Thinking about easing out of counting

FlowerFairy493

After 2 and a half years of counting calories (mostly without mfp from a general calorie booklet, you can imagine the math without mfp!) I've gotten a pretty good eye when it comes to estimating portions of food. I've also started doing IF and I only eat breakfast, one or two snacks, and lunch. Then fast until the next day.

I don't mind calories too much anymore generally with my new habits, and have thought about easing out of counting. Of course I will still keep my methods mentioned above in my life, and keep an eye on my weight.

However even having established these habits, I still feel a bit uncomfortable thinking about not counting. I don't know if it's because I've been doing it so long, or because I don't trust myself even with new habits. It's a bit disturbing to me. Any thoughts or opinions on this? :ohwell:

FlowerFairy493

?

dfranch

Good luck! MFP is the only thing which keeps me honest. Without it, I fear I'd fall back into bad habits. That said, as long as you continue to monitor your weight, you can always go back to logging if any weight starts to creep on.

BigT555

im planning on doing the same when i hit maintenance. its not a big deal, if you find yourself going up on the scale then just count again for a couple weeks to lose the weight, and then try again. im thinking ill do this twice or so before giving in and just accepting ill have to count forever (though really ill always keep a mental tab of my calories just not with MFP)

Mikkimeow

I know quite a few people who have mastered intuitive eating. I am not one of them. If you are at a place where you can differentiate between hunger/cravings, and you know your limits, I say try it for awhile and see how it works for you.

TheStephil

I'm in a similar boat as you. I've been tracking consistantly for the last year and a half. I had tracked for a few years off and on before that but never tracked longer than a few months. I'm pretty close to maintenance at this time.

Anyway,on Monday I decided for a number of reasons that I would like to not track any longer but I don't know if I'll be able to do it and still continue to keep my weight the same or lose a little extra. So, starting on Monday I stopped tracking calories as I go through the day or preplan my days like I normally do. I am writing down my food for the previous day each morning and on Monday I will input all my food for the last week and see how my calories and macros did. Then I'm going to go from there and see if its something I'm able to do.

I think it's a process and I hear that it can be very stressful for people to stop calorie counting.

http://www.runningwithspoons.com/2012/10/23/how-to-stop-counting-calories/ (I used this link for some tips)

Monday-Wednesday I only ate when I was hungry, I kept to my usually food and snacks and think I probably hit my calories or was under. Yesterday I had an extreme sweet tooth and was overly hungry. I splurged more on some extra candy and snacks. I don't know how I did overall for the day. It's a little scary but also freeing to not have to freak out about calories and numbers all day long. It's hard to trust myself though.

basillowe66

My thoughts are, listen to your mind. Evidentally it thinks you should keep up with what you have been doing. That will keep you from getting away from you good eating habits!!


Basil