So this may be more of a maintenance tactic, but I'm going to through it out there anyway. I'm noticing that as I'm trying less and less to lose weight that certain days or times of the month I'm just naturally more or less hungry. I know what I need to eat to lose or maintain my weight but I'm getting kind of tired trying to force myself to eat all my cals one day only to have to force myself not to eat another. So what if for a while I just ate what I needed, but still track every bite to make sure things don't get out of hand but kind of ditch the calorie limit for a while. I'm kinda curious what I would eat if there were no restrictions or requirements. I will need to be conscious of not eating enough before long runs, but I structure my eating around my training anyway so I'm sure that will work itself out. I think I might try this experiment for a bit, maybe a week or two and see what happens. I mean really the concept is just eating when I'm hungry, but still calorie counting to keep it under control, because I know left on my own it would not be pretty.

This is more or less the strategy I am taking for my weight loss.

I don't count calories religiously. I've been around the weight-loss block enough times that I know what healthy foods and healthy portions are, I know how much I can eat to lose weight, I know what foods I have trouble eating in moderation. I do count a few days every month or two, just as a reality check, to make sure my portions aren't creeping when I'm not paying close attention. But for the most part I just plan to eat sensibly, keep lots of fruit and vegetables around, and try to make the right decision each time I am faced with a food decision.

The reason I've taken this approach this time is that in the past I have great success with meticulous counting for six months or so, and then burned out on it, moved on to some other enthusiasm, and eventually gained all the weight back with interest.

This time I decided not to let weight loss take on the obsessive nature of my other enthusiasms, so it would not become something I tired of.

The trade-off for me is that the weight loss is a bit slower. I have lost about 45 pounds in the last year, and it takes a lot of patience to grind through times when I don't have as much focus and the weight stops coming off. The upside is, I am still at it after a year, which has not really happened before. Plus, I'm 45 pounds lighter than I was last year, which is better than not having lost at all.

Will it work in the long run? I don't know, the jury is still out. And I just keep telling myself I'm in no hurry. My rate of weight loss may not impress anyone, but it's still loss, and if I lose another 50 pounds in the next year I'll be a whole lot closer to goal than if I burned out on meticulous focus after six or eight months.

I think you'll surprise yourself! Intuitive weight loss doesn't work for me, but I can maintain very well while eating intuitively. Give it a shot! I would continue to weigh regularly though, just to prevent that sneaky creepage.

I think this may work well (as long as you keep an eye out for creepage, as FreeSpirit said) as you seem to know how your body deals with food. I found out yesterday, after logging in my food on sparkpeople, that I don't know what I thought I knew. I only ate about 2/3 of the calories (not anywhere near the range they suggested), had no potassium and more cholesterol than I thought. So I'm going to be more aware of nutrition for a while until I re-learn how I metabolise food. I'd be interested in hearing how this 'experiment' goes for you!