Weighing/measuring/counting.....for life?!

cwolfman13

I've maintained for over 2 years and i don't log. i do weigh calorie dense things and i measure certain things...you still have to be aware even if you're not physically logging...it's pretty easy for a serving of pasta or nuts or something to get out of control if you're not weighing and measuring...and how do you know how much water to cook your rice in if you don't know how many cups of rice you're cooking. I don't weigh and measure everything, but certain things for sure.

beyond that, i don't really do anything different than i did when i was losing weight...i eat very healthfully, just a few hundred more calories than i did to lose...i exercise regularly...i weigh myself regularly to make sure everything is in check

WBB55

I wanted to chime back in.

One way some people find success maintaining without counting is following a method of eating their goal weight's maintenance calories while losing weight. It's called "eating for the new you." And it can be a slow method if you only have the last 10-15 to lose. But what it does is give you a much longer time to "practice" what your maintenance calories looks and feels like before you're actually in maintenance.

So to do this, you'd go to a site like this and calculate your "maintenance" calories at your goal weight.
http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/
When I put in my stats, it tells me my maintenance calories at my theoretical goal weight is 1600 calories (without exercise). So if I started eating 1600 calories right now, I'd still have a small-ish deficit, BUT it would teach me what I needed to eat every day for the rest of my life to maintain that weight.

I don't know if that makes sense or appeals to you, but it's a way to not have to count/weigh once you have a sense of what your maintenance calories looks and feels like on your plate and in your belly.

SergeantSausage

I fluctuate. A lot. Due to training for marathons, I'll go up 12 or 16 pounds when the Big Mile months come. That's right, I gain when running crazy cardio (8 to 12 miles daily, 20+ on the weekend long run) that last month before race season. I *have to* fuel these workouts and no way would I be training for The Full Monte on a deficit. Plus, running like that = uncontrollable appetite from hell, right?

As such, I have two big swings of up to 12 to 16 pounds in a year. Spring Race Season and Fall Race Season. I've set a hard limit of 16 pounds over my "ideal" weight. If I hit 16 or more pounds over, it's time to start logging and reign it in. If I'm less than 16 over ... meh. Who cares, right? No logging at all.

Right now, I'm over, so I started logging again this week. I expect to be done in 4 or 5 weeks and not have to log a thing the remainder of the year.

As I get years into this, I expect there will be entire *years* of no logging, but (sadly), I'm still relatively new to the lighter me and the old Fat Boy Ways run both deep and strong.

It'll likely be a multi-year weaning process where I need it less and less as time goes on.

I hope.

kristen6350

I only log when my weight shifts about 3-5lbs in the not so nice direction and I need to tighten things up a bit. A week or 2 of "being good" I'm back to the number I want to be again...then the next time that number appears at my weekly weigh in, I tighten up again.

DuckReconMajor

I want the data

I luv the data

The only reason I didn't start tracking these things before is because i thought it would be so much harder than it turned out to be. I can't see future me not at least making an attempt to log everything I can. It gives me the big picture on what I eat and my body stats and i love this so much better than just making guesses like i used to.

ManiacalLaugh

I honestly have no idea what I'll do when I get to goal. I've never been there before, lol. I think I'll go back to trying to eyeball things - I'll just keep better track of the scale than I did when I let 10lbs sneak back on the last time I attempted it.

I know that's not helpful, but I just wanted to say I'll be in the same boat soon.

golden6911

I am fairly sure I'll have to log (and maybe weigh) continuously if I want to keep weight off. In my late 30's I lost 15-20 lbs (147lb to 131 lbs) and I logged every day for about a year. I figured I had it handled and I stopped logging. Over the next year or so my weight crept back up and I regained about half that weight. I did internalize some of the lessons I learned while logging, but I definitely became less mindful in general which is why I think I regained some. I may take "vacations" from logging from time to time, but I will most likely adopt this as a lifelong strategy.

Kalikel

There is no way in heaven or hell that I will be weighing every single bite of food for the rest of my life. I pay a lot of attention to the food I weigh - what it looks like, how many grams/calories, etc. A LOT of attention. I even put it on the plate and guess at grams/calories per item and calories for the plate and then compare my guess to what the log says.

When I'm done, I plan to have learned to eat a healthy diet without requiring a scale. Most of the world is able to eat without a scale and I can, too!

It's wonderful for people who enjoy it, but I do not. After a break, I hate it a lot less than I did before! But this is not something I want to do for years, much less decades.

dubird

For me, I still log, but since I have meals and frequent foods listed, it doesn't take that long anymore unless it's a new recipe or food. After three years, I've gotten a lot better at estimating, so maybe try a week of that and see where you're at. Maybe make up your meal, estimate it, then weigh it and see how you do. That will take longer, but if you can train yourself to what a certain amount of something looks like, your estimates will be closer to reality. For me, I've gotten to the point where I know about what an actual portion of food is for things I eat a lot, which helps me estimate. And when in doubt, over-estimate, just in case.

I personally don't like that I'll be logging the rest of my life, but after going 6 months without and gaining about 10 pounds, I realize I need to. Even if I'm just estimating, I need something to look at to keep me on track and help me not overeat. Don't like it, but resigned to it.

Edit: I will add that on the week on I went on the cruise, I kept a notebook log since I didn't have internet access for a week. I did have my Fitbit, so I could get an idea of what my calorie burn for each day was and tried to adjust accordingly. When I got back and filled it all in, turns out I was damn close to my calorie limit for each day, with only a couple being over. So, estimating can work if you've trained yourself to do so.

kailyw05

juliebowman4 wrote: »

yopeeps025 wrote: »

rabbitjb wrote: »

I don't get why you feel it's a lot of work .. especially if you have saved meals and recipes and it takes a small amount of time with favourites in place

but if you want - start trying to estimate portion sizes now .. and glance at the scale after .. refine your eyeballing

I don't reckon you absolutely have to weigh

although I'm planning on continuing cos actually it's easy .. and I'm a number geek

I don't get how OP feels she would need to do counting calories for life.

I guess I figured I would need to count calories for life, because I'd like to maintain this weight loss for life vs yo-yo dieting.
If 1200-1500cal is for my weight loss.....then (for example) let's say 1800cal is what I can consume to maintain (as opposed to gain or lose) then how would I know if I was consuming 1800.....?
Eyeballing?
Ha!
Eyeballing is what helped me put 30lbs on to begin with. lol

I do have a better, much better idea of what calories look like, thanks to MFP.
I guess I may just throw caution to the wind and eat. Eat without scales. Eat without logging. Without measuring spoons. I might occasionally lick my fingers while cooking.
But I will weigh myself weekly and see what happens.....

What if instead of measuring and weighing every crumb, if you use the Quick Tools more frequently?

Like if I've made my basic rotini pasta with some kind of sauce, vegetables, some kind of protein for supper, it's normally no more than 500 calories for the portion I dish out for myself. You could just "quick add" 500 calories to dinner in your log and be done. Then you don't have to worry so much about every drop of sauce and ounce of pasta. I rarely measure and do not own a food scale and have lost 26 lbs putting me right in the middle of my healthy BMI range. If you know your oatmeal and yogurt in the morning is under 200 calories, then just throw in 200 calories for breakfast. That way, come 9pm when you really really want a munchy snack but aren't sure how much you've really eaten that day, you have a decent guess and can probably determine whether or not to have that snack.

This was how I lost 25 lbs 3 years ago before I discovered this wonderful site. Eyeballing and jotting down in an actual notebook (with an actual pen!) what my general calories were per meal. It at least keeps you in the ballpark.

Diana_GettingFit

I think I'll probably be logging for life. It's quick. It's easy. And you keep track of what you're putting in your body.

xKoalaBearx

DuckReconMajor wrote: »

I want the data

I luv the data

The only reason I didn't start tracking these things before is because i thought it would be so much harder than it turned out to be. I can't see future me not at least making an attempt to log everything I can. It gives me the big picture on what I eat and my body stats and i love this so much better than just making guesses like i used to.

I'm exactly the same way.

lemurcat12

cwolfman13 wrote: »

I've maintained for over 2 years and i don't log. i do weigh calorie dense things and i measure certain things...you still have to be aware even if you're not physically logging.

This is a good point.

When I've been doing my no logging experiments, I have still weighed various things I was used to weighing. I know I like my usual serving of oatmeal, so I weighed the oatmeal. But I know I eat 2 eggs, no matter the precise number of calories, so I didn't weigh eggs. I weighed out my ice cream, not to have a precise number of grams, but to confirm I was eating about what I normally did.

For me weighing adds no work, usually. Logging can be a pain, although not that much of one. I definitely see myself weighing on occasion even if I'm not logging.

(I used to weigh some stuff even before logging, though, in connection with baking.)