Calories and macros for maintenance

kleo318
kleo318 Posts: 2 Member
in Goal: Maintaining Weight
Hello! I’m getting close to maintenance and I’ve been wondering a lot about macros and sodium for when I get there. Do you feel it’s necessary to keep tracking those or would I be successful maintaining just counting my calories? Thanks for the feedback! :)

Replies

  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    That totally depends. I'm all for the least amount of effort necessary to achieve the desired effect. If you're easily able to eat in maintenance without tracking calories, then don't. But it's smart to check first, instead of having to start weightloss again because you've regained. The detail you'll have to get into, would also depend on your need. If you need to track sodium, you'll have to do that in maintenance too, I imagine. If you're learnt and established balanced nutrition, it's not really necessary to track macros.
  • kleo318
    kleo318 Posts: 2 Member
    I definitely plan on tracking calories and I’d like to track sodium as well. The macros are still up in the air though. Thank you very much :)
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
    It's really very personal.
    I tracked calories and protein for a while at maintenance (fat looked after itself naturally, carbs not restricted at all, sodium is an irrelevance to me). I wanted to keep my protein high to support a very heavy exercise regime.

    But over time I decided not to bother tracking my food intake at all as I wasn't gaining anything from it - my nutrition is fine with a little conscious thought about approximate protein amounts and my calorie balance is managed by watching my trends on the bathroom scales and adjusting my intake if I have to.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 33,937 Member
    I've been in maintenance for years and I looked at the macros and micros as a project. Something I could learn. When I was first losing it was all I could do to figure out how to stay within calories but as the years have gone by I've taught myself quite a lot about nutrition. I enjoy cooking and tweaking meals to fit my macros. If I don't get enough protein I start having problems and my natural inclination/preferential food choices are higher on the carbs than I need so that part I do watch.

    I enjoy tracking macros and some micros. It's like a Rubik's Cube for me. :) I'm sure I *could* do all this without tracking since I've been at it for so long - but I like it.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 31,966 Member
    I don't know you, so this may not apply:

    Many people, when they get into maintenance, experience a little bit of "goal nostalgia" - it was fun working toward a particular achievement (goal weight).

    There are lots of possible alternate goals. One possible goal is to focus in a bit on improved nutrition, since dialed-in nutrition is also important for health. Paying attention to macros and key micros is one approach to improving nutrition.

    So, you don't have to focus on macros, but if you want to continuing on a health-improvement track, it might be something that would be fun to do. There's no point in being slavishly exact about it, but coming reasonably close to sensible amounts of protein, fats, and fiber every day is a good thing.

    Essential? No. Useful? Could be.

    One absolutely can maintain while tracking only calories. One can even maintain just by watching scale weight, and cutting back any time a trigger threshold is reached. The question is, what best suits your needs and preferences?
  • spiriteagle99
    spiriteagle99 Posts: 3,675 Member
    I continue to log because when I don't I always end up with calorie creep. I don't worry about my macros since that is a level of focus that doesn't interest me and isn't really necessary as long as I eat generally healthy. I exercise a lot, so I can eat pretty much what I want, as long as I pay attention so that it doesn't become more than I need. Sodium isn't an issue for me, as my blood pressure is on the low side.
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,345 Member
    edited September 2018
    I only keep an eye on protein. Now and again I'll log to see how my other macros are averaging but its not something I am concerned about. It's always been about the calories for me.
    Sodium was never an issue as I make the majority of my meals.

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