Opinions on breaks from calorie counting ?

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  • Trina2040
    Trina2040 Posts: 214 Member
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    I always count calories and have for the past 2 years while losing 52+ lbs. I'm at maintenance now but every 2 months I take a break from the gym for a week to rest and recharge. I still stay active walking, etc. but that one week off the weights and cardio really helps me stay fresh. While losing weight over the last 2 years I also took a "maintenance break," eating maintenance calories and staying active for a week, then it was right back to my deficit. Worked well for me, but I'll always have to count or calorie creep creeps back into my life.
  • hollen_carol
    hollen_carol Posts: 121 Member
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    Trina2040 wrote: »
    I always count calories and have for the past 2 years while losing 52+ lbs. I'm at maintenance now but every 2 months I take a break from the gym for a week to rest and recharge. I still stay active walking, etc. but that one week off the weights and cardio really helps me stay fresh. While losing weight over the last 2 years I also took a "maintenance break," eating maintenance calories and staying active for a week, then it was right back to my deficit. Worked well for me, but I'll always have to count or calorie creep creeps back into my life.

    I love your way of thinking for a break from the gym and from strict counting. I think that sort of mentality would really work to keep things fresh and not feel so trapped and obligated. I'm getting tired of this but I can't stop counting for the long term or I know what the results would be. I like to overindulge way too much :)
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
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    A break with logging/counting or a break without logging/counting? I think this boils down to personal preference. I do believe a maintenance break is always good for the body and mind especially when "dieting" for long period of time, or burned out, going on vacation, perhaps the break includes an exercise break as well.

    I personally do "diet" breaks with logging.
  • Keladelphia
    Keladelphia Posts: 820 Member
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    Gibby349 wrote: »
    Keladelphia wrote: »
    Gibby349 wrote: »
    Okay so altogether I'm down 33 pounds since January. For the last week or two I've been eating what I like and haven't gained because im active all day so maybe that's what keeping those scales down ;).I've been staying the same thankfully .I was thinking of staying on this break until the 26th of September as it feels good to have more delicious food.I would like your thoughts and opinions on this. I'm not counting calories or anything I'm just enjoying myself more by eating the things I always enjoy.I'm really active five days of week from working so I think that Is what is doing the trick for me..Should I continue to stay on my break by not counting calories or should I not ?

    I personally think breaks from counting calories are great! I think as long as you are monitoring weight/measurements to make sure you are staying in line with your goals it's fine. My only concern is that you mentioned "it feels good to have more delicious food." If you feel you need to not count calories in order to eat more delicious food that sounds like a slippery slope to me. Regardless losing 33Lbs is amazing progress. Keep up the great work!

    Well when I'm in a deficit I can have delicious food also but not as much , it wouldn't be satisfying for me to eat like one slice of pizza. Thats what im kinda doing when im in a deficit.If it's gonna be a lifestyle change what am I going to do when I go to friends houses and they are having sweets and pizza and stuff and I just sit there eating one slice while they can indulge. I know for definite I won't be able to do that for the rest of my life.I know people are saying it shouldn't feel like a diet,but honestly no matter what kind of diet you are doing you are always missing out on a certain amount of delicious food. For example what if you ate all your calories for the day and your friend messages you and says wanna go for ice cream .You can't actually refuse just because you ate your calorie allowance for the day .

    Ahh from the OP I didn't realize you weren't trying to keep a deficit I thought you were just saying take a break from counting calories. As I said I think taking a break from tracking is great in my opinion but I usually do this when my goal is to maintain or lose.

    I personally find it MORE important for me to count calories when I want to go over my allowance because yes, on a Tuesday a friend might ask me to go get icecream after I've eaten all of my calories (and I should) but I personally need to remind myself that I had that icecream and was over 1000 calories on Tuesday so I don't give myself permission to do it again on Saturday. The slippery slope I referenced was the fact that if i'm not tracking those overages from indulging in foods I dont usually eat than I tend to start to have them more frequently.
  • LEAS86
    LEAS86 Posts: 144 Member
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    I recently gave myself a break. It started as a lack of motivation after a couple of bad days but then I decided to give myself 2 weeks rest. I still logged in to MFP, but not religiously, I didn't set a calorie goal - some days I made healthy choices, some days I didn't, regained a couple of pounds (which was mostly water weight as my carbs went through the roof!), but came back last week recharged and ready to go.

    I find a break is a good thing. If I'm less less enthused or getting bogged down or bored it can be the boost I need. That said, personally I don't think I would be able to go longer than 2 weeks as I'm not good at self regulating and I know the weight I've lost would creep back on.
  • bfanny
    bfanny Posts: 440 Member
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    If its working for you I don't see why not, just check your weight once in a while and if you start gaining then you know what to do...enjoy your "freedom"
  • Sara1791
    Sara1791 Posts: 760 Member
    edited September 2016
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    I think an intentional break, with an end in sight, is better than an unintentional break. Since you asked, I think you should do it without measuring but being mindful and keeping an eye on what your portions look like and how you feel (how full, satisfied, energetic, etc.) I think the experience could be enjoyable and you could learn something from it.

    edit: if you do it, I'd love to read an update when you're finished
  • icemom011
    icemom011 Posts: 999 Member
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    I don't log and don't count, but I'm staying at the deficit and getting very close to my goal weight. Sometimes i would check thw weight of whatever i eat, like my chicken salad today, for instance, mostly because i want to know an estimated calorie worth of it plus bread I'm having it with. Most of the time,i can estimate well. It helps when i eat out, or eating something i didn't prepare, and overall with my daily eating habits. Onse in maintenance, i plan to follow same pattern that I've learned those past few months. I think your idea of indulging and having as many pizza slices as someone else is not a sound one. That's probably how most of us got to be overweight and ended up on mfp trying to do something about it. For myself, i know better not to. Yes, it sucks sometimes, when there's food that you love, but shouldn't have a plateful of, but then again. You can indulge, meaning have a reasonably small amount that fits into your goal, eat it slowly and enjoy. How's that not indulging? I don't have any forbidden food, the only limit is the quantity of it. So that's good enough for me, it allows me to stick to it long term and i am good with that.
  • brialger
    brialger Posts: 41 Member
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    Personally, I log and count purely because I like to be aware of what goes into my body lol I guess you can say I'm a planner in every aspect of my life and eatings no different for me
  • Jcl81
    Jcl81 Posts: 154 Member
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    Any break from something people get obsessed with is a good thing.
  • Cynthiamr2015
    Cynthiamr2015 Posts: 161 Member
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    Instead of taking a long time off how about taking a freebie day once a week just be good the rest of the week. I am wondering why you have to cut stuff out? I eat what I want most of the time I just eat cheese, ice cream, other stuff in moderation. (I cheat sometimes but still I am good most of the time.) What ever works for you might not work for others. Also keep in mind that to long of a time could set you back and I am sure you do not want that. Taking a break is good! I find myself watching the portions I eat even when I am cheating :wink:
  • z4oslo
    z4oslo Posts: 229 Member
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    I dont count at all, for several reasons.
    The biggest beeing that it creates (for me) an unatural relationship with food. (have I eaten enough? Did I eat too much? etc) I dont want to feel guilt for doing something basic like eating.

    So what I do instead is to eat really slow, taht way I know I dont overeat.
    This has been working great so far, with 11 kg lost in 2,5 months.
  • llbrixon
    llbrixon Posts: 964 Member
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    When I took a "Calorie break " from counting, I would always change the goal to lose 1/2 pound a week and them run on maintenance for awhile. Doing this would give me extra calories to eat. And... .By doing this, I have to realize that my weight loss will slow down.
  • Trina2040
    Trina2040 Posts: 214 Member
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    hollen_carol wrote: »
    Trina2040 wrote: »
    I always count calories and have for the past 2 years while losing 52+ lbs. I'm at maintenance now but every 2 months I take a break from the gym for a week to rest and recharge. I still stay active walking, etc. but that one week off the weights and cardio really helps me stay fresh. While losing weight over the last 2 years I also took a "maintenance break," eating maintenance calories and staying active for a week, then it was right back to my deficit. Worked well for me, but I'll always have to count or calorie creep creeps back into my life.

    I love your way of thinking for a break from the gym and from strict counting. I think that sort of mentality would really work to keep things fresh and not feel so trapped and obligated. I'm getting tired of this but I can't stop counting for the long term or I know what the results would be. I like to overindulge way too much :)

    @hollen_carol I just wanted to clarify that I always strictly counted calories, logged them, and still do even though I'm at my goal weight. I took a week off from my deficit switched to maintenance, and no gym exercise for a week. After that week "off," I went back to my deficit calories and back to the gym. Sorry for the confusion.
  • swim777
    swim777 Posts: 599 Member
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    Machka9 wrote: »
    I take breaks from counting now and then ... in fact, I've only been half-heartedly counting for a couple weeks now.

    But I still weigh myself every day to monitor what's going on there. If I get concerned about that, I'll start counting regularly again.
    This!!
    I had a really off week..usually I am pretty lenient with calories weekend nights and back on track during the week which keeps a good balance calorie and exercise wise...this week work stress..staying up later..and just too much grading papers and lesson planning made me fall into the snacking habit.

    Life is going to happen..but whether you count or you log and I truly try to do both, weigh in..monitor it, so you can make good decisions..sooo im not eating much today after taking my own advice and WEIGHING! Lol
  • Nikion901
    Nikion901 Posts: 2,467 Member
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    I always count my calories even when I am not in a deficit ... and I also track my macros. The break I get is from eating at a deficit, but for me, being responsible means logging my intake ... and that means counting my calories so I don't unintentionally go over my maintenance target range.

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