Is it reasonable to track what you eat for the rest of your life?

One thing that helped me stop trying to max out my calories each day was focusing on my calorie average for the entire week instead of each day. If you go over your calorie goal one day, you need to make it up, so if you have leftover calories at the end of the day, remember that you might need them later in the week.

Thanks, that's a good idea! I used to use a program called Diet Power that did have a running "calorie bank," but it was very retro and not web-based at all, not very user-friendly in the smartphone era. But I could easily keep a note in Evernote with a running tally. And even better, it would be something else I'd have to change at the end of the day if I go back for another snack, so another motivation to just be done when I'm done.

You need to learn a hobby so that once you are done with eating your evening meal you can go do the hobby. I knit and crochet or do other needlework so my hands are busy and most of the time I forget about food. If you are actually hungery then have a protein snack of some kind. A homemade cheese cracker or meat and cheese roll will truly fill you up, be adding to your protein and is light enough so it won't sit like a lump in your stomach all night. Having something to do gives enough of a break to your tummy and brain so you can ask your self am I really hungry or just looking for something to eat (there is a difference).

If you end up with extra calories left over for the day well then that's just bonus points. Maybe use them going out for a nice dinner over the weekend or put a penny a point in a jar and when you get a bunch of left over points (pennies) use them to buy smaller clothes with. There are lots of ways to fill your time puzzle books, games, reading, there are beautiful paint by number canvases you can paint, the numbers of crafts to distract you is staggering. Just put your mind to it and enjoy!

Crafts are actually a big part of my "hobby distraction" plan! I started cross-stitching again and hope to get back into the jewelry making I did in college (although I need to build a workbench and solder station first). I'm also reading again for fun for the first time since high school. I love the idea about using leftover calories as "points" to use to treat myself!

Well, I have never heard of anyone who was honestly and consistently tracking their food intake regain their weight (unless medication was involved).  That says A LOT.

On the other hand, for some people (like me) tracking food forever is absolutely NOT realistic.  I would feel like I was on a diet and that would bring with it a lot of the negative psychological aspects of dieting (which I, like everyone else, always failed at).  I do track my food a couple of times a year just to be sure I am still on track, and I have recently started tracking again because I had some regain while recuperating from my second knee replacment (and it is being very stubborn about coming off).

There is really no way to know predict with any certainty whether you can be successful without tarcking food for the rest of your life.  You will have to figure out what works for you.  I Think the most important thing is that you need to be willing to track your food intake for the rest of your life if that is what it takes to achieve and maintain your weight loss.

One question in your post really struck me, though: "Or will everything change so much after surgery that it won't really even matter?"  Absolutely not!  You absolutely will have to have some way to control your portions even after surgery.  For some people that means measuring portions forever (with or without actually tracking everythign they eat); for other people that means developing other ways to be sure that they aren't eating too much.  For many of us, it means eating only until you know you have had enough protein and no longer feel hungry.  There can be a BIG difference in the amount of food that it takes to no longer feel hungry (or empty for those who don't get physcially hungry) and in the amount of food that it takes to make you feel full!  

If you go into surgery expecting to eat until you feel full at every meal, I can almost guarantee that you will end up struggling to maintain your loss.  Almost every vet (5+ years out) that I know will tell you that they physcially CAN eat more than they DO (and that if they DID eat until they were completely full at each meal, they would be regaining). I often CAN physically eat about twice what I CHOOSE to eat.

Lora

Thank you Lora, I always like reading your comments, and I especially love the quote in your signature! I think you're right; I'll have to do what sees right in the long run, logging everything if that's what it takes. It takes me less than a minute at the beginning of every meal, so it's not a huge investment by any means, and I absolutely hear what you're saying about not eating until you feel full. I guess I shouldn't worry about relying on something external to tell me when to stop eating, because relying on myself is what got me over 300 lbs in the first place. Maybe after a few years I will have reset myself; maybe not, but I'll just have to see.

First off - disclaimer - I am only 7 months out and you have gotten a lot of great advice from some much further out.  My two cents here - you will be very surprised how differently you feel about food. I heard it, I read it, and I didn't believe it, but it's true.  Afterward, your tracking will NOT be about limiting...it will be about making sure you get enough protein.  I track every day in MFP and every day it tells me the same thing when I save the day's entries - "You should be eating more calories".  I don't care.  I am focused on two things - did I hit my protein minimum and my water minimum.

There are times when a tiny amount of food is enough. My nose runs, I get the hiccups, I am done. :-)  It was impossible for me to imagine this before surgery.  I worried about feeling deprived like when dieting.  I don't.  My relationship with food has changed. 

That's great to hear, thanks so much! I hope I have the same kind of outcome.

I used MFP occasionally, and as hard as I tried to ignore the calories and just focus on what I was supposed to be focusing on, I couldn't. My surgeon does not recommend counting calories, Only protein and liquids. My accountability is weighing myself everyday. Some people will say "Throw your scale away" or "don't do it". Not me, it makes me think about my progress and what I am doing daily.

Reading all of the comments has been interesting! I am just a month out and my therapist doesn't seem to advocate for or against tracking but she did express concern over MFP (which I use) because the primary tracking is under calories. Since that is not what we should be following as a primary guide, she wants me to try to not look at that, which is easier said than done.