How do you stay on track w/o counting calories and excessive

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eliotta
eliotta Posts: 15
in Health and Weight Loss
I don't want to count calories my whole life, or even more than a month, truth to be told. I usually get too absorbed and obsess over each morsel of food that I ate. But I want a sustainable lifestyle change, I want to be "intuitively" able to watch what and how much I eat, not spend half my life logging in my intake.
Does any of you have experience with just eating healthy without counting and thinking too much about it? How do you make yourself stay on track?
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Replies

  • mrsfoose
    mrsfoose Posts: 59
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    As Jillian would say, "if it didn't have roots or a mother don't eat it."
  • MissMaryMac33
    MissMaryMac33 Posts: 1,433 Member
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    After you do it for awhile --- you learn A LOT. I probably don't need to track anymore since I tend to be a creature of habit most of the time, but I actually enjoy doing it.

    Eventually you just learn which type of thing to order in a restaurant, how to make better choices, good things to substitute for bad things etc....
  • HMonsterX
    HMonsterX Posts: 3,000 Member
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    As Jillian would say, "if it didn't have roots or a mother don't eat it."

    So you cut things out, tasty things. This may lead to cravings, and make the whole process a lot more unpleasant. Eventually you may cave in, and binge, and be back to square one.

    As a great person once said "Everything in moderation, including moderation".

    I would never say cut anything out.
  • ksukowat
    ksukowat Posts: 2
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    I think the idea is that after a month or six weeks or however long of doing this religiously - you gain the intuition you're talking about. At least, that's been my experience. If I do this for six weeks and REALLY DO IT - putting in even the pounds of Halloween candy that I feel guilty about - I know what my body needs and I know when I've gone too far. Dedicate yourself to a certain amount of time and be religious about it. The rest will come, I promise.
  • Shawn_Marie
    Shawn_Marie Posts: 312
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    After you do it for awhile --- you learn A LOT. I probably don't need to track anymore since I tend to be a creature of habit most of the time, but I actually enjoy doing it.

    Eventually you just learn which type of thing to order in a restaurant, how to make better choices, good things to substitute for bad things etc....


    I agree - I now know what I should and should not be eating but I also look forward to logging food and exercise.
  • Shawn_Marie
    Shawn_Marie Posts: 312
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    After you do it for awhile --- you learn A LOT. I probably don't need to track anymore since I tend to be a creature of habit most of the time, but I actually enjoy doing it.

    Eventually you just learn which type of thing to order in a restaurant, how to make better choices, good things to substitute for bad things etc....


    I agree - I now know what I should and should not be eating but I also look forward to logging food and exercise.
  • sc1572
    sc1572 Posts: 2,309 Member
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    I could try not logging and just doing it mentally...but honestly, I HAVE to log...it forces me to take responsibility and helps so much!
  • ashnm88
    ashnm88 Posts: 748
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    Moderation, exercise and weekly weigh in.
  • midwifekelley2350
    midwifekelley2350 Posts: 337 Member
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    i think you will have to count periodically...when i journal, i measure things, etc and when i don't journal i tend to not. i have noticed serving sizes getting a litle bigger, maybe eating a baby reese cup here and there since i don't have to write it down. overall, i don't go crazy when i don't journal but i do find that 5 lbs creeps on when i don't.
  • estepteau
    estepteau Posts: 146
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    I think you should track for a couple of months. We are creatures of habit and you will eventually just pick the right foods and portion sizes without tracking. Thats how it is for me now. For my last 15lbs I didnt track I just made wise choices and splurged once a week. It really can be done. Good Luck!
  • tasnim81
    tasnim81 Posts: 91 Member
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    I think counting calories and logging teaches you to eat healthy. Maybe after some time you'll make those healthy choices automatically, because you learned what you can eat and what you shouldn't.

    As for me, I'll continue logging even after reaching my goal.. I think I need that to keep myself on track.
  • bluegem87
    bluegem87 Posts: 15 Member
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    i have no urge to "diet" i pretty much am chosing to eat whatever i feel the need to, however i have started excersizing up to 4x a week for atleast an hour with strenght & cardio.

    cant say how well it will work, but i can say i feel alot less guilty eating my mom's cooking :)
  • H_Factor
    H_Factor Posts: 1,722 Member
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    Once you log for a while and understand what foods and which calories, you don't necessarily need to log anymore. I did WW the first quarter of the year and I stopped logging after 10 days....but that was because I wasn't coming close to my max points and figured out what to eat. However, I don't mind logging on MFP. I have found that logging foods makes me more accountable to myself. Staying accountable to myself helps me overcome stumbling blocks and avoid complacency. I had hit a lull before joining MFP and joining MFP (and logging my foods) has helped me stay focused most days.
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
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    I'm 50 yo and have been at a healthy weight most of my life. I never counted calories until joining this site, but once I started I didn't make any changes to my diet.

    For me, jjust thinking about whether a food is good for me or not works. Eating healthy foods keeps my body fueled and full. I don't follow any strict diet and do have the occasional splurge (family gatherings, parties, etc.) but on a day to day basis I just eat healthy and exercise regularly. Exercise is very important for health and for "earning" enough calories to feel satisfied.
  • aliciamille
    aliciamille Posts: 43
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    I gave up logging calories for Lent last year because I felt like it was taking over my life. I reached my goal weight and I became obsessed with staying there so every time I felt I ate too much, I felt like a failure. Staying off MFP for a bit taught me to listen to my body instead of staring at that number all day and watching the number go down with everything I ate.

    I didn't gain any weight at the end of Lent, and one thing that never changed the whole time was my love of eating (lol). What I do to ensure I stay on track without having to count obsessively is find foods and forms of exercise that MY body responds to.

    I strength train 2 days a week and do cardio 5 days a week minimum (sometimes its 6). I have understood that cardio alone or strength alone won't work for me if I want to enjoy the foods I like and be thin at the same time. That's how I was able to figure it out.

    Once you find that balance for YOU, you wont have to be on MFP all the time.
  • AlsDonkBoxSquat
    AlsDonkBoxSquat Posts: 6,128 Member
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    I don't want to count calories my whole life, or even more than a month, truth to be told. I usually get too absorbed and obsess over each morsel of food that I ate. But I want a sustainable lifestyle change, I want to be "intuitively" able to watch what and how much I eat, not spend half my life logging in my intake.
    Does any of you have experience with just eating healthy without counting and thinking too much about it? How do you make yourself stay on track?

    I think this is a strange question on a site that is designed as a calorie and exercise diary. For most people, if they could do it "intuitively" they wouldn't have ended up here in the first place.
  • ElizabethRoad
    ElizabethRoad Posts: 5,138 Member
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    Once you stop counting, I would still come back periodically - have a set time like once a month or whatever works - and log what you're eating. That will give you an idea of whether you've been eating the right amount, or whether old habits have crept back in.
  • eliotta
    eliotta Posts: 15
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    Thank you all so much! I decided to log for a bit, maybe a week or two more, and then try and just plan out my meals the night before on paper, so I'd know when to soak beans or things like that. I pretty much have the idea what contains what nutrients (though I still have trouble with calcium and iron, and we don't have fortified anything here...sigh) and how much do I need in a day of what.

    Btw, the reason why I don't want to log my food for too long is because I've suffered from eating disorder once and I'd rather be fat than go through that hell again. Because I've gained weight bingeing when recovering, I've hoped I could maybe return and learn to eat right and achieve my dream body without obsessing.
  • 0PhAtDaDdY
    0PhAtDaDdY Posts: 569 Member
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    I don't want to count calories my whole life, or even more than a month, truth to be told. I usually get too absorbed and obsess over each morsel of food that I ate. But I want a sustainable lifestyle change, I want to be "intuitively" able to watch what and how much I eat, not spend half my life logging in my intake.
    Does any of you have experience with just eating healthy without counting and thinking too much about it? How do you make yourself stay on track?

    Not wanting to count the calories now and log everything says to me you are lazy..If you have no Accountability you are doomed and will fail...You seem to be looking for others to say it's ok do da best you can..... Not happing from me...I need accountability for a year then re ask the question... Good Luck
  • shakybabe
    shakybabe Posts: 1,578 Member
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    When I first started 'dieting' I was amazed at the calories in stuff and it took me ages to lose a small amount.

    I decided to cut out gluten and go low carb.. I didn't want to cut bread all together so switched to gluten free and allow it a couple of times a week. I still allow chips or jacket potato but not both and not more than once a week.

    I found the diet has greatly helped my water retention I only put on 1 lb through day in water whereas previously it was 3-6lbs a day. If I allow bread one day I don't also have carbs with dinner on same day and don't have any day after.. I found if I do this my weight doesn't go back to fluctuating so wildly. Just to experiment I went back to eating carbs several days in a row for some comparison and by the third day my weight had gone up by 5lb at end of day again... a few days of really low carb brought it back down again so was changing by 1lb a day.

    I find on low carb day I struggle to get to 1200 cals and have an idea of how many cals it is on days I allow a bacon sandwich for lunch or allow a few roasties and a yorkshire pud with sunday dinner without counting every single calorie... even when I just got to have chocolate from monthly cravings.

    If you having a big meal one day,, stick with fruit and veg and low cal things rest of day. most calories come from deep fried food and sauces that have loads of cream and stuff in them. White meat and fish will be less calories than red meat. etc.. so should give you an idea for working out lower calorie items on a menu. I think if you do a little exercise everyday you won't put loads of weight on form the occasional big meal. .. and well done for getting over an Eating Disorder once!

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