I've been a maintainer for a couple of years now. I lost my weight by calorie counting and keeping a strict fitday log for what seems like forever. I think I've finally become bored with counting calories every day and realized I don't really want to do it for the rest of my life. As many years as I've weighed and measured everything, I'm pretty much an 'expert' at portioning, so I'm not too worried about that.

I've read that other maintainers just keep on eating the way they did throughout their weight loss and use the scale as their guide. Which is sort of what I've been doing lately. I weigh myself about once or twice a month to make sure I'm staying where I want to be. If the scale starts creeping up, then I back off of the quantity of food for a while until it comes back down.

Does anyone else do this? Are there any former calorie-counters here who no longer count calories to maintain? And how do you stay the weight you want to be?

Thanks for any comments.

I have been at goal just a little over six months and still do the same things I did to lose weight. I still count calories, plan all meals ahead of time keep a food diary. weigh daily. I haven't gotten bored yet and hope I never do. Taking these few simple steps is much easier than having to lose 83 pounds all over again.

I've become sort of OCD about counting calories. Not to an extreme...but it's something I've gotten used to doing and HAVE to do now. It just doesn't feel right if I don't.

Exercise, on the other hand...not so much.

Linda, I'm still doing everything I did to lose the weight. So yeah, seven years later I'm still using Fitday. A day in my life today looks pretty much exactly like it did when I was losing.

It sounds like you're sort of mentally counting calories? You know what foods to eat and you know your portions, so maybe you've internalized it?

I still count calories religiously and I think I always will.

It's not a huge bother to me.

I can see how it would be something one would get bored of and want to stop doing. I also have a fear that if I don't precisely count my calories, that I'll underestimate how much I'm eating and then slowly let the weight creep back. I feel like I am not in control of my body if I don't count every last bite that goes into my mouth.

Yes, I'm a little bit OCD

Oh, don't get me wrong, I love counting calories. It's funny, anytime I would buy a new food, I couldn't wait to get home and log it into fitday. But I'm just wondering if anyone has been successful keeping the weight off by simply following the scale

I don't count calories anymore (like use Fitday) but I still keep a running estimate in my head - a very ROUGH estimate. For example, an apple is 100 calories, no matter if it's a GINORMOUS apple or a tiny apple. I eat a lot of the same foods every day (for example, I have a 200 calorie, 300 calorie and 400 calorie breakfast) so it's very easy to estimate when I'm eating on plan.

Now, restaurants, social events, etc - those are much harder to estimate and are difficult areas for me in maintenance.

I've been doing maintenace for 7 months now. I don't count calories any more, but i "watch" what i eat. I must know the calorie count of every food in the universe, and know the calories in most of the things I make. if i don't know the calories to soemthing, I work it out. So, I guess i do keep a running tallie in my mind. I weigh once week. if I'm up over a pound (hasn't happened yet' i will cut back that week untill it's gone. Waiting 2-3 pounds is too much for me. It takes me too long to lose that. I do make a real effort to eat health, high fiber food. So, I haven't changed my diet that much from the days when I was actively dieting.

Shane stole exactly what I wanted to say about myself. I can certainly understand how calorie counting sometimes gets annoying, but if I don't keep myself accountable every day, I will start to sneak in little bites of things I shouldn't have, etc. etc. and it spirals... But it sounds as if you are doing quite well keeping loose track mentally, and if it's working for you, then why not keep doing it? You say that when the scale shows a gain or you feel one, you limit your food a bit. Sounds like a great plan.

And Glory stole (all right, didn't steal ) exactly what I was going to say. But I do still very much consider what I do counting calories. The "roughness" doesn't bother me. I figure there will be times when the apple is really 80 calories instead of the 100, and that the cauliflower might be 120 instead of the 100. It all evens itself out.

Thanks for the answers, everyone. I'll see how it goes, not counting for a while. If I start creeping up at an unreasonable pace, then it's time to go back to it again.

Ok, I would LOVE never to have to count ever again but, I was never a "normal eater" and likely never will be because I have to maintain constant vigilance over my weight. I calorie count and I count "exchanges" for different food groups to keep me accountable and make sure I am not using my calories unwisely.
I tried, very very unsuccessfully to not count calories or exchanges for about 7 weeks (but 7 months ago) and I gained 10 lbs. Seriously. That was a wake up call for me. I tried to run before I could walk. I am still up 1.5 lbs from where I was pre- no counting experimentation. And it has taken me all of the 7mos to lose 8.5 lbs. Needless to say I won't be doing that again any time soon!!!

I no longer count calories. Definitely used to, and it was tremendously helpful.

Now I look to the scale (I weigh in almost every day) and the way my clothes fit.

If, however, I started gaining again, I would definitely go back to counting calories. I know it is always there for me if I need it.

The first time I lost weight, I maintained it for 2 years. I stopped counting calories sometime around the 2nd year, and before I knew it I had gained back 15 lbs

So, at least for me, I think counting calories and actually recording them in Fitday to be accountable is something I'm going to have to do for a very long time if I want to maintain this time around. The "rough estimate" approach just led to me being lazy. But if it works for you long term, that's great.

I'm more like Glory and Robin, but at times when I'm struggling I go back to fitday. I simply don't eat off plan much, and have a limited number of meals, so I always know plus or minus 100-200 where I am. If I'm off plan, I certainly know that too.

If I remember, you weren't a huge exercise fan, but that, and conscious eating are the lynchpins of my maintenance plan. So far it's worked for almost 7 years.

Mel