Here goes nothing...

Leana088

I've been trying for a few weeks to get off counting calories, it makes me a bit OCD.

I've started to count just 2 days a week, then 1, and now I'm going to stop completely. Hopefully for good this time. (Can you tell I've tried to stop before??)

This is not without a plan for the future though. I've divised go-to meal plans for each meal. Basically, my meals will all have the same basis, but there is room for variety. Lunch for example: Half my plate will be veg, a quarter will be starch, and the remaining quarter will be protein. I can exchange carrots and green beans for beets and broccoli, or fish for chicken, or rice for a potato. I just need to make sure it's a fairly even trade.

I have these go-to meals planned for both maintenance and weight loss. Eating mostly the same things makes it easy to realize when I've gone over, for example when I ate an extra piece of cake that's not in my routine, which I can just balance out with a lighter meal.
So here goes nothing. I still want to be on the forums though, which means I have to face my diary upon logging in. That's why I've set it to 1 calorie remaining. (I dare anyone to try and meet that goal! )

macgurlnet

I'm planning to do the same as you eventually - I don't want to count/record forever but it has been very helpful.

Good luck to you! Sounds like you've got a good plan in place

~Lyssa

booksandchocolate12

The only flaw I can see in your plan is that you won't be measuring/weighing your foods, other than a vague "half my plate...a quarter of my plate".

I think it would be very easy, for me anyway, to let my portion sizes creep up, to where I'd be eating a lot more than I realize. But that's me....I'm terrible at guesstimating portion sizes.

Leana088

booksandchocolate12 wrote: »

The only flaw I can see in your plan is that you won't be measuring/weighing your foods, other than a vague "half my plate...a quarter of my plate".

I think it would be very easy, for me anyway, to let my portion sizes creep up, to where I'd be eating a lot more than I realize. But that's me....I'm terrible at guesstimating portion sizes.

Other than the fact I use the same size plate I have while counting (which would mean the same size food), I have been counting and weighing food for 2,5 years now. Well up until a few months ago anyway. I now eyeball things with pretty good accuracy. So for me that's not a problem.

Leana088

You guys know what's the ironic part of my whole weight loss journey?

The only thing that made me gain (veeeerrryyyy sloooowwwllyyyy) was snacking on the wrong things. I drank too much soda, too little water, and snacked on too much candy.

Once I cut that out (or down actually) boom! Weight loss. Without actually changing too much about my actual meals. I don't snack too much anymore. If I really want to once in a while, its fruit or popcorn.

macgurlnet

I'm pretty good at eyeballing if all I'm trying to do is maintain my weight. I was 140 going into winter (I tend to gain at least 5lbs every winter) and I held steady from September through January.

I took this opportunity to re-evaluate my snacks so I'm hoping I'll continue to make those smarter choices. I was doing the same thing you were with snacks - lots of chocolatey things with unnecessary extra calories. That chocolate and oat protein bar may have some protein but I'm better off eating some more chicken with my lunch and having a piece or two of chocolate at the end of the day

I generally eat the same things during the week while at work so the only issues might be dinner and weekends. Of course my maintenance may be a bit lower now so I may find that I ping-pong around for a little while till I find the new sweet spot.

Good for you, though, and good luck!

~Lyssa

Leana088

macgurlnet wrote: »

I'm pretty good at eyeballing if all I'm trying to do is maintain my weight. I was 140 going into winter (I tend to gain at least 5lbs every winter) and I held steady from September through January.

I took this opportunity to re-evaluate my snacks so I'm hoping I'll continue to make those smarter choices. I was doing the same thing you were with snacks - lots of chocolatey things with unnecessary extra calories. That chocolate and oat protein bar may have some protein but I'm better off eating some more chicken with my lunch and having a piece or two of chocolate at the end of the day

I generally eat the same things during the week while at work so the only issues might be dinner and weekends. Of course my maintenance may be a bit lower now so I may find that I ping-pong around for a little while till I find the new sweet spot.

Good for you, though, and good luck!

~Lyssa

This is why I have meals designed for maintenance and weight loss. My dinners always stay in the same calorie range so not much to have to change there.

But for maintenance I would eat a sandwhich for lunch (400-500 calories)
For weight loss I would eat salad with chicken/tuna. (200-250 calories).

My weight loss menus basically have the deficit built in.

Like I said I've never been too far off with my actual meals, just the snacks and stuff made me gain.

Some things did surprise me though when I started counting. There are a few things I thought was much "heavier" than they actually are, like popcorn and watermelon. And some calorie shockers were cheese and nuts. But now that I've educated myself, I think I'm good.