Maintaining/body recomp while intuitively eating?

Nikkimaxim

Has anyone had success maintaining their weight and not logging a thing? I spoke with a lady that has been doing so by just weighing herself every other day. If she weighs too much more, she eats less the following days. If she weighs less, she'll do the opposite. It seems to be working for her in body recomposition. As far as i can tell in her photos, it's definitely been working for her. I'm curious if anyone else has achieved losing body fat, but gaining muscle without tracking every single thing? If so, what has worked for you? Any tips?

kommodevaran

Well, I'm not doing any structured recomposition, but I am maintaining my weight, and I don't log in the food diary, but in a spreadsheet, as part of the meal planning; I weigh myself every day, but take action only after seeing an unwanted trend - those trends tend to not show up because I weigh every day, which helps me stay mindful of my intake. So I plan my meals and aim to stick to what I've planned, because I know how much I need, but I will adjust somewhat to my appetite - sometimes eat some more food (a "snack") or eat earlier or later.

I couldn't have done this without purely counting calories/macros for a while - combined with learning to recognize and respect hunger and satiety - it taught me to trust myself without having to count calories.

VeggieBarbells

I haven't been logging, for the last three months with no problem. My diet is vegetarian which I think helps(take that as you find) but I've had no real problems staying on point. My diet is more relaxed than it was before but I cycle 6 - 7 miles x6 a week and I think that keeps any indiscretions in check.

Losing body fat as opposed to losing weight is difficult. I still lift (SL 5x5) and I play squash, that combo of weights, steady state cardio and some HIIT seems to work for me. Its a big commitment and not everyone has that mindset. I've lost approx 10% body fat using this method and yet I'm still in double digits. Over the next 3 - 6 months I'll hit < 10% however not logging is the future for me and a more normal existence.

sijomial

I gave up food logging and it hasn't made any difference to my progress at all. Recomp is a by-product of my exercise/training progress rather than a goal in itself.

I weigh myself daily and keep a casual eye on any developing trends - I certainly don't react to daily changes, that wouldn't seem a good idea at all.

Really it's just reverting to how I maintained (30lbs overweight though) for twenty years. Food logging was a very useful tool for precision and honesty about food intake while dieting. Takes away any excuses when you see the numbers in front of you - I'm not a super efficient user of food after all, I just ate too much!

Remembering how to maintain my new weight without calorie counting wasn't a problem but took a little longer to be able to actively lose weight without logging to correct an upward trend or a post holiday blip. Skipping breakfast I find a painless way to shave off a few hundred calories a day and/or just making calorie conscious choices about snacks or bought lunches. Home cooked food and restaurant meals are chosen on taste and enjoyment, good food is a pleasure as well as fuel.

It's not intuitive eating as I'm still calorie aware. My one experiment years ago with completely intuitive eating (to hit that mythical set point where your weight settles into a happy place.....) saw me balloon from 30lbs overweight to 45lbs overweight in a very short time with no sign of stopping.

Now the only time I will log is when I'm doing a long distance cycling event and for optimal performance need the precision and planning that logging can give you. Otherwise my feeling is humans are very adaptable and can thrive without having to be precise about daily intake or macro tracking.

rybo

Yes. I can't remember the last time I logged food. Been in a recomp for a while now, body composition gets better and better. I can even tweak up or down as needed. I had to cut a few lbs for a weight class certification. No logging needed.

SideSteel

Yes, I haven't logged in at least a year and a half now.

I think it's a good idea to have some basic things in place rather than "winging it". I've written a few detailed posts about this -- I'll see if I can find them.

sgt1372

For years, I maintained at 170-175 and about 20%BF, which put me in the overweight category. It was an "ok" (but not necessarily "healthy") weight for me.

However, I've gained weight up to +195# twice (200# was my red flag) in the past 6 years (too much beer, pizza and other things that I drank/ate w/o thinking about) and had to resort to MFP and dieting to get back down to 158#/12% and 160/16% BF (respectively) which is a better weight for me.

My current goal is to stay at 160-165 and <15% BF. It's too easy to regress and I don't think I can stay in this range w/o logging. So, I'm going to continue to log -- forever if need be. I do not find it a burden. It helps me plan and regulate meals and is better for me overall. Doesn't mean you can't do otherwise. Do what works for you but, for me, logging seems to work best.

Nikkimaxim

rybo wrote: »

Yes. I can't remember the last time I logged food. Been in a recomp for a while now, body composition gets better and better. I can even tweak up or down as needed. I had to cut a few lbs for a weight class certification. No logging needed.

Awesome. How did you accomplish this? More cardio?

Nikkimaxim

SideSteel wrote: »

Yes, I haven't logged in at least a year and a half now.

I think it's a good idea to have some basic things in place rather than "winging it". I've written a few detailed posts about this -- I'll see if I can find them.

Any luck