One of the key pieces of advice Ive come across about weight loss is not getting into a diet that you cant continue for the rest of your life. I was thinking about it today and wondering when did calorie counting become 2nd nature to you all calorie counting vets?

I honestly love calorie counting because I can eat whatever I want but I hold myself accountable for portion sizes. The main reason I got to such a heavy weight was because I never watched my portion sizes. Id eat til I was about to pop and never get it a second thought that it was way to much food.

So basically Im wondering, and I know its different for everyone, if any of you remember how long it took for you to get comfortable enough with calorie counting that you only took one serving and it didn't even cross your mind that you wanted two but shouldn't.

I don't even remember to be quite honest. I know it was quick.

At this point I just know the calorie counts of a lot of things, so I don't need to look up stuff as often. I also never write anything down and can keep track in my head (I know that breaks a bunch of rules, but I got to where I wanted to be doing that ).

I too would simply eat too large or too many portions of things. Calorie counting has made me aware of how much a portion size is and how much I should be eating. I find it much easier to pay attention to my own hunger cues now (i.e stopping when I'm satisfied, not when I'm ready to burst) and eat food because I need it, not because I just want it.

I concentrate on the amount of calories not the portion size. For instance a recipe may say a half cup of vegiess 1 portion, Now, I think in many cases a half cup is too little. If I have a full cup I count the calories for 1 cup. I may not be making myself clear, here. I am only interested in the total amount of calories I consume for the day. As an example if I were talking about money and I said I could spend $1200 it wouldn't matter if that money was made up of ones. fives, tens or twenties it is the total that is important.

I don't think I've gotten there yet after 2+ years on plan.

I have to work to remain mindful of what I am eating. I have to think about portion sizes, about trade-offs (I indulged in half a bagel for breakfast yesterday morning, so I chose not to eat chapatti with my dinner), about planning and preparation of meals and snacks to fit within my calorie limit.

It's true I have developed a lot of routines (such as, on a typical workday my breakfast, snacks, and lunch are pretty much the same, so I know how much calorie room I have for dinner), but that's not the same as calorie-counting becoming automatic, or it not crossing my mind that it would be nice to eat more of something. I still have the same hearty appetite and love of food I've always had, and if I don't remain vigilant and mindful, I will overeat.

I'm at that point now.

I still track it though because mentally I need to. There's some mysterious benefit to writing things down.

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My weight loss efforts have always been successful using "exchange plans," so I have developed a way of thinking in terms of so many servings of proteins, vegetables, etc.

Now that I am in the range I want to be, I'm using calorie counting to maintain. But in the back of my mind -- no, in the FRONT of my mind, is always "am I making sure I get 4-5 servings of vegetables? A good balance of carbs and protein?" etc.

Calorie counting just eases the pressure a little for me. Some days I might skew more to the carbs. Some days I might not eat any fruit. Some days I might eat more junk calories than I'm "supposed to."

But as long as MOST days are roughly according to the "exchange plan" I think calorie counting is going to work really well for me -- for the rest of my life.

I've been counting on and off for 10ish years. It doesn't make me want to eat less. It just helps me do it.

I'm still learning, but I rely heavily on repeating most of the same foods for breakfast and lunch, "knowing" basically that they are low cal and well within my daily targets for those meals, but dinner is a different beast. That is where I like to have some variety and truly enjoy my meals. The fact that breakfast and lunch have been lower cal gives me some "spending" room for dinner....then of course I run to my caloriecount.com site and input my information generally after the fact -- but if I know I'm going out to eat or a party I go there before hand and try to figure out what the best bets would be. So I think eating this way since I began counting calories is becoming a habit, a way of life, second nature as you ask, but the calorie counting aspect, I don't have all the tallies memorized or anything .... but I have the resources at my fingers. This has been the most NORMAL "DIET" I've ever been on. I am not concerning myself with points, mixes, special meals, avoiding any types of foods, trying to get into ketosis, etc. I think now that I've been counting calories, all of the other diets I've been on in the past did nothing but harm my metabolism and set me up for failure when I "went back to eating NORMALLY." You know what? I'm eating normally for the first time in my life. I eat from all the food groups, I plan treats or adjust for treats, sometimes I eat more, sometimes I'm not hungry and eat less. I love calorie counting. I wish I'd made the connection earlier in my life so I could have been at goal 30 years ago and felt "normal" up until now.

Well, two things. Most of of all the easiness of it now with phone apps made it so simple. I barely have to do anything.

The other thing that made it is easy is that I'm a gourmet cook. I make everything from scratch and cook frequently (like daily). So, I very, very rarely need to get out the scale or measuring cups to get portions right. I will once in awhile to double check myself, but I'm usually spot on.

So, having the ease of a phone app and the visual understanding of size made it a very easy transition to "second nature". And for things I don't make from scratch, I can almost always find it in the app for accurate calorie count.

It's almost a fun game to see how it adds up and it helps for the last meal to see where I might need to cut back or if I'm hungry, can add more.

hmmm well its been almost 7 months for me and I dont know after a while its literally a part of me. I feel weird if i dont doit. and even if i dont write it down i have all the numbers going through my head.

i started cal counting for the same reason your looking into it. sustainability. I can do this for the rest of my life. its easy and i can have what ever i want as long as its within my calories. i dont always have to have a "salad" i can have whatever i want. so i love it. i would recomend it to anyone is willing to make a longterm change!



Good luck!



continued...

i just wanted to clear something up lol. I dont think sticking to my calories is a second nature. I have troubles with that. Thats why Im over weight. But it is second nature for me to count and stay accountable for it. I struggle to stay on plan but it is habbit that no matter what I count. Face myself and learn from it.

I went on my first diet at age 16, and I learned all about calories at that time. (I toted a calorie book with me and was obsessive about staying under 1,500 calories per day.) I've kept most of the figures in my head since then, and anything I don't know I look up.

This time around I didn't write anything down, just kept loose track in my head, and still managed to lose 50 pounds. Maintenance is proving a little harder, not because I've forgotten any of the numbers but because it's all too easy to have "a little extra" of this or that when working with a higher daily limit. I'm doing my best to stay on top of it.

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