This is kind of old, but I just wanted to say, you definitely have to do what works for YOU. Getting to know your own quirks, habits, triggers, etc., is what can help you continue maintenance successfully. I think, for some people, this does mean calorie counting forever. If that is so, they should keep with it. Others may be able to shift off of it. We are all unique and should realize that there is no one size fits all,especially for maintenance.
I was able to stop calorie counting, but I did so while I was still losing (about 4 months before I hit maintenance), gradually, not all at once. First I started estimating calories instead of counting them, rounding up to err on the side of caution. But I was still writing them down.
Phase two was still estimating calories, but not writing them down (like allowing myself around a certain amount of calories per meal and estimating that meal before eating it, but not recording it).
Next I started just eyeballing my portions, but still keeping it mind what foods tend to be high-cal/low-cal.
Now I just eat and don't pay too much heed.
But there's only two reasons this works for me. My maintenance is mainly eating lunch and dinner, and generally not snacking or drinking things that have calories (if I wake up at a decent hour I eat breakfast though!). If my maintenance involved lots of small meals, I'd have ballooned by now.
It's so much harder for me to overeat when I am only eating 2-3 meals a day. In fact, every time I have started to gain, it's because I started snacking again. That's the reason why I am five pounds over my maintenance weight now, but I put a ban on the snacks again and I'm coming back down. There is no way I can ever snack on a regular basis and NOT gain weight. But some people maintain by eating many small meals, and that works best for them.
That and the second reason this has worked for me is I weigh myself at least a few times a week, which means if I'm gaining, I'll know. No denial involved. That and I sometimes weigh myself when I'm tempted to go eat a snack/ice cream. Seeing I'm still 4 pounds over my maintenance weight makes me seriously reconsider that snack.
So those are the things that have worked for me. If any seem like they might work for you, go ahead and give them a shot. Just make sure you're doing what works best for you, not what you think SHOULD work best for you.