Should I try this idea when nearing maintenance phase?
fitmusiclifeviola
Posts: 99
As I am near my weight goal, I am strongly considering doing ~3-5 days where I do not track at all to see how it goes. I would LOVE it if I could trust my feelings around food again, and use the last 10-12 weeks of practice being more measured. Anyone have any thoughts on the idea?
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You wont know until you try. Give it a shot. If your weight starts to increase then you'll know you need to keep tracking.0
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The sure fired way to gain weight is to stop tracking. This is supported by the National Weight Loss Registery. Those who have kept if off, kept on tracking.0
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As I am near my weight goal, I am strongly considering doing ~3-5 days where I do not track at all to see how it goes. I would LOVE it if I could trust my feelings around food again, and use the last 10-12 weeks of practice being more measured. Anyone have any thoughts on the idea?
I second what quilterinVA just said, however, OP if you do decide to not track at all, only try it for about three days and then check, if you find you managed ok, try for a further few days. Ensure you weigh-in so that you know exactly how you are managing without tracking.
I will admit, it was not tracking after reaching my previous goals, that made me lose sight of how much I was really consuming and so, in turn, put some weight back on.
Just be wary.0 -
I say go for it. See how well you do without tracking. If your not into calorie counting for the rest of your life, practicing "not tracking" your food might be a good idea.0
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I stopped tracking and haven't had a problem losing weight. Everyone is different, if you feel you have a good grasp on your consumption, portion sizes, amounts, etc... go for it. I hate logging food, I find it very tedious.0
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The sure fired way to gain weight is to stop tracking. This is supported by the National Weight Loss Registery. Those who have kept if off, kept on tracking.
^^this^^
I plan to keep tracking.0 -
I'm kinda trying this at the moment - I don't wanna log forever if i can help it, but I do seem to be losing a pound a week so I'm doing something wrong lol so may have to go back to logging more often.
I don't understand how people manage to stay the same weight without tracking cals grrr0 -
I say go for it. See how well you do without tracking. If your not into calorie counting for the rest of your life, practicing "not tracking" your food might be a good idea.
^^this . No way I want to track for the rest of my life. It is about developing a healthy lifestyle for me :flowerforyou:0 -
Another thing to think about.....did you start out with a lot of weight to lose? I was never over weight. I started at 135 and wanted more definition and to lower BF%. I wasn't gaining, so I was on "maintenance" naturally. That made it really easy just to cut things out & make lower calorie substitutions. I think if you're someone who had a problem with overeating, and had a ton of weight to lose, it may be more difficult than if you're someone who had a pretty good grasp on what you were eating and just wanted to change body composition.0
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You should know your body by now. Try it out abd see how you go.
Personally I like tracking the calories.0 -
Just do what feels natural. After I hit maintenance, I went months with no tracking or very light tracking, but in the last few weeks I could feel myself losing my grip on what I needed to be eating, so I'm back. I think it depends on how comfortable you are with what you need to be doing, I tracked religiously for a year before I stopped so I was pretty well versed in what needed to be done, and I also knew when it was time to get back on track before I started gaining weight again.0
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I eased into maintenance by not logging on weekends or holidays. Two years later, I still don't log on weekends or holidays, and sometimes I take random "vacations" from logging.0
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I'm at maintenance and don't log. I did spend a good 6 weeks or so at maintenance and logging just to make sure I knew what that felt like and looked like. I have no issues...my diet (noun) remains the same....lots of nutrient dense, whole foods...lean proteins, healthy fats, lots of veg and fruit.
The reason most people who gain when they stop tracking...isn't so much about the tracking itself. They gain because they resume old dietary habits and cease all of their good livin'. They also tend to stop exercising because they associate exercise with weight loss goals rather than fitness goals. Individuals who have taken the time to learn how to eat and understand that their diet is a noun and not an action verb...and people who continue to get their fitness on generally do just fine.0 -
Try it and see. I hate counting calories personally. I lost my last 20 to 30lbs without tracking and I also maintain without tracking. I do log exercise and keep up with my measurements but I don't log my food. If you don't want to count then you could start by not logging on weekends and increase your non logging days from there.
Not logging doesn't mean people are doomed to regain weight. If you pay attention to what you are eating and you don't fall back into old habits then it is very possible to be fit and healthy without having to always log every bite you eat.
Some may be quite happy to log for the rest of their lives, for me that would be absolutely terrible.0 -
I'm good at losing or gaining without tracking, but I'm not good at maintaining without. I think what is hard for me is that as my maintenance is in the mid 2000s, if I eat what I might consider a normal, healthy diet, I will lose weight, but higher calorie foods add up very rapidly.0
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Only comment I have is that 3-5 days won't tell you anything.
in 3-5 days your weight can change +/-5 pounds due to water retention, TOM, food consumption, stress levels.
Why not try recording your food in a book instead of online and then at the end of the week input it into MFP and see how your weekly average was.
If you are close to target, try it another week.
When you've been close to target for 4 weeks, then maybe you might be ready to try not logging at all.0 -
I have been on MFP since last August and I have never logged. I just use the check in to record my progress, tho I started losing well before finding mfp. In all I have lost 47.5 lbs just by keeping a rough running total in my head. I eat 1650 - 1700 a day and do 450 exercise. I couldn't be bothered to spend time logging, but I do need to keep track.
Generally I manage it by sticking to 300 breakfast, 400 lunch, 200 snack, 400 dinner, 200 dessert + 100 for milk in drinks. There are days when it is in different proportions but not many. Keeps it simple and I eat delicious, home cooked food. I do weigh food and know all the values off by heart.
I love the forums and that has kept me motivated and on track.0 -
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A while ago for a few months I stopped logging... I still kept losing. I usually eat pretty much the same stuff tho so I just kinda kept a running tally in my head throughout the day0
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I probably could stop tracking since I eat the same stuff most of the time, but I'm addicted to logging my food.0
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As I am near my weight goal, I am strongly considering doing ~3-5 days where I do not track at all to see how it goes. I would LOVE it if I could trust my feelings around food again, and use the last 10-12 weeks of practice being more measured. Anyone have any thoughts on the idea?
Seems pretty goofy. Might as well get to goal weight, then try not logging.0 -
I stopped tracking when I got to my goal, and then slowly went back to my old habits and put the weight back on! I think it's an individual thing but I will definately keep tracking
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Another option would be to track when you can. If you're out of town or just having one of those days, then don't worry about it. Chances are that you will gain some weight, but it'd be nice to have a break from calorie counting every now & then.
Personally, I'm really looking forward to the day when I'm at my goal weight & don't have to be so particular about counting calories. I'll probably still have an idea of how much I'm consuming, but won't be so particular about it.
Either way, it's worth a shot. I know I've tried this, but a big difference is that I'm not at my goal weight yet. Good luck 0 -
I have been using MFP since April 2011 - so about 2 and a half years - so couting calories is just part of who I am right now....
Over the past year I have logged what I ate at night - rather than planned my day in the beginning, so I felt pretty confident that I had a handle on portion sizes - and the resulting calories I was eating.....
I have now not logged any calories for 6 weeks - and so far so good - I am at about the same weight I was 6 weeks ago.
To me the key is that I still weigh every single day - and if the scale moves in the wrong direction I just adjust my eating slightly....but most of the time I already know what the scale would show, as I am still mentally counting calories - even though I am not logging.....and I have not changed what or how I am eating - I am just not logging....
There is no harm in trying - just dont get over confident - I have seen too many people over the past 2 years that give it all up - dont weigh, measure and track - and boom - next thing they have gained 20 or 30 pounds....0 -
There is something called reversing out of a diet. Instead of reaching your goal weight and then instantly jumping to maintenance calories you may want to slowly increase them over the course of a few weeks. This prevents a lot of the fast weight regain people see after dieting for awhile.
Eventually you may know your body and your food choices enough to stop logging but I am wondering if some of the people that tried it and gained weight didnt let their bodies adjust to the increase in calories first.
I would hate see someone try to stop logging, end up gaining some weight and then decide they have to log forever when they might have been estimating calories correctly.0 -
This is a very interesting article on how people, even dietitians, underestimate calories.
http://weightology.net/weightologyweekly/?page_id=3790 -
I agree with a previous poster...go ahead and try not logging food but keep weighing in. Weight goes up=oops, better track. Weight goes down or you maintain=yay!
I personally don't want to continue to log my food for the rest of my life but I think that for me daily weigh ins are the key.0 -
^^ I like this idea. I'm basically at maintenance - I hit my goal weight and then went on vacation and gained a pound back but I'm pretty much there. I'm still logging everything. It's a habit now that I've been doing it for 7 straight months. I think I only missed a few days in there. But I don't plan to log forever. I think writing down everything for a while and then checking to see how you did would be a great way to see if you're staying on track. I may try that myself once I get to my goal weight and stay there!Only comment I have is that 3-5 days won't tell you anything.
in 3-5 days your weight can change +/-5 pounds due to water retention, TOM, food consumption, stress levels.
Why not try recording your food in a book instead of online and then at the end of the week input it into MFP and see how your weekly average was.
If you are close to target, try it another week.
When you've been close to target for 4 weeks, then maybe you might be ready to try not logging at all.0
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