How do you stop?

I literally cannot stop counting calories.  I've tried  but then get all paranoid and assume I've either eaten 3000 calories or 500 calories.  I always assume I'm always way over or way under.  Did anyone else have this probelm and how did you deal with it?

Try to find other ways to judge whether you're eating the right amount.  If you have regular eating patterns and serve similar amounts of food on your plate, for example, you can judge by eye whether your plate is too full or too empty another time.  Some people find keeping a food diary helps them to keep in control... not calorie-counted, of course.  You can cut the counting down gradually.  Start with every other day and then reduce it to once a week.  That way it becomes a good servant rather than a bad master.

I've been in dieting mode for so long, it's hard to stop. I still count. Especially at the beginning of the maintenance phase, you will still count just to get a 'feel' for your new lifestyle. At least I hope it's only a phase! This will drive me insane :)

Who says you have to stop counting?  I've been maintaining for a while and I still log my calories religiously.  That's how I feel I have my control of myself.  If you really don't like logging calories and want to stop, start my eating normally and not logging your calories until later in the day.  You'd be suprised at how well you have "trained" your body, and will probably notice that you eat approx the same amount of calories/day without trying.

hi mini,

How long have you been counting calories ?  Are you done with weight loss mode  ?  Do you know how many calories to take in ?  (sorry - didn'tlook at your profile yet)

If you have been counting calories for a while, you pretty much already have an idea what you eat in a day in calories.  Try gradually weaning yourself, like keep a note pad and jot down what you ate. After a week you will feel good having "control", but after a week, will start to tire of "jotting".

That is how I started to stop counting calories.  To add more confidence, I looked up the food pyramid guidelines and keep up your actvities (exercise) and simply followed that pattern.  That was late November - not counting officially since December.

You'll get it.

Phew, I thought it was just me. I've never counted calories before I started this dieting business last year, and even when I was force-fed by the obese relative I was staying with, it only took about 4 months of being out of there for all the weight to have disappeared naturally. This time I lost 4kg with the diet, and haven't been dedicated enough to lose the last 2 kgs (I REALLY  like food! Luckily my favourites are all healthy). I also noticed that if I get enough exercise I get to be the shape I want even though my weight doesn't change.

You'd think having got into this so recently, it'd be easy to get out. But I'm really struggling to stop. I've been taking it in stages, and for the first week I tend to overeat because it feels like nobody's watching, and then it gets better. But I find myself missing that element of control, and one day I go back to logging "just to check up" and find that I'm eating too much and start logging again. I worry that I've messed up my ability to self-regulate just by dieting once. Maybe I've just become more self-absorbed:p

I have been on maintenance for a couple months now. I have only been able to not count for a weekend or two when I was traveling. I found that I still need to count to keep myself honest about my portions. I am still discovering the psychological issues behind my over-eating former self. Each foray into not counting has taught me a bit more about how I got obese to begin with.

For me weaning myself off counting will take a good while more. I need the accountability still while I continue to sort out my issues. I personally need to find a level of comfort with being thin. I did this to get healthy and I was successful at that. The bonus of looking better was not something I was ready for. I like looking in the mirror now but I am not comfortable in public with this body yet. It would be easy to sabotage myself at this point while I am exploring and learning and feeling scared a lot. I am trusting that when I am ready to stop counting calories and maintain this healthy weight it will come easily.

Perhaps you need to look at what is going on with you when you try to stop and find you are not doing well or even think you are not doing well. Our minds can be very tricky and we need to look and listen to what our minds are telling us. Sometimes we will hear things that are causing us to slip and fall that are really not valid anymore in our life.

Hope this helps you!