Coutnin' calories for the rest of your life?

i don't think of calories as a daily goal but a weekly one. gives me a lot more flexibility and less stress.

Applejack, is that you?

All I heard in my head was Sarah Palin.

I'm not sure if I'll count calories every day for the rest of my life, but I know I'll have to eat restrictively and nip any gains in the bud by counting calories if/when the scale starts to creep up or my clothes start to get tight.

I can go prolonged periods without logging, but I feel better and can perform better (running, lifting, etc.) when I track my food.

I think of it like managing my bank account. Sure, I can keep a tally in my head for a while, but if I still need to balance my check book manually.

I don't think of it as a way to limit my intake... just a way to make sure I'm eating right.

I really like this ^^

I plan on doing that, as soon as I feel comfortable with my choices and I have been at my goal weight for a while.

Last night I went out to dinner with a friend I haven't seen or talked to for a couple of years. I only had 700-some calories left for the day I had spent the whole afternoon stressin', thinkin' what could I possibly get at this particular restaurant that wouldn't make me go over. I knew my options where next to none. I get there, and start lookin' over the menu and I just decided to eat what I wanted, without worryin' about calories. I ate and I'm sure I went over my remainin' calories, but I didn't stuff my face and I enjoyed my meal and the company.
Upon leavin' the place, I got to thinkin' about countin' calories and if it's really somethin' I can see myself doin' for a long time. The answer is NO. I will long enough to get the excess weight gone, but for me, this has been a journey in portion control and all over healthier eatin'. My goal is to have transitioned over to the clean eatin' lifestyle, and I don't feel like once I've mastered that, I'll even need to really worry so much about calories.
Anyone else out there feel like this? Or do you plan on continuin' to count calories/points/what have you for a long, long time? Any clean eaters out there that don't count calories and have lost/maintained weight?

I'm still in my journey and I think everyone will have a difference response. We all became overweight different ways and not everyone has a bad relationship with food. For me, I dont believe I will have to count calories forever. In my journey I've found the foods i used to munch on aren't appealing and doesnt taste as good as it did before I changed my lifestyle. that part alone makes it so much easier to avoid unhealthy foods. i think a good thing to test out would be once at maintenance after a month or two and you've gotten the hang of portion control and eating healthily is normal you won't ever have to count calories again. I plan to do that and keep an eye on my weight every two weeks. If I see I've left my comfort zone (upward) then I'll go back to counting calories and figure out what happened.

Here' my deal. I am slowly working my way off of MFP. I suspect I will always use it as a tool, but I don;t think it's realistic for me to think I will count calories for the rest of my life. I am trying to make this a lifestyle change, and I feel like if I always rely on the app, it's just using a crutch. This is for me, at least. If there is someone else out there who needs the structure, then hey, use the tools available to you and log away. I don't know that there is really a wrong or a right answer here. It's what works for you. we are all here to accomplish the same goal: to lose weight and get healthier. what works for me may not work for you, but in the end we're trying to do the same thing. For me, I'd rather use MFP as a tool to help me understand the larger picture, and learn how to eat healthier and in reasonable, realistic portions. I have learned through my time what works and what does not for my body, and how my body reacts to it all. I don't plan on just going cold turkey and just flat giving it all up, just like everything else I've done I am slowly easing my way out of it. I started by giving up logging on Sundays. I would just go in, enter my calories for the whole day and close out the day. MFP is still in my mind, but i'm not counting every calorie. I did that for over a month to make sure I didn't go crazy and my weight did not explode on the scale, then I incorporated Saturdays to the non-logging routine. same thing, ran it out for over a month to make sure I was still handling it ok. Today is my first non-logging Friday. as always, i'll be skipping the weekend and I'll be back on it on Monday. I keep weighing myself once a week and making sure I'm still on track and so far so good. I'll continue this until I fully work my way off but I'll never stop using the lessons I've learned using MFP. That's my opinion anyway...

I've been counting calories for over a year without a ton of success. But, after I read Dr. Fuhrman's book "Eat to Live" and began 'eating clean,' I lost 15 lbs in a month. I still enter my calories, but I can see how easy it would be to not have to. If we are aware that avocados & nuts are high-calorie foods (but have "good fats") then we eat a smaller portion. If we know that spinach is so low in calories and high in nutrients that we can eat bags of it without concern, we can bulk up on it. And, if we know how toxic doughnuts are, we can choose health instead. I think the key is to drink a lot of water, eat mostly green, move more, laugh more, and avoid fake foods like the plague.

I'm so anal about it now I probably won't let myself stop out of fear of going back to the way I was. I hate to think of the time I spend doing it added up over my lifetime but in the end it's worth it I guess.
I try to express to my mom and brother how eating extra is kind of a waste of money. It's like putting gas in your car and overfilling the tank and having to pay for gas that ends up on the ground unused.

I knew that whatever I chose to do to lose weight, I'd need to be able to maintain the rest of my life so I don't have any problem counting calories forever if it means keeping this weight off. But who knows. Maybe I'll finally get my mother's ability to just know the right amount to eat and not over do it. Otherwise, I'm in it for the long haul. As long as it works and I'm happy, it's all good.