Advice needed

JinnyW14

Hi. I've just successfully lost 4 stone and 5lbs. Its taken me 17 months. I reached my target yesterday. At first I did calorie counting and lost 2 stone, then I started slimming world online and lost the rest, but during that time, I often experimented out of curiosity to see how many calories as I was having on a day, following SW and I was shocked!!! Most of the time I was way over calories and yet under syns. This then lead me to feel torn which to follow. I'm just wondering now whether to stick with calorie counting to maintain until I get used to maintenance, then I'll stop tracking and trust myself. Its the simple things I like, that annoy me with slimming world, that I can't have on the same day, like avocados and maybe something else that's high in syns and yet healthy. Oh and now I've reached my goal weight, I'm only allowed extra syns on 2 to 3 days!! Which I think is very restrictive, whereas with calorie counting, you can have an extra allowance every day if u wanted. What's your opinions? Xxx

Lietchi

I'm just going to state the obvious that your body doesn't count syns, it takes into account calories in versus calories out.

As for the appropriate strategy for you: you'll need to internalize some habits if you don't want to count calories forever/ follow slimming world forever.
I'll freely admit that I'm not at that point myself: I'm still counting calories, because I like that certainty of knowing I'm under of over my calories and adjust my intake accordingly. (I would never want to follow a system where foods get seemingly random points and treats often are disproportiately penalised. (I don't know slimming world well, I know a bit more about weight watchers with their 'free food' and I would undoubtedly gain weight that way)
Some people find that they always start regaining weight when they stop calorie counting, some people find a strategy to maintain their weight without logging. I'm not sure yet where I fit in 🙂

I would try to find a way of eating that suits you long-term. If the calorie count isn't appropriate, you won't maintain your weight. If it feels too restrictive, you won't adhere to it.
Yes, avocados are healthy, but they are also a high fat food, which means they are fairly calorie dense. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it is something you need to take into account. For example: a salad with boiled egg and avocado versus a salad with grilled chicken and green beans will have have different calorie counts for the same size/weight.

The single most important thing will be to keep track of your weight as you experiment with your strategies. I would personally count calories alongside whatever strategy you try, just to know your baseline for how many calories you can eat to maintain your weight.

cmriverside

Yeah, what Lietchi said.

Do whichever one suits you or do a combo of the two, like you're doing now. I agree that it does make sense to know the calorie count of those syn foods so you can understand how they fit in.

It's really not that complicated to just enter food into the food diary here. Do that for a while, see if you like it. You don't have to do one or the other.

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1234699/logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide/p1

cmriverside

Oh! Huge congrats on your weight loss. You already know more than 90% of the people out there who are overweight. Carry on! Good work :flowerforyou:

Lietchi

cmriverside wrote: »

Oh! Huge congrats on your weight loss. You already know more than 90% of the people out there who are overweight. Carry on! Good work :flowerforyou:

Oops, forgot that bit 😆 congrats from me too! Losing 60lbs (for us non stone users 🙂) is a great accomplishment!

Corina1143

Hurray for you losing the weight! Obviously if you're smart enough and dedicated enough to lose it on your own, you can keep it off on your own. But I understand you wanting advice of someone who's been there. As of this morning, I'm 13 pounds away. I can't wait!

AnnPT77

Congratulations on your weight loss: That's excellent. You've come further than most people do. Kudos!

I think how to maintain is something other people can't really answer for you: The best ways for any individual to maintain weight tend to be quite personalized. We each have different preferences, strengths, challenges, lifestyles, etc. The methods need to harmonize with those things.

You might want to read some of the threads in this part of the Community**, including some in the "Most Helpful Posts" subsection, to get others' thoughts and ideas.

Personally, I would rebel at a practice like Slimming World. I would feel like they were trying to be my mommy, daddy, or nanny, and I rebel at those things. I don't like following other people's rules. It conflicts with my (powerful) inner hedonist.

For me, calorie counting has been excellent. As a data geek in various ways, I don't find it obsessive or burdensome at all, now that I know how to use all the tools effectively. I do care about nutrition, not just calories, but calorie counting lets me decide on any tradeoffs based on my own preferences and needs. I like that.

I've kept calorie counting into maintenance - 7+ years so far. I'm more relaxed about it than I was at first, and initially counted every single day (during loss and early maintenance). I think point, I skip days or meal that would be more time-consuming to log or wild guesses (like potlucks, or dinners at others homes). Keeping most days where they need to be, calorie banking a little most days, and watching the scale, it works out for me.

Some people are able to stop counting (anything) and maintain, through something like very consistent eating/activity habits, or some form of intuitive eating. I'm not very consistent, because I like variety, and periodic indulgent meals or days are important for my happiness. As far as I can tell, my intuition would still lead me to overeat - I was was overweight to obese for literal decades, so "bad intution" may be wired in, for me, not sure. I want my future self to be healthy and happy: I don't think intuition would lead me to a good outcome.

All that stuff above is intended as examples of ways I think personalized tactics are necessary, and depend on our individual personalities and behavior traits.

For now, relaxed calorie counting works great for me. It may not work well forever, I don't know. If it eventually doesn't, because I change attitudes or circumstances, I'll have to do a re-think.

Best wishes for sorting this out!

** Direct links to a couple of good examples:
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1422943/long-time-maintainers-how-do-you-do-it/p1
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10008273/maintainers-how-do-you-keep-your-head-in-the-game/p1

abnerchiang5574

Corina1143 wrote: »

Hurray for you losing the weight! Obviously if you're smart enough and dedicated enough to lose it on your own, you can keep it off on your own. But I understand you wanting advice of someone who's been there. As of this morning, I'm 13 pounds away. I can't wait!

First off, congrats on being just 13 pounds away from your goal weight – you've got this! It's always inspiring to hear about others on their weight loss journey.

I can relate to what you and JinnyW14 are discussing. I've actually reached my goal weight in the past, but I've had some setbacks and ended up regaining some weight due to episodes of binge eating. It's been a bit of a rollercoaster for me, and I'm currently working on getting back on track. I weigh myself daily, and I'm about 8 kilograms away from my target.

It's great to have this supportive community to share experiences and advice. I'm all about learning from each other and finding ways to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

If you're interested in connecting more or sharing your experiences, feel free to drop me a message. We can motivate each other on this journey!