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

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  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,464 Member
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    I plan to control what I eat the rest of my life. My plan when I get to maintain is yo set a wright limit. If I go above that I'll start logging again & eat at s deficit until back to an acceptable weight.

    OP you have been logging long enough that you should have an excellent idea of what you can eat and stay within calorie goal. If you're not getting the refills you want then go back to logging as needed. That way you can take a break but not regain more than a few lbs.
  • dalielahdawn
    dalielahdawn Posts: 141 Member
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    Yes. I have an addiction to food and eating. It will not go away. Like an alcoholic, I will always to over coming.
  • Altagracia220
    Altagracia220 Posts: 876 Member
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    The idea of counting calories and weighing food everyday for the rest of my life is ghastly. It has helped me lose 55 pounds but it gets very tedious and annoying. So to answer your question, no. I want to get to my goal weight. Then I'm going to eat maintenance calories. Then I'm going to wean myself off it. Then I'm going to count calories and weigh food 3 or 4 times a week. After a few weeks I'll completely stop. If I get to a point where my clothing starts to fit snug then I'll come back to it and do the same things.
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,426 Member
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    Tender_Blender wrote: »
    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?

    I don't know. The rest of my life is hopefully a long time. I will probably continue logging for awhile after I reach my goal but I should have a good idea of the amount of food I can eat after doing this for a couple of years. I will continue to weigh myself weekly.
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
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    Not sure. I'll always have to be mindful of how many calories I'm eating but I don't know if I'll literally always count them. It takes very little time to do. I don't feel like I'm always thinking about it so I don't mind.
  • rankinsect
    rankinsect Posts: 2,238 Member
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    Oh, and I should say - I don't log over the course of the day. I plan my meals at least a day in advance, and log all the food I plan to eat. It's very quick, and I actually found I really love having my meal plans in advance, it saves all the wondering when I get home of what I'll eat. Planning a few days out also helps a lot with grocery shopping.

    That's beneficial to me for reasons other than just calorie control, although calorie control was the primary reason I began it.
  • PinkPixiexox
    PinkPixiexox Posts: 4,142 Member
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    I'm going to say yes.

    All of my family are overweight. Up until a few months ago, I too was overweight. I have a huge, huge, appetite and I know that without that 'tracking' tool in place, I will eat more than I should and ultimately, gain weight. Sure, i'll probably loosen the 'tracking' somewhat, but I don't think I will ever turn away from being aware. Each and every time I stopped paying attention to my food, I gained weight and was pretty miserable with it!
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
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    My dietitian wants me to.
    The National Weight Control Registry suggests successful people do.
    Diabetics have to, or, consequences.
    I expect I will, 80% of the time until I'm 95. Then I am going all out hedonist.
  • nvmomketo
    nvmomketo Posts: 12,019 Member
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    I hope not. I counted calories for three months when I switched to a new way of eating. I haven't been counting calories for a month, and while my weight loss slowed (I know I am eating more) it is still controlled.

    Happily when I eat very LCHF ketogenic diet, I find it difficult to overeat. My appetite is down, and I tend not to overeat fat and protein, just carbs. I know (mostly) what to eat and when to control my prediabetes... I'm guessing I'll only count calories once in a while as a reality check - to make sure my food is still of a reasonable size.
  • tomatoey
    tomatoey Posts: 5,446 Member
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    On and off, depending on how much I can exercise and how steady my weight is.
  • Yi5hedr3
    Yi5hedr3 Posts: 2,696 Member
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    Yep, you ll always have to count. Sad, but true.
  • Optimistical1
    Optimistical1 Posts: 210 Member
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    sakurablush wrote: »
    Counting calories? Heck no.

    Fasting is a different matter however, and should keep me in check.

    This exactly. Except I say hEll no. I will always use my food scale as a backup plan in case I start to gain again, but I have no plans of obsessively weighing and/or recording everything that goes in my mouth forever. Fasting will keep me in check as well.
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 9,081 Member
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    'For the rest of my life' is a long time ( I hope!)

    However I do plan to keep logging for the foreseeable future.

    I have been in maitenance for nearly 2 years and I am used to logging and I am a 'lists and writing things down' sort of person so I dont find it a hardship.

    However I do not log meticulously - I practice what I call lazy logging. Every mandarine is a medium mandarine,every cappacino everywhere is the same, I estimate things when eating out.

    Also. If I am on holidays away from home for more than a day or two, I have a break from logging and resume it when I get back. The longest such break I have had is 3 weeks.

    Doing this has kept me within a weight range of 3 kg for nearly 2 years.
  • alizesmom
    alizesmom Posts: 219 Member
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    At this time, probably. This is my second weight loss and I know that I need to be accountable because I like to eat too much.
  • 47Jacqueline
    47Jacqueline Posts: 6,993 Member
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    I don't think about it. I keep a general track of my eating and intake on a regular basis.
  • OldAssDude
    OldAssDude Posts: 1,436 Member
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    I literally posted this on my home page just before reading this thread...

    Since I only have 22 lbs. left to lose, I am starting a new phase of my goal. I am going to STOP logging my food. Now I need to start training myself to watch what I eat without scanning, measuring, and keeping a running total of what I eat each day. I will still track my weight, and ballpark what I eat in my head, and I will still log my calories burned in MFP. I feel that a person should learn how to eat without having to measure everything they put in their mouth for the rest of their life. That is just time better spent living life, but it still has to be learned, and I am starting now.

    I only ball parked my calories up to this point anyway.
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,177 Member
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    Do you plan on counting calories for the rest of your life?


    No ... absolutely not! No way! Not a chance!
  • cnbbnc
    cnbbnc Posts: 1,267 Member
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    I can't see myself doing this forever, nor do I necessarily want to. For me, it's going to be trying to find a middle ground between eating on my own (with regular weigh-ins) and reverting to calorie counting as soon as I see I'm gaining. Same with weighing food.
  • zcb94
    zcb94 Posts: 3,678 Member
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    DeguelloTex wrote: »
    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.
    This. I'll ask my doctors, but I know that health is obviously lifelong. Therefore, I plan never to stop, until someone I trust suggests otherwise. Having said that, I'm well aware of the fact that there will be a day when I get to bump up to maintenance cals, which will be counted fairly religiously.

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