Counting calories forever!!!
sgall123
Posts: 133 Member
Hi everyone... Was just wondering what your thoughts are on calorie counting?? Obviously it's good & it works as we have all proved but do you think it's something you'll do forever or will you eventually branch out alone & try eating sensibly??? Just curious!!!
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I think for for foreseeable future, I will continue to count calories. I am maintaining now, but it still important to me to count calories just to keep track of things. Plus, it has become almost a habit to me, so I don't mind doing it.0
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I've found that as with most things, I learn to estimate the cals in food. I've logged enough chicken breasts and enough steaks and enough whatever, that I've gotten reasonably good at estimating most of the common foods I eat. I can also guestimate fairly well when I go out to eat most things that aren't covered in some sort of sauce. Rarely do I need to log everything to know how much I've eating in a given day. Often times I have to in order to stay accountable, but not just to figure out my cals.0
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Eventually I'll stop and just eat sensibly. My plan is to continue counting calories for a couple weeks after reaching my goal weight to make sure that I have a good understanding of what eating at maintenance is for me. Then I'll keep a watch on my weight and inches. If I see myself slipping, I'll go back to counting for a bit to get back on track.0
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Even if I may not always be counting as strictly as I am now, I'll probably always count/log in some form. Trying to do everything in my head means I'd be thinking about it all day.0
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I want to not have to count calories but don't see any way around it right now. ..but I think if you exercise and you're at goal.. you'd be able to jus eat sensibly and know where you and maintain. I find without exercise..the calories can creep up..or be cut super close.0
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I stopped calorie counting 4 months ago and gained 10 pounds.
I will be calorie counting for a while...0 -
Even if I may not always be counting as strictly as I am now, I'll probably always count/log in some form. Trying to do everything in my head means I'd be thinking about it all day.
This! It's just easier to log it and know where I stand.0 -
I think I will. It's habit now and I want to stay in control. X0
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Will definitely continue counting calories. Every-time I stopped the weight seems to be creeping back on. I will have days where I treat myself, but in general think it is a good way to measure yourself.0
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Eventually I'll stop and just eat sensibly. My plan is to continue counting calories for a couple weeks after reaching my goal weight to make sure that I have a good understanding of what eating at maintenance is for me. Then I'll keep a watch on my weight and inches. If I see myself slipping, I'll go back to counting for a bit to get back on track.
This.
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Hi everyone... Was just wondering what your thoughts are on calorie counting?? Obviously it's good & it works as we have all proved but do you think it's something you'll do forever or will you eventually branch out alone & try eating sensibly??? Just curious!!!
Counting calories is pretty much the same as eating sensibly to me.0 -
I don't want to reach my goal weight, stop logging and then gain any of it back. I've worked too hard to lose it, I don't want it back EVER. If that means logging for a long time into the future, so be it. It'll be worth it to be healthy. One day, when I feel really confident that I can go solo with managing my nutrition without gaining, I'll do it. Until then, MFP!0
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I just started counting calories by joining this site yesterday and find it kinda fun. I've never counted calories seriously before and it's been an eye opener so far. I wouldn't mind doing this for the rest of my life as long as we have great websites like this that make it extremely easy. Maybe it's because I just started, maybe it'll wear on me over time. Like mentioned already, I should be able to make this easier by eventually memorizing the calorie count of my most commonly eaten foods.0
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I think it is something that I will always do. I think even eating clean it will be too easy to start just a little here and a little there and next thing you know your hard work is gone. I may not be as diligent as I am now but will always be tracking it in the back of my mind.0
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For the foreseeable future, I expect to be counting calories. I expect for at least a year after I hit goal / maintenance. After that - we'll see. I don't want to ever have to lose all this weight again - I think it would be better for *ME* to make sure I never get to that point.0
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I think I will be counting forever.
I dont mind it. The only thing I mind right now is keeping my calories lower in order to lose the weight. I am looking forward to having more room and flexibility in my choices but I know that my body really needs regulation. I gain weight too easily if I am not eating right and I dont have the motivation or energy ( at least for now) to balance out food with exercise. I used to be a gym rat so it didnt matter what I ate because i burned it off. I never ate horribly to begin with but it was portion sizes that screwed me up once I stopped exercising.
I know in order to maintain myself without the incessant exercise of my youth that I must control my calorie intake. I hopefully only have one more month of restricting my calories for weightloss. Then I should reach my goal and have more freedom.0 -
If you plan to ear rabbit food the rest of your life, there's not much need.
When I eat at a new restaurant or have something unfamiliar at a friend's house, I'm often amazed to discover how many calories are in something.
Having reached my goal 13 months ago, I'm still logging.
Probably will from now on, although I'm not as strict with myself as I used to be.
For example, during Thanksgiving I ate pecan pie, pumpkin pie, turkey and dressing, candied yams ... all the traditional stuff ... and gained a little weight.
I know that when the numbers on the scale ascend, or if my clothing starts to feel a little tight, I can buckle down and get rid of the excess girth and weight before things get out of control.
So, now I'm within a half pound of my pre-Thanksgiving weight.
Christmas is coming, so I'll likely do it all over in January.0 -
If I don't continue to keep track I will splurge too many times. I need a visual aid to help hold myself accountable.0
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I think for me it will be a life long commitment. If mfp goes down heaven forbid, I will find other ways to log. It helps with accountability and stops me from obsessing too much.0
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Thanks for all your replies... I've recently started just having 3 meals no snacking in between & it does seem to be going to plan.. I still kinda tot up the calories in my head but like a few of you have said after using this site a while you kinda know the calories in things & we all now what we should & shouldn't eat.. & everything in moderation & so on.. But then I have days when I like to log so it's swings & roundabouts I suppose!!0
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I don't intend to count forever, but certainly for the time being. I'm (pretty much) maintaining now, but I still need to count at the moment. I don't feel confident enough to accurately judge how much food I need each day yet. I have started to relax a bit when I'm not preparing the food that I'm eating, for example if I eat at a restaurant or friend's house, but I log strictly the rest of the time.0
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Hi everyone... Was just wondering what your thoughts are on calorie counting?? Obviously it's good & it works as we have all proved but do you think it's something you'll do forever or will you eventually branch out alone & try eating sensibly??? Just curious!!!
I do sometimes and sometimes I don't. I do it for nutrition, not weight loss.. so I skip days frequently. Otherwise it seems to distract me from enjoying my food, I like to eat what I enjoy without thinking about it. 0 -
I tried to stop more than once, only to come back to counting. If I don't log everything I eat right away, I will forget about it
My fav thing about this site is figuring out the calories in meals when I cook.0 -
If you plan to ear rabbit food the rest of your life, there's not much need.
When I eat at a new restaurant or have something unfamiliar at a friend's house, I'm often amazed to discover how many calories are in something.
Having reached my goal 13 months ago, I'm still logging.
Probably will from now on, although I'm not as strict with myself as I used to be.
For example, during Thanksgiving I ate pecan pie, pumpkin pie, turkey and dressing, candied yams ... all the traditional stuff ... and gained a little weight.
I know that when the numbers on the scale ascend, or if my clothing starts to feel a little tight, I can buckle down and get rid of the excess girth and weight before things get out of control.
So, now I'm within a half pound of my pre-Thanksgiving weight.
Christmas is coming, so I'll likely do it all over in January. I'm also quite good at just judging by my clothing & also I'm good at knowing when enough is enough .. So suppose when I feel my clothes getting too tight I know to get back to calorie counting0 -
I think it may be like an addict going to meetings - I'll always have to do it! We'll see when I'm on maintenance.0
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I think I will be counting forever.
I dont mind it. The only thing I mind right now is keeping my calories lower in order to lose the weight. I am looking forward to having more room and flexibility in my choices but I know that my body really needs regulation.
^^ This. For me i definitely seem myself counting and/or guestimating for awhile even after my weight loss phase. I guess it seems a bit dreary now as we're only alloted X amount to lose weight. But it'll be fun and a tad bit more flexible when we're maintaining.
I think counting in some form or another, be it for weight loss or maintenance is a great tool for sensible eating. It's just a way for us to visualize and understand what's appropriate to keep our bodies at peak level Some can do without, after they've developed right eating practises, and others do best knowing the exact numbers. Either way it's a powerful tool, use it to your advantage and how u see best.0 -
after awhile it becomes sort of automatic in your head (for me anyway) and no big deal really
I can look at most plates of food or at most sandwiches or whatever and know pretty close what the total calories are (assuming no extra oils or something)0 -
I think I will have to do it until I can trust my self. That very well could end up being forever!
I lost weight 3 years ago, 50 lbs, by logging. Then I stopped logging. The weight eventually came back because my judgement of what I eat and my perception don't always match. And I started cheating. And not being accountable to any "thing", it just snowballed.
Logging what I eat is a way to be accountable for what I do. It's a tool, just like the scale, to help me keep a measure on what I'm doing to my body. Just like I'll probably always count on a scale to measure my weight, I'll probably always have to log my food to measure my intake. That's if I want to stay thin after I take it off, which I very much do. And so that is part of my maintenance plan this time. (Yep I have a plan for maintenance, not just for the weight loss!)0 -
I tried not counting and just eating sensibly and it didn't work. I think I need to count forever.0
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I was just wondering about this. When I don't count my calories I eat like crap. I don't always go over what I am supposed to have for the day (since I will log in at the end of the day and see how I did) but generally I am over-carbing and over-fat and under-protein and I just don't feel as great about it. I also seem to be unable to drink 8 glasses of water without tracking.
It's been less than a year of tracking calories so maybe I still haven't gotten to the point where I know what I need to do without writing it down, but it doesn't take that long so I see no reason to stop anytime soon, besides, I'm still not at my goal yet anyway!0
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