Counting calories forever?
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mojavpa
Posts: 4 Member
I weigh all my food and Im counting calories and seeing results..lost about 6 pounds in two months at 1500 calories a day. But I dont want to count calories forever. Do you count calories when youre maintaining your weight? I feel like I will have to or else Ill eat like 2500 calories a day and then Ill gain everything back.
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Replies
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The short answer to that is ‘maybe’.
Some people manage to do a good enough job while counting calories for weight-loss to re-educate their eyes, brain and stomach to moderate their portions and stay mindful of their intake without counting indefinitely. Others less so.
It helps if you look on the process as a lifestyle change rather than a ‘diet’.
There are certainly a lot of people, me included, who will likely keep logging in some form ‘forever’.12 -
At this stage - do you not know when you are over eating?
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At this stage - do you not know when you are over eating?
Its hard to judge without counting..I can eat a lot and still not feel satiated. I gained a lot of weight these past few years and I didnt think I was binging or going crazy with eating...but 100 calories here and there added up. Especially now that Im older and my metabolism is slower.2 -
At this stage - do you not know when you are over eating?
Its hard to judge without counting..I can eat a lot and still not feel satiated. I gained a lot of weight these past few years and I didnt think I was binging or going crazy with eating...but 100 calories here and there added up. Especially now that Im older and my metabolism is slower.
Honestly, the bit I’ve bolded is simply not true to any extent that effects weight gain, weight loss or even maintenance.
The perception that it’s easier to gain as you get older is actually more to do with slowing down or stopping activity levels.
So there’s a way to make it less likely that you’ll have to count calories forever...stay more active!14 -
I weigh all my food and Im counting calories and seeing results..lost about 6 pounds in two months at 1500 calories a day. But I dont want to count calories forever. Do you count calories when youre maintaining your weight? I feel like I will have to or else Ill eat like 2500 calories a day and then Ill gain everything back.
Some people do need the accountability of logging, but others don't.
I found that by weighing foods when I was losing weight, I've become far better now at eye-balling portions.
I have taken several breaks from logging and have maintained for a month or two, on one of these occasions I actually saw a slight downward trend in my weight.
I think there are several things that need to be taken into account if you do want to forego logging:- Continuing to monitor weight or other method (measurements/fit of clothes).
- Spot checking portion sizes occasionally to try and keep portion creep at bay.
- Remembering if your routine changes to offset any drops/increases in activity by adjusting intake.
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I've been logging (although pretty loosely) for about 3-4 years. I've got a bit addicted to it, but I don't weigh much at all - just guess.2
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You've been logging for two months.
I've been logging for 12 years.
I used to think I could maintain without logging, but several attempts at that proved to me that I'm not good at it. Even though I can now spot one ounce of cheese at fifty paces, I'm not good at telling myself, "No," to extra food throughout the entire day. I suppose I could try it again.
No.
Your mileage may vary.
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For me, YES I will more than likely weigh food and count calories forever now. I've lost 95 lbs as of today doing just that. It's routine and not a big deal for me, and I know I can stay consistent with it instead of guessing or waiting for the scale to go up to lose weight again. Plain and simple, IT WORKS.5
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I have been on this for 4 years now and maintained for 2. I still log every single meal, every single day. I don't mind at all because it keeps me thin. I'm not one of the people who can just wing it. I tend to forget how much I've eaten in a day if I don't keep track. Not only that but knowing I have to log it tends to keep me honest. I don't weigh all my food anymore but I will occasionally if my weight starts creeping up. It's amazing how quickly old habits can sneak back into my lifestyle. You're just starting out so don't worry about things like this right now. Logging becomes easier over time and you may not be like me. Just work on where you are for now, one day at a time.7
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You know, what I've observed is that people who say they don't log usually are doing as much mental work as people who do log - they are estimating portion size, keeping track in their brains of what they've even, exerting willpower to stop eating at the appropriate point, etc. The key is making sure you are doing the effort - whether or not you are logging. Logging is just a practice that helps keep people focused on doing the effort in my opinion. I have also seen the reverse - people who were technically logging their food, but not doing the mental effort and making the decisions and sticking to them - that doesn't work either.7
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I am very good at judging a meal of calories now if it contains things I have spent a lot of time logging. I feel quite sure I could go an extended period of time without logging. HOWEVER, I have no desire to stop logging... ever. It takes all the guesswork out of it. Knowing I have to log what I eat and face any foolishness that I still occasionally do means I will use some degree of mindful decision making and control most of the time. It is the cornerstone of my personal accountability system.
I have lost so much weight that I have gained a huge amount of freedom. I can't risk going back. I would be prepared to log my food on 3 different sites and on paper to prevent that from happening.
The longer I have logged the more tricks I have established to get through it pretty quick.8 -
I've been logging for six years. I think it would be harder to maintain without logging than it would be to lose without logging, although I know that if I tried losing without logging I would most days have a bigger deficit than necessary, just to be sure I was in a deficit. You can't do that in maintenance. If you generally were in a deficit because you were trying to be sure, without logging, that you weren't in a surplus, you would continue to lose weight when you wanted to be at maintenance.
The other reason for logging for me is that it makes it easy for me to balance days I decide to eat more with days I decide to eat less. Trying to keep track of whether I've already "paid" for a day with pizza and beer with previous lower calorie days, or whether I need to "repay" those extra calories with some lower calories days in the future seems like a lot more work (and a lot less likely to be successful) than just continuing with logging.
But YMMV.2 -
I've been logging 5 years as of this coming weekend - around 3 and half years of that has been while maintaining.
I'm not AS strict with it as I used to be but I find it helps keep me on track if I have a visual of what I have eaten so will probably be logging for a lot longer!2 -
I've logged only sporadically for the last year and a half after losing 40 lbs over 7 years or so. I monitor my weight on the scale at the gym 3 to 4 times per week.
If I see an upward trend, I log until I'm back where i want to be. I tend to not fluctuate much. So, a couple of weeks up a kilo and I react to it by logging.2 -
I started counting calories 8 years ago. I lost 65 pounds during the first year and 15 pounds the beginning of the following year.
I have maintained my weight with ease since then and have not gained any weight outside of my maintenance range.
Knowing about how many calories I'm consuming each day allows me to stay in control, fit in whatever I want to eat without following a diet and makes it easy to maintain my weight.
It literally take minutes to plan out my meals for the day and track them. I'm very happy with this routine and my results and I don't feel a need to stop. It gives me a piece of mind as well.
It's not a chore for me to count my calories, but everyone is different however.10 -
FWIW, eating a mere 100 calories over maintenance every day, (a few ounces of wine, an ounce of cheese, a bit more cereal in the morning) does in fact add up, and it's small enough to go un-noticed. For me, the pattern has been to put on a few pounds, maintain at that for months, then put on a few more pounds, maintain at THAT for months ... and within a couple of years the bracket creep can get out of hand. Daily logging helps to curb that trend.6
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It will vary by person. Not just how well you eyeball, but how much you're willing to accept fluxuations and how much you're willing to consider maintenance a process of getting a little over and reeling it back in, or if you want it to be very steady state.
Having regular physical activity will also make a difference. There seems to be mechanisms with being active that bring appetite more in line with calorie intake.3 -
For me, my maintenance calories are only 1500 (before any exercise) so there's not a lot of room for regular overindulging. I went on an extended 3 month trip and only loosely logged while away. I stepped on the scale when I got home and had only gained 2 pounds. A win in my books. However, my loose logging over the past 3 years of maintenance and the recent holiday season have left me eight pounds over my "happy weight". That's not a win. So now I am back to weighing, measuring, and logging every morsal till I'm back where I want to be. So I guess the answer to your question is "it depends". Keep an eye on your weight and rein back your calories by logging when required. Or log every bite every day. You'll have to figure out what works for you when you get there.0
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Until the laws of physics stop being a thing, unfortunately you'll either have to count, or get into such a solid routine that you know how much you're consuming automatically. The latter works for me, but I still have to count on days when I go off my normal schedule.0
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I haven't logged anything in years. I have pretty healthy eating habits and maintain an active lifestyle. The only time I really have any issues is when something happens like injury or whatever that slows me down...and winter as I am generally less active in winter.
As to "gaining all the weight back"...people who successfully more or less maintain their weight also monitor their weight regularly and typically have an intervention point...they don't just say, "oh well" and let it keep going.5
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