When to stop counting calories?

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  • freedom456
    freedom456 Posts: 3
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    I have had so much fun with myfitnesspal. It's easy, take a few minutes a day and it keeps me on top of what I now put in my body.
    I recently came back from a road trip and ate super healthy 90% of the time. The 10% was filled with too much sodium, too much cholesterol, too much trans fat, and they were the healthy choices on the menus where I ate out!!!!
    I need this program to help me monitor the good and the bad that I put into my body.
    The exercise component allows me to challenge myself.
    I love it and it works for me.
  • Laura3BB
    Laura3BB Posts: 250 Member
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    I counted and logged religiously while loosing (4 months) then starting maintenance (2 months).
    Now I've been maintaining more than a month not logging any more; and I'm perfectly stable (weighing myself once a week).
  • Ulwaz
    Ulwaz Posts: 380 Member
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    The truth is its your decision if you count or not, it works for some people and not for others, stop if you like just be mindful :)
  • RedArizona5
    RedArizona5 Posts: 465 Member
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    Even if I don't use MFP I count calories naturally in my head as I've been using it for so long.. is that a good thing?

    THIS---^ Exactly. I mean if you can RECOUNT your daily foods when you were losing weight---that is what you need to eat all the time without any extra activity to maintain weight. Makes sense if you think about it. If you like adventure with your food like I do. Then calorie counting is a MUST. And if your not like us(who know how much calories are per serving for basically everything in the store) then you must use MFP:happy: .
    I can't stress enough the importance of learning your nutritional facts! Once you do you have more power than you realize. I can adjust and re-adjust to my liking to what I want to eat for any one given day for me just because I have counted calories for so long.
    Maintenance CAN be achieved when you learn you TDEE. It is what the number of calories you need RIGHT NOW:smile: without working out. Mine is near 2,000 but even to maintain I would like to stick to 1,500. I am a little below that to lose weight. But having a regular time for activity I don't think i will ever worry about weight but just adjust it to my needs. And everyday is different. Some days you had enough sleep so you won't be s hungry-go for low. Other days you feel ravenous like I have been then increase activity and watch your portions if there will be an occasional treat...
  • joan23_us
    joan23_us Posts: 263 Member
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    Alright, so for the past two days I have eaten whatever junk food has come my way. I work in a cafe so that means frappucino's, scones, panini's, cookies, brownies, definitely not low cal stuff. However I'm actually under my goal weight and realized I need to gain back a few pounds. I know this is not the healthiest way to do it, it's just what happened this past weekend. I let myself be free with food for the first time in the past year since losing all the weight.

    But now, as I've finished this binge and feel fulfilled in a sense, I realize I don't want to keep counting.

    I want to live.

    The problem is, I don't know if I really know how. I know how to gain weight, obviously. I know how to lose weight. But maintaining is a foreign concept to me. Even as I've tried to maintain using this website, it doesn't really work. Because I keep having that mindset when I look at the number I feel like it needs to be lower. I realize that's not a happy mindset and I want to change that. My basic question is, how did the people who lost all the weight successfully maintain after?

    I gotta believe there's enough will out there to be able to do it without counting for the rest of your life. Because while this is an extremely effective tool, I don't want to see myself relying on it forever.

    find the 'RIGHT BALANCE" for your preferred lifestyle.... for me it means, logging 5 days a week mon-fri and "letting loose" on the weekend to enjoy family, life, etc. it has worked for me, its like a mini-win each week and prepares me again for the following weeks' rigid macro tracking.... now this may not be for you... for some they "eyeball portion" when they are confident enough to estimate portion sizes etc. after sometime.... the key here is not having any sort of 'ACCOUNTABILITY' and waking up one morning & realized you are back to where you started.... it doesnt happen overnight so Im sure having some sort of "accountability" will still keep your weight in check so long that you FIND THE RIGHT BALANCE for you to still be fit & healthy and enjoy a little bit of indulgence here and there..... goodluck!
  • nikkihk
    nikkihk Posts: 487 Member
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    You track your mileage... why not your food? It's all good for ya. =D
  • KingofWisdom
    KingofWisdom Posts: 229 Member
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    I've only lost about ten pounds so far, but it's because I threw exercise into the mix. I haven't been counting my calories. For me, the problem has been that I like to sit on my butt all day. But I've actually come to enjoy exercise as of late. If I absolutely need to count calories to keep myself in check, I will. But I think I'll be fine just weighing myself every few weeks and increasing my exercise as I see fit if I'm ten or more pounds above my ideal weight (when I reach maintenance, of course). I do keep calories in mind, though.
  • JenniCali1000
    JenniCali1000 Posts: 646 Member
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    Everyone is different. Some can manage their intake and never count one calorie while also never gaining a pound. Others (like me) need to count cals most of the time in order to stay at maintenance level. I just love food waaaaay too much! :)
  • nedtoloseme
    nedtoloseme Posts: 98 Member
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    As someone said before, I will probably track at maintenance. As someone also said if I was doing good in the first place I would not have needed to go to mfp. But to each his/her own. No reason to put anyone down whatever their choice. Whatever works for you do it. Mfp has been a lifesaver for me me.
  • dcoleman01
    dcoleman01 Posts: 10 Member
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    Yep, me to
  • Juggernautpint
    Juggernautpint Posts: 70 Member
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    BEEN THERE

    Using MFP I successfully got to a weight that I hadn't been since high school!! Lost over 45 lbs.

    People were telling me I was getting too skinny so I stopped. Problem is I had become so used to the routine and like you I always focused on the numbers.

    I didn't really have a plan on how to eat normally when I decided to leave MFP, I mean I could virtually log in my head but II never really practiced a calorie neutral diet and my ideal bodyweight. My biggest mistake.

    So here I am, back on MFP once again after a couple years. I've successfully did the impossible and I'll do it again only this time I'll be smarter.

    My advice, continue to use MFP for a few more months calorie neutral at the weight you want to be. Learn this routine otherwise you'll be here in a couple years doing this again. Trust me.
  • DesireeLovesOrganic
    DesireeLovesOrganic Posts: 456 Member
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    Every time I stop logging, I gain 5 pounds and then have to come back and log again anyways. LMAO
  • Bounce4
    Bounce4 Posts: 288 Member
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    When I reach my goal my plan is to continue logging but probably not the veggies. If I gain weight eating raw vegetables (that is a lot of flipp'n spinach and bell peppers) I'll adjust my calories on the other things. Veggies will be a free for all, lol. That will take some tediousness out of the logging. I do it now because I'm still losing and still learning.
  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
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    Even if I don't use MFP I count calories naturally in my head as I've been using it for so long.. is that a good thing?

    THIS---^ Exactly. I mean if you can RECOUNT your daily foods when you were losing weight---that is what you need to eat all the time without any extra activity to maintain weight. Makes sense if you think about it. If you like adventure with your food like I do. Then calorie counting is a MUST. And if your not like us(who know how much calories are per serving for basically everything in the store) then you must use MFP:happy: .
    I can't stress enough the importance of learning your nutritional facts! Once you do you have more power than you realize. I can adjust and re-adjust to my liking to what I want to eat for any one given day for me just because I have counted calories for so long.
    Maintenance CAN be achieved when you learn you TDEE. It is what the number of calories you need RIGHT NOW:smile: without working out. Mine is near 2,000 but even to maintain I would like to stick to 1,500. I am a little below that to lose weight. But having a regular time for activity I don't think i will ever worry about weight but just adjust it to my needs. And everyday is different. Some days you had enough sleep so you won't be s hungry-go for low. Other days you feel ravenous like I have been then increase activity and watch your portions if there will be an occasional treat...

    If you want a lower TDEE, then move less. :laugh: (I'm not sure I actually understand your last paragraph. It sounds like either confusion or wishful thinking -- not sure which.


    It would be very difficult to lost weight without counting calories, I think. But this is about maintaining weight. It's actually very easy to maintain without counting, provided you are still planning most of your meals and thinking about what you eat. Also, step on the scale once or twice a month to be sure.
  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
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    When I reach my goal my plan is to continue logging but probably not the veggies. If I gain weight eating raw vegetables (that is a lot of flipp'n spinach and bell peppers) I'll adjust my calories on the other things. Veggies will be a free for all, lol. That will take some tediousness out of the logging. I do it now because I'm still losing and still learning.

    I quit logging low calorie, non-starchy veggies early on. I would have to eat way more than what would be possible for me for them to add up to enough calories to make a different. I love both spinach and bell peppers, but I can't eat so much of them in one day that it would add up to very many calories. Carrots, potatoes, corn, as well as "fruit-veggies" (that which are fruits, but I call veggies anyway) I still weigh, even if I am not logging that day. The numbers are all in my head, so I know what to stick to.
  • angiehdzmunoz
    angiehdzmunoz Posts: 2 Member
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    How do you post the chart? under what setting is it?? I would like to share mine
  • angiehdzmunoz
    angiehdzmunoz Posts: 2 Member
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    How do you guys post the chart? what is that option ? :(
  • alisonmarytuck
    alisonmarytuck Posts: 68 Member
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    I am not at my goal yet but I wil definitely carry on with MFP ...I use it now to keep me on general track without depriving myself of anything I fancy eating - but only have small portions. Its working. MFP is also informing me of the impact of the food choices I make, that has brought about a change of mindset in itself as now I consider whether something is worth it or not. Sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't! When I reach my goal I will definitely carry on with maintaing present weight as my goal - thinking of the logging ss information rather than the end number of calories. So I think the key is to change the mindset to gaining information to support choices rather than 'counting calories'
  • belanna5
    belanna5 Posts: 85 Member
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    I accept the reality that I will never be able to stop counting. Not an option.
  • districtsoul
    districtsoul Posts: 6
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    I've already accepted the fact that I'm going to use MFP to count calories and macros the rest of my life. Without it, I know I'll NEVER be able to eyeball calories well enough to maintain, or take in optimal macronutrient intake and calorie intake. I find MFP not only extremely effective, but very very easy to use. Entering food takes only a couple minutes a day, and it's not a big deal to me, but everybody is different.

    I couldn't agree more. After calorie tracking 3 different long term stretches in the past 5 years, I, too, have realized there is simply no way for me to just "wing it". Even while running 40-50 miles (65-80 km) per week, I still will add weight if I don't track my eating habits. At first I thought it sucks, but I changed my perspective now...at least I have an method that will work and will allow me to maintain my optimal weight. It's similar to my hypothyroidism...I have to take a pill the rest of my life, but it keeps me healthy...therefore I do it.

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