Counting calories forever

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  • oolou
    oolou Posts: 765 Member
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    It's a long way to maintenance for me, but no I don't see myself continuing to track calories forever. I may do so initially so I can get used to what maintenance calories look like on my plate, but after that .. probably not. I'll continue to weigh myself on a regular basis to keep an eye on any potential gains, and I will probably continue to fast once a week for the health benefits.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    Yes. It's better than the alternative (gaining the weight back).

    I mean, I suppose that if I didn't like dessert and sweets that much, it wouldn't be necessary, but I got to make sure I can fit them.
  • gonetothedogs19
    gonetothedogs19 Posts: 325 Member
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    Logging every meal everyday for life is an obsessive compulsive behavior. There can be no other explanation.

    You know what you can and cannot eat because you successfully lost the weight. And if you gain a few pounds one month, you can go back to logging to lose the three pounds the next month.
  • enterdanger
    enterdanger Posts: 2,447 Member
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    I'd like to say that I'm gonna learn to eat intuitively...but I suspect if that hasn't happened during the 3 years I've been here it is probably unlikely. I might have to count forever.
  • TR0berts
    TR0berts Posts: 7,739 Member
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    Hornsby wrote: »
    Honestly, what MFP did for me, after weighing and measuring nearly all of my intake for 8 months, was give me the ability to better estimate portions and "count" in my head. It also taught me that fluctuations happen. So, when I don't have a goal that needs to be precise with calories, I can wing it in my head which takes 10 seconds. I can watch weight and adjust as needed. If I need precision, I can weigh and measure to hit specific calorie and macro goals.

    Yeah, that's pretty much been me for a while. Hey, I've gained a little more weight than I'd like? OK, I'll pass on seconds, or dessert, or something. Hey, I'm back to where I was.
  • Myki3012
    Myki3012 Posts: 152 Member
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    I'm not sure myself. I might tone back weighing out my salads and main meals for the exact grams though, apparently it's a bit 'obsessive' lmao.
  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
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    In maintenance 2 years. And yes, to some extent, I expect to calorie count 'forever'. Of course in maintenance I can estimate and then let the scale tell me when I need to aim for more accuracy.

    Do you balance your checkbook/know what is in your checking account available to spend or do you only do that when you get a notice that you're overdrawn? Calorie budgeting is not terribly different from financial budgeting in my opinion.
    healthy491 wrote: »
    Maybe a silly question , but out of curiousity , once you get to your goal weight , do you plan to keep counting calories everyday for the rest of your lives? I mean its a little hard to keep track of everything you eat especially if you have an active and busy life

  • TR0berts
    TR0berts Posts: 7,739 Member
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    jemhh wrote: »
    healthy491 wrote: »
    Maybe a silly question , but out of curiousity , once you get to your goal weight , do you plan to keep counting calories everyday for the rest of your lives? I mean its a little hard to keep track of everything you eat especially if you have an active and busy life

    Maybe. I hope not to have to but I will if need be.

    It's not really that hard. The majority of people eat the same foods over and over again. It might take me 10 minutes a day to count my calories.

    That, too. I eat pretty much the same breakfast every day. And there's a bunch of different foods that I typically eat. If I eat the same amounts (or pretty close), I have a pretty good idea that I'm in my general maintenance range of Calories.
  • healthy491
    healthy491 Posts: 384 Member
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    gonetothedogs19 wrote: »
    Logging every meal everyday for life is an obsessive compulsive behavior. There can be no other explanation.

    You know what you can and cannot eat because you successfully lost the weight. And if you gain a few pounds one month, you can go back to logging to lose the three pounds the next month.

    Yeah , I agree with this tbh. I mean calorie counting is what helped me lose weight but i find myself obsessing like 'omg I didnt save enough calories for ice cream' etc so idk i dont think I should do it forever , but on the other hand , i dont want to gain weight.
  • rsclause
    rsclause Posts: 3,103 Member
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    Nah, I quit after I hit my goal weight and learned out to eat "normal" portions. Logging everything is beneficial but it really annoys people that aren't into this. It is also time consuming as well.
  • elisa123gal
    elisa123gal Posts: 4,306 Member
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    some people swear you should do it forever.. or they have to do it forever. I believe if you exercise and truly know what you're eating because you did count to lose it all.. you should be able to not have to count. Just make sure you weigh yourself so weight doesn't creep on.
  • srecupid
    srecupid Posts: 660 Member
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    I like logging because it keeps me accountable for eating healthy. At the same time I find it promotes some bad habbits like eating more when I don't have too. Like the other night I was pretty much done eating for the day but, still had maybe 300 calories left. So i went and had a rice crispie treat. Well I was like "that was *kitten* amazing let's have another i still have the calories left" . Also you're supposed to stop eating when full right? Well how do you count the calories on the unfinished portion when you already accounted for eating it all? Maybe I should just start guessing on what percent of a container I ate but, if it's not accurate what is the point?
  • cinnag4225
    cinnag4225 Posts: 126 Member
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    Once I've reached and held maintenance for a good period of time, I'll probably ease up and save counting for things like post-special occassion recovery or if the scale goes up more than 10lbs.
  • kcklub
    kcklub Posts: 3 Member
    edited August 2016
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    Just weigh yourself in a day or 2. Then do cardio to burn that off. Simple

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