Does anyone NOT count calories? How do you figure out how much of something to eat?

robertw486

I really never used this app for calorie concerns, but more for tracking nutrition for refueling. I'm reaching a point where I will probably use it less and less, and getting a better grip on macros in general.

I find it is much easier to just eat to natural hunger cues, but at times I gravitate towards not eating enough, or sometimes enough of the right things, after more intense or longer workouts. For weight control it's not an issue really and balances out. For tough workouts spaced closer together, it shows the flaws of my natural hunger cues.

TR0berts

I rarely track Calories anymore. There are a few basic things that I do that work for me.

Firstly, education, of a sort. I got a fairly decent idea of a general Calorie-count for most of the foods I eat. There are some things I'm completely guessing about (or don't really worry about). Like Jo mentioned above - it's just a reasonably educated guess. Additionally, I realize that excess carbs and/or sodium may make me retain water. As such, I know that my weight will probably spike for a day or two after eating high-carb/sodium. Thus, I don't worry if I'm heavier when I weigh myself if I can see a probably reason other than having eaten a butt-ton of food.

Secondly, I eat many of the same foods. Not every day, mind you. But over the course of a couple of weeks or so, if I were to tally up all the times I ate - say, salmon, for example - I'd eat approximately the same amount in January as I did in December as I did in November. Surely there are variations, but it'd be close.

Thirdly, I weigh myself every week. That's changed recently, as I'm trying to make sure I make weight for a PL meet this weekend, but when that's over I'll go back to my weekly routine. This makes it fairly easy to monitor what's going on. If I see my weight go up above a predetermined acceptable range, I know I need to eat a little less - and/or move a little more - for a few weeks.

The biggest thing, I think, is mindset. As long as you realize that there are ups and downs - and what the likely cause(s) for those ups and downs are - and you realize that there are some relatively small tweaks you can make, if necessary, you can be fine in not tracking.

I feel like there's something I'm missing here, but I'm drawing a blank right now.