Has anyone stopped counting and still maintained?

Hi!  Just wondering how many of you have reached maintenance and stopped counting calories??  Were you able to maintain?

I'm considering stopping because I feel that I can be very obsessive about it.  I would like to be able to trust myself, just not sure if I can.  I can be quite a sugar addict, so not sure if I would go overboard or not...

Please share your experiences with this.

Thanks!

I stopped counting calories as a routine and instead work with a combination of portion-control and spot weight/calorie-checks.  I've been doing that now for about 4 years and it seems to work fine. 

I stopped counting as well...it seems natural to me to be able to eat and sort of know....I guess its because I did the counting for a bit it now seems second nature not to have to count...I hadnt counted in probably 18 months...

You could try what I've been doing. Since I'm about 2 pounds from my goal, I've been counting maybe 3-4 days a week and not counting the other days. Since I'm maintaining (well, currently bloated so it's hard to know right now!) I know I'm not going overboard on non-counting days.

Thanks for all of the great replies!  I think maybe I should try what cosmographer suggested and try it for a few days a week and then maybe I can see how I do for a week w/out counting, etc.  Baby steps...

When I first stopped counting, I went a bit crazy and ate a lot all the time. Then I calmed down and maintained, about a kilo above my goal weight. I find it fluctuates by about 2kg over the year: I get heavier in winter and at times of stresss, and then lighter in summer and holidays without having to think about it. At the moment, I've been eating way over maintenance (by my estimates), less active than usual, and losing weight anyway because of wedding stress. So it can help to realise that the burn meter is not always accurate, anyway.

yep (though "maintaning" is a bit of a misnomer, since i'd prefer to lose a few more).  i cook most of my meals myself, so it's not hard to estimate to the nearest hundred. 

I have, and I have. However..I'm still eating all the same things I was when losing weight because I've fallen into those patterns. You know..already knowing what is in this or in that.

I've been too busy and/or lazy to calculate new foods to add to my list, I guess.

Still, it couldn't hurt to make a long list of foods..including restaurant and fast food..average calories in a given baked good, and sort of familiarize yourself with it so that you can more accurately 'eyeball' your intake.

I have done this for fast food items already, and it does help me to know beforehand what I should order or not.

It's not exactly the same as counting..but..still keeping an eye.

so i threw away my scale 2 months ago! best choice i ever made! i feel liberated!! i reached my goal weight 6 months ago and i found that i still obsessively counted and excercised and watched the numbers. 

now i've switched from a treadmill to running outside....and i only eat when i'm hungry (i try to make sure most things i eat are healthy....i think i do about a 9:1 ratio) i found when i counted i ate a lot more when i wasn't hungry....just because i was paying so much more attention to what i was eating and counting... i still run 5 days a week....but now i just watch how my pants fit and they never really change! if they do i'll probably just throw in an extra day of running...and get back to normal.

i'm back to marathon training...so i have to count calories again to make sure that i'm eating enough/healthy everday.....but as soon as that's over i refuse to count haha

I wanted to ask this same question...I hit my maintenance goal around December and I kept counting up until this past week...I was getting too obsessive also and I could feel myself creating a problem and unhealthy relationship with food (almost every thought throughout the day had something to do with food).  I stopped counting abruptly last week and I've felt great since.  I have more or less stayed around the same weight and I can't help but do a mental count everyday, but it feels much better than when i was counting.  but i know it has only been a week, so I hope i stay around this weight, since i just bought a new bathing suit that I'm really looking forward to wearing.

Hi mdillman3 and Karey,

I had to go back to counting/weighing daily after I gained about 5 stubborn pounds over the holidays.  Got hooked on popcorn every night.  I quit that, got more active outside gardening, and have got my weight back down to where I am comfortable.  I weigh in 2-3 times a week, but seem to know my portions and foods well enough by now that I don't have to count calories.  Also, I eat slowly - that "20 minutes to feel full" rule really seems to work.

Thanks everyone for all of the great feedback!  As of yet, I still have not stopped counting... I'm still afraid!  Don't think I can trust myself yet, but in late April I'm going on a 5 day cruise, so I won't be able to log everything each day... I'll be forced to stop counting then.  I guess that'll be a good way to tell if I can make it or not.

mdillman~  I hope your fist week of not counting is going well for you and I'm glad you're feeling great!  I like your new haircut too, very cute!  Good luck!

Sue~  I'm glad you were able to get those stubborn 5 lbs off!  Eating slowly is a good idea... I always have a hard time w/that and scarf down my food, not sure why.

It is in my opinion the worst habit to break.  I cannot do it now, but when I am ready to stop counting I think I will ease my way into by doing mdillman3 does, continue better eating habits and do a mental count at the end of the day.  As opposed to my current obbsessive counting and documentation after each and every meal.

I've been counting and keeping a journal for well over a year now.  I reached my goal a month ago.  I plan to keep on counting.   I figure I'd rather count the rest of my life than be on medications like lots of people are.