Do you expect to count calories the rest of your life?

nurseybee

I have to battle fat genes. I'll be counting the rest of my life, most likely. Maybe one day when I'm old and no longer care, I might stop and just eat whatever I want. Until then, we never really know when insurance companies will start charging by BMI or something stupid.

DesDawn24

I fully expect to keep counting for the rest of my life. I'm sure things will eventually get easier as my body starts to adjust to what's normal and what isn't, but I like the accountability of it. I like being able to sit down and look at something concrete to know how I've been doing and how it all measures out.

livesmith

I think I'll be counting, or at least rough guesstimating. Hard to say for sure. I've always been like at least 60lbs overweight. Now I've lost 60lbs and have about 30 to go. A "maintenance mode" is hard for me to quite imagine. I suppose I might stop counting like I do now and just try to eat mostly sensibly and see what the weight does and go from there.

sweetpea03b

More than likely... I'll have days where I don't feel like it... I think eventually I'll just know what I can and can't eat/portions, etc. to stay on track.... but I think the counting keeps me accountable... so i'll probably have to keep counting.

Although, I don't weigh my food... so... there's that. I don't want to start something I don't plan on continuing and I know for a fact that i'm not going to weigh/measure everything for my whole life.

Francl27

Yes. And weighing it. It's either that so I can not feel guilty if I have a treat, or go overboard on treats and gain, or try to eat healthy with no treats and end up binging. Easier to log, plus this way I won't freak out when I gain water weight.

Sreneesa

Nope!

I feel if I have to continue to count calories forever then I obviously do not get it; It should become ingrained in me after a long period of time of doing so.

I believe gauging food without constantly counting and measuring should become automatic and habit if it is lifelong....

Eli716

Let me get to my goal before I answer that, lol.

But, no, I don't expect to be glued to calorie counting, but I would be more aware of what's going in my mouth than I was before I started. There might be times where I'll check to see what my calorie intake would be, but, that's about a year or three away for now.

5pmsomewherenow

It took me 9mos to lose 55lbs. I've been on maintenance for 15mos. Tracking foods and exercise everyday helps me to support the healthy lifestyle changes, and make the (hopefully) best possible choices, everyday. This diligence has continued to improve my health, even after reaching my original goal -- and kept me within a 2-3lbs window of weight range.

I feel better knowing where I stand each day, and holding myself accountable to junk foods and portions -- if I eat two portions of nacho-cheese doritoes while standing at the kitchen counter, I better be honest with myself and log the 300+ calories.

I feel there is enough "error-built-in" to the calorie counts on MFP, that by using this tool to "count", and give myself a maintenance base of 1650 calories per day, I can stay pretty much on track by not consistently eating too much, by losing track.

airdale8263

I fully expect to keep counting for the rest of my life. I'm sure things will eventually get easier as my body starts to adjust to what's normal and what isn't, but I like the accountability of it. I like being able to sit down and look at something concrete to know how I've been doing and how it all measures out.

^^^This

CorlissaEats

No. I only gain weight when I move back home...like I am now.
When I am living on my own I don't have an issue with overeating because I buy healthier foods and eat moderately. I am pretty physically active so I manage to maintain okay. My inactive TDEE is around 2000 cals, and active I am up to 2600. You can have a very tasty diet with 2000 calories or less...

BenjaminMFP88

After a good amount of time, you can more efficiently estimate the amount of calories in your food. It makes it a lot easier to progress towards your goals.

raiderrodney

Probably so...I start slipping too bad when I don't Besides...I love all you guys/gals

nohaynicknamesdisponibles

Yes

PrettyPearl88

Yes. And even though it's annoying, I'm okay with it.

I think that I'm just naturally prone to gaining weight and storing fat. When I'm not on top of myself like a drill sergeant, I start slowly gaining again. Some people are lucky enough to simply be able to make healthy food choices, not eat like a pig, workout for 30 minutes each day, and they can maintain a healthy weight. I'm not one of those people. If I want to be healthy, I'm going to have to really work my butt off for it.

But my health and happiness is worth all of that hard work. So I don't mind the counting. It actually eases my mind, because I can look at the hard numbers and KNOW that I'm not slowly gaining weight, so I never have that fear in the back of my mind. I can relax.

Khushi22

So well said. Thank you!

If you think counting calories every single day is the "lifestyle" that everyone speaks of, you are most certainly missing the boat. You should be using this time to learn how to eat...learn portion control...learn what your calories look like and how much of whatever you need to fuel your body. You should be focused on proper nutrition and fitness...that is the "lifestyle"...fitness and proper nutrition should be your life time endeavors.

I've been maintaining for 7 months and do not count...I apply the things I learned while I was losing to my day to day life...I continue maintain a diet rich in nutrient dense foods...lots of veg, fruit, whole grains, lean proteins, and healthy fats...and as importantly, I continue to rock my fitness.

Maintenance is actually really easy...your body naturally wants to maintain weight...the biggest mistake people make is simply going back to old habits...and they so closely associate their fitness with weight loss that they fail to set independent fitness goals...and they just stop working out once they've crossed some arbitrary finish line and reached some arbitrary scale weight.

Take this time to learn...and then apply your knowledge in maintenance...and for the love of god, get your fitness on...it is as much or even more important in maintenance than it is for losing.

jdforshort

Oh dear! My initial reaction was "I hope not" but after reading the replies from the people here and looking at my past "vacation" gains, looks like I'll have to count the calories. May be not as rigidly as I do now but like many said, when the scale shows signs of going in the wrong direction, absolutely!

Saramelie

Every time that I have stopped I have gained the weight back, so yes. I have to.

This

hastingsmassage

YES

susanrechter

Oh yeah. Have to count 'em! It's just like a bank account, you have to watch what's goin' on.

ab_1203

Yep, I enjoy it, I think Im obsessed

I get annoyed when I eat foods that I cant find the calories for, for example food in restaurants, I dont go much to them anyway.

popsicklestar

I don't really see logging as a chore. I find nutrition really interesting, so it's interesting to me to see how many calories foods contain and their macro ratios etc. It's kind of like a game to me, the challenge of trying to fit in foods I like into my goal and to get my macro ratios right and fight the temptation to go over. Some days I'm winning at the game, and some days I lose.

MileHighFitness

Yes

GiveMeCoffee

Yes! It takes about 10 minutes of my day to log, think I can spare that.

Lyadeia

I would have to say yes, for a couple of reasons. Beyond the obvious of knowing that I am on the right track for whatever my goals happen to be (even maintenance), I pre-log my meals for a week and use that to create my grocery list (which saves me money in the end).

Keeping the fat off whilst keeping the muscle mass built and also saving money sounds like a winning combo to me.

And it takes *maybe* 15 minutes of my time to create my food plans these days for the whole week since I have entered gobs and gobs of personal recipes into MFP.

77tes

Well, I spent 50+ years developing bad eating habits, so after I have maintained for 50+ years, I should be good to quit logging my calories.

So, yes I'm a lifer.

JustAnotherCalorieCounter

No. But I'll continue weighing myself on the regular so I know if I need to start again.

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rgugs13

If I have to, but I like to think after losing the weight and keeping it off for awhile, I would learn what is healthy to eat and what are proper portions. Hopefully some day I could just weigh myself regularly to keep on track! Logging during the holidays every year probably wouldn't hurt!

danapenguin

i hate counting calories now, so no i don't plan on counting forever. pretty sure once i reach a certain age or get diagnosed with a terminal illness I will just not care anymore. I worked in nursing homes and they would put some people on diets!!! Its like dude! she is 80 years old if she wants the cake man let her have it!

BinaryPulsar

I don't see myself stopping anytime soon. But, I also can't say that I will do it for the rest of my life. Things always change. I will always be aware of the calories I eat. And I will count them for as long as I want to, and as long as I think it is a benefit to my life. If it stops feeling beneficial, I will stop, even if just temporarily. At some point I will stop. I'm sure I will reach an age or point in my life in which I do not feel I need to count calories. I maintained my weight without counting calories for my whole life. I find it to be a benefit now that I count them, but I know I can maintain my weight without counting them. A lot of the time I'm not strict with logging. I use this as a helpful tool.