I am fed up of writing all the stuff i eat down and then feeling bad if i eat anything else, even something small like a slice of toast.
I am still just over a healthy range (about a stone) i am trying to not count calories and would rather just eat what i want when i want in moderation and let my apetite tell lead me. will i fail?
HI Storm4mozza,
Depending on how confident you are feeling about judging your portion sizes on the basis of the knowledge you've already gained from the calorie counting you've already been doing, then your plan to eat 'in moderation' should be potentially effective.
I note that you said you'd like to let your appetite lead you - but I guess that a potential difficulty with that is that sometimes we're not necessarily fine-tuned to know when we're feeling 'hungry' and when we're actually thirsty (as an example) and therefore the signals could be potentially confusing.
But essentially having healthy balanced meals doesn't have to involve calorie counting. It really does depend on appropriate portion sizes for your level of daily activity, and if you get that balance right, then you'll be successful in your wish to lose weight.
Maybe trial it for a week or so, and adapt your plans as necessary?
Good luck with whatever you decide to do.
Have a great week.
Lowcal 
thanx so much hun
Hello Hidden
I also find calorie counting a chore, although I am using MFP at the moment as trying to be extra strict prior to a holiday.
I generally count portions, and stick to fruit for breakfast, bread once a day, small helping other carbs at dinner, small helping protein twice a day, etc etc let my eyes as well as my appetite be my guide. 😊 After all, do we expect to count every single calorie for the rest of our lives? Think it's important to create good eating habits now we have learnt where the wasted calories go 😊
Like Zest suggests, maybe trial if for a week or so and see how you get on 😊 Good luck!
thanx so much hun
I think the answer is probably yes. You sound just like me and I'm failing miserably. I think until we have a really good routine and have our eating under control we need to keep logging and counting. Sorry if this sounds all doom and gloom and I hope I'm wrong and you do really well. Good luck.
thanx so much x
You could try restraining yourself a little during the week by using healthy swaps and then relaxing a little at weekends, if that suited your lifestyle.
It depends on how fast u want to lose and how much I guess. I don't mind calorie counting for now as it won't be forever and its working well for me. Once I get to my desired weight then I will ease off the counting and just b guided by my new habits.
Folk on here are going to get sick of me droning on about exercise but I really do think it's the biggest ingredient to losing and maintaining weight, I have always said, folk who are not overweight indulge and gain weight but they don't know cos they are not weighing themselves all the time. They just have a night out eat what they want then go back to eating normally and the small gain goes unnoticed.
For me exercising means I have very little desire to eat rubbish and if I do fancy something sweet then I exercise to earn it.
I think you need to try at least and see what works for you. There is no such thing as failure of you keep trying different things till you find what suits you. Good luck
I suppose if you are confident that you can judge your portions accurately, you will be fine, but if you are anything like me, a person who tends to under-estimate the weight/calorific value of foods, then it would be a little more difficult.
I know it seems a chore and is difficult to balance everything in a busy life, but your health is worth it and think how happy you will feel once you are at goal - and you are so close, it would be a shame to scupper your success now.
I stopped logging my food on myfitnesspal a while ago for the same reason. It was so crucial when I was re-educating myself and getting things under control. But no you won't fail if you stop logging everything, I've found it perfectly manageable to lose the last few lbs just through following a few bits of common sense. Stick to groups of foods that you know are healthy, tried and tested meal combos and snacks, try to only eat at mealtimes and planned snack times and listen to your stomach not your emotions, it's all good practice for maintaining, which is close at hand if you're only 1 stone away from goal. Good luck, and listen to your instincts if you're finding it all dragging you down. Sounds like it's time to test your newly honed healthy eating instincts too - are you spotting a theme? It's all about creating better instincts isn't it? We can't keep writing everything down forever, and we're not machines
thanx so much
I think that the initial time on the plan is, as others have said, to teach you good habits, portion sizes and the foods to avoid. Once you are comfortable that you can manage the portion sizes and have a good idea of your daily intake etc then it should work.
I am in week 12 and also thinking the same as you. I am more aware of portion sizes etc now and maybe in a few months, when I hope to be in maintenance, I will be confident enough to stop weighing and counting and go by the scales each week
thanx so much
Keeping to the same calorie limit every day is not easy, and is probably impossible long term. But it's not the only way to lose weight. We just have to create a calorie deficit over a period of time, a reduction of 20-25 % equals weightloss.
So don't beat yourself up over that slice of toast, try changing your calorie quota so that some days you "allow" yourself extra and some days less. It is the AVERAGE amount over a week that matters.
It certainly worked for me and many others, but slowly steadily it took a year to reach my target. I still follow a similar principle one year later to maintain, and have kept the weight off ....BMI 23 age 63. If I can, anyone can 😊
Hi, I know what you mean about writing everything down it is so tedious, it keeps you accountable though especially if you ate something you know you shouldn't have and you have to write it down lol. Well done for being in a healthy weight range and keep it up. I on the other hand have around 3 stone to lose after quitting smoking and it seems like a huge mountain to climb.Every pound is hard it is going to take me a long time .
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