Is it possible to maintain weight without counting calories

greattimes

I have lost my weight of about 75 lbs. without counting calories. I know what I can eat and can't and how much.

betrishy

Why don't you try it for a few days and see how it goes, eat when you are hungry, drink lots of water but keep your portions small. You know that you can't get like crap 6x a day to maintain your smaller figure, so eat like your counting calories but don't track them. Keep up with your exercise, I know I cant maintain my lowest weight, but I am staying with a 5 pound range of my maintenance goal. iI am maintenance but I am still counting my calories, but sometimes I do slack off and I am fine. When I over indulge on one day I ramp up my exercise and eat less for a few days afterwards.

Vegan_85

Yes. I gave up calorie counting between September and January this year, and my weight remained at a BMI of 18.6. I've only gone back to MFP to make sure I'm getting enough protein and calcium. That and I forget to take vitamin pills otherwise.

rybo

I haven't racked calories in over 2 years.

kdiamond

Eventually, yes, once you learn what you're supposed to be taking in each day, it becomes second nature in time.

upforthecount

For me, it is very difficult to maintain without counting cals. Too many bad habits I fall back into. Many of the other responders have methods to keep themselves on track (weighing, tight clothes, etc). But for me, I'm sorry to say, I have to keep track, otherwise I will eventually start to gain again.

AJinBirmingham

yep! i tried to lose weight not counting, ended up maintaining for a year.

I still have to count, but I maintain by constantly trying to lose 5 lbs.

Some people can manage losing or maintaining without counting, but I'm not one of them. You can always try, and find out.

Hornsby

Absolutely. I maintained for 2.5 months without tracking. Tracking again now cause I am trying to go up a bit in weight, but will stop tracking all together once I get a system/schedule down.

ILoveGingerNut

You just have to learn how to eat in a healty way and without excess calories for your body weight/activity level. Logging for life is crazy.
I only do it if I put on weight and struggle to lose it.

Holly_Roman_Empire

It's definitely possible, but if you're one that has to track calories to lose weight or you stall, it might be beneficial to maintain while counting calories for a while. Until you can train yourself to know what portion sizes are and get really good at estimating, I'd say to keep counting.

I'm one of those that would eat everything in sight if I didn't physically see everything I've eaten written down, so I will be counting calories forever. But it doesn't bother me.

alpine1994

I go back and forth with it. I counted calories during my weight loss and most of my maintenance. I gained 7lbs since Thanksgiving and I was eating anything and everything (my coworkers brought baked goods into the office all the time and I didn't feel like saying no!) and not counting cals. Now I am trying to undo the damage by counting again and it's tough. I am always hungry and thinking about food and I had definitely gotten used to eating way too much. It's nice to take breaks from counting every now and then but I know that for me I generally gain during that time. Like other people said, everyone's different!

KarenBoehlke

Yes, but you still need to be mindful of what is going into your mouth and it's proportion. I have done it, but I need to weigh myself daily to keep me from thinking "Oh, what's one more cookie, I can burn that off later."

PaytraB

I did it in steps:
I first counted calories closely when I started to maintain and watched carefully what a portion size or meal size was.
Then I stopped weighing & measuring and "eyeballed" it and continued to track my estimates in my diary & weighed myself monthly to see what would happen. I did this for about 6 or so months and didn't gain weight.
On Jan 1st, I stopped keeping a diary and will continue to weigh myself every month to see how this phase of maintenance works. If it does, I'll be confident that I can "eyeball" my food correctly in the future.
Maintenance is hard. It takes awhile (at least for me) to find the right balance without the weighing and measuring. Take your time and you'll be able to find your balance.

dgbrash2

I have occasionally skipped/dropped logging calories, partially from my work schedule, and partially because I skip a day or two or a weekend, and, by Monday, have forgotten 'what' I ate, so then I couldn't remember what to catalog. I have, w/ MFP, been able to register and catalog 'meals'. So now, when I do log my calories, it is usually by meal, rather than by individual items, entrees, and/or sides, etc. Catalogging by 'meals' makes things a LOT easier! [after logging your calories for a certain meal, go to the 'Quick Tools' option under your 'Food Diary', and click the 'Remember Meal' option, then give that meal a name - I use the entree and then abbreviations for the sides as my meal name.] When logging meals, I have included enough 'sides' that, if I didn't have all of them for that meal, I just delete the ones I didn't have from that particular day's meal. I DO, however, step on the scales EVERY/EVERY OTHER morning. My weight normally varies 1-2 pounds at most (currently at 170, and am 5'11"). And for Thanksgiving and Christmas? 00 gained. I will say that when there is something I want to eat, and I 'know' I may be close to my calorie goals by the end of the day, I will only eat a bite of the tempting food or substitute my current craving (and calories) for something in a later meal/snack. That way, even if I am over in calories, it's not such a big deal, and I can adjust the following day, or exercise to make up for the excess calories. Amazing how your mindset (and, sometimes, craving) changes when you realize how much exercise/calorie count that candy bar, or fancy coffee, or whatever, costs you, in the game of logging calories. More than once, I have decided, 'it's just not worth it!', and ditched the idea of eating the snack and ruining my calories for the day.

Dawn810511

I haven't been on here very long and I only have my calories set to 1200 but I am finding out slowly what I can and cannot eat and I don't always have to think "oh that's too many calories" or "oh, is this okay to eat?". I hope one day I will be able to be in complete control and not have to count them because it is very annoying.

wrk2hrd

If you think it's going to weight on you, or otherwise bad for you, then don't consume it.

PaytraB

I haven't been on here very long and I only have my calories set to 1200 but I am finding out slowly what I can and cannot eat and I don't always have to think "oh that's too many calories" or "oh, is this okay to eat?". I hope one day I will be able to be in complete control and not have to count them because it is very annoying.

Learning to do this is great. If you can keep this up, you'll be able to maintain when you reach your goal weight. You'll just have to relearn what a new, maintenance portion is and you'll be set to go. Keep up the good work.

raiderrodney

Sure it is...I just tend to get slack when I don't

sweetdixie92

I'm sick of counting calories and am wondering if it's possible to maintain my weight without doing it?

Absolutely! People never even counted calories until fairly recently - and the funny thing is, people have gotten fatter. It comes down to portion control and knowing what's in your food. If it's a fatty, greasy, or buttery food, just skip it - or eat a very tiny portion. Make sure you eat slowly too. Your enzymes can work more efficiently, and you'll notice yourself getting full, as opposed to cramming it down and realizing you ate too much because you didn't give your stomach a chance to process it. It's a healthy habit to also eat just until you're full and stop. We tend to eat more just because it's yummy and we can. Just try to listen to your body - we weren't designed to be fat after all - and it's normally your mind telling you to overeat.

richardheath

I haven't tracked for ages, and have maintained for about a year and a half. I'm mindful of what I eat and will weigh myself occasionally just to make sure I'm still OK. I fluctuate between about 168 and 172.