I thought about putting this in the maintenance section but thought I'd get more feedback here; if it needs to be moved, please do so!

But anyway, I'm thinking more and more about maintenance and I've been wondering if it'd be a bad idea to do a trial run of just ..not calorie counting some time after I hit goal. Not that I would go crazy, but I've thought about just taking a trial period of "natural" eating. I'd eat when I was hungry with appropriate choices and I'd still portion out everything, just not count the calories, and just see how things go.

Because I've been thinking about it and most people I know who don't have a weight problem, or who seem to be good at managing their weight without counting calories, they just have a natural way with food; they eat when they want, but they eat when they're hungry, and I just want to see if I can do it and not be so exact about everything and still maintain my weight. I wouldn't do it immediately upon hitting goal, though -- I'd definitely make sure my weight was steady before attempting something like this.

Have y'all ever done it? Do you think it's a bad idea and could lead to disaster? I don't want to derail myself, but I also want to develop a more natural relationship with food that doesn't require a food diary. All input here is welcome!

I know some people who just weigh themselves once a week to make sure they're within a range. i think it will definitely take some trial and error, but if that's the way of eating that you prefer, i say go for it!! for me, i have to make sure i'm eating fruits and veggies (that does not happen naturally for me), but as long as you're eating lots of different foods, i can't see the harm.

I'm in maintenance and don't really count calories anymore, though I remain "calorie aware." Eating "naturally" wouldn't work for me because I have a rather large appetite. I could easily consume 4,000 cals per day (and have on many occasions) without feeling any discomfort. My mother told me I was born ravenous, so it isn't entirely learned behaviour.

Freelance
www.englishgrammargripe.com

It depends on whether this would work for you or not - something only you can answer. But I've apparently been doing what you describe for the past month. Even though I don't feel "done," I needed a break from letting this dominate so much of my life. It wasn't a really conscious decision - just something I kind of slipped into - but in essence, the diet break is also a trial run at maintenance.

I'm still weighing, though maybe not every single morning. I've stopped tracking my food, and admit that I feel some guilt/anxiety over that. My diet has loosened up a little, but I'm still trying to make good choices. I think what's different for me versus "falling off the wagon" in the past is that despite all the above - despite loosening the "obsessiveness" a bit - I haven't let go of a basic mindfulness/awareness of my weight and food decisions. I'm just mindfully watching to see how this goes. It's hard to tell from fluctuations, but I think my weight may have slipped up a lb or 2 already - and so I'm resolving to watch the trend a little more closely and perhaps lock down food choices for a few days and see what happens. If I decide this isn't working, then I'll go back to counting/old food patterns.

Just realizing that I can try this, and that I trust myself to go back to weight loss mode, if I need to, has been really freeing. I figure I've got to figure this out for the long haul, so practicing and learning is an incredibly good step even if the scale isn't going down.

I'm similar to Freelance. After counting calories religiously you become able to ballpark things and where I live resturaunts are required to list calories. "Calorie aware" ... I like it.

Planning ahead is very helpful too ... if you know you're going out Friday night you can plan to eat sparingly beforehand.

By the way ... naturally lean people, are pretty dang rare. Wait until your naturally lean friends are 40 before you decide if they're naturally skinny or not. It could just be their environment or lifestyle choices making them skinny.

For exmaple - people who knew me in my early 20s would have thought I was naturally skinny too but I was just burning a ton of calories playing basketball. When the basketball stopped and my eating didn't I was no longer "naturally skinny". People who know me now probably think the same when they see me mowing through a double cheeseburger but what they don't know is what I ate the rest of the day/week.

Why not give it a try... eyeball things on your own and check yourself - were you right? were you off? There are ways to ease into not measuring and counting everything.

I think I am calorie aware too. I don't count things up until close to the end of the day. And I'm almost always spot on. The only thing I actually measure is peanut butter as that can get too much way quick. I eye ball meat, vegetables, etc. Occasionally I'll spot check myself to make sure my eyes are not getting bigger than reality, but my eye balling is good. With that said, I'm a very visual person. I can tell you by looking at something if it will fit in the box next to it or not and so on.

And, I only eat foods that I know I can eat enough of to be satiated and to not delve in the crazy carb cravings. When I do that, I can usually guess right.

I don't count calories much any longer, but my meals are essentially the same every week. I don't have to think. Variety is overrated, IMO.

When I eat out, I will review online menus beforehand but I generally have a "go-to" meal for every cuisine. Italian is the hardest for me to figure out (I usually get something seafoody with steamed veggies as a side dish but that's not always in an Italian restaurant) but I rarely eat Italian so not much of an issue.

Going to friends' houses tend to be more difficult because I don't know what they will serve. The "not knowing" sucks because I can't plan ahead.

I find that the older people get, "naturally thin" people become less "natural" about it. They have to work it too, although there may be less anguish entailed.

I think if you aren't in a hurry to get to goal, go for it. I know once I am 10lbs away, I'd really start into high gear. But I think that it would be a good trial period for maintenance. I often wonder if I'm ever going to be able to eat without tracking every bite...

I have never hit goal so take my advice with a grain of salt. But here goes: My advice is to try it, but don't use that as an excuse to put the scale away. Weigh at least once a week and if it starts creeping up, don't let things go more than a few pounds (perhaps set the margin you are willing to accept) without doing something about it.

But be adamant about facing the scale at least once a week so that things don't slowly creep back on.

Well I wasn't thinking about doing this until after I hit goal.. but maybe it is a way to ease into maintenance? I don't know.

I'm also in the "calorie aware" camp.

I watch my portions and journal my eating, but I don't count calories. I'm happy with where I'm at; counting makes me anxious and obsessive. At the same time, I read all labels and restaurant nutrition so I'm not accidentally ingesting 1000+ calories per meal.

I'm hoping I can eventually ditch the journal once I hit maintenance mode, but given that I'm only 2/3rd of the way to my goal that's still a long ways off. In the meantime the journal keeps me mindful of the choices I'm making.

I think that's what's important; staying mindful of your choices. You just have to figure out which way will work best for you and if it's something you can handle without relying on counting. Good luck!

Mimsy--this is just my experience, so take it as you will. But seven times in my life I've lost "the weight" and slowly regained it by easing up. This time I have not, and I will not. And the only reason is because when I reached my goal, I didn't change a thing.

I don't technically consider myself in maintenance, although I suppose I am in a sense. I've been "normal weight" (BMI-wise) for nearly a year but I've set a new goal that I only half-expect to reach just to keep myself ticking so I don't become complacent.

For me, I still count my calories. I definitely eat more than I used to, and I may not weigh and measure as much because I now know what a cup of rice or 100 g of spaghetti or 3oz of chicken look like, but if it's passing through my lips, it's going on the calorie counting app on my iPod. I have to do this, if not, I know myself, I conveniently forget all the little extras that pass through my lips and if there's no record of it, then I pretend it didn't happen. By recording my calories, even when I'm off-plan, it's easy for me to see why exactly my weight is going up, or where I'm going wrong or see what I need to reign in and what patterns I'm getting into.

I think the ship for me having a "normal" relationship with food (whatever that is really) has sailed. Even by virtue of my history of having been heavy most of my life and then losing a chunk of weight, I have an appreciation for what a calorie is and what food can do to/for a body, that I think is a little more than someone who's never struggled with weight issues.

As far as maintenance goes... Well, I just decided to do what I was doing since it was what worked... for me... so now as long as I remain "carb aware" as opposed to just "calorie aware" I'm fine and maintain rather easily...

Give it a try and see if it works for you. I haven't counted or journaled a single mouthful and have managed to lose close to 50 pounds. So it's definitely doable. Just be wary of / limit restaurant and processed food...