing it just to get to a certain goal then will stop doing it? I am only 2 months in and feel great about tracking my food and exercise but have been told that it isn't realistic to think I will be doing this a year from now or when I reach my goal. Thoughts? I can see myself doing this forever so that I will never be back to where I was.

StaciMarie1974

Ps-I'm 390+ days on MFP and 4.5 months into maintenance. I do take breaks from logging - but find that I like having the app/website help me compile the data.

sherbear702

Is calorie counting realistic long term...I suppose that depends on who you ask. I feel like the whole point of calorie counting (besides to lose weight) is to educate yourself about what you're eating, how much you're eating, and how to make better choices. Once you've gotten in to that habit, calorie counting may not be necessary.

szkodzt

For me I think that yes, it is realistic, however, I may have a different answer 6 months from now, as I only have been at this for 2 months. I could also see that changing once I hit maintenance (long way away) - maybe I will feel I am able to relax a bit?

However, at this point in my journey the tracking has become second nature to me - I don't even really think about it I just do it. Maybe that is why I can't see stopping.

katab2014

Every time I slip up on tracking I gain weight....for me, this has to be a lifestyle thing...for others maybe not...I see this as a life long habit...

rungirl1973

I've always done some version of calorie counting. I imagine I always will.

Do I track every single day? No, but I have a general idea of whether or not I'm eating within my maintenance goal on days I don't track 100%.

Branstin

Whether it is calorie counting or portion control, some level of effort will be required to keep the weight off.

bainsworth1a

Branstin wrote: »

Whether it is calorie counting or portion control, some level of effort will be required to keep the weight off.

i agree. this time losing weight is a life style change for me and I will most likely continue to track in some fashion even when I get to goal weight.

TeaBea

For me, some form of calorie counting will always be necessary. I know this because I've lost weight and gained it back (more than once). A rather large percentage of people gain back the weight they've lost.

Maybe I will use low calorie days here and there to accomplish this (like intermittent fasting) ....maybe I'll log everyday....I don't know yet. But for me, "make healthy choices" doesn't cut it.

Mr_Knight

byvanzant wrote: »

I can see myself doing this forever so that I will never be back to where I was.

It's good to be optimistic. It's also good to have a backup plan.

Reality is, most people who make this (or any other dieting) "lifestyle change" will end up in the weeds anyways, so...don't get too high, don't get too low. :drinker:

Sued0nim

I'm month 9, maintenance, and still logging

I'm kind of nervous of stopping but I don't find it a pain to plan, weigh and log...I suppose if I did I might plan to stop

ana3067

rabbitjb wrote: »

I'm month 9, maintenance, and still logging

I'm kind of nervous of stopping but I don't find it a pain to plan, weigh and log...I suppose if I did I might plan to stop

That's my plan too. I don't plan on discontinuing it unless there are mental reasons for doing so. But I make my logging practices as easy as possible so that I'm just eating while writing things down, basically. Much like me logging my exercise at the gym isn't something i will randomly stop doing in the future, it is allowing me to compare present and future (I realized I've put almost 20lbs onto my shoulder and bench presses since this past October after having to deload a bit for my tennis elbow, something I wouldn't have remembered had I not looked at old lgs from the time) and enables me to continue making proper progress and notice trends, etc. And since I plan on doing cut/bulk cycles, I believe I'll very much be okay with using this app throughout these phases because it will make cuts and bulks easier to implement (increase/decrease based off of compiled data as opposed to just arbitrarily eating more/less so I can experience more consistent results).

Vailara

I'm about three years in. I did manage to maintain without calorie counting all the time, and now I'm losing a bit more weight without calorie counting at all.

Calorie counting is just one way of reducing calories. I'm not just eating healthy (that made me GAIN weight!), but am moderating the amount I eat by usually only eating at mealtimes and controlling the portion sizes. That's just a way that happens to suit me. I know other people do well with fast days, or other methods of controlling their intake. There's nothing wrong with calorie counting, and I'll probably go back to it now and then, but I found it a pain logging everything and it sometimes affected my eating in adverse ways.

So I just wanted to say - you don't HAVE to count calories for life. You might have to diet (control your intake) for life, but you can find a method of doing that suits you - and that method might change over the years.