Anyone not count calories anymore in maintannce anymore

I stopped counting before I reached goal. Wen I stopped focusing so much on trying to count, I start to realize I counted so much, I kinda know what in stuff! lol I am 113 right now which is only so that I could get everything off and then build. My stomach was a real problem area so I kept going until I got all the fat off. Then I learned last week I have diastasis recti so thats what was wrong with my stomach. Meanwhile ive still been maintaining between 113 and 118 on purpose for a year now. Im preparing to start my toning so im not done but the maintenance is from keeping the habit I developed of eating small "meals" throughout the day. Im still actively walking, but really looking forward to toning again. Over my journey ( I lost 82 lbs) I started paying attention to how foods effected my body. I dont like diets or restrictions because if your not gonna stop eating it forever, why start? Instead I eat what want but in moderation. I learned to love healthy options as much or more as junk yes, but im not giving up my doritos or my loaded potato skins eith I thought!! Lol. So I had to figure out how to enjoy what I love sometimes and still lose and maintain and be proud of myself. With diets, I would use it as a tool or test instead of a routine. Do it for a week or two and track how you feel as well as look. Then go back to normal or to a different diet or eating plan. This teaches you what your body does and doesn't like and need cause you notice the suttle changes. For example, my body hates salt but craves sugar so much I gain quickly when I dont have a small amount daily. I adore bread, but my stomach hates it! (Or I guess loves it since it holds onto it like Charlie with the golden ticket! Lol). So I only have bread twice a week max atleast a full 24 hr apart. The weeks I cave in and have too much I gain 2 to 4lbs guaranteed! Those doritos still make it in too much lol, but only s small bag and 3 max a week. Those potato skins got cut to once a month haha of course right? But oh what a joyous day potato skin day is! Drives me nuts, but ive learned how to notices those things amd more about what I eat and what my body wants instead of counting how many calories are in it. Dont get me wrong, calarie counting guided me to the food conciseness I have today and MFP is and will always be a Godsend for me. My healthy choices most definitely outweigh the bad, but I dont avoid the bad, just moderate it.You have to evolve into a lifestyle change if you want to maintain without stressing too much. Its also nice that once you get into a rhythm of what you eat without stressing, your body relaxes into the rhythm too. You dont feel like you have to eat the whole burger just cause its on your plate. By the same token if you want you you are prepared to make it balance through your other eating habits that week and make it work. When I was still trying to wean myself down from large sizes to smaller portions, I got into the habit of only having treats sometimes. At first it was once a week a cheat day. Then it was a small cheat option 3 times a week but no full day. Along the way I found healthy options I thought were still yummy to sub out for my cravings. Id rather exchange than restrict I guess lol. Learn what you body loves, and learn how and when to eat what YOU love sometimes too, and maintenance is inevitable. I think you get the idea, sorry I can get long winded. Hope I gave you another way to look at maintenance. Good luck, cant wait to see your continued progress! :flowerforyou:

IMO, this is one the most critical skills that one has to master while on a deficit: learning how to live without the calorie counter; learning how to recognize portion sizes, make smart eating decisions, and learning how to listen to one's body.

I encourage everyone to do this. I think it's critical to long-term successful maintenance. I just don't believe that relying on the calorie counter for the rest of your life is a realistic or healthy thing to do.

We should all be striving for that future where we have a really healthy relationship with food and our bodies, where we recognize what a portion looks like, how to quit when we're nearing fullness, how to listen to our bodies and fuel ourselves for the activities we perform.

The calorie counter is a great (and necessary) tool when we're cutting and when we're learning how to do these things; while we're in the process of developing the necessary good habits we need to go on with our life. But it shouldn't be a life-long crutch. People have been eating food (and being healthy) for centuries without a calorie counter. Lots of people are completely healthy and can eat properly without a calorie counter. That means it's possible for us to do the same. We just have to learn how to do it. And we can.

I just don't believe that relying on the calorie counter for the rest of your life is a realistic or healthy thing to do.

Why not?

Should have been obvious from my post...

If you lean on the crutch, you never learn how to walk by yourself.

It's a tool; a crutch. It stunts your ability to learn how eat naturally; to listen to your body naturally; to learn the habits you need to develop to have a healthy relationship with food.

As I stated, humans have eaten without a calorie counter for thousands of years. We have many people, present day, who can eat healthy and not log calories to do it. These people know how to listen to their bodies, how to recognize a portion size, how to not overeat, and how to fuel themselves for their activity level. They have a healthy, natural, unaided relationship with food.

The counter is a crutch. One should seek to learn the natural skills and habits that allow one to eliminate the crutch.

Think about it for a moment: wouldn't you prefer to never have to log another calorie ever again? To be able to go through your life eating naturally? To have a healthy relationship with food? To eat, feel satisfied, and not have the specter of guilt hanging over you ever again?

That can happen, but people choose to lean on the counter instead of developing their relationship with food.

I am starting to slip when it comes to counting. Skipping days and sometimes filling in days at the end of the night as opposed to immediately.

Been doing this for a month and everything seems to be going well. I didnt want to count forever either, but it definitely taught me to be accountable. I am pretty familiar with portion size now, and eat mostly the same things week in and week out so I am not too concerned.

I do use the scale regularly so I think I will keep an eye on progress and make sure I am not slipping and my weight stays within my 'window'. I also am pretty good with keeping up with my cardio and weight training also which is why I think I am going to stop counting for awhile.

I also may start counting when I want to manage my macros a little more carefully. I also love the community here so I may log from time to time to keep in touch with friends

Some people need the constant accountability of calorie counting; others don't. What I intend to do is to stop counting, but still pick a week every few months to count everything again; just to re-calibrate my thinking. If I start to slide anywhere, hopefully that will help me to remember what a normal maintenance diet will feel like if I slip up.

I'm not currently tracking on a regular basis. I will occasionally log a day every couple of weeks.

I'm currently slowly losing weight.

My feelings exactly! As I said in my post also lol. Use it as a tool, not a guideline. Evolve beyond it. Its a great way to help you focus, but don't depend on a number to tell u what u need. Your body is trying to tell you...listen to it! I think in todays society we get so caught up in numbers we start to ignore the actual subject matter. In this case its about eating what your body needs. We are not all the same and we make sure each other knows it everyday by how we dress, talk, live, etc. So why then, do we give numbers so much credit to a level where we look for the number before looking for the quality in the item? Numbers can be skued, we have all seen it before. I use them as tools, not a crutch or a determining factor. How many calories in a big fat fruit salad? But what? You not gonna eat as much as you want? Its fruit! Lol. Ijs, I learned to look deeper into my food through calorie counting and am forever greatful for it but stopping was what really started my maintenance journey. Listening to my body is what drives it.

I just don't believe that relying on the calorie counter for the rest of your life is a realistic or healthy thing to do.

Why not?

Should have been obvious from my post...

If you lean on the crutch, you never learn how to walk by yourself.

It's a tool; a crutch. It stunts your ability to learn how eat naturally; to listen to your body naturally; to learn the habits you need to develop to have a healthy relationship with food.

As I stated, humans have eaten without a calorie counter for thousands of years. We have many people, present day, who can eat healthy and not log calories to do it. These people know how to listen to their bodies, how to recognize a portion size, how to not overeat, and how to fuel themselves for their activity level. They have a healthy, natural, unaided relationship with food.

The counter is a crutch. One should seek to learn the natural skills and habits that allow one to eliminate the crutch.

Think about it for a moment: wouldn't you prefer to never have to log another calorie ever again? To be able to go through your life eating naturally? To have a healthy relationship with food? To eat, feel satisfied, and not have the specter of guilt hanging over you ever again?

That can happen, but people choose to lean on the counter instead of developing their relationship with food.

When people stop counting and slowly gain weight, all it means is that you have not **yet** learned all the skills necessary to live without the calculator. These folks are just eating a few too many calories.

And I know - it's really easy to do. But this is a fixable issue and can be done.

I'm not talking about a magic bullet here. This takes work, effort, and focus.

No one learns how to do anything overnight, or by doing it once or twice. Anyone who has ever invested time in learning a skill (like, say, playing an instrument) knows that hours and hours of practice are required to hone that skill.

Learning how to correctly recognize a portion size takes time and PRACTICE. Deliberate practice.

Learning how to listen to your body takes practice.

Learning how to stop eating before you are actually "full", takes practice.

Learning how to push away too much food, refuse food, or not finish your plate takes practice.

And that's my point: while you are using the calculator to properly and accurately maintain a calorie deficit for weight loss, take the time to learn these skills, so that when maintenance mode is at hand, you are ready.

Something I do is practice portion estimation. For example, I'll take foods that are going to be put on my plate and FIRST guess at how many ounces they really are. Like pieces of chicken. Is that 7 oz of chicken on that plate? 10 oz? I guess, and THEN I weigh the food. Over time, my ability to guess a portion size becomes more accurate. And after you record enough calories, you know what certain foods provide for calories.

You can learn the skills necessary to go through life without a calorie counter.

There is nothing wrong with taking a break from counting calories, especially while in maintenance. If you start putting on weight, go back to counting for a while.