No calorie counting "trial".

LilyOfTheValley008
LilyOfTheValley008 Posts: 95 Member
edited November 11 in Goal: Maintaining Weight
So I am currently at my goal weight and initially was planning on continuing on with counting calories and tracking exercise but honestly feel like it's time to stop.
I'm spending WAY too much time in the day obsessing over food/meals and feel like the knowledge gained from it all will be enough to stop myself from gaining back the weight.
I'm basically planning on doing a trial of about a month and seeing if I stay relatively stable or if I begin to gain again.
Just wanting to see if anyone in maintenance has given it a go, or listen to some experiences of others no longer counting basically! I've been logging every day consistently for over half a year so kind of terrified about losing the control :neutral_face:

Replies

  • Aviva92
    Aviva92 Posts: 2,333 Member
    edited February 2015
    yep, i stopped logging for long stretches of time after hitting my goal. At first I continued to lose weight and actually lost probably around 10 more pounds, but it stabilized eventually and mostly remained stable. I make sure to weigh myself every day to make sure I don't gain too much. If I hit a certain number on the scale I started logging again. I hit that number and then easily lost it really quickly again by logging for a week (my number isn't that high). Now I'm sort of logging just to see sometimes, but I don't really need to.

    Your new habits learned via logging should hopefully become more natural where you won't need to log anymore. If you lose control, just figure it out quickly by weighing yourself every day. Should be easily fixed by logging again.
  • RaspberryTickleChicken
    RaspberryTickleChicken Posts: 629 Member
    Some can

    Some cannot

    Just make sure you have a strategy in place to track your progress just in case all the new healthy habits falter. ie. weigh in or measure once a month

    Best of luck to you. :)
  • Jennloella
    Jennloella Posts: 2,286 Member
    I haven't counted calories in years. I still track sodium because I have to meals I cook for my husband, I track protein for myself because it's easy to not get enough. As long as you're paying attention and not going overboard with anything. I still drink beer, have treats, etc. I stick to my workouts religiously, no excuses, and I think that's what makes me succeed.
  • Tedebearduff
    Tedebearduff Posts: 1,155 Member
    LilyOfTheValley008 wrote: »
    So I am currently at my goal weight and initially was planning on continuing on with counting calories and tracking exercise but honestly feel like it's time to stop.
    I'm spending WAY too much time in the day obsessing over food/meals and feel like the knowledge gained from it all will be enough to stop myself from gaining back the weight.
    I'm basically planning on doing a trial of about a month and seeing if I stay relatively stable or if I begin to gain again.
    Just wanting to see if anyone in maintenance has given it a go, or listen to some experiences of others no longer counting basically! I've been logging every day consistently for over half a year so kind of terrified about losing the control :neutral_face:

    Hey,

    I stopped logging after around 60lbs lost and lost another 112lbs without tracking, I then moved to maintenance without tracking as well… stayed there for 4 months or so, then transitioned into a bulk, this was actually really hard at first but became super easy after about 2 months. (Ice cream and peanut butter made bulking allot easier)

    I track again now as I am done my bulk and was having a hard time getting my eating habits under control again. I’ll probably stop tracking in another month or so… idk if this helped but there ya go ;)
  • GaleHawkins
    GaleHawkins Posts: 8,159 Member
    I think logging is an awesome training tool. It was wild the carbs I was eating a regular bases. logging 5K+ calorie days over and over can be a mental game changer.

    The point made about weighing self daily I find works well for me. I like to weigh at night right before I go to bed after I have brushed my teeth and drink a load of water with my fish oil. I weight again first thing the next morning and log it to see weight loss during sleep. Then I log after the restroom stop but before I eat/drink anything as I am ready to step into the shower.

    I am experimenting with drinking 4-6 cups of coffee daily each with 100+ calories of half and half in the small cups. Last night I had my last two cups at McDonald's with 300 added total calories of creamer at 9 PM at the cost of $0.67. I went to bed at 11 pm and actually lost 16 oz overnight before hitting the bathroom. Normally the overnight loss is 2-6 ounces.

    All of this logging is not required but I find it fun since I do not weigh intake foods due to I mainly eat out. For the last couple weeks my main meal comes from the Huddle House because they do a great job of preparing per my macros. I get 5 eggs over easy medium, 3 strips of bacon and 2 sausage patties and 3-4 cups of coffee with heavy cream usage and internet connection but it runs $10+ before the tip depending on the person taking the person taking the order.

    Again logging is a great training tool to become AWARE of what one is and is not eating and the amounts.

  • middlehaitch
    middlehaitch Posts: 8,486 Member
    edited February 2015
    Hi lily,
    I have maintained for over 5 years, and only log occasionally, and weigh myself if I feel as though I am putting weight on.

    I have a sliding 5 lb window that I tend to stay within with little effort.

    That being said, I think it was important that I knew my average serving sizes by sight. After a year of logging I knew what my plate should look like.

    If I feel I am at the top of my sliding weight scale I weigh myself and adjust my diet accordingly. I may or may not count to resolve the gain. Oddly enough I have always caught any gain before it has gone over my 5lb window.

    If I change my exercise routine dramatically I will log for a few months so I can re adjust my intake. That is what I am doing now as I started losing .5lb every 2 weeks.

    It takes confidence, self knowledge, and discipline, but is quite doable.

    Most of the time I don't even think about what I eat.

    I just eat like counting my calories taught me; not like I ate before counting calories.

    Cheers, h.
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
    I've tried not logging and gained but that was last year and I wasn't at maintenance, just got fed up with logging all the time. I had to go back to logging. ....I still log, the main reason I log now is to see I get close to hitting my macros and that I actually eat enough! I need to eat at least 2100 to maintain, if I didn't log, I know I'd not eat enough. Strange but true.
  • FitPhillygirl
    FitPhillygirl Posts: 7,124 Member
    I stopped counting as of yesterday. I haven't gained any weight in the last 3 years and found out that my actual TDEE is 2800 and not 1800 that I thought. I'll never come close to eating that much in a day so I'm going to stop counting altogther and see if my weight stays the same. Sometimes I think I go overboard with all the logging and that is why my weight is under and not always at goal like it should be.
  • lngrunert
    lngrunert Posts: 204 Member
    I stopped counting about 6 months ago and have maintained since. I guesstimate that I'm eating anywhere between 1600 and 2000 calories a day, but I'm also working out 5x per week (cardio/bodyweight 3x/week and lifting 2x/week).
  • missyjane824
    missyjane824 Posts: 1,199 Member
    I had been logging for the better part of 2.5 years and been in a deficit for most of that time. I joined a gym in the last month or so and want to get strong and lean. Due to newbie gains I feel I can do this at maintenance and still get lean. I think if I were logging I would be too tempted to not eat enough to make proper strength gains. For now this is working but it has only been a month. We shall see what the next several months brings.
  • missiontofitness
    missiontofitness Posts: 4,059 Member
    LilyOfTheValley008 wrote: »
    So I am currently at my goal weight and initially was planning on continuing on with counting calories and tracking exercise but honestly feel like it's time to stop.
    I'm spending WAY too much time in the day obsessing over food/meals and feel like the knowledge gained from it all will be enough to stop myself from gaining back the weight.
    I'm basically planning on doing a trial of about a month and seeing if I stay relatively stable or if I begin to gain again.
    Just wanting to see if anyone in maintenance has given it a go, or listen to some experiences of others no longer counting basically! I've been logging every day consistently for over half a year so kind of terrified about losing the control :neutral_face:

    What are your calories set at right now? It could be risky, just because unplanned overages can add up, especially over time. I'm switching over to maintenace soon, but I plan on still tracking, since I don't want nearly a year of progress to go to waste! Maybe if you do bulk meal preps (to take away the "obsessive" feeling of food/meals), and learn to give yourself a little leeway could help you relax a bit. Maintenance shouldn't be stressful; it's a reward after hard work!
  • avatarrules123
    avatarrules123 Posts: 66 Member
    I've been recently calorie counting for the past few months, but I've found an even more effective way to "calorie" count than that. Sometimes I've gotten lazy and not added the stuff I'm eating because I know that it's gonna take time to find the right thing to eat to count. So instead of counting everything, I do this instead.

    Note: I don't eat breakfast. Call me crazy; I KNOW I SHOULD. I eat 1470 calories a day. (By MFP, in order to lose 1 lb. a week.)

    What I do is this. I hold my hand in front of me, fingers spread (My hand is 6 and 1/2 in. in diameter.) Now, whatever I can fit on the circumference of my hand, I'll eat; twice a day. I'll eat nothing else besides this (excluding milk, which I drink 2 cups of a day). This "hand-eating" (and I've tracked this time and time again using MFP) keeps me time and time again inside my calorie goal. It's INSANE, but it works. (For me at least).
  • AllOutof_Bubblegum
    AllOutof_Bubblegum Posts: 3,646 Member
    edited February 2015
    edit for totally misunderstanding the OP. My bad, carry on.
  • AllOutof_Bubblegum
    AllOutof_Bubblegum Posts: 3,646 Member
    avatarrules123 wrote: »
    I've been recently calorie counting for the past few months, but I've found an even more effective way to "calorie" count than that. Sometimes I've gotten lazy and not added the stuff I'm eating because I know that it's gonna take time to find the right thing to eat to count. So instead of counting everything, I do this instead.

    Note: I don't eat breakfast. Call me crazy; I KNOW I SHOULD. I eat 1470 calories a day. (By MFP, in order to lose 1 lb. a week.)

    What I do is this. I hold my hand in front of me, fingers spread (My hand is 6 and 1/2 in. in diameter.) Now, whatever I can fit on the circumference of my hand, I'll eat; twice a day. I'll eat nothing else besides this (excluding milk, which I drink 2 cups of a day). This "hand-eating" (and I've tracked this time and time again using MFP) keeps me time and time again inside my calorie goal. It's INSANE, but it works. (For me at least).

    There is no reason you need to eat breakfast if you don't want to. There's nothing magical or metabolism "kick starting" about breakfast, despite what a lot of people think. It can help some people from overeating at lunch, but if that's not you, then you don't need to eat in the morning.
  • 20yearsyounger
    20yearsyounger Posts: 1,630 Member
    I enjoy tracking, getting the macros right, and balancing my sodium. I also need to make sure that I eat enough. No desire to stop logging now. weird enough, i also have no desire to step on a scale that often anymore.
  • NikonPal
    NikonPal Posts: 1,346 Member
    Enjoyed the various thoughts on the topic. I will be hitting goal shortly and already pre-planning maintenance. I will likely continue to weigh daily and "officially record" once a week as I have done for over a year. It is sort of like putting my socks on now :)

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  • triciab79
    triciab79 Posts: 1,713 Member
    I don't log the calories but I do keep an estimate in my head. I have managed like this for about 2 yrs. I step on the scale everyday though so if I start seeing it trend upwards I adjust how much I eat. Now that doesn't mean if I see a 1 lb gain I flip out and starve myself. I keep a running range. I know that at a certain point in the month I should be between X and Y and if it is generally in that range then I am ok but if it trends up for a month or two then adjustments are needed.
  • Tea_Mistress
    Tea_Mistress Posts: 105 Member
    I stopped counting in the new year, much happier and haven't gained any weight :) give yourself some credit, this calorie counting really has taught me some lessons I won't forget... like eat all the veggies you want ;D
  • GaleHawkins
    GaleHawkins Posts: 8,159 Member
    triciab79 wrote: »
    I don't log the calories but I do keep an estimate in my head. I have managed like this for about 2 yrs. I step on the scale everyday though so if I start seeing it trend upwards I adjust how much I eat. Now that doesn't mean if I see a 1 lb gain I flip out and starve myself. I keep a running range. I know that at a certain point in the month I should be between X and Y and if it is generally in that range then I am ok but if it trends up for a month or two then adjustments are needed.

    Same here. I do think counting on paper/computer is often the best way to train the brain how to eat initially. Now I try not to depend on anything to manage weight that I can not see myself doing 40 years from now.
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