Anyone maintaining without counting calories

I've been maintaining for 3 months and still need to track my calories. I'm planning to always track calories. That's what works best for me :-)

What I do is just keep a log of what I eat. Yes, I note the amounts, but I don't keep the actual numbers: calories, fat, carbs, etc. Then, if I start to feel poorly or am struggling with my workouts I just look back through my log and see if I've started a bad habit, or have eaten something recently or more often than I should, etc.

Weigh once a week and keep an eye on things, I managed to lose 2 stone with portion control and avoiding snacking. Been maintaining for a couple of months with no logging so it can be done .

Since I started using Myfitnesspal I can pretty much tell how many calories the food I eat have. I don't eat many new foods so I can tell when I eat 2000 calories close enough. I don't count calories, I eat what I want and stop when I get to about 2000 calories.

I haven't logged in over a year and a half. I logged for about a month when I went into maintenance just to see what a days worth of food looked like...other than that, I've maintained just fine without logging.

I'm currently trying to drop a few pounds to get myself down to about 10% BF and I'm not logging for that either.

I keep a pretty good estimate of things in my head...I eat pretty healthfully and get plenty of exercise. I weigh in regularly and I'm mindful of what my clothes feel like.

i agree it's scary to take the plunge and stop logging, so yeah just be really aware of small changes in your body during this time and start again if you have concerns.

I maintain without counting calories.....but I still eat the way I did when losing weight and I weight myself once a month. I started losing weight in 2011 and it took me 3 years logging to get to that point

Yup. I lost without counting. I maintained for 10+ years without counting. I'm still maintaining (13+ years). I counted for a while here as I was entering menopause, but yes, I maintain pretty much without counting, weighing, measuring... I sometimes check in when adding a new food to my diet, or mixing up my workouts, but yes. I make much better food choices. I make choices that result in a diet that is pretty low-glycemic on the whole.
I limit added sugars and other refined carbs. That's about it. Oh, and I eat when I'm hungry, and don't eat when I'm not.

(yes, I still eat pizza, I just eat better pizza)

Good luck finding what works for you.

I am maintaining for 5 months now. I try to eat healthier and limit processed foods, gluten and sugar. I don't log my food as often but still try to keep within the range. I weigh myself often though, so that is my guide.

It is a work in progress. So don't be scared to try different approaches. Good Luck!

if you go back to eating like when you were fat, you'll be fat again. stay away from processed stuff and cook your food, so you'll know what's in it.

I logged everything for 180 days - that's over. It took some time that I can put into other activities. The main benefit was that I learned my patterns and particular food calories. Now I can estimate better.

Maintaining for the last 3 months, I've been weighing every day without logging. It's fast and convenient. For a couple days in there, I logged a whole day to see what the content was. But logging is not necessary for me, if I pay attention to weight, and adjust diet qualitatively.

I am not as strict I still try to keep a rough idea of how many calories I am eating. As long as my new smaller clothes don't start getting too snug I know I am in good shape still.

I don't log. If my weight goes up a little, I eat a little less, if it doesn't....I'm good. It's really not that difficult. Just weigh yourself regularly, and pay attention to trends. Around holidays and times when there are a lot of parties and stuff, I eat like I'm trying to lose weight on normal days (in a deficit without logging) and then it levels out on the days when I know I'll be over.

Tanie98 wrote: »

I am were I am happy with myself and I would like to stop tracking my food.However,I am afraid that if I do I might start overeating without knowing it and gain the weight back. So what are the tips yo maintain without counting calories? I will continue to exercise regularly and eat only when I am hungry.

It takes less time to log your calories for the day using the App or your laptop, than it does to eat an appetizer.

Now, how I can drive my car without ever having to pay attention to the fuel gauge needle....? ;-)

I'm losing without counting calories. I stopped logging over 6mos ago. You have to change your lifestyle. I eat fewer carbs and stick with good protein and veggies as much as possible. I don't deprieve myself by any means. I have my good times and bad times but overall I'm still losing. It's not quick but it's happening and that's the whole point. This is something I can stick with for my life instead of a temporary diet.

If you are going to stick with eating unhealthy foods as a norm then you are going to have to continue to log so you know how much you're eating. If you eat healthier foods as the norm then it's not such an issue and you can eat more because the foods you're eating have fewer calories.