Counting Calories forever???

hottottie11

I have completely changed my eating habits over the years, which has contributed to my weight loss success (50 lbs lost).....It consists of lean proteins, whole fruits and veggies, no processed foods, no added sugar and whole grains. I do not ever intend on going back to JUNK and fast food. I have also adopted a love of exercise (running, yoga, biking etc.) and plan on continuing it!

As I near my weight loss goal (10 more lbs to go) I am starting to think about maintenance, I intent on counting calories for a few months after my goal, just to see what my equilibrium lies, but I don't think I want to count calories forever. How many of those who reached their goals continued counting calories? In maintaining weight loss, Is it enough to just keep eating cleanly and in correct portion sizes in addition to continued fitness activities without count calories?

Give me your input.

T0RIEELIZABETH

I've recently been wondering the same thing.. Bump!

katie_osu

As someone who lost weight and gained it back, counting calories is my plan to make sure I don't put the weight back on. If you can get used to the way the portions look and you are eating a balanced diet, you might be able to just watch your weight to make sure you aren't gaining.

McKayMachina

I'm building my personalized cookbook. Atop each entry is the calorie total. It's super easy to just make a note in my phone each time I eat something. It's a 10-minute investment each day, at most.

I recommend planning your menu for the week. That way, you're only thinking about it once every 7 days. Easy-peasy!

Altiv

I'm on maintenance and I don't feel necessary to count calories anymore, it is normal for me to eat 1400 - 1600 cals per day, I just got used to that, but for medical reasons I keep counting calories to watch my carb intake. I do believe that if you learned how to choose food, what to avoid and made exercise a part of your life you do not need to count forever, you can do it once in a while just to be sure your (healthy) eating habits remain

PlanetVelma

maintenance has always been really hard for me. I dropped over 50 lbs 5 years ago on Weight Watchers, I kept going to the meetings, etc.. but once I stopped logging my food there went my maintenance. Some people don't find maintenance as challenging, but for myself, I need to do food journaling at least for a year (maybe two) in order to keep myself in check.

I think it is possible to maintain w/out counting calories as long as you are true to yourself about what is a true portion, continue exercising, etc.... Does that make sense?

hottottie11

I actually plan all my meals for the week. I'm used to portions sizes (I know what 4 oz of chicken looks like by sight lol). I think testing out my maintenance cals for a few months may help. I'm excited about maintenance woohoo!

AngiMoss

I lost 35 pounds last year and reached my goal. I did pretty well after wards, but splurged when I went on vacation. When I came back from vacation, it was very hard for me to get back into the mind set. Most days, I would do fine...some days, not so much.
It was summertime and I was getting lots of outdoor exercise, so I was able to keep things relatively in check. Then winter time came, then the holidays. My weight started to creep back up again. I put 16 pounds back on. Before I put back on everything that I lost, I signed up here to get back on track. I've learned a lot about healthy eating but I also learned that for me, personally, I can spiral pretty quick.
I should note that I lost the weight pretty quick last year...35lbs in 4 months. 4 months of eating right didn't undo the routine of 30 years of bad eating habits. I know the right way to do things, portion control and so forth. Honestly though, once I was skinny, I started to feel like a splurge (a restaurant meal or treat at the movies) wasn't going to send me back to my chubby self. But over the course of a couple months, those things started to add up.

I'm not saying that this will happen to everyone, or that yes, you have to log your calories everyday. But there is a weird adjustment period (maintenance) that takes some getting used to...and it might be different for everyone. There is no real way to know how you will do, until you go through it, I suppose.

prtipny

I would think that eventually you'll be able to stop counting and start going off what you've learned and paying attention to the way you're feeling. It seems like by then you would have a pretty good idea of the nutrition in what you consume. However I would guess that as long as one is watching their weight they will have to at least keep a general idea in their head of how they are doing with calories/fat, etc and balance that with exercise (obviously) In using this app for just two months, I know a lot more about calorie/fat, etc content of the foods I eat... if I were to stop counting tomorrow I feel that I could gauge when I'm getting close to my calorie limit for the day. From the sounds of it you've changed your lifestyle and your habits so as long as you stuck with that I don't think you'd have too much of a problem once you've reached your goal if you didn't count every calorie.

Congrats on your successes!