I've stopped counting calories...

xxzenabxx
xxzenabxx Posts: 948 Member
edited November 2024 in Motivation and Support
Anyone else stopped or taking a break?

Replies

  • madambutterfly91
    madambutterfly91 Posts: 31 Member
    Last year I took a break from counting calories because I was so busy all the time I didn’t have the brain power for it. I listened to my body and tried to make nutritious choices and I dropped about 30 pounds. Only reason I started counting again was because I wasn’t eating enough because of my depression and my body went into starvation mode.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,562 Member
    Any time I’ve stopped I gained weight so...
  • TenderBlender667
    TenderBlender667 Posts: 78 Member
    I've stopped for 3 days and I'm already paying the price. I don't think taking a break is worth it unless you know how to control your intake without counting calories. If you're an all-or-nothing person like me, I don't recommend it.
  • CaliMomTeach
    CaliMomTeach Posts: 745 Member
    I did for almost a month, and stopped weighing in too. I ate cake on multiple occasions and cheeseburgers and fries. I was shocked to find I did not gain weight. I went from 193 to about 140 pounds from July 2016 to May 2017. I gained and lost the same 4 pounds or so for a while. I was going for 135 pounds, but am thinking 140 is better for me. I will continue to play around with tracking and not tracking and see what happens. I just don't want to gain it all back, but 5 -10 pounds I can deal with easily I think.
  • xxzenabxx
    xxzenabxx Posts: 948 Member
    madambutterfly91 wrote: »
    Last year I took a break from counting calories because I was so busy all the time I didn’t have the brain power for it. I listened to my body and tried to make nutritious choices and I dropped about 30 pounds. Only reason I started counting again was because I wasn’t eating enough because of my depression and my body went into starvation mode.

    That's how I feel right now. I'm not up for it but I will pick up on it in a week or so I'm sure. I won't be counting during Christmas time or New Years.
  • nexangelus
    nexangelus Posts: 2,080 Member
    edited October 2017
    Taken two week break from logging and signing in here whilst on holiday. Will do it again in just under 2 weeks' time. Am still successfully losing weight no problems. See the thread on refeeds and diet breaks somewhere in the forums, I was not following the thread, so have lost track of it...

    Found it, here it is:

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10604863/of-refeeds-and-diet-breaks
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    I've stopped for this weekend, and then am going to stay at maintenance for a while as maintaining a deficit and being hungry all the time isn't much fun at the moment!
  • xxzenabxx
    xxzenabxx Posts: 948 Member
    nexangelus wrote: »
    Taken two week break from logging and signing in here whilst on holiday. Will do it again in just under 2 weeks' time. Am still successfully losing weight no problems. See the thread on refeeds and diet breaks somewhere in the forums, I was not following the thread, so have lost track of it...

    Found it, here it is:

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10604863/of-refeeds-and-diet-breaks

    Do you find the the two week breaks give your mind a break too?
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    I haven't counted calories in 4.5 years...
  • xxzenabxx
    xxzenabxx Posts: 948 Member
    CaliMomTeach wrote: »
    I did for almost a month, and stopped weighing in too. I ate cake on multiple occasions and cheeseburgers and fries. I was shocked to find I did not gain weight. I went from 193 to about 140 pounds from July 2016 to May 2017. I gained and lost the same 4 pounds or so for a while. I was going for 135 pounds, but am thinking 140 is better for me. I will continue to play around with tracking and not tracking and see what happens. I just don't want to gain it all back, but 5 -10 pounds I can deal with easily I think.

    Yes I've found that my weight will continue to fluctuate and that's normal. I want to get to the point where I can lose weight without tracking. Right now I know I'm not at that point yet.
  • xxzenabxx
    xxzenabxx Posts: 948 Member
    TavistockToad wrote: »
    I've stopped for this weekend, and then am going to stay at maintenance for a while as maintaining a deficit and being hungry all the time isn't much fun at the moment!

    I find weekends hardest to track anyway since I'm always eating out or eating at dinner parties and I never know how much calories are in the food. Exercising some sort of portion control helps me though.
  • robertw486
    robertw486 Posts: 2,406 Member
    I really only logged food for a short period, and was as concerned with eating enough to properly recover from longer cardio sessions and such as I was with total calorie intake.

    Do what works for you. For me being conscious and mindful of what I eat usually works, and I can more or less know my weight within a couple pounds without even getting on a scale. For others they might enjoy knowing exacts or what direction they are heading. There is really no right or wrong if you are at or moving towards your goals.
  • franky716
    franky716 Posts: 1 Member
    YepItsKriss wrote: »
    madambutterfly91 wrote: »
    Last year I took a break from counting calories because I was so busy all the time I didn’t have the brain power for it. I listened to my body and tried to make nutritious choices and I dropped about 30 pounds. Only reason I started counting again was because I wasn’t eating enough because of my depression and my body went into starvation mode.

    Since starvation mode isn't a real thing from not eating enough, if your result was you gained weight through your depression it was because you were eating too much

    I agree with this....Starvation mode is given way too much importance...You have to go without any food at all for several days for that to even be a factor....Unless you're stuck on a mountain after a plane crash then It's an over used term in the west.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,562 Member
    franky716 wrote: »
    YepItsKriss wrote: »
    madambutterfly91 wrote: »
    Last year I took a break from counting calories because I was so busy all the time I didn’t have the brain power for it. I listened to my body and tried to make nutritious choices and I dropped about 30 pounds. Only reason I started counting again was because I wasn’t eating enough because of my depression and my body went into starvation mode.

    Since starvation mode isn't a real thing from not eating enough, if your result was you gained weight through your depression it was because you were eating too much

    I agree with this....Starvation mode is given way too much importance...You have to go without any food at all for several days for that to even be a factor....Unless you're stuck on a mountain after a plane crash then It's an over used term in the west.

    There's a difference between starvation mode (where people assume they will not lose/end up gaining from eating too few calories...this can happen, but it takes a lengthy period of undereating enough to bring your BMR/TDEE down) and actual starvation.
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