Does lessening focus on weight loss work best for some?

Charlottejogs

Hi MFPs! So over the last few days I decided to just give it a rest- it is my holiday break, I have parties to go to, will be out of town...

So I decided to stop logging and stop thinking so much about what to eat when and a snack here and there with protein powder these days blah blah blah. After months of working hard and logging daily I have started loosing weight now that I have stopped paying so much attention.

I know many things that have caused this but it has caused me to look at what the last days have been like- I have not gone overboard on anything, I have a pretty healthy diet anyway, and exercised as usual. I have eaten when hungry and not when I wasn't. I think maybe putting so much thought into food and what I am eating when was maybe making me eat more frequently than I needed to...maybe? I have tried doing up and down calories and breaks before but didn't have any difference. Maybe I need to just relax and lessen the stress on myself about this??? You think?

I hate to admit but it has felt amazing to not spend so much time thinking about it- relief:)

Rilke

That's called intuitive eating! And it's awesome. I keep trying it but I haven't mastered it yet. . . . always end up gaining a few pounds back. I look forward to the day I can stop thinking about calories.

Good for you!

fiberartist219

The method you describe is working out beautifully for me right now. Don't eat if you're not hungry, and just have a small amount when you are hungry. Keep working out and make sure that when you do eat, it is something nutritious so it will last for you.

If it stops working, you can always go back to counting calories.

Personally, I didn't do so well on counting calories. I was able to lose weight, but it left me so exhausted and hungry. Now I am paying more attention to how my body feels rather than paying attention to numbers and it is working well.

tameko2

stories like this are usually because people were over-exercising and under-eating when they were counting and when they stop starving their bodies and start feeding it when it asks, they lose weight.

And in response to your question in general - chasing health and performance over weight loss will often result in BETTER and healthier loss (ie making healthy food choices and training towards a goal rather than just burning calories on a machine) because when people are 'consciously' doing what they think is right, its frequently not as right as generally eating healthier and exercising more.

You had your calories set to 1200 before. That's too low for a LOT of people - some people do fine on it but most do not.

EricMurano

What ever it was it just seems like losing some of the obsession can be a good thing

Maybe you've developed a healthy appetite - not a big appetite but one that's more reasonable than before.

JT1090

I can kind of relate to this but not with counting calories. My issue was with weighing myself. I was doing it every singe day and it got obsessive/exhausting. I gave my scale to a family member and told them not to let me use it until Jan1st. It only been a couple of days but I feel better already! It's nice to forget about things for once.