Does anyone think that they will ever 'go off' their diet?

By which I just mean if you count your calories every day, will you still do that when you reach whatever your goal weight is? Because I think I would be afraid to ever stop counting!

Since starting to be "religious" about tracking food and exercise in January of this year, and FINALLY feeling in control....I'd say that I'm going to be doing this forever. It's become a rather good habit and it definitely pays off! I never thought about the random calories I was putting into my body until I had to track every darn one.

I don't think I'll ever stop getting a general idea of calories in my head, but I stopped tracking them exactly about 4-5 months ago. It was hard at first not to track the calories, but after doing it so long you can kind of guestimate where you are calorie-wise.

If you think of your lifestyle change as a diet... your not going to make it! I've been on maintenance for 1.5 years... and yeah... you've got to be vigilant! I do count calories... but not real close.. but I am keenly aware of what I eat... and know if I am eating something that isn't right. Your lifestyle change shoud include to eat high quality unprocessed foods... nobody is going to gain fat eating like that! I'm proof positive! Good Luck!

I don't think I'll ever "go off" it like you mean, I know that I will always have to be aware of my intake & activity level if I don't want to become obese again. But I do think that when I decide to go into maintenance that level of awareness will change. I may stop tracking my food & probably set an ideal range of 5 lbs or so for my weight to be in & weigh weekly. If I'm in or under that range, then I'm doing pretty well with my food choices. If I'm over, maybe I'll start logging again to get my weight back down.

Like Jannabelle I have become religious about controlling my intake, but I do view that as temporary until I accomplish what I've set out to do (i.e. lose weight). It will continue in a modified form beyond that depending on what I think is appropriate to maintain my results.

I'm essentially in maintenance at this point, and though I didn't have a lot to lose, tracking really helped me drop what I was trying to. What I can see myself transitioning into, and may start to do soon, although I am trying to tweak my ratios of protein/fat/carbs so this may not happen right away, is to track up until dinner, so I know where I'm at for the day before my final meal.

Like tapeekcm said, after a few weeks of tracking, you get the idea of the value, and of where a protein and veggie dinner gets you versus where a pizza gets you, so I think tracking part of the day might give me the accountability I need, without having to deal with this minutia forever.

I'll be interested to see how it goes, and what others plan to do.

I'm not dieting to lose weight.

I'm dieting to teach myself healthier, sustainable eating habits. I'm retraining myself about portion sizes, and learning mindful eating. Two of the primary rules of my diet are "think about what you eat", and, "don't be stupid". No food is forbidden on my diet.

My plan is to never stop thinking about what I eat, and to mostly avoid being stupid. There's not a chance in hell that I'll count calories for the rest of my life, but I'm doing a pretty good job teaching myself what a normal portion size looks like.

I'm going to be counting forever, even if it is just writing down the numbers in a pocket book. The last time I stopped counting calories I stopped caring about what I ate as well. Calories remind me that I need to eat a certain way to maintain this weight. I might start guesstimating more though, and not actually weigh every ingredient when I cook dinner.

I think that by the time you have reached your goal you will have "learned" a bunch of healthy habits (portion control, exercise, etc) that have become your routine. You will know healthy from unhealthy and the choice will be yours. Hoser is always such a voice of reason. I have reached my goal, but I am still logging as I feel I need to for a while. I cant say that I will do it forever, but I can say this most definitely: I do not want to go back th the clothes not fitting, and getting winded from tying my #$%^&* shoes. This is not just a diet, this is my lifestyle.

I must have the same type of #$%^&* shoes.

Seriously, I've been wondering about how I'll need to transition into maintenance when I reach my goal. It's still a ways off so I've got lots of time to think about it. Like many of you, I've lost and gained so many times in my life, I just don't want to make that mistake again. I appreciate the comments from those already on maintenance plans. It's helpful to see what works for others.

Dennis

I think following my plan is a life time deal because I ate so bad, there is no way to eat that way and maintain a healthy weight. Even when I am not on eating on program I still read labels and am very aware that I am doing WRONG! So, I am working to make this way of eating a life style change!!

I just recently switched from counting Points with Weight Watchers to Intuitive Eating, which is not counting anything but hunger signals.

I'm loving it so far, but if I start to gain back the weight, back to Weight Watchers I will go!

I will always be watching my eating/exercise every day... and I feel like it will be forever. I know my body better than I ever have before and I know I mentally and physically feel kinda gross when I don't count calories and exercise!

I will always try to count and track..even if I have a few days that I lapse I will never stop. I am a product of what happens when I stop...I have been there and done that.....now working on correcting what has happened because I did stop.

I have never been really on a diet, nor do I believe in them because it should should be a lifestyle and shouldn't feel like something you're having to maintain all the time. I hope this makes sense. But the reason so many diets fail is because they're unreasonable and not maintainable. So I look at it I'm just going to eat healthier and make wiser choices as well as be more active - for the rest of my life! I have reached my goal weight and I still count calories and probably always well just so I'm aware of what I'm putting in my body, but I've gotten to the point where I know how many calories I'm eating without writing it all down!

I am on the Atkins WOE. I have been here before and stopped thinking about what i was eating after about 2 years on the WOE and gained everything back in about a 5 year period. Therefore i can say that i don't think I will ever go back to not thinking about what I am eating. I have worked too hard too many times to think I can eat like everyone else and stay at a reasonable weight. I do find that i don't have to track things carefully anymore. I can add some things back into my diet with no reprocussions. But my plan is to track how things are going everytime I add something back and intend to keep it that way. by that I mean, I added nuts back into my diet and expect to keep them there. Therefore, I have been tracking how my weight loss carb count etc. are doing. I am fine so I now don't think much about the nuts. If i ever think I am going to add Pizza back in, I will go through the process again. I am certain however I would not be fine Anyway, that is my plan - I intend to stick with it. This site and my phone app really help me. I know I won't exercize daily forever so watching my food is my answer.