Not tracking calories.

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WalkingGirl1985
WalkingGirl1985 Posts: 2,047 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I'm sure a lot of you do..does anyone NOT track calories and just eat healthy/watch portions? I'm sick of stressing about calories and working out to the break of exhaustion to "make up" up those calories to stay under. Anyone else going through the same kind of stress sometimes?

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  • Rloral
    Rloral Posts: 112 Member
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    Yes, I lost 8 pounds the initial month (February) and have not lost anything since and I'm sick and tired of trying to figure out why. I didn't eat my exercise calories back and I did not lose weight. This week I'm trying to eat my exercise calories back but now It seems like I'm gaining :sad: . So now I'm just trying to concentrate on toning and not anything else. But every time I "say" I'm not going to write down the foods I eat, I do it anyway. Hang in there, you're not alone.
  • Sofitness
    Sofitness Posts: 54
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    Hey,
    I haven't been watching my calories for about a month and lost quite a lot of weight! Now I'm counting every other day, and I'm fine. It's absolutely possible to stay healthy and if calorie counting is making you feel bad, you should stop it. Getting healthy should be about getting happy as well, stressing out and even having thought scarily close to those of person with eating disorder IS NOT WORTH IT.
    Try to eat when you're hungry and stop when you're not. Focus on your food. Eat food that's a good fuel, food that makes you feel good and food that you like! Make a list of reasons why do you want to eat healthily even when not counting calories and do exercise you like. You shouldn't feel bad about eating over your calorie limit, either!
    Remember, what MFP (or any other tool like that) gives you is JUST AN ESTIMATE. Nothing more. It doesn't know much about you, it doesn't know if you walked up the stairs today or if you walked instead of driving. It doesn't know your body's exact needs or exact speed of it's metabolism. You are the expert on yourself, you know that and don't let anything get in a way of providing your body what it needs without guilty thoughts. I suggest you to read a book called "Intuitive Eating" by Elyse Rench, it's an amazing thing and I think could help you a lot.
  • ghoztt
    ghoztt Posts: 69 Member
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    I lost my first dozen pounds before I found this site by just eating smaller portions and eating slower to let my brain catch up to my stomach along with a little bit of exercise.
  • Clonekuh
    Clonekuh Posts: 92 Member
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    I was thinking about this like 20 minutes ago.

    Most of my weight loss came about this way (not tracking, just being careful about what I eat). And it would feel so nice to not to feel food related guilt.
  • seemichellerun
    seemichellerun Posts: 219
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    I lost the bulk of my weight BEFORE joining MFP. Since joining MFP back in 2010, I've only lost about 4lbs.

    About a month ago, I stopped logging my calories and the weight has been coming off again (very slowly, but I'm at those last 10 "vanity" pounds, so that's expected). Bottom line, what works for one person may not work for you.

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