Do you ever stop measuring and weighing?

I'm experimenting with that right now. It's working out well, actually. I decided to stop logging (the explanation is in my profile), and just try to go by feel moving forward.

But you're right .. you cannot measure/log everything for life.

ETA - it took 2 years of obsessive measuring and logging to get to this point.

There are some things I'll never feel comfortable not weighing; meat, peanut butter, nutella, etc. but there are some things I've gotten pretty good about eye balling and putting the right amount on the scale; nuts, jerky, trail mix, etc.

I use the same small tupperware container for my nuts and trail mix and I know what one serving looks like in the tupperware. However it takes just as much time to pour nuts into a container or bag on the counter as it does to put the container on the scale and pour the nuts. It takes literally two extra seconds max so I don't mind doing it.

Yes, and then I gain weight back.

Mm that's why I'd been avoiding purchasing a food scale. Really don't want to do that long term. What I am doing now I could do long term, which is portion things out with measuring cups (yeah I know that's not accurate for solid food) and eyeballing tablespoons.

And assuming the fruit I eat is average. Has worked so far.

And when I hit maintenance I expect my weight to fluctate a bit because I wing it in this way. I'm okay with that.

I use to calorie count way back in the day, when I first started trying to lose weight. Hated it.

I don't calorie count and I don't weigh. I've lost none of the 100+ pounds I have calorie counting. I didn't when I first lost and maintained for 5 years.

It was good to be educated about calories, and to get a good idea of how many calories are in what kinds of food, but once that basic knowledge was set in I didn't need it to lose.

YMMV. Other people seem to require it to lose and maintain.

I am trying it just now.
Over the month of June, not logging to sanity check if what I have learned has actually worked.

So far so good!

My first go around (before MFP) I logged and weighed everything for about 2 years religously. I finally started slacking off and not recording or weighing... I was fine for 10-11 months... My weight started to increase a little partly due to the time of the year, partly due to my eyes deceiving me... I starting weighing and logging again and found I was over estimating. After a few months of diligent logging I was back under control....

Personally I've found that I have a good eye regarding portion size etc and just listen to my body. I don't stress if I end up over by a lot or a little.

When things start sliding the wrogn way I tend to get back on track and start weighing and logging until it gets back under control...

I'm a much better judge of things these days, having been at this for around 2 years now and having maintained for a bit over a year. I don't stress when I can't weigh something out exactly...like I said, I've learned to eyeball most things pretty well and I can compare serving sizes to other objects like my fist, palm, etc...

The key is to still remain mindful of what you're doing; you don't want to start just mindlessly putting plates of food together. I have certain serving spoons, etc that I use routinely for certain things that I know through experience is going to more or less get me a proper serving size.

Weighing and measuring everything is a great way to get a grasp on portion control, but really you should ultimately be able to visually do much of this. That said, I still weigh out things like pasta and nuts for which I have a propensity to see a serving size as something bigger than it really is. There are a few other things I weigh out namely to ensure that I'm not shortchanging myself. But like I said, ultimately you want to be able to handle life and food and what not without having to weigh and measure every little thing...and without having to log it all meticulously. BTW, I've been maintaining for over a year without logging...I'm just mindful of what I'm doing at all times...and I rock the ****z out of my fitness.

I am very diligent, perhaps even anal about counting everything - and that's fine and good for now. I've been doing this for a few months and I am wondering do you reach a point where you feel comfortable that you can actually "eyeball" a proper portion? or do you feel like you may have to weigh/measure almost everything for life?

For me, that's the part that seems daunting. I'm fine doing it most of the time and sometimes, like if I have to eat on the go, I simply have to do my best guesstimate, but I am wondering when/if I will be able to "let go" of some of the measuring/weighing or if it is something you really have to continue to do for good? I can see myself exercising permanently, eating healthier foods etc. but the notion of having to record, weigh and measure every tiny thing doesn't seem all that realistic to me for a lifetime.

Any thoughts / experiences? how long did it take to get confident in your ability to know a proper portion without the tools?

This seems to be more a trust issue in ones self, for some people. Almost everyone, including myself, eats more than what they think they do. The, oh, that steak was a 6 oz. when it was really 8 or 10. If your a big eater, its easy to mis or leave off the small stuff. Like sticking your hand in the chip bag. Another example, I eat plain walnuts, a 1/4 cup is 200 calories. Which is no more than a small handful, but I always measure. I could eat 2,000 calories of those easy watching a movie! So you have to be carful with some things.

Grapes, I always pull off 10 at a time.

I don`t weigh everything anymore, mainly because I eat almost the same things everyday. So, if I eat more than 2 cups of raw broccoli a couple times a day, no harm done. I do always weight out my turkey and meats and everything that's non raw veggie. But it has become a habit for me that I don`t find troublesome.

I think I'm okay with guesstimating on things like onions, peppers, and garlic, but estimating dried fruits and nuts is a bad idea for me. If I like it too much, my eyes will play tricks on me.