Anyone "done" with MFP and calorie counting?

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  • skinnyinnotime
    skinnyinnotime Posts: 4,141 Member
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    I stopped logging for a while and was fine, well I've never really had a weight issue anyway, just pile it on in pregnancy.

    Anyway, I'm back to logging as I want to make sure I'm eating enough protein...I'm into lifting now.
  • SmartAlec03211988
    SmartAlec03211988 Posts: 1,896 Member
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    I'll never be done with MFP and counting calories.
  • andres4317
    andres4317 Posts: 26 Member
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    I am 21 pounds away from my goal weight and my wife, we are doing this together, asked me if or when I plan to stop using MFP when I hit the goal. I told her I plan on using it until the day I die! LOL

    Once I hit my goal, it is my understanding that my calorie count will go up into an ideal maintain mode number. If it doesn't, then I will figure that out myself.

    So no, i don't plan on being done with it for the foreseeable future.

    Good luck and keep up the great work!
  • twinketta
    twinketta Posts: 2,130 Member
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    Every time I quit counting the weight begins to creep up so I don't think I will ever completely give up tracking my calories.

    Yep, I am with you
  • ktsmom430
    ktsmom430 Posts: 1,100 Member
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    Will track as long as I am able to. Will not take the chance of going back to where I was...............EVER.
  • IbiH
    IbiH Posts: 250 Member
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    MFP is for life not just for Christmas!!

    I've been maintaining for a few months now but I still log and weigh my portions. I can't afford for it to creep back on.
  • bgelliott
    bgelliott Posts: 610 Member
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    I go through phases of logging and not logging but because I measure all my meals and I eat the same thing every day, logging is really just a way to insure I don't throw in anything extra like a few cookies or chips.
  • SleeplessinBerlin
    SleeplessinBerlin Posts: 513 Member
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    I used to count calories years ago but I got tired after 2-3 years and stopped. One would have thought that after such a long time I must have known the calorie content of every single thing I was eating. But, with few exceptions, I haven't. I was just logging.

    After I stopped, I regained all weight I lost - and more.

    So this time it's going to be different. Apart from logging, I also want to make notes for the items I eat regularly and I want to know them by heart one day so that in a couple of months when I eat my breakfast, I simply know that an omelette made of 2 eggs and a handful of tomatoes and mushrooms is X calories.
    Since I am trying to eat clean, it's not going to be that difficult, I hope.
  • turkeyhunter60
    turkeyhunter60 Posts: 319 Member
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    The thing for me about NOT recording it, is just thinking that I am eating healthy, and then finding out that the nice dinner you had was 1200 calories and had a botload of sodium. Don't need either. Good luck.
  • TheStephil
    TheStephil Posts: 858 Member
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    I could never leave MFP, I've become friends with too many people and I love watching the journey of others. I will most likely track for the rest of my life. I get too paranoid when I stop counting. A friend of mine here stopping tracking for a week at a time or a few days at a time but keeps an eye on the scale and their body. They come back and track again just to get an idea of how they are doing. For me, I like knowing the exact number that goes into my body so not tracking would just drive me crazy.
  • airangel59
    airangel59 Posts: 1,887 Member
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    At this point I've still got pounds to go but since I've yo yo'ed my entire life with my weight, I'm thinking I will have to weigh, measure & log pretty much for the rest of my life.

    I think it's way too easy to get complacent and to under/over estimate what you are eating and the weight comes back a lot faster than it takes to get it off. :sad: All those nibbles during the day can & do add up, so at this stage in my life, I'd rather take the time to track what I'm eating.
  • cali8_love
    cali8_love Posts: 95 Member
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    I'll never be done with MFP and counting calories.
    Im staying here for Eveeeer i stoped counting calories for about 5 or6 months and i gained back 22 pounds :( soo no ill never be Done with it
  • juliana813
    juliana813 Posts: 67 Member
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    if i have to stop logging i'll have a mini panic attack.. i need the security knowing that what i'm eating will not cause me to gain weight.
  • addiepray80
    addiepray80 Posts: 46 Member
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    I have been tracking for almost a year and have often thought about stopping since I am now down below my goal weight. I do take days off from logging, and I have managaged to maintain my weight. I feel confidant enough that I know if I take a day or two off from tracking, it won't derail all my hard work. I still try to eat reasonably, and work out pretty much everyday, at least getting a walk in. However, I also am hesitant to just stop logging. It's a security blanket for me and I don't see myself giving it up, at least not completely, anytime in the near future.
  • adam1885282
    adam1885282 Posts: 135 Member
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    Thanks for the responses. The (nearly) unanimous response gives me my answer. No reason to turn my back on something - the only thing - that has worked for me. Back to the grindstone!
  • JesterMFP
    JesterMFP Posts: 3,596 Member
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    I've been maintaining for 5 months now, and still track daily. I still weigh/measure everything accurately too. I cannot trust my body to tell me the right amount to eat, and will be tracking here for the foreseeable future. I like being able to make sure I get enough of various nutrients too. I also really don't want to be part of the overwhelming majority that gain the weight back.
  • DaveNix
    DaveNix Posts: 78 Member
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    Don't do it.

    I haven't read the replies to your post, but I dropped over 50 lbs two years ago, decided that I liked where I was at, took a "break", stress, vacation, excuse, excuse excuse, blah blah blah.

    Flash forward - up 28 lbs, back on my triglycerides medication, knees hurt, depressed.

    It's not a diet, IMO. I've seen numerous others on my friends list who lost 60 + pounds and disappear for 6 weeks and come back 15 pounds heavier.
  • LissaK1981
    LissaK1981 Posts: 219 Member
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    When I gave up, I gained back 21 and added another 15 more. I know that I will have to log for life. I think maybe a break every now and then may be good. Like one cheat/no log day a month. That would probably be all I would allow myself.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,871 Member
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    Just a question for many of you. Don't you adopt an actual dietary and fitness lifestyle while you're doing this? Isn't it kind of the point...do this and sorta learn how to eat and learn what your body needs? I eat completely 180* differently than I did before I started calorie counting. I'm at maintenance and don't log...I eat a maintenance level of calories...I know what that looks like and feels like and I continue to eat primarily nutrient dense, whole foods. Do people really just go back to old ways that easy? Seems crazy to me...I could never go back to eating the **** I was eating (an amount I was eating). Heck, I'm having a hard time hovering at maintenance with the kinds of food I eat and the lifting I do..I keep losing little bits and I have to keep adding more calories to keep up with my strength gains in the weight room.

    It just seems crazy that anyone would or could count calories every day for the rest or their lives...makes me think people have learned zip on this journey. I'm not saying I'll never log...I probably will at some point feel my pants get a little tight and you better believe I'll be right back for a few weeks to correct whatever it is I'm doing wrong. Seems a lot easier to tweak things here and there before they get out of control than to actively log every day for the rest of your life.

    I'm just genuinely curious about this because I've always thought of MFP as a training ground.
  • HeidiCooksSupper
    HeidiCooksSupper Posts: 3,831 Member
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    In thinking about your question, I think the following rule of thumb may work for me. I will log my smart eating as long as I over ate to make sure I am fully in the habit of eating the right amount. Let's see ... I first became overweight around age 10. I'm 62. So 52 years of logging. I will be 134 when I quit. If I gain it back at that point, well, hell, I deserve it! :bigsmile:

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