Do you ALWAYS track?

If I were you I would just eat what I wanted- it's your birthday, it only comes once a year! It's not like you're going to eat so much that you'll actually gain a significant amount of weight.

there are days that i track even though i know i'm going to go over, and there are days i don't track at all.

It just depends on what works for you. Physcologically, seeing my intake go into the red doesn't work for me so I don't log it but I know about it and i make sure to get back on track the next day. For some people seeing it in the red is motivation to not slip up. Just do what works for you.

I only log when I'm trying to cut...maintaining is easy and I don't need to log.

85% of the time...I also try to meet my calorie goals over the week instead of daily.

I track unless I don't have an internet connection, and not on Christmas Day, my birthday, or events like weddings. This is because I know I'm going to go way, way over and so I can avoid the temptation and try to 'make up' for that, because that just doesn't work for me. Other than that I just guess the calories if I can't check them, and estimate high.

On occasions like that I usually quick-add a bunch of calories, just so that I can have an idea how the week looks overall. I've been on vacation without Internet access and (obviously) didn't track and it all evened out--ate more dessert, drank more wine, but maybe snacked less and was more active.

i try to. most days i track everything i eat and my exercise cals to be sure i'm keeping even. have been in maintenance mode for 4 months now and trying to be careful with it despite having the odd indulgence. life is meant for living, not monitoring yourself 100% every day. i find that so long as i eat whole foods (not food products) 80% of the time, i can eat pretty much anything else without any bad side effects - in moderation of course.

after this long with eating well and exercising regularly every week i don't feel a need to binge and the amount of water i drink keeps me hydrated and energized for workouts. i have a couple of days off every week from exercise where i either rest completely or go for a light walk. the rest of the time i stick to my schedule and i'm happy. i find logging the daily diet still helps me to monitor my daily intake... would like to eventually go 1 - 2 weeks without logging and maintain weight. then i may consider easing off it.

I don't log on weekends or holidays. And sometimes I take a random week off from logging. I get a little too OCD about things, and taking a break from it works for me.

When I first started, I logged everything. All the time. Then I went to a bachelorette party, exercised in the morning, pre-logged what I knew I'd eat, and kept track of everything else I consumed. When I logged it all in, my "if every day were like today" message said in five weeks, I'd gain two pounds. I thought, "That's IT?!"

I realized that every day is NOT like that day. I wouldn't survive 5 weeks of that kind of debauchery anyway. It would take a lot more than one day a week to undo my deficit for the week. And I realized that keeping track of every jello shot and every potato chip isn't a fun way to spend a party. So I started taking one weekend day off a week to relax and enjoy myself. When I reached my goal weight, I took two weekend days off a week, and happily maintained for years that way.

(Until I stopped logging all together, then got injured. But that had nothing to do with taking a random day off here and there.)

I do. I know myself too well.
It keeps me motivated to never give in and end up on the slippery slope back to obesity.
Everyone has to do it their way, what works for each of us.

I track but now that I'm in month 3 of maintenance, I don't always weigh out the creamer for my coffee, or that glass of oj. However I will check myself once and awhile and have learned that im getting pretty good about eyeballing a proper serving.

Yesterday I eyeballed out a perfect 2.0oz of turkey breast for my sandwich. That was my nwm for the day. Lol

But yes I track, I just am learning to be less rigid about it.

You do realize that we're in the maintenance forum and therefore most of us are not trying to lose weight anymore, don't you? We're trying to learn how to have a life without gaining the weight back. Taking the occasional break isn't necessarily for the purposes of creating a "cheat" day. Maybe people are trying to learn how to do this without tracking. Maybe they've learned they can trust themselves for a couple days to eat mindfully and not go crazy. I've been in maintenance for 8 months. After the first 4 months, I decided I wasn't going to track at all until I reached the top of my range. After a couple weeks, I realized I missed knowing my macros and micronutrients. So, I started tracking again so I would know I was getting enough fiber, enough fat, enough iron... Just because I choose to take a day off on occasion doesn't mean the other 95% of the time that I do track is worthless.[/quote]

This^
and it's your birthday, if it would take away from the fun of celebrating don't track, or track breakfast and lunch and not dinner if you are going out. I was only on maintenance for 2 weeks before my birthday and I went out for dinner and ate and drank what I wanted. I tracked VERY carefully the rest of the week and there was NO change in my weight. My husbands birthday is exactly a week before mine, so that was 2 dinners out in 7 days, and no problem.

I always track, but some days I know that I'll go over. I just like to know how much. Come on, it's your birthday? Does that mean you can't track breakfast and lunch? Go out and party and the next day, try to remember what you ate. What's the big deal? You don't have to have the cell phone out and log at the bar.

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