Is Calorie Counting a Sustainable Practice

I lost 100lb while doing very strict calorie counting. Towards the end I stopped tracking so much and eventually stopped. I think the goal of MFP (in my mind) is to help us UNDERSTAND why we gain/lose weight and to know what foods cause us to gain weight and what lifestyle choices allow us to lose weight. I haven't really tracked in a while and I can pretty much tell when I will gain or lose weight based on what I have eaten. It just kind of becomes a skill So no, you don't need to do it forever because it becomes a part of your knowledge base!

I lost 60ish pounds a few years ago by tracking calories and then I stopped tracking. After a while all of the other healthy habits I had instituted to lose that weight disappeared. Now it is 2-1/2 years later and I have gained all my weight back plus a bunch. For me I think it is going to have to be forever. However, I am sure there are lots of people who are much more disciplined than I am.

This is very interesting to me. I still have a bit to go and my husband wants me to stop logging my food. I told him I'd try but I am worried I wont have the control. I probably have 16lb ish to go probably more. I don't weigh food as much as I used to but I do weigh the things that could catch me out. Jacket spuds,pasta and cereal for example. Interested to hear other experiences of what happens when you stop logging and is it wise when not at goal.

This is very interesting to me. I still have a bit to go and my husband wants me to stop logging my food. I told him I'd try but I am worried I wont have the control. I probably have 16lb ish to go probably more. I don't weigh food as much as I used to but I do weigh the things that could catch me out. Jacket spuds,pasta and cereal for example. Interested to hear other experiences of what happens when you stop logging and is it wise when not at goal.

Why does your husband want you to stop??

I track what I eat on here, but I don't get upset if I am over or under. I know approximately what I need daily, and I can up it a little bit if I am very active. To say I track calories... not so much. I track what I eat, and make sure I don't overeat. I do however think about things like this...

If I want Taco Bell today... all other meals have to be super light or extra nutritious. I can't go and eat Taco Bell then eat pizza later, or vice versa. I have been sedentary for the past 5 weeks since I broke my leg and the first week I gained 5 pounds because I had a pity party... then over the past 4 weeks I lost 7 pounds. If you look at my diary, I am not saint at all, and I am sure I am probably not accurate at all. But I'm taking the effort to think about HOW I eat and not how many calories are in it.

I have been on maintenance tracking successfully for over two years. I find that the foods I eat are pretty consistent and super easy to track so it's no problem for me to take a few minutes out of my day to maintain my awesomeness. :drinker:

Congratulations on your success, you look great!

I think it really depends on the individual. For me, maintaining my weight loss without calorie counting is not an option. At least, not at the moment. I have been (until I reached my goal back in Nov) obese all my adult life, and overweight since I was a child. I've never had a healthy relationship with food, and don't have ingrained healthy habits to fall back on. Of course, I've learned a lot in 18 months on MFP, and I think I have a really good, balanced diet now. For me though, it's not just about knowing how many calories are in things, I need the actual process of tracking my food in order to hold myself accountable. It's a psychological thing. I have been an emotional/compulsive eater for decades, and calorie counting helps me keep that under control. If I stop logging, I tend to get stressed out about eating and old habits kick in. I will either eat compulsively, or under-eat in an attempt not to get out of control. Even though it seems strange to a lot of people around me, calorie counting actually makes me a lot more relaxed and flexible around food. I don't need to be perfect; I'm not bothered if I go a little over or a little under, because it all balances out. Stop tracking, and I haven't got a clue what I'm doing. Hopefully one day I can let the tracking go a bit, but for now, logging everything is what I need to do.

At the same time, I suppose I'm lucky in that I don't mind the calorie counting. It's not a chore. I'm a bit of a geek about numbers, and I like routine, so I'm quite happy to take a few minutes out of the day to plan meals and log them.

Of course, everyone's different, and if someone can use calorie counting to lose the weight and develop healthier habits, and then go it alone... to me, that's the ideal scenario. I think this is easier for people who have had a significant period of their life where they maintained a healthy weight naturally without any interventions. Finding somewhere in between is good too - you can always decide to track one week on, one week off, or only track during the week, or only weigh the things you're unsure of. Or, stop tracking, and keep an eye on your weight. If your weight goes out of a range that you're comfortable with, start tracking again. There are endless ways of being more flexible about it, and flexibility is a good thing.

I don't want to hijack this thread so apologies to anyone who may think that. It's just that my husband thinks tracking leads to obsessive behavior and he knows people who have lost weight on diets where you don't count things. His parents have lost the same amount of weight as me in the same time on Slimming World but I've tried it and can't do unlimited carbs. I think if it aint broke don't fix it so I will carry on for now but I agree that I don't want to log forever.

I can understand that. For most people, tracking food and calorie counting is not normal behaviour. I think it definitely can lead to obsessive behaviour, and of course it is a feature of many eating disorders. That's not to say you should stop though. SW is not a perfect solution either. I can think of lots of people in my personal life who have spent years going to SW or Weight Watchers on and off, losing the weight, then gaining it back. On and off The Wagon. And they do count things anyway! WW has points, SW has "syns" - it's not that different really, it's just simplified. If tracking your food is working for you, then keep doing it, just be mindful that it can lead to obsessive behaviour, and try to be as relaxed about it as you can. Having the odd day off here or there will probably help with that.

I have gone back and forth with calorie counting for years. The upshot, for me, is that even though I know what 1500 calories worth of food per day looks like and what sizes the portions should be, if I don't log (and weigh/measure at least some things) there is a "creep" factor. My portions get bigger, I forget about things I've eaten for the day, stuff like that. The only way it really works for me in the long run is to log (and weigh myself regularly). This is obviously not a hard and fast rule about what it takes to succeed, but it seems to be a good general guideline for me personally to succeed and I imagine it's probably true for lots of other people too.

WW have a part of the plan called Filling and Healthy, which is about making sure that you choose the right foods (low calorie density stuff that is going to fill you up and keep you satisfied for longer, so lean protein, veggies etc) and learn how to eat until you have had just enough. i haven't yet managed to get the hang of this, it is a skill for life - long weight management. All the calorie counting and portion control we're doing should be to help to train us to recognise when we have had enough of the right kind of stuff. When I get back to goal again i am really going to focus on learning how to maintain without *constantly* tracking everything, and treat this with the same dedication currently devoted to losing weight.

When I first started I was a die hard tracker watching every little thing that I at and making sure to come and log it in here. As life happened it just didn't seem feasible to stop what I was doing to log my foods.

This really jumped out at me. It was because I didn't/couldn't/wouldn't stop what I was doing that I became obese in the first place.

Logging has become a part of my overall life. I don't have to stop anything in order to log, because logging is something that I do. I make the time to do it. It's like exercise. I don't squeeze exercise in around the other tasks in my life; I squeeze the other tasks in around exercise. These things are a part of my life now.

I also log primarily from my phone, which makes it super easy. I can log anywhere, anytime. This makes a difference in your logging experience, when you don't have to sit down in front of a computer to log.

I'm only going to track calories if I have trouble meeting my goals. So far, I'm doing well with losing weight without counting them. It's NOT something that I would want to do every day for the rest of my life.

(And yes, I know that calorie counting is one of the main features of this site, but my primary reason for joining was that I was looking for discussion forums on weight loss and fitness, and this looked like the best one for that.)

With me I've learnt that it was only portion control that caused my weight gain in the first place so it would be a concern that old habits creep back. Also I don't like ways of eating that focus on feeling full I want to eat what I like. A little of what you fancy does you good and all that. So far the only time I haven't logged is when I went on holiday and despite being careful still gained an lb a day! Maybe when I'm at goal I'll treat myself to something nice and fitted like some new jeans and just log for a bit when they're feeling tight. I'd be ok with that as long as it's not too often!

First off, congrats on your success! You look great

Secondly, I am a little obsessive about numbers anyway....so I will gladly count calories for years to come. Even if I don't count, MFP has really helped me be aware of how many calories are in foods. A majority of people grossly underestimate the amount of calories they take in, and that's part of the problem. So even if I don't always count or log it in on here, I'll still be aware of what I'm eating.