Are you still counting calories on maintenance?
darthdosa
Posts: 4 Member
I've been counting calories for 3 months, this has worked really well for me since I was eating meals I enjoy and it's worked better than other diets I've tried in the past. I'm still not in my goal weight but I realized I'm actually happy about how I look and how my clothes fit at the moment, so I'm thinking about skipping to maintenance. What's your experience? Should I still keep tracking everything I'm eating? Do I forget about it and just start to eat sensibly?
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After tracking through 2 years losing 7 stone, I have continued to tack through 18 months of maintenance, the last 6 of which I have added in exercise. The tracking helps me adjust to changes, experiment with changes to my diet and has really helped me understand my nutritional needs, eg I realised I need more protein and iron. I know I should at least stop counting fruit and veg and should work towards not counting calories at all and just listen to my body but with so many hidden calories in food, trying to adjust to adding exercise and my ability to easily overeat just a little, I am not ready yet as I still find it so useful. Twenty years ago I read Fat is a Feminist Issue which said you could lose and maintain weight by listening to your body (and a lot of,other things) It liberated me from binge eating. Until I read it, I didnt know my body's hunger system worked because I had either dieted or overeaten since I was a child. I lost weight and for,the first time I didnt put it straight back on BUT I did eventually put it back over 10 years. I caluated that it just took overeating to approximately one chocolate biscuit a day. My aim is to still get back to listening to my body but I have to enjoy contentment rather than fullness. At the moment, at 7 stone I can have about 1700cals including about 50 cals minimum of exercise. I love using MFP recipe maker go make my own healthy high protein, no sugar versions of all my sweet tooth favourites and being able to eat plenty of them. My diet keeps changing as I discover new ways of making things, new foods, new eating patterns that suit me better, so I am still discovering, after 3 1/2 years! I am still enjoying it. Maybe you dont as much. I am a bit nerdy. Take your time. Make sure your new eating habits really are permanent habits. You can always try not counting, just,check your weight or how your clothes feel and if it goes wrong, just log in again to see where you may be going wrong. I know,where I would go wrong. Eating out -I can easily eat double to triple the calories of my normal meals and that's ok when I can adjust on other days. I can also so easily forget little snacks I've eaten and when combined with mistaking,thirst for hunger, end up eating more than I need. Now this is possible to overcome just by knowing and listening to your body but it does take being attentive without the many distractions of life. At the moment, I find logging in easier. But, it should be the ultimate aim, so give it a try, if it doesnt work yet, dont feel guilty, and just try again another time,when you are more ready. Good luck.0
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It really varies a lot by person and personality. I find I still need to count calories or I tend to not get enough calories. I've been basically in maintenance since late last August, but I continued to lose. I have eased up on my logging. I don't weigh most of my fruit and vegetables anymore, especially the green vegetables- it's just not worth worrying about whether I have 20 or 27 calories of green beans! I do a lot more guesstimating when I eat away from home. I hope to ease up even more, but for now this is working and not too bothersome for me.3
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I still log my foods, I'm about a year into maintenance. While some people do learn to maintain their weight by listening to their body and don't have to track, I think there are far more examples of where people slip back into old habits and weight comes back on. Read through some of the threads in the Maintaining Weight section and you'll find a lot of threads where people feel maintenance is harder than losing. For me tracking is not time consuming and not something that bothers me so I plan to still log for the foreseeable future.
I also wouldn't jump straight into not logging once you've made the decision to switch to maintenance. It can take time to figure out your maintenance level calories and an acceptable range for your weight (most people have a range of 3-5 lbs they fluctuate between as an acceptable deviation from their maintenance weight) and not logging would take some of the data out of figuring that out.3 -
I've been counting calories for 3 months, this has worked really well for me since I was eating meals I enjoy and it's worked better than other diets I've tried in the past. I'm still not in my goal weight but I realized I'm actually happy about how I look and how my clothes fit at the moment, so I'm thinking about skipping to maintenance. What's your experience? Should I still keep tracking everything I'm eating? Do I forget about it and just start to eat sensibly?
I counted calories during weight loss (9-12 months) and then during the first 9 months of maintenance. This was, in retrospect, the stabilizing phase. I actually ended up on a lower goal weight than I had in mind. I stopped counting when it became boring and felt unnecessary. Eating sensibly was what I had been learning through calorie counting, so I just continued doing that.1 -
I've only been maintaining for 4 months and I still log my foods. If I didn't, I'd gain weight. If you feel you can maintain without logging, then go for it. Some people can, some can't.2
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Last time I got this close to maintenance -- within 30lbs of ideal weight -- I stopped counting and it seemed like I blinked and was as fat as I was before plus 30lbs.
This time I fully plan to keep counting at least a year or two into maintenance, and weigh every morning for the rest of my life.2 -
Thanks to all for your answers. I think I better keep logging my food for some time, then. I've learnt a lot during this 3 months but it's true you can easily slip into old habits!0
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That depends on you...I've been in maintenance for three years and I don't and haven't logged in that time...but I'm also very aware of what I need and how I need to eat and I live an overall lifestyle that is fitness and nutrition centric. I do the things that healthy, lean, and fit people do so maintaining is pretty effortless.2
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I didn't find maintenance easy. I don't think I really understood what it meant. I just thot I could go back to eating like I did before, plus excersize. So this time I 'm reading about maintenance and prepared for a different approach. Hope to learn how to eat and know intuitively how to maintain eventually. At first I plan to watch by logging and adjust slowly to my tdee.5
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I didn't find maintenance easy. I don't think I really understood what it meant. I just thot I could go back to eating like I did before, plus excersize. So this time I 'm reading about maintenance and prepared for a different approach. Hope to learn how to eat and know intuitively how to maintain eventually. At first I plan to watch by logging and adjust slowly to my tdee.
After a couple false starts on here, this time I am finally approaching maintenance, 5 pounds or so to go. This post is very helpful in putting this in perspective for me. Thanks @Gamliela1 -
It's been 2 years and I can't imagine stopping ever. I like my treats and counting calories is the only way I can make sure that they actually fit in.6
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I stopped tracking around 2.5 years into maintenance and within weeks I started regaining. After realizing how easy it was to get off track I restarted tracking a few weeks ago and the weight creep is gone. I learned my lesson and I'll be tracking for the rest of my life.3
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I've been in maintenance for over a year now. I am still logging. I'm looking at this as a similar situation as when I was losing, now I'm just eating a tid bit more. I still want to know what I've been eating in the case things start to turn sideways.
In fact, I've realized that my logging must not have been as tight as it should have been as I'm just a couple of pounds over my "comfort zone" so I'm back to meticulous logging. I don't want to regress.0 -
i dont think id ever completely stop , i didnt track yesterday
but i did the rest of the week and i am today
id say i track at least 80% of the time0 -
eventually after time u realize what and how much u can eat so it becomes automatic process for you so u dont need to track everything. if u go over the maintenance just do some extra cardio or move more during the day0
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I reached my goal 3 years ago and tracked for about 1 year after...closed my account as I thought I knew what I needed to know... years later I have put 10lbs back on...so registered on the website again...it can be so easy to under estimate what you eat:(1
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^^2years1
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I reached my goal 3 years ago and tracked for about 1 year after...closed my account as I thought I knew what I needed to know... years later I have put 10lbs back on...so registered on the website again...it can be so easy to under estimate what you eat:(
Ha, yeah did the same exact thing with my MFP account
Lesson learned, ugh lol. 0 -
I've been in maitenance 2 years and I still track and log - but I have transitioned to 'lazy logging' ie I guestimate a lot and accept averages ( every mandarine is a medium mandarine and they average out, rather than weighing each one) .
This is enough for me to keep things under control without having to do the full on accurate logging.
But really, whatever works for you.
I would be a bit dubious of dropping completely after only 3 months though - that doesn't seem long enough to me for new habits to have become ingrained.0 -
I reached my goal 3 years ago and tracked for about 1 year after...closed my account as I thought I knew what I needed to know... years later I have put 10lbs back on...so registered on the website again...it can be so easy to under estimate what you eat:(
10 pounds in years is really not bad, frankly.0 -
In the 3 yrs I've been at maintenance I've counted calories, but in past few months I've stopped logging my meals, mentally I know roughly how many calories I'm consuming. I feel thats a good habit to be aware of how much even if not recording them. I'm maintaining my goal range pretty darned effortlessly
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I've lost 50 lbs, over I don't know how many years, of tracking, maybe 2 years. I've been in maintenance, over the last 6 months or so, and tracking, all this time, with good effect.
Now, in the last 4 days, I have been literally too busy to do my usual meal tracking and have missed tracking quite a few meals. I have noticed my weight climbing up and up and up, in these last few days, as I weigh myself daily. The MFP weight graph was a depressing upward climb. It all pointed to one thing: I personally, have to track my meals forever, to keep my weight down. Period.0 -
Maintenance since October...and yes: I believe for me I will always count/be mindful/be aware. I log in for the people though: I have some pretty spectacular friends here who I LOVE are apart of my life/fitness journey.
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Yep - I've been on maintenance since 2012. I've continued to count calories ever day. It keeps me accountable and mindful of what I'm eating. It's too easy to slip back otherwise.0
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I didn't find maintenance easy. I don't think I really understood what it meant. I just thot I could go back to eating like I did before, plus excersize. So this time I 'm reading about maintenance and prepared for a different approach. Hope to learn how to eat and know intuitively how to maintain eventually. At first I plan to watch by logging and adjust slowly to my tdee.
It's great that you pointed this out as I think many people do think like this and that's where it all goes so wrong. It is a lifestyle change - if you had put on weight eating the types/amounts of food you used to eat why think it'll be any different now? At the same time some people automatically reach for quick fix 'diet food' or try to live on really basic salads/foods that they don't like to lose the weight and wonder why it's not sustainable....it's such a shame.1 -
I've been maintaining about 6 months, and still log pretty much everything. As others have said it helps me keep on track. Some days I miss everything exactly and I'm not quite so strict, but mostly its everything.
I have a pretty good idea now just in my head, but logging makes sure I don't have an extra biscuit or bit of chocolate as I have to "write it all down", and also in reverse, reassures me that 1 or 2 treats aren't going to set me back as it fits in my allowance...0 -
I still have to count calories. Every time I stop I eventually start gaining weight, I get complacent and stop really thinking about what I'm doing and eating. The accountability of actually writing down what I'm eating helps me.0
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In 2007 I tracked calories and then stopped when I got to maintenance. I gained it all back and then some. In 2011 I started tracking again and went on maintenance again in 2012. I'm still tracking. Whatever I do to gain weight, it will come back if I stop doing it. I will point out however, that my tracking on maintenance is much more haphazard and imprecise. I just need to make sure that I'm in the ballpark.What's your experience? Should I still keep tracking everything I'm eating? Do I forget about it and just start to eat sensibly?
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Counting calories and cardio seems to be the best combination for me. I have set my calorie goal high on my profile but I try to stick to 1200. Its a way to trick myself into thinking that I don't need all those calories. My new goal is to walk at least 10,000 steps a day.1
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