Not counting, watching (sort of Intuitive Eating, but old-style, with gentle nutrition)

momlongerwalk

I've cycled around the same 10 lbs or so for over 40 years after dropping 25ish pounds. The last 10 years or so I've kept my weight lower and tighter, healthier eating, especially as I've started playing tennis again and my calorie burn skyrocketed depending on the weather.

On trips (traveling/camping, 2-3 weeks 2-3x a year), I would forgo logging entirely (and not gain), and very rarely, I just grew tired of logging, but would go back to keeping the data. Knowledge is power. Within the last year, though, I've realized that the same issues occur repeatedly when my weight creeps up, either excessive intake of a few foods or too little protein, or simply snacking because I didn't feel physically well and food makes one feel better when hungry, so why not just tired? Ha. Poor logic hard at work.

After recent trip in June, I decided that I wouldn't go back to logging for the time being, and instead concentrate on being mindful about those foods I could stand to eat more moderate amounts of, getting enough protein, and thinking before eating. I mean, I've mostly done this while logging, too, but the point is that I have ingrained how many/much chips or butter or ice cream or wine are sensible quantities, I don't need to log to know that. Same with protein. And if I find I want a snack, I need to pause to consider if that's hunger or fatigue talking.

I don't need to log calories to take any of these measures. So I'm in an experiment to see if concentrating on the key points will be sufficient to keep my weight where I want it to be. For a silver-hair, I train pretty hard in summer, so the real test will be about January. I'm not dead set on never logging again, but if I can do this without logging, it's one less thing cluttering up my already overloaded brain.

Not expecting to see results good or bad from this experiment for weeks yet, as I'm so stable. Wish me luck.

I have over 1800 daily entries on my spreadsheet.

AdahPotatah2024

I log in my planned lunches/dinners for the week a few hundred calories below what I need to and tend not to have to worry about calories during the day as long as I try to somewhat stick to my meal plans.

momlongerwalk

AdahPotatah2024 wrote: »

I log in my planned lunches/dinners for the week a few hundred calories below what I need to and tend not to have to worry about calories during the day as long as I try to somewhat stick to my meal plans.

I'm all about finding YOUR comfortable spot--what gets you to your goal with the right amount of fuss. You found yours--such a HUGE win!!!

AnnPT77

Interesting approach: Keep us posted on how it goes for you, if you feel up to it? It could be instructive.

I'm in year 8 of maintenance, now logging most of the time but not every single day any more. I don't find it burdensome usually, but feel pretty comfortable that it's the majority of my days - the routine days - that determine the majority of my results. If my weight creeps up, it's pretty easy to creep it down again.

momlongerwalk

AnnPT77 wrote: »

Interesting approach: Keep us posted on how it goes for you, if you feel up to it? It could be instructive.

I'm in year 8 of maintenance, now logging most of the time but not every single day any more. I don't find it burdensome usually, but feel pretty comfortable that it's the majority of my days - the routine days - that determine the majority of my results. If my weight creeps up, it's pretty easy to creep it down again.

My plan is to do just that, report back on my experiment. This approach feels very different from logging (even the gaps in logging), which I've done diligently the vast majority of the last 15-20 years (in various ways). In some respects, like I have to grow up? Take responsibility right now for what I'm eating & why? Not beating myself up so much as relaxing into what I know.

As noted in my reply to AdahPotatah2024, I'm all about finding the right path for oneself . . . it seemed logging wasn't doing the trick anymore, I was making the same decisions/mistakes over & over, so it is time to try something a bit different.

COGypsy

I've had some success with a similar approach. I focus on my hunger signals and manage my appetite with a hunger scale. I work to keep my meals and snacks balanced so that I keep my protein up and makes sure I get fruits and veggies in the rotation as well. I've lost about 7 pounds doing this. It's a slow process, for sure. Now I'm considering going briefly back to calorie counting to drop some weight quickly before an upcoming surgery, but just not sure.

CrazyMermaid1

I’m rooting for you. Personally I can’t keep a running total in my head yet of where I am if I don’t log. As someone else said, it really helps me to prelog if I have an event coming up that.

momlongerwalk

Some data:

My weight:
5/25/24 124.8, 7 day running average was 124.9
6/25/24 124.6, 7 day running average was 125.1
7/25/24 126.6, 7 day running average was 125.7
8/2/24 125.2, 7 day running average 125.6

5/25/24 7 day average body muscle 36.4, body fat 21.2 (for comparison purposes only; it's a scale and those are nnot accurate for absolute purposes, but useful for comparisions)
8/2/24 7 day average body muscle 36.6, body fat 21.4

On the whole, no particularly noticeable changes in body composition.

I have been burning off 400-500 calories a day on average, running, tennis, yardwork, strength training, exercise bike (joint saving). I'm not doing particularly well at managing my splurges/weaknesses, but I know exactly what they are, and the issues, as I suspected, do not differ with loggin or not logging. This is important because I will not be keeping up this level of activity throughout any given year.

More to follow in a month or so.

momlongerwalk

Update: I've had to go back to logging for reasons unrelated to my weight, go figure. I have to prune back on fat because a medication I'm on causes me some distress and reducing my fat intake to a bit less than 30% of my caloric intake is helpful. So this experiment is kind of ended because if I'm going to log, I'm going to do it right (in case I look back for reference). I was feeling pretty good about it, though I still found the same problems cropped up again & again. Right now, it's about some serious daily distress and that trumps most everything else. Regards to all!

SummerSkier

I think that what many of us have found is that the whole "intuitive" eating thing can work for a while but things are always changing and a lot of times we have to go back to logging for a while. Maintenance changes over time just like us so thinking there will be one approach forever does not work.

sollyn23l2

SummerSkier wrote: »

I think that what many of us have found is that the whole "intuitive" eating thing can work for a while but things are always changing and a lot of times we have to go back to logging for a while. Maintenance changes over time just like us so thinking there will be one approach forever does not work.

Exactly this. There's no shame in realizing that you need a readjustment due to whatever changes going on, and returning to calorie counting to help with that. I used intermittent fasting for over a year with no need to count calories. Until something changed. Then I went back to calorie counting. It doesn't need to be an all or nothing, if I stop for a bit it's all over kind of thing. This is life. Things change, we change.

AdahPotatah2024

I read where Betty White, because she had seen her mother's struggle with weight gain, weighed herself just about every morning and if she started going over she cut out some of her usual indulgences which I'm guessing were the vodka drinks before dinner, hotdogs, or taco bell. 😋✔️

momlongerwalk

Another update: I'm back logging full time because I'm on medication that seems to require I eat more restrictively on fats (not to the point of unhealthy, thankfully) to keep the side effects minimized. I'm certainly motivated to keep those side effects away! Pretty easily keeping calorie counts down because of this--in fact it's been a challenge to keep them up with my high activity load--and no surprise, have lost a few pounds.

Edited to add: I'm kind of bummed because I was happy just keeping a weather eye on higher calorie/indulgent foods with a view to intuititve eating. Sigh.

I2k4

Many situational differences so no "universal" principle about this. I learned a lot from scrupulous diet tracking (first time ever) over a full year during the pandemic, and recommend that discipline along with programmed workouts for those who haven't done it. Maintaining muscle mass and function is personally more concerning than ups and downs of body fat.
After my initial deep dive I stepped back, with weight stabilized at target on the basis of simply recording a set of home meals/snacks with 40+ grams of protein, only using an app to calculate and add new foods or recipes. I need ballpark 2200 calories over four meals to maintain weight and hit a protein macro with normal weekly activity (including workouts). I have whey protein in morning oats or yogurt and in an afternoon shake, and take vitamin/mineral supplements three days a week. I don't think about social or travel meals and drinks, but can pare back for a while if they feel overdone.