Do you plan on counting calories for the rest of your life?

Tender_Blender

I've been counting for around 2-3 years now and I'm getting sick of it. Food and calories is all I think about these days, but I fear I'll regain all the weight once I stop. What's your plan once you reach your goal weight? Would counting calories for the rest of your life be unreasonable?

arditarose

Probably most of it. I assume there will come a time when I'll be able to keep a running tally...I don't see me stopping for another good 5 years though.

ETA: Hopefully 5 years is not "most of my life" lol. Not with it today.

amytorr19

no i dont plan on counting calories the rest of my life.. I am learning portion control from counting calories.

janejellyroll

Yes. I've gone up and down my entire life and this is the first time that weight loss/maintaining has really "made sense" to me. Keeping at the strategy that brought me success seems like a good idea.

But does it make sense for you? I think only you can answer that. Have you considered taking a break and seeing how it works out?

MarcyKirkton

No

daniwilford

I have taken short logging breaks, and I have maintained. I think it would get easier to be sloppy the longer the break and I am never as good at sustaining a period of continued loss without logging. If I ever get to goal, I may be better at it by then with a few years of practice under my belt. At the rate I am losing and expecting that to slow down as I approach goal, I won't have to make that decision for another year.

DM01234

I stopped about 4 months ago. I learned through the loss process about what I should and should not be consuming - especially portion controls. So far, so good.

lemurcat12

No--right now I plan to monitor my weight and portion sizes/overall diet and probably count calories/log off and on.

I've been maintaining while logging only off and on over the past few months, but intend to count again to lose weight (and maybe to help keep me on plan over the holidays).

It helps me to focus on things besides calories when I am logging, as that keeps it interesting--I am currently logging on cron-o-meter which is really good for tracking nutrients, so I'm focusing more on adding stuff to my diet, not calories. I'm about to start a marathon training program, and in the early stages of that I will try to drop a few more pounds, I think, but also play around with adding more carbs to see if it helps my runs. Before this I focused on getting protein up without using protein supplements and counting servings of vegetables, and stuff like that, as well as calories. I know some people find that makes it too complicated, especially at first, but for me it makes it fun and gives me an incentive to eat in a way that also keeps calories down (and lets me eat whatever I want, too).

DeguelloTex

I don't plan to, but I don't plan not to. I'd rather not, but if I need to, I need to. Sort of like vision correction.

blankiefinder

I counted calories while maintaining for the first six months. My maintenance range at 5'7 is 130.8 to 132.8 which is pretty narrow range for most people. In the 8th month my weight jumped up to 134.8 due to bad eating. Since then I've cut out the jars of Nutella with a spoon, been more aware, and used my food scale for a few days to remind me my serving sizes an a few things, and after 3 weeks am back within that maintenance range.

So I will continue to monitor my weight, and if and when I need to, I will start logging again.

juggernaut1974

Counting as in weighing every morsel and logging it on mfp? No.

In fact, I rarely do any more at all, though I'm probably going to start again in a few weeks when I go on my next cut.

I use what I learned through the calorie counting/logging process to manage portions and make better choices, and monitor my weight and measurements to ensure I'm sticking to where I need/want to be.

cafeaulait7

I'll probably end up doing what I've been doing while maintaining, which is weigh myself every few days without logging. If the scale goes up a little and stays there, I start counting everything again for a while.

(Right now, though, I'm actually trying to put on some muscle, so I'm trying to go over a little bit with lots of protein. So I do need logging for that, definitely.)

middlehaitch

No, counting calories was my training wheels. By the time I had lost my weight I knew what my portion sizes were,and my appetite had shrunk, so most of the time I eat instinctively. Have been doing this for 6 years keeping within a 5 lb range.

However when I change up routines, or feels clothes are getting snug, I don't hesitate to put my training wheels back on, count calories, and rebalance my food.

Everyone has to find the way that works for them.

Cheers, h.

MoiAussi93

No. I lost most of my weight without counting at all. And for the past few months I sometimes counted and sometimes didn't (and usually didn't bother when eating out) and had no trouble maintaining the loss. But now I am new to keto, so am logging again.

I plan to do it only when I am making substantial changes to the diet and just long enough to get a good handle on what I've changed.

Artemiris

Yes, I have come to accept the fact that if I don't weigh and log my food I end up gaining weight.

PeachyCarol

I used to say yes to this question, but lately I think probably not. The tool is there at my disposal should I need some course correction, but I feel I have a good handle on about how much I should eat in a day.

I do plan to monitor my weight closely, though.

gothchiq

I tried taking a break from it for a month, and the weight started sneaking back, which now I have to re-lose. Apparently I will have to count forever. I'm short, old, and female.... so I have almost no margin for error. What little I get for maintenance feels like restriction, not to mention what it takes to lose. I wish that if a person didn't burn many calories, then their appetite would wither away to match. Alas, it is not so.

bezlooney

Unfortunately, yes. Ive been weighing my food and recording everything for over 10 years now (almost two on mfp, before i got the app. I did it on paper) i would feel lost if i didnt

TrailNurse

I don't log on weekends or vacations. And yes I plan to log for the rest of my life. I have been 250 lbs and never want to go there again.

Francl27

Probably. It's that or getting fat again.

ohmscheeks

Once I reach my goal weight, I will stop logging and weigh myself weekly (or more) to monitor my weight. If that doesn't work, I'll re-evaluate. Calorie counting is just my little walking stick on the weight loss path. It doesn't keep me from overeating (there are plenty of binges in my diary). Willpower is the key.

kommodevaran

Even several months into maintenance, I imagined myself counting calories for the rest of my life, and I had become obsessed with it, but in a good way. Then, about three months ago, I suddenly got bored and found it unnecessary, because I realized calorie counting had taught me what I needed to eat right: What foods work for me, in what amounts, and how often - how a suitable portion is supposed to look like, and what it should feel like when I'm ready to eat and when I've had enough. How to shop, how to cook, how to plan meals. How much physical exercise I need. I weigh myself every day, look at the trend, and keep within a range between 54 and 58 kilos. Whenever I slide towards one end (more often the top than the bottom, lol) I adjust my intake slightly. I weigh certain foods, for meal planning purposes as well as for the calories, and I log what I eat in a spreadsheet that is also my meal plan and a running fridge/freezer/pantry inventory list.

Maxematics

Nope. I'm still going to weigh in weekly. If my weight increases by more than 2 pounds, then I'm going to log until I lose it.

N200lz

Nope ..... never did. Paid attention to carbs instead.

scolaris

Yes, it's hard to imagine. But if I need to I will.

CooCooPuff

I'm maintaining and plan to continue logging for at least sometime. I'd like to wait until I feel more confident in myself before I try not doing so.

DeguelloTex

N200lz wrote: »

Nope ..... never did. Paid attention to carbs instead.

I wonder how I lost weight eating 500 grams of carbs a day.

JustMissTracy

Well, I don't plan to ever see 180 lbs again, so I'll probably always at least "watch" my calories...I have been weighing with the digital scale for a couple of months now, and I'm now finding that I can pretty much eyeball and get the grams almost spot on, so maybe that means that eventually I can stop weighing altogether, and stop adding in my brain...and as my hubby says "Just eat."

Jruzer

Yes, I think I will. I may loosen up on my logging but I will probably always have to be accountable to the numbers.

Numbers rule anyway.

missh1967

I wish I could say no, but I have a feeling it's something I'll have to do at least on and off forever.

hamlet1222

If you can keep portion sizes under control and avoid snacking then you won't need to count - much easier said than done though for many of us.