Anyone "done" with MFP and calorie counting?

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  • iiiEllie
    iiiEllie Posts: 224 Member
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    Yeah no.

    I lost almost 40 pounds with MPF, stopped logging, and a year and a half later the 40 pounds, plus 5 is back. lol
  • chelseascounter
    chelseascounter Posts: 1,283 Member
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    Never. I won't ever go back to not remembering what I ate for breakfast the day before.
  • marygee1951
    marygee1951 Posts: 148 Member
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    Before I found MFP, I used to have a notebook where I journaled what I was eating. I wasn't tracking calories.
    Now I'm using MFP and learning about calories. Since I eat a lot of the same foods generally, I'm getting to know the calorie count of most foods.

    I was losing weight using the notebook. I have a long way to go to reach my goal weight - and I'll keep entering my food on MFP. Once I get to maintenance, I'll hopefully be able to go back to the notebook because it's much quicker. One way or the other, though, I plan on keeping track of what I'm eating. I think it's very important!! :flowerforyou:
  • victoriannsays
    victoriannsays Posts: 568 Member
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    I quit counting for 2 weeks, started back up yesterday. I realized I wasn't eating ENOUGH. I would have a coffee here and there and wait til I was starving and stuff my face at 6pm. Not meeting my protein goal which I kind of obsess over. So, back to counting I go.
  • vickydubuis
    vickydubuis Posts: 59 Member
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    I stopped for a week and lost 3 pounds. The week I wasn't doing it though, I was working out a lot more, BUT also paid less attention to what I ate--> ate more. I saw as the week went on, I was eating more and more everyday. I loved my week off though. It made me happy as well as those around me (no compulsive checking in my calories at family meals). I went back this week and I have done well, but I am taking next week off again! I have now made it a plan to record one week and then take a week off alternatively. :) It keeps me from becoming obsessed with calorie counting, yet it keeps me grounded!
  • vmekash
    vmekash Posts: 422 Member
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    I don't mind the tracking. I do know that I at least want to reach and then maintain my goal for a year or so before I try trusting my eyes and appetite. So, I'll just keep logging.
  • ktsmom430
    ktsmom430 Posts: 1,100 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.

    re: this^^
    I can not speak for anyone but myself. I have learned more about nutrition, portion size, self control and exercise in the past 13 months, than I did in the previous 60 years. So no, I did not learn zip. It is wonderful that you can see and feel what you need to do to maintain. For some of us, we want the reassurance we get from logging each and every day. I can totally understand your not needing to log to keep control, for some of us, it is not so easy. I am 7# away from my initial goal, so I am not at maintenance yet, but when I am, I will continue to monitor myself closely.

    I hope this helps a little with your curiosity in regards to what someone else may need to keep on track and being successful at maintaining their new, healthier life.
  • OMGeeeHorses
    OMGeeeHorses Posts: 732 Member
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    I don't think I will ever stop. I will always even if I don't use MFP count them in my head lol. Once I start something I stick to it till I get the job done and then decide well is it still needed? I have always struggled with my weight so I will probably always need this to keep myself in check. :)
  • kay_78
    kay_78 Posts: 6 Member
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    I started using MFP to lose pregnancy weight. It took me a year of logging meals to reach my goal and I wen through a period of wondering what would happen if I stopped logging.

    I decided to wean myself from it. I eat basically the same thing for breakfast every day so I stopped logging that meal. About a month later I stopped logging lunch. To be fair, 5 days a week at work I eat a rotation of a few different meals so that was easy to cut as well. Dinner was my biggest fear but once I realized that I was looking at calories and reading labels for meals without having to log everything I felt I could at least try not logging at all. I haven't logged a meal in over a year and I have maintained my weight and actually lost an additional few pounds.

    Logging does give you a skill to read labels and be aware of calories without having to constantly write it all down. If you stop and think about it, you are probably already doing all the things you need to be successful and you have gained the skills to stay on track without a log.
  • anncdowning
    anncdowning Posts: 2 Member
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    From experience, I would say that when you stop journaling you start adding in food again and the weight returns or at least that is what happened to me. I used to work for another weight loss system and time and time again when clients quit journaling they had the same result. Congratulations on losing the weight!
  • socioseguro
    socioseguro Posts: 1,679 Member
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    Congratulations on your successful journey.

    You have a body that learned pretty fast. Count your blessings.

    Not all human bodies are created equal, unfortunately. Some of us have to struggle harder.

    I only started to lose weight 2 years ago when I started counting every bit I ate. It was manually first, then a friend referred me to MFP. It has been a gift. I am on maintenance mode now, but still logging, weighing my food and measuring portions. It is a journey for me. If I ever get to the point that I do not need tracking and logging, I would welcome it. However, I am not at that point in my life.
  • JesterMFP
    JesterMFP Posts: 3,596 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.
    @cwolfman - have you ever been an emotional eater? I can't speak for anyone else here, but I suspect that might be at least part of the difference between those who are confident going it alone, and those who feel they need to rely on calorie counting. To answer your first question, I have made a complete lifestyle change since joining MFP. I act and think a lot differently about food and exercise, and I don't think I'd ever go completely back to my old ways. I'm do much more mindful about food now, and the consequences of over-eating, and so much more aware of the nutrients my body needs.

    However, food/eating has been the main way that I've dealt with negative emotions for 25+ years. Habits were learned and deeply ingrained in childhood, and I haven't yet been able to get rid of those responses from my brain. There is some evidence that there are genetically-determined differences in how people respond to food. Emotional eating is still very much an issue for me, and calorie counting is the best way I know to control it. It's not just about knowing how much energy is in each food, it's about knowing that I eat responsibly when I track, and I don't always when I don't track. Tracking holds me accountable. Not tracking makes me stressed and anxious and sometimes triggers me to binge. My aim is to get to the point where I can track some days of the week, and not others, and just keep eating as normal, with no anxiety. So, it's not that I haven't learned anything while on MFP, because I've learned a lot. It's just that the very process of tracking is - for me - just as important in managing my weight. I don't want to count calories for the rest of my life, but if that's the price I have to pay for a healthy weight, and peace of mind, then so be it. :smile:
  • jenilla1
    jenilla1 Posts: 11,118 Member
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    ...How long have you (or do you plan to) count daily?

    I've been on maintenance at my goal weight for over 2 years on MFP. I occasionally skip a day here or there, but I'm pretty consistent, and so is my weight. It's easy and it's a habit now, it only takes a few minutes of my day to keep me on track, so I guess I'll do it until the apocalypse shuts MFP down...It doesn't bother me to think of the future, as an old, old lady weighing my food on the scale and logging into MFP each day. It'll keep me on my toes, LOL! :laugh:
  • FlowersInTheDirt
    FlowersInTheDirt Posts: 124 Member
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    If tracking is what is keeping you on target then keep at it. If you think you'll be okay then stop and see what happens. Stopping doesn't mean you can never track again. If you feel yourself slipping then get back to daily calorie counting. It's all about what works for you :smile:
  • Xiaolongbao
    Xiaolongbao Posts: 854 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.

    See I haven't learned one single thing on MFP that I didn't already know. I knew what healthy food was. I knew what healthy portions were. I didn't eat crap very often, I've always loved nutrient dense, whole foods. I've even always been a person who liked exercise. So there was no 180 degree change for me. What MFP does is keep me accountable to myself. For me portion control is the big issue. And, from numerous previous "lose weight and put it all back on plus some extra" efforts I know that if I stop logging I WILL put the weight back on.

    I figure the difference between you and me is like the difference between an alcoholic and a person who just has a few drinks more than is good for them on occasion. The alcoholic might be dry for 10 years but they'll still be an alcoholic. The other person can simply practice moderation without needing to stop drinking.

    I accept that I will ALWAYS be a fat person. Even though hopefully I'll stay in a small body from now on. And as a fat person I need to work at it.
  • Vailara
    Vailara Posts: 2,453 Member
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    Well done on reaching your goal!

    I am going to have to see how it goes when I get there. Before MFP I was doing the No S Diet and that worked very well for me. I'm hoping I can do a version of it in maintenance so that I don't have to calorie count ALL the time. I plan to weigh often so I can get a handle on how my diet is affecting me.

    For many years, including through having a child, etc., I was one of those people who didn't have to think about calories. I could eat what I liked and not put on weight. For a long time, I'd hoped to be able to recapture that. Unfortunately, I don't think it's going to happen. I think I am always going to have to watch what I eat. That may well have to be through calorie counting for the forseeable future. I think that maybe in my 80s, my appetite might go down again as it seems to for some people. That's the time-frame I'm looking at.
  • soniabogonia
    soniabogonia Posts: 778 Member
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    Bump
  • Poprocket_2012
    Poprocket_2012 Posts: 142
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    I plan on logging for at least a year after i reach my goal
  • bluefox9er
    bluefox9er Posts: 2,917 Member
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    I stopped 'counting' calories as I have reached that stage where i am happy with my weight.

    I'm still here for the fitness and for my wonderful friends.
  • Joniboloney
    Joniboloney Posts: 127 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.
    Ditto.

    If I don't track, I lose track. Next thing you know, I'm carrying around 25lbs unwanted lbs. I think for me, tracking must be a way of life.

    Congratulations on your weight loss and good luck! :smile:

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