Quitting Logging Milestone

ITUSGirl51

I’m thinking people who have been overweight and no longer log have other rules they follow to maintain.
I like logging and knowing a candy bar can fit into my calories today and I can still maintain my weight. My rules are just the number of calories I can consume in a day and nothing else.

MikePfirrman

I lost all of my weight (around 70 pounds) on another site a few years ago. That site has lost a lot of its functionality and I enjoy a more active forum (to remind me how I got there to 245 in the first place!).

I stopped logging around 3 years ago after two years of successful maintenance and religious logging. I have a red line that I follow and, it seems, every time I get close to it that just the thought of having to go back to logging every morsel that hits my lips seems like such a pain that I seem to lose the weight again.

The most important thing that tracking did for me was eliminating all the garbage. It honestly becomes habit after a period. I think it is easier if you also workout quite often (of course). Luckily, after I lost my weight my wife wanted to get on board with healthier eating (and we don't have kids at home) so it's honestly easier on me than most, I assume. We are both on the same page about not keeping junk in the house, so most of my "go to" past garbage habits are no longer available, which probably helps me more than anything.

Sounds like you'll do fine. It is liberating when you can do it and it's successful. I was a bit scared to do it at first and then learned that most of my habits are so engrained it would take a deliberate effort at this point to gain a lot of weight.

nowine4me

Thanks for sharing your advice @MikePfirrman and keep up the good work.

mk2fit

After losing 70ish pounds and holding rather steady on maintenance, I stopped logging just about a year ago. I stopped weighing weekly at the beginning of the year. I have kept my weight within a couple pounds of where I am comfortable.

It's kind of funny because after logging for a couple of years here, I sort of "log" each meal in my head. My fitbit keeps track of my exercise.

I agree with @MikePfirrman that it is liberating and also that it would take a lot to gain much.

toxikon

Good luck! I am in the same boat.

I've been logging calories on and off since 2011 and I really don't want to do this for the rest of my life. I'm really close to maintenance and shifting focus to intuitive healthy eating and strength training. It's scary but like you said - continuing to do regular weigh-ins to stay accountable is a great tool.