Are your goals sustainable for life? MFP Exit strategy.

wewon

My objective with MFP is to develop better diet and exercise habits that I can maintain as part of a healthy lifestyle for the rest of my life. The best way that I can think to do this is by tracking my progress, my macros, and calories and compare them to my overall results.

Eventually I would like to get to the point were it second nature of what I eat and not spend the rest of my life meticulously counting carbs, fats, and proteins and exercise calories unless there is a very specific reason for it. Until then I will have to keep track of what I'm doing and see it its providing a net benefit or not.

Is what you are currently doing sustainable? Is it something that you could do even without using MFP for a period of time?

Sabine_Stroehm

I believe it is, for me. I know what fuels my body, and what makes my tummy happy.

I've been eating this way for 12 years now. It's second nature, really.

What HAS changed is that I've upped my exercise. I felt that I was slacking there when I joined here.
Now I feel like I have a sustainable (more or less) work out plan.

It's been good for me to "recalibrate" my eating as well. So I've been "counting" for the past few months. And lost the few pounds that had crept on.

So, yes.

FireBrand80

My goal is to live forever, I'll let you know how that works out.

Panda_1999

:drinker: As a diabetic, I will have to keep tracking forever no matter what my weight. :ohwell:

wewon

My goal is to live forever, I'll let you know how that works out.

Thanks!

Send me an e-mail either way!

RobynMWilson

Yes it is...I've been maintaining my weight loss for 20 years so I'd say it's sustainable lol

NoAdditives

I'm continuously making healthy changes to my whole family's diet and creating good exercise habits. So, yes, what I'm doing will be sustainable. And, hopefully, my kids will avoid the mistakes that I made because they will have the knowledge about healthy eating and exercise that I did not.

Flixie00

I am just a few lbs away from my goal weight, but I will continue logging on MFP after hitting my goal weight until I either feel that I have my eating and fitness under control or until I get fed up with MFP :bigsmile:

NiSan12

I agree with your thoughts on this. I believe what I'm doing to stay at my size is sustainable but I do want to come to a day where
it's second nature and I don't depend on MFP. However I get good conversation and insight with people all over the world so that's a benefit too. Reading what others go through and how they get through it helps a lot.

NiSan12

Yes it is...I've been maintaining my weight loss for 20 years so I'd say it's sustainable lol

20 years! That is awesome. I can't wait until I say that for me.

kuger4119

My objective with MFP is to develop better diet and exercise habits that I can maintain as part of a healthy lifestyle for the rest of my life. The best way that I can think to do this is by tracking my progress, my macros, and calories and compare them to my overall results.

Eventually I would like to get to the point were it second nature of what I eat and not spend the rest of my life meticulously counting carbs, fats, and proteins and exercise calories unless there is a very specific reason for it. Until then I will have to keep track of what I'm doing and see it its providing a net benefit or not.

Is what you are currently doing sustainable? Is it something that you could do even without using MFP for a period of time?

Personally, I think the way that MFP is set up makes it potentially more sustainable than other programs and "diets". Done properly, eating the food that you would like to normally eat, MFP trains you on what you can and can't do. Programs that have special food are only effective if you are eating their meals. Once you go to regular food, it takes more time to figure out if you can or can't do something.

Once you go to "maintenance" mode on MFP, the toughest part is to to not feel guilty about eating more (I hope). Even though I understand the instant gratification that some people want here (losing 2-3 lbs per week for months), the reality is that accepting a slower change is probably healthier and easier to maintain.

The one concern that I have is whether or not 2000 calories per day is the right amount to eat once I quit losing weight. Should I eat 1900 calories per day (in theory a one pound per month deficit) to allow me to have cheat days without having the fear of gaining 1 pound per month and end up 25 lbs overweight after two years? I haven't decided on that. Or do I just track my weight and if I ever get 5 lbs over my desired weight....hit the MFP again.

waldo56

The trick is to keep caring. To always have goals. Measure.

mamaomefo

It is sustainable for me. When I get to goal weight I wouldn't want to forget the difficulty I had in getting to that point and gain it back. Nor would I want to be unhealthy again. I once asked a nutritionist if she still tracked her foods eaten and she said, "I don't actually write it down every day but I do keep a close mental note on what I consume daily" . She is in her forties and is slender still.

belgerian

I quit counting for a while and found myself snacking more often, or saying I ran today I can have that bowl of ice cream ect ect. I dont think I gained maybe a few pounds. I do not weigh myself too often it was driving me crazy. I eat decent excercise hard and go by my reflection in the mirror and how I feel. But I still count even if I go over (Last night) if nothing else to be accountable to myself. Lets be honest this day in age with half the population of the US having smart phones and 99 percent having access to a computer counting calories even if you just estimate is not that time consuming nor difficult. By the way its been about 2 years for myslelf.

Nikiki

This question actually got me to totally rethink my plans and had greatly helped me. Before thinking about this I yoyo'ed uncontrollably up and down in a perpetual state of either gaining or loosing. When I started evaluating what I was doing wrong it came down to calories. I wasn't happy eating so little even if it made the weight drop faster, and I would finally break and say oh eff it I'd rather be fat and happy!

Finally I dropped my goal to lose only about .5 lbs a week. Since February I can count on one hand how many days I've been "off the wagon" and I've lost over 25 lbs, over halfway to my goal. I regularly don't track my calories until evening now and stay well within my goal range. The other thing for me was learning to enjoy splurge meals without guilt or falling off the wagon. Now I work to stay under my goal most days so that I can go out on a Saturday night and not worry that my 4 drinks and onion rings will ruin the week for me.

Realistically my maintenance calories will only be about 200-400 more per day than what I'm eating now and I feel great on what I eat now, I'm happy and never feel deprived.

I'm confidant that this time I've got it right and I'll be able to maintain my goals, but I doubt I'll leave the security of mfp for a loooooong time after I reach my goals!

mermx

I think it is sustainable for me anyways. My problem is at the moment is when will I reach a happy weight. Originally it was 150lbs then it was 145lbs then it was 140lbs now it is 135lbs.

It is more when will you feel happy within your skin and be happy to sustain?

tennesseeleigh

I'm a calorie counter from way back. The only way I've ever been successful at losing weight is through counting calories with all things in moderation. I switched to MFP from WW because points are a little too ephemeral to me. DH and I have both dropped 30 lbs since our DS was born and both have more to lose (about 40 more for me, 70 more for him). We want to set a good example for our son and help him have a healthier relationship with food than we have.

chicky26

IM NEVER EVER EVER GOING BACK!!

I have come too far, lost too much weight and more importantly gained so much!!

MFP has helped me create a healthy sustainable lifestyle that makes me feel amazing and I dont even have to think about it now. Its what we eat and how we live as a family

mauryr

I believe I have developed the understanding and habits that would enable me to stop using MFP to track cals in/out... but I have no desire to stop.

Having the good focus, mindfulness and reinforcement that logging delivers to me is helpful... and it's not like it's some sort of detriment that has some negative effect on my lifestyle. It's just another tool that I use now. Just like my car, or bike.

So... Why stop?

MonicaLee92

I think they will be. Once I meet my goals I think my body will be use to not eating so much because my main problem is that I eat more than neccesary. My goal is to be able to know when I should and should'nt eat and pick up some healthier choices along the way!

opuntia

My goals are to have energy and feel healthy and clear-minded - that is something I would like to sustain for life. My way of achieving this is still by trying out different things to see what works. To be honest, I don't find tracking my calories particularly helpful, but I like to keep a log of what I eat, and the exercise I do - more in terms of helping me organise my life. Although I prefer simply taking photos of my meals to typing it all into the chart on here, and if I continue keeping records of my food intake in the longterm, it will probably just be with photos. I don't know how long I'll be using MyFitnessPal - at the moment I like it, because it is interesting to read about different ideas and experiences in the forums, and I like to blog about my 30 day shred, and I also like the little graphs it makes of of my food intake. But I think I will always be keeping track of what I do in some way or other - that helps to focus and organise me. I need visual charts and things. I do it with my finances and my chores and my grocery shopping and everything - I have apps on my phone where I keep track and it makes charts.

ShannonMpls

The trick is to keep caring. To always have goals. Measure.

This, in a nutshell, is my maintenance plan. All three pieces need to stay in place, and I think staying on top of the second two will help ensure the first one.

ShaunMc1968

I think I am getting there but portion control and alcohol would be my downfall.