When to stop counting calories?

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  • Pixie90
    Pixie90 Posts: 11
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    I'll probably count forever. If not on here then I'll track somehow. I don't plan on gaining again and it will hapen if I don't hold myself accountable.

    I agree!
  • trackmyday1973
    trackmyday1973 Posts: 393 Member
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    I've already accepted the fact that I'm going to use MFP to count calories and macros the rest of my life. Without it, I know I'll NEVER be able to eyeball calories well enough to maintain, or take in optimal macronutrient intake and calorie intake. I find MFP not only extremely effective, but very very easy to use. Entering food takes only a couple minutes a day, and it's not a big deal to me, but everybody is different.

    Same with me. I have accepted this fact. I must count calories and stay on MFP. If I don't, I will revert back to my original weight.
  • salladeve
    salladeve Posts: 1,053 Member
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    In my mind the only way to maintain is to continue to log what you eat. My plan for maintenance is to loosen up on what I'm eating, cut out the "diet" food (i.e. low cal, fat free, ect.) and just eat normal. I have developed a distaste for fast/processed foods, so for me it will be all about healthy, nutritious well balanced meals, with a little sweet treat tossed in every once in a while.

    In the past I have never been able to maintain my weight loss because I always "got off the diet", and resumed my previous bad eating habits. So I'm looking forward to maintenance, and the higher calorie allowance that comes with it. Logging is the only way for me that I can hold myself accountable, and not allow a "free day" to turn into regaining my weight (yet again).

    It all has to stop somewhere or you will just continue to repeat this cycle over and over again. Frankly I am so tired of it,(the repeating cycle) that logging my daily food intake in maintenance will feel very freeing and allow me to just live and enjoy my life without having to think about food all the time.
  • mg720
    mg720 Posts: 212 Member
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    I've already accepted the fact that I'm going to use MFP to count calories and macros the rest of my life. Without it, I know I'll NEVER be able to eyeball calories well enough to maintain, or take in optimal macronutrient intake and calorie intake. I find MFP not only extremely effective, but very very easy to use. Entering food takes only a couple minutes a day, and it's not a big deal to me, but everybody is different.

    THIS.

    at one point in my life i was over 200 lbs. my mind honestly does NOT have that voice that says "hey magen you are full stop eating". i therefor realize that i may be using mfp for the rest of my life to count my calories and just like the above pointed out it really is not that big of a deal for me. I have the app on my iphone and log my food usually on my commute to work in the am. now that i have been at maintenance for a year i find that there are some days like on the weekends where i wont log and thats okay with me, but for the most part i still am tracking my calories every day :)
  • MoganHorse
    MoganHorse Posts: 41 Member
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    Keep using it! I got to my goal and quit using the site, only to put on all the weight I lost plus 10 lbs. I would sneak and snack because I wasn't accountable. Now I know that when I get back to my goal, I'm going to track and maintain!
  • JeanneTops
    JeanneTops Posts: 2,602 Member
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    Alright, so for the past two days I have eaten whatever junk food has come my way. I work in a cafe so that means frappucino's, scones, panini's, cookies, brownies, definitely not low cal stuff. However I'm actually under my goal weight and realized I need to gain back a few pounds. I know this is not the healthiest way to do it, it's just what happened this past weekend. I let myself be free with food for the first time in the past year since losing all the weight.

    But now, as I've finished this binge and feel fulfilled in a sense, I realize I don't want to keep counting.

    I want to live.

    The problem is, I don't know if I really know how. I know how to gain weight, obviously. I know how to lose weight. But maintaining is a foreign concept to me. Even as I've tried to maintain using this website, it doesn't really work. Because I keep having that mindset when I look at the number I feel like it needs to be lower. I realize that's not a happy mindset and I want to change that. My basic question is, how did the people who lost all the weight successfully maintain after?

    I gotta believe there's enough will out there to be able to do it without counting for the rest of your life. Because while this is an extremely effective tool, I don't want to see myself relying on it forever.


    Successful maintenance depends on how you gained the weight in the first place, how long you were overweight, how much you've lost and how long it took you to lose it. If you just recently gained weight, if you spent as much time losing it as you did gaining it, if you didn't have to lose much, then probably your eating habits and metabolism have returned to a natural state for you which will allow you to maintain without having to pay too much attention to what you eat. (And it sounds as if that's how you'd like to live - without having to pay too much attention to what you eat.)

    But the longer you were overweight, the more you had to lose and the faster you lost it, increases the chances that you do not have natural eating habits that will allow you to eat as you please and not gain the weight back. Yes, you may have to pay attention to how and what you're eating for a long time, maybe forever.

    Is it a pain to do? Yeah, over time it is.

    Is it worth it? Well, for me, I was very unhappy before and now my life is completely different. If I can have the life I have now forever and all I have to do is pay attention to what and how I eat - that is a small price to pay. Because now I'm living the life I want.

    Jeanne
  • nxd10
    nxd10 Posts: 4,570 Member
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    I've already accepted the fact that I'm going to use MFP to count calories and macros the rest of my life. Without it, I know I'll NEVER be able to eyeball calories well enough to maintain, or take in optimal macronutrient intake and calorie intake. I find MFP not only extremely effective, but very very easy to use. Entering food takes only a couple minutes a day, and it's not a big deal to me, but everybody is different.

    +1

    I actually like it.

    Me too. I love data.

    I also bought a fitbit after I hit my weight goal to get more accurate data.
  • nxd10
    nxd10 Posts: 4,570 Member
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    How to maintain . . .

    All the research says it's harder to maintain than to lose. To lose you need to watch your diet. To maintain you need to exercise (an hour a day!), eat normally (including yummy stuff in small doses), and carefully monitor your weight. Logging really helps. (This is from the federal weight loss registry.)

    If you don't log, you need to WEIGH OFTEN. If you go above a very narrow weight band, you need to go back and log everything - in other words, back to the full MFP push.

    You might also, as you're going into maintenance, start by logging everything every other week. That will give you baseline information but does allow you to loosen up. If that works for six months, go to every three and just weigh yourself.
  • saraann4
    saraann4 Posts: 1,312 Member
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    When to stop counting calories?

    NEVER.

    it's so easy now to have MFP as an app on your phone. You have no reason not to count calories. Granted, some days, I'm like ahh yeah I ate the exact same thing as yesterday so I don't necessarily log it.
  • jennifer_417
    jennifer_417 Posts: 12,344 Member
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    I've said this in other threads, but I'll say it again here:

    If I have to count calories for the rest of my life, but I don't become diabetic or get heart disease, then I will consider that a fair trade.
  • TheEffort
    TheEffort Posts: 1,028 Member
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    I've already accepted the fact that I'm going to use MFP to count calories and macros the rest of my life. Without it, I know I'll NEVER be able to eyeball calories well enough to maintain, or take in optimal macronutrient intake and calorie intake. I find MFP not only extremely effective, but very very easy to use. Entering food takes only a couple minutes a day, and it's not a big deal to me, but everybody is different.

    This.

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  • hml_rachel
    hml_rachel Posts: 20
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    You should still measure and weigh your food just don't worry about adding everything up. You should be able to maintain your weight without counting calories all the time.
  • jayjay12345654321
    jayjay12345654321 Posts: 653 Member
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    The fact that you are yo-yo'ing in weight is a little worrisome if you're thinking of not checking at all anymore. That shows you haven't established your limits in your mind. If you can tolerate it a little longer, keeping the MFP training wheels on for now is probably the most beneficial choice.
  • red_road
    red_road Posts: 761 Member
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    If you dont want to count calories for the rest of your life perhaps you could slowly ease out of it. Perhaps only count on the weekend when you are more liable to eat more than you should. Or instead of counting maybe just weigh yourself a couple times a week to make sure your maintenance is working. I think it is possible to maintain without counting but it might take time. For me there are a lot of foods i cant judge calories for by glance but there are a lot of foods i eat every week that i know the calories of because i eat them so often. Maybe start with what you know and work from there?
  • camila_scl
    camila_scl Posts: 238 Member
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    I'm eating at a deficit and I log everyday but I learn the portions I need to eat to be at this deficit. When I reach my goal It will be the same, I will use MFP to log my mantainance calories until I get used to the portions I need (I think 4-5 months). Then I'll keep an eye on the scale to see if I'm doing ok and if not I'll get back to logging for a while, at some point we HAVE to learn how to control our portions, MFP is not forever, we have to set our minds to change and eat normally
  • jmp463
    jmp463 Posts: 266 Member
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    I think I will have to count at till I am 80 then it doesn't matter to me.

    But in all seriousness it has become a habit for me like checking my email. I like to log. Don't always what it tells me. But it does keep me honest and it makes me think before I eat something. I can't say I eat everything I want. But I have not give up anything. I just find a way to fit it in as best as I can. Rather than look at one day I look at the week and if I do bad today then I will make it up over the next couple. Seems to work for me for the most part.
  • bunbunzee44
    bunbunzee44 Posts: 592 Member
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    I don't see myself stopping. easier to keep track of nutrients.
  • The_Enginerd
    The_Enginerd Posts: 3,982 Member
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    I don't have any plans to stop, and I've been at my goal weight for 18+ months. Over and beyond calories, keeping a food journal helps me to ensure I am hitting my macro targets.
  • theoriginaljayne
    theoriginaljayne Posts: 562 Member
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    I've already accepted the fact that I'm going to use MFP to count calories and macros the rest of my life. Without it, I know I'll NEVER be able to eyeball calories well enough to maintain, or take in optimal macronutrient intake and calorie intake. I find MFP not only extremely effective, but very very easy to use. Entering food takes only a couple minutes a day, and it's not a big deal to me, but everybody is different.

    This.

    Sure, there will be days when I won't log my food. There will be days when I won't meet all of my nutritional goals. But I will remain accountable for what and how much I eat, and to do that successfully, I need MFP.
  • Velum_cado
    Velum_cado Posts: 1,608 Member
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    While I'm still losing weight, i've stopped tracking my calories. I found that I was getting obsessed with keeping the number as low as I could and feeling awful guilt when I would go over. I decided to just focus on eating healthily, and I've continued to lose weight.

    I think when I transition to maintenance, in another 25 lbs or so, I'll switch back to logging just to help me adjust and get used to whatever my calories will be. But I don't plan on logging forever.

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