Lose without tracking?

I do the same thing! I can track calories and keep with it---but in the end, I lie, manipulate the numbers, over eat, under eat, etc. I find in general, for me, tracking makes me quit early on. I have been trying for months. Last month, I gave up. Still use the forum and love read everything...just not using the food journal. None the less, I have lost and have stayed more dedicated this past month, NOT tracking, JUST listening to my body!

If I'm hungry, I have something small. Still hungry? Eat more. Not hungry? Don't eat. I think this is more maintainable, and life-long for me. I'm excited to see where this summer takes me. Good Luck!!

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I lost all my weight without tracking. Actually, I tracked for perhaps a month early on. But it made me anxious and I too obsessed over it and it's really not a good habit to get into. Do we want to track all our lives? I don't. I'm now a slim 120 lbs and maintaining. Down from 164 and 147 when I joined MFP. I did it without tracking and highly recommend it.

I lost about 50+ lbs several years ago and maintained for years without tracking. I basically did something similar to IF (kinda, I mean I would eat about 2.5 meals a day and wouldn't eat in the morning until I was really hungry). I did this before I even knew what IF was. I found it to be a manageable way to lose for myself personally. I have heard other women say that it did not work for them, and that IF can even mess with their hormones, so I'm sure this method is controversial. But it really does boil down to eat when your hungry, and don't get seconds if you can help it. I am currently tracking because I am lifting heavy now, and am trying to figure out what eating my macros correctly is like, but as soon as I can, I'm flying solo. I just want to enjoy food more and not have to be concerned with measuring cups and a screen every time.
Another great read is "French women don't get fat". The title is kinda ehhh but the book itself is good, really just hammering in the "eat when your hungry" philosophy. For it to work, you do have to change your relationship with food, and weight loss will be slower, but in the end more maintainable. Good luck to you!

I have days when I don't track.. But that's mainly because I've been so obsessive about it in the past that I know how many calories is in basically EVERYTHING I eat! So although I'm not technically writing it all down, I can give you an estimate in under a minute haha
But I think you can lose without tracking, as long as you prepare healthy natural foods with lots of veggies and you're able to control portion size, it's doable.

I lost my first 100+ lbs, years ago, without tracking. Then I gained back 40+ of it.

Yes you can do it. Is it the right or best way? Probably not. I think of it like trying to build a house without measuring everything accurately. I don't think I'd want to live in a house built that way, doesn't sound stable at all.

Measure twice, cut once.

You CAN choose to do it, and to do it consistently and honestly. It IS a choice, unless one has a mental illness and it really is beyond their control. Professional help would be in order to deal with that (I'm not suggesting that is the case with you, just noting that would be the only exception).

ETA: I plan to be tracking food and exercise for the rest of my life, and looking forward to every minute of it

Used to do that for decades - I never tracked. Gained weight during the winter and lost it during the summer simply due to my increased activity levels. Except I never quite lost as much as I gained...after 15 years I ended up 50+ over fightin' weight.

I think hard-core tracking is great for when you're first starting out -- it can help you figure out how much you should be eating, what really constitutes a reasonable "serving", and letting you decide if there are some foods that just aren't worth the calories (for me, I've cut out a lot of foods that were just "structure" for stuff I like -- most breads, most rice, most noodles...flavorless stuff that just added calories without tickling my taste buds). Once I hit maintenance, I don't expect I'll be tracking, but I'll have a much better idea of what I should be eating.

Some people definitely can, unfortunately I'm not one of them. I love food too much - if I don't track & try to stay within a certain calorie range I could seriously just snack all day. I do get what you're saying about becoming obsessed though. I took about a year off of tracking thinking I would just "intuitively eat". Didn't work for me & now I'm back with more lbs to lose than when I left. I'm just going to have to accept that I'm one of those people that really need this tool to get & stay healthy!

I was tracking for a long time and I cannot deny the benefits of doing so, it is a great tool to learn portion size and make the right choices. This being said it became tedious and it would make me too dependant of this tool. I have learned since to eyeball the portions and doing great. Without the tracking I would still fill my plate too much.

I lost 20kg. First ten was without tracking.. Second ten was using MFP to track.

I've been maintaining for over 2 years now by 'tracking' only my weight on the scales. Basic biofeedback, weight goes up, eat a bit less. That's all.

I've recently started trying to lose more weight and am finding that being so close to my goal, tracking is really the only way I can ensure I'm losing as the margin of error is so small. A few hundred calories over and my weight loss will stall. It's not fun for me, but I plan to go back to intuitively eating when I reach my new goal and want to maintain, helps keep my sanity.

It is possible to lose weight without tracking, but you will make yourself vulnerable to miscounting and overestimation of calories. Most of us are here because we want to lose weight, if we were already good at losing weight without recording then we wouldn't be here in the first place.

On another note, even when I do hit my ideal weight I still plan to use fitness pal to record my meals because I will be working to gain muscle and don't want to over it and gain more fat than I have to.

I know it is different for everyone, but quite frankly the only times I have ever been successful with weight loss have been when I tracked. I too tend to get a little obsessive but right now I'm just trying to kind of use that tendency to work in my favor. I find it almost second nature now and it's not really an inconvenience in my life or any of my family or friends' lives. I still eat "real" food, and I go out and indulge sometimes, I just go in a little more informed. Learning portion control has been a huge eye-opener. Will I track into maintenance? Maybe. Waiting until I get there first

I honestly cannot lose weight without tracking. i find that I underestimate what I am eating...and usually by a lot. I also do not manipulate my numbers. Not being honest on my log only hurts me!

I stopped tracking because like others have mentioned before, it can make you obsessive and it's hard to do with homemade food. I've been able to lose weight just fine without doing it. What I do is just make smart choices and exercise. Pretty easy.