Tracking calories forever!

I've been maintaining for almost 8 months by tracking calories (did WW for a year before that). At this point, I can't imagine not logging my food. It's just too easy to log everything and to maintain my weight while doing so. Seems like a no-brainer.

I've toyed with the idea of possibly stopping counting and only starting again if my weight creeps up, but I've got two issues with that:

1.) I feel like my weight is bound to go up and I'll get on a cycle of losses and gains. I don't want my weight to yo-yo and I dread the thought of having to eat at a defecit again... I love all my calories soooo much.

2.) I think my accountability will fade over time. It'd be all too easy to stop weighing myself when I don't like the direction my weight is going or just buy a new pair of pants when mine get snug. Then I would be in denial (as history shows) and would avoid all things weight loss related.

I know how stupid all of that might sound to other people, but that's how I feel today. Ask me again in a few months and my answer might be totally different.

3+ years after hitting goal I continue to track so I can be normal -- BMI that is. Besides I've already proven to myself that I can't be trusted -- this was my 3rd time losing weight. The other 2 times I probably maintained my weight for about a minute..

I really don't do fast food anymore (especially the burger places) but if I wanted a "Big Mac Meal" w/a shake -- I'd have it and make it work into my weekly calories (try to hit my calorie goal daily but really focus on weekly). Being that well over 2/3 of the US population is overweight or obese, I'd say that the majority of the people eating the "Big Mac Meal" w/ a shake would be better off tracking their calories..

Logging my calories keeps me accountable. That's how I lost some of my weight. I tried all diets, pills and programs out there. This is the only one that worked for me. Maybe some people are more disciplined and don't need to keep track, but I'd rather not go over my limit. I never want to go back to being heavy.

I've been tracking for 2 yrs with success, -its quick and easy and keeps me on track. ..I eat the same kinds of things all the time and my cals are consistent so theres no reason for me to track yet I do so ..its my comfort blanket! I feel in control. I cant see me ever not logging unless I'm on holiday/vacation :-) even then I mentally track...tracking works!

If it ain't broke, don't fix it :-D

ps I only weigh the odd thing now as I know portion sizes by eye balling. If I was gaining though it would be back to measuring again.

Calorie trackers are tools for learning how much to eat. Use it to calculate favorite recipes and learn proportions and meal combos that work for you and then don't obsess, once you've got that down. I think it's more beneficial if you look at to help you figure out what to eat and how much. Go back and look at you successful days and figure out what you ate and but that in your mental "that was a good day" column. Look at meals that work for you and stick with them instead of tracking every calorie. Nothing that stresses you out will make the process easier, so figure out what will.

I've tracked my calories/macros for a better part of two years now... although I have the last 5-10kg of excess fat to kill off, I can measure things quite accurately without scales/tools/mfp if push came to shove although I still count them just to keep myself in check so not to go overboard too much.

I've been at maintenance for about 4 months and I still log every day. It's become a habit now and I don't mind it. It literally takes a few minutes out of my day and I'm good to go.

Dropped seventy three pounds, had a major health crisis (unrelated), and for the past month or so started slowly putting weight back on. I'm really not sure I care about the added weight as I'm doing body recomposition by adding strength and mass through the Starting Strength program.

I'm less 'by the book' and more agnostic towards my food tracking. I still track, but in a slightly looser way; my estimates of what a certain weight and volume of foods are a lot better than when I started, and in a lot of cases "close enough" is really good enough.

Realistically, do what works for you. If you can maintain the weight, look, and health you want without tracking, more power to you!

I'm pretty sure I'll track my calories for a while into maintenance if not forever. In the past (bout 8 or 9 years ago) I lost 98lbs or so over 2 years (which admittedly wasn't quite my target yet tho), and I gained it all back again (and a little more) afterwards, essentially I relaxed my habits over Xmas and I never went back to being strict again and I didn't even realise it was happening. So now I know that when I reach target I WILL have at least keep a very close eye on the scales and the calories for the rest of my life as I feel it's something that can sneak up on me if I stop paying as much attention! It would be nice to not have to think about it, but c'est la vie!

i lost 4 stone and had some time off logging over christmas, then got lazy getting back on and before i'd paid attention i'd put over 2 stone back on again. i'm now at a stage where i think 'i've done it before, it's easy' - except i don't stick to it now.
how i wish i'd carried on logging at maintenance for that christmas! it was 2 and a half years ago and i'm still not back down to that lowest weight.
i try not to think that far ahead now - i used to try to figure what i'd do to maintain when i got to my goal (5:2 fasting, TDEE, mfp maintenance etc) but it put me off so much i binged to avoid it...

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I've been thinking about this, and I think when I hit goal I will stay on maintenance calories for a few months to get an idea of the amount of food I can eat while maintaining and then I may stop using MFP....

^^ This. I'm going to work up to maintenance, adding 100 kcal a day every month until I get to whatever my maintenance level is, I'm going to track for a few months once I'm there (or six months or a year or however long it takes until I feel like I've got the knack of it) and then I'm going to fly solo. But keeping an eye on the scale just in case.

I reckon it's possible!

If you are getting depressed about having to log your food for the rest of your life, you have deeper issues than logging food. If you know that you can't do it without the use of an AWESOME app like MyFitnessPal, then you use the tools available to make yourself like the 'normal' people (whatever that means).

Personally, I think of it as a game to see how close I can get to my calorie goal every day. Using MyFitnessPal has changed the way I live, but IT IS A GOOD CHANGE and I will never want to stop using it, because I too have issues with food (I love eating). My will power sucks, but having people around you helping you along makes all the difference in the world. My wife and I got many of our friends and family using MyFitnessPal and FitBit Zips and we love the motivation we all give each other on a daily basis. I share my food logs and get harrassed about eating 3 slices of pizza when I should have only had 2. I get made fun of because I'm 5,000 steps behind my mother-in-law so I get on the treadmill and knock out 10,000 steps to get back ahead. IT'S A GAME and a challenge to me with the added benefit of a healthy lifestyle, fewer medical problems, less fat, etc.

Change your mindset about it and you will do fine. It's not a chore, it's a tool to help you maintain your weight once you reach your goal.

It's not the worse thing in the world. I now love knowing exactly what I'm putting into my body. I just think about people who have diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure or other conditions. They have to do certain things every day to stay healthy. A little measuring and logging isn't a big deal, relatively speaking. Plus, I know that sometimes I can't measure or log precisely, like when I go to a local restaurant that doesn't have the numbers for me. Well, I guesstimate. And, it's worked for me, but that's only because I've weighed my food so often that I am better at guesstimating due to that experience. So, if I have to guesstimate once in a while, I can still do this and enjoy all the food and restaurants that I love.

I think, but I'm not religious, so I'm not certain, that it may be a case of praying when the sun is out, not just when it rains.