will i be counting calories for the rest of my life?

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Belle_Fille
Belle_Fille Posts: 469
in Health and Weight Loss
the thought of counting calories for ever depresses me! please say it isnt so!

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  • phnx72
    phnx72 Posts: 47 Member
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    I've been thinking the exact same thing lately, looking forward to some of the replies.
  • GooBeGone
    GooBeGone Posts: 439 Member
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    when u get 2 ur goal then u can actually eat more calories. as long as u still exercise several days wkly & r AWARE of what u're puttin in ur mouth then u should b ok. after i reach my goal i'm weanin myself off of calorie countin. i'm already makin better choices & eatin smaller portions. that in & of itself shoud save u from calorie countin 4ever :flowerforyou:

    edit: when i lost my 1st 50lbs i didn't count calories at all. i just ate what i wanted but a smaller portion & just exercised.
  • hpsnickers1
    hpsnickers1 Posts: 2,783 Member
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    MFP teaches us portions and healthy choices. Eventually you will stop counting calories but be able to maintain because of what you have learned!
  • lessertess
    lessertess Posts: 855 Member
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    Only if you want to. After a while you will find that you eat mostly the same things and you'll just be able to judge where you are. You can always check in if you're eating something new (like going out to a new restaurant) that you're not really sure of the calories. You'll also get better at judging portions and at eating healthier more balanced meals, which are naturally lower in calories anyway. You'll get to the point where you can estimate in your head how many calories you are burning based on experience. For example, I do Zumba 4 times a week. The numbers don't change :)

    I generally keep a running estimate in my head. I continue logging because it helps me hold myself accountable, but I don't really need to anymore.
  • EAMac
    EAMac Posts: 22
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    This depressing thought has plagued me also. I'm hoping more people will agree that I won't have to do it forever. But I know every time I've quit doing it in the past several months, I gain weight back. :sad:
  • beerbomber
    beerbomber Posts: 184 Member
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    You will petty much get to a point where you counted calories so long that you will not have to count them because you will have a good idea of amount of calories your putting in your mouth without having to look them up and it will become 2nd nature of kind of just keeping up with them without even realize your doing so
  • hotmooglelove
    hotmooglelove Posts: 84
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    Probably not. Keep in mind maintaining weight allows you to eat far more kcals than you will be used to, and once you condition yourself into healthy eating habits, hitting that number will come naturally (you'll feel full).

    More realistically, you will probably have to weigh yourself every few weeks. Maybe count cals every once in a while to drop 2 lbs here or there.
  • stormieweather
    stormieweather Posts: 2,549 Member
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    You'll learn food values as you log them. I know how many calories Girl Scout cookies are per serving, based on last year. I know how much an oz of almonds is, without looking it up. With practice, you'll know what foods are high calorie and which ones are lower. Your body will get better at signaling hunger and satiation and instead of finishing off that ginormous hamburger and every last fry, you'll be perfectly happy with a half a burger and half a dozen fries.
  • LBATL
    LBATL Posts: 76 Member
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    I have honestly lost 91 pounds without counting calroies. I signed up for this site a few weeks ago because a coworker encouraged me to try it with her. I'm really not a fan of counting calories at all. It makes me feel like I cannot trust myself to eat healthily on my own and that I need to report everything to a log in order to be successful. It's driving me nuts and I've stopped logging my food and exercise. I believe that when you get started on the path to healthier eating it does help to write things down and keep track of what you are consuming. However, long term its probably not realistic and you'll grow to resent it. I say take a few days away from logging and see how you do. Start to learn to trust yourself and eventually you'll be confident to eat without having to report everything back to MFP.
  • bjshooter
    bjshooter Posts: 1,174 Member
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    This is why losing weight slowly is good, you just know what foods are good and bad, by the time you get to goal. You know how your body wroks and how many treats etc you should be allowing, I reckon I could easily do what I do now, after a year without actually counting.
  • beautymkt
    beautymkt Posts: 60
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    I agree with all of you. Personally for me, I am making it a way of life. You don't feel deprived when eating calories, however you know after awhile that eating too much pizza or cookies, etc will jeopardize your maintained weight, especially if you don't always workout on a regular basis. Good luck!
  • nerdyandilikeit
    nerdyandilikeit Posts: 2,185 Member
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    i wonder this too, but knowing myself, i have a feeling it will be helpful even after i am at my goal for me. for planning's sake if not for anything else. i do find myself already learning healthy portions of certain things, and i hope that eventually it will become second nature, but 3 weeks in, its too soon to tell how it will all pan out.

    if you really hate counting the calories, i hope you find a way to kind of learn it by heart so it doesnt become a chore to make those better choices :)
  • emmyvera
    emmyvera Posts: 599 Member
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    Honestly, I think it is/will be different for everyone when they are at the point where they don't county daily.

    It depends on how each of used the information and applies it. Whether we have tools or not. We need to use the best tool we have, ourselves.

    When I was away for 12 days in February, I didn't log in at all hardly.
    But I made sure to stay busy every day and do some form of exercise or activity. Does it matter that I didn't count how much I burnt? I don't think so. I was aware and making an effort.

    Those days on vacation I ate out almost every day and it was about impossible to measure or calculate what I was eating. But what did I eat? Fish, veggies, fruit . Light options because that is what I wanted and knew was good for me. Not because of a calorie count.

    I weigh the same amount today as I did Feb 1st. And I may not have lost, but I maintained because I made the right choices. We can do this! We can use our knowledge and create power for ourselves and our everyday choices.

    I love this site, but I don't plan on counting forever or even 10 years from now. But what I've learned is priceless and crucial in improving myself daily.

    good luck :happy:
  • AllisonMarisa
    AllisonMarisa Posts: 74 Member
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    I think for me I will always check in. But in reality, this site made me aware of what was healthy and wasn't healthy (like, WHAT that has HOW many calories ? hehehe) so even if I stop tracking as closely, I have a new mindset.
  • dmcohee
    dmcohee Posts: 99 Member
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    Once I got to where I was comfortable with how I looked and felt i stopped counting calories. i did really well for the longest time. Over about a year I gained back about 10 pounds, so i decided it was time to start tracking again. It makes me accountable and makes me think twice about eating something if I know it's going to put me over. I don't track on weekends though.

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