I feel like I need a break

I tend to take logging breaks to coincide with vacations and holidays. And for the most part if I overeat it is knowingly. I'm pretty sure I can maintain without logging if I keep an eye on it as it were with some quick mental maths.

I also didn't go hard at it though. I'm just meandering along and will get to goal when I get there. Some periods I hit my deficit more consistently than others and that's cool. I feel it's helping me prepare for maintenance.

That said, I'm not fussed if I have to log for life in some way, it doesn't bother me and my exercise is auto recorded from my tracker.

I've done both logging and taking breaks in the past ten years since I lost my weight. I've managed to keep off the weight when I weigh myself once or twice a week.

I have to have some gauge of where I am, if I don't weigh myself I go off the rails.

You do deserve a break and to see how it goes.

It's not like this site is going to abandon you.

floridamike99 wrote: »

When I set my goal weight number, it was pretty arbitrary and I just picked a number, since I had never really been at a healthy weight all my adult life.

Now I am about 90% of the way to that goal weight, and certainly at a weight that would be fine if it were forever (I am 5'11" and now weigh 173). But I am feeling like I need a break from the daily "rigor" of recording every morsel I eat and every bike ride. Obviously, this is a good problem to have, but I am kind of tired of it, and I'd like some time off. There is no way I will ever be like I was before, but I want to start living without having the MFP "training wheels" on. It was never my goal to record every meal for the next 30 years anyway, so at some point I need to let it go, right?

Not sure exactly what kind of responses I am looking for. Just wondering what others have done or think about this. Maybe this post would be better in the "maintaining" forum (???)

Well, I guess it depends on how well you know yourself. I know myself well, and that I have to record what I eat. Every day. The rest of my life. When I stop, I lose track and eat more, and I gain. It does not bother me a bit, nor do I ever feel that I need "a break". I don't consider it to be a daily "rigor" as you do. So if I do live 30 more years, yes, I plan to be logging my meals. It just works for me.

As someone who has lost weight and kept it off in the past, what i did is i kept up my exercise regime and new eating habits. I still indulged in moderation, and i weighed myself everyday. I didn't keep a food or exercise journal or log anything but the weight stayed off. Last year i re-gained a bit of weight because i stopped weighing myself regularly and didn't keep up with the exercise. I also started to binge eat, and i gained what i did because i was in denial about my weight. When i stepped on the scales i kept saying 'that's water weight! fluid retention! i haven't really gained fat'. What made me realize i needed to lose weight was ordering 6 dresses online in my size and finding they were all tight, and i couldn't deny my weight gain anymore.

So in terms of taking a break and maintaining, those are my tips. Weigh yourself regularly, keep up the exercise and new eating habits. If you monitor your weight regularly, you can always start cutting back your food intake or go back to logging for a little bit if you gain a bit. Do what works for you and what feels right. Remember, weight gain will take time just like weight loss and you won't suddenly gain it all back if you stop logging but maintain healthy habits.

Taking a break is a lot easier if you view food as fuel. If food is comfort, or pleasure, or a reward, success is even less likely.

My husband's friend lost 50 lbs without tracking one calorie. He simply cut back on his portion sizes, and now continues to keep an eye on them. He has maintained the weight loss for 5 years.

When I reach my goal weight, I plan to ease out of tracking, but weigh myself each morning. If I am up more than 2 lbs, I will go back to tracking until the weight is gone again. Rinse and repeat. :-D I tire of having to keep track of every calorie too, so I am hoping that this will be enough motivation for me to keep an eye on portion sizes, etc. while trying to maintain.

I think your current weight of 173 is an ideal weight based on your height. How do you look and feel? Are you happy with your body? If so, I'd go ahead and make the switch to maintenance and start eating up to your TDEE. This way you know how much to eat in order to maintain your current weight and you can finally stop logging.

Personally I need a break too but I'm not one of those people who can lose weight without tracking. I've been dieting since January and have lost over 25# but I'm tired of it consuming my life. Problem is that if I stopped logging now, I may not be held accountable because my calories are no longer written in stone on my app. Once I get down to my ideal weight and after I slowly increase my calorie intake to TDEE, I will stop logging. To keep myself from gaining too much, I will continue to weigh myself at least every week.