Maintaining a healthy diet without tracking

I generally don't track everyday and still lose weight. I have some general principles I follow that work for me, keep me feeling full, and meet my dietary requirements (I have some food intolerances.) Generally if I eat plenty of lean protein (meat!) and tons of vegetables, eat eggs for breakfast, and am reasonable about cooking oils, sauces, etc. I continue to lose. If I'm concerned about what I'm planning to cook that week, I track my recipes and see where it leaves me. I'm sure if I were more precise, I'd lose more weight faster, but I am still losing this way and it helps me not feel so obsessive and tied to tracking #s. This seems more sustainable to me in the long run.

Aso for holidays, etc. try as hard as you can to keep as many meals "good" as you can! A few meals off here and there aren't going to screw up your long term progress, but that's only if you truly limit it to those few meals (don't get off track for the rest of the day, or following days- easier said than done! If I know I am going to have a big, special dinner I will eat lighter the rest of the day (eggs, lean meats, veggies) Fill up on water as much as you can and make sure you squeeze in a workout of some sort on the days you're going to eat a lot- even if it's just a little walk!

megs_1985 wrote: »

I definitely don't plan to track forever. That sounds awful to me. I think tracking should be about learning portions, your hunger signals, and resetting your tastebuds and satiety signals. Track your weight and if you see it start to creep up then go back to logging for a few weeks so you can see where to tighten up your diet.

Tbh, this is how I feel but yet over 8 years later, as soon as I stop logging and guess, the weight creeps back on and I’ve put on weight and never been able to maintain. I really wish I could not have to track forever but this seems so impossible for me.

I'm 52. For 42 years of my life I was not fat. For 10 years I struggled with weight. I've been tracking for about 5 months and to me it's not a burden. I wish I had done it 10 years ago. It would have saved me from gaining about 75 lbs. To me it's a very small inconvenience to pay if I can reach goal weight and maintain it. More power to you if you can do it without tracking.

RunRutheeRun wrote: »

I no longer log. But just because I no longer log, that doesn't mean I am not calorie aware. What keeps me on track is keeping my snacks to no more than 300-400 cals per day. I know the rest of my meals never go beyond a total of 1500 calories so it would be extra snacks that COULD derail me. This method works perfectly for me (in year 4 of maintenance).

Stepping on the scales regularly is a must for me. If I found after several weeks of being at the higher end of my goal range then I would go back to logging.

I'm glad you posted this. This approach might work for me. I'm only a couple of kilos off maintenance and I think I'll continue logging for a while, but snacks are really my biggest problem. At some point, I might stop logging and just try to keep a calorie limit on my snacks. Or even just log my snacks for a while.

Thanks for the idea. It's a way to keep some structure and accountability without logging every bite.

@JoLightensUp I think snacks gets most of us, so its just managing them. Of course I wish I could eat whatever I wanted but I can't if I don't want to gain. So planning for them and sticking to that works.

I generally don't log during the weekends, and it doesn't affect my progress too negatively.

When I know I have a special dinner coming up, I eat lightly before it. So I'll skip breakfast, have a light lunch, then eat whatever I like during the special dinner. I do try to eat mindfully and slowly and not gorge myself. Having a stomachache is a quick way to put a damper on the rest of the evening, so I have to mentally remind myself to only eat until I'm no longer hungry - not stuffed and bloated.

I don't track anything, and I've managed to lose almost 40 pounds now. I think it's about knowing portion sizing and knowing how to control your portion intake as well. I do stay active, and I use the scale to know how what I ate the day before impacted my weight. If I eat Chinese one day, and I'm up by a pound I know why it's because I consumed too much. Usually drinking more water and staying active the pound is gone shortly.

Good Luck!!

I haven't counted calories in years...I'm not sure what that has to do with choosing to eat a healthy diet or not. I personally also don't worry about things like holidays and other special occasions as these things are pretty immaterial to the rest of what I'm doing and the way I go about living my life.

I end up eating a lot of the same foods repeatedly, so when I don't feel like logging it usually isn't difficult for me to keep track. Over all it is a great skill to have, especially if you don't have access to the internet. I do, but sometimes I go to places like up in the mountains where it's harder to get internet.

I think it's possible. I'm switching to intuitive eating (at least for a short time) after a 3 month cut and staying on maintenance cals for almost 2 months. Things I plan on doing:

1. Drink water (more so to stay hydrated throughout the day and not confuse hunger for thirst)
2. Continue to log into MFP site. Even though I'm not tracking, I still have goals (maintain) and it's important to stay focused and talking w others (even via internet) about your goals.
3. Load on veggies/proteins for meals, keep snacks small
4. Stop when full
5. Keep moving (currently bodyweight training which is HARDDDDDD)
6. Weigh in daily (I use the Happy Scale app) and make sure I am in fact maintaining (however this might not work for others that don't fully understand weight fluctuations).