I’m so burned out of calorie counting. Has anyone had success with taking a break?

[slant]

I see new recipes I want to try all the time, but then realize I’d have to weigh everything out and input the data and figure out how much of it I can eat, and then I don’t even want to make it.

I feel like calorie counting is disturbing my relationship with food (food is good, should be enjoyed, in my opinion) to a point where I just don’t even want to eat anything that I haven’t already tracked before, and that stinks.

I’ve been religiously counting since March 1st, and I’m wondering whether I could take a break for a week and just breathe to give myself a reset. It’s not that I want to binge on high calorie, low nutrient foods like cookies, it’s that I want to be able to make a Mediterranean quinoa salad or low-oil potato curry and not worry about the calories I’m consuming 24/7.

Is taking a break okay sometimes? How can I reframe my relationship with food while calorie counting?

 

[johnnythebaptist]

@slant Why not just pick one or two nights a week you cook a new recipe and not worry about the calories?

Don't burn yourself out and completely stop, allow yourself a little indulgence.

 

[slant]

@johnnythebaptist Love this idea, thank you. I am, to a fault, a black and white person with health stuff, so I don’t see the grey often. I appreciate you pointing out that it doesn’t have to be all or nothing!

 

[legolas2106]

@slant i second the person above! i lost 100 lbs from CICO with minimal exercise but i always gave myself the weekends off. didn’t go crazy on the weekends but just didn’t let myself worry out about counting

 

[lookingforhelp]

@slant You can totally take a break! But it's also okay to track "good enough" instead of going for perfect accuracy every time. I made a big southern-style meal yesterday and tracked all of it, but I didn't weigh every ingredient. There's something to be said for just searching "mashed potatoes" in your calorie tracking app and logging something rather than not logging at all. Sometimes good enough is good enough.

 

[slant]

@lookingforhelp This comment gave me a huge rush of genuine relief, thank you. I think I’ve gotten so laser focused on losing weight that I haven’t let myself just be human sometimes, and it’s okay to track “good enough.”

I wish I could hug you. Thank you for this. Your southern style meal sounds freaking delicious.

 

[lookingforhelp]

@slant Awww, I'm so glad it was helpful! Good luck on your journey!!

 

[spedteach]

@lookingforhelp I want to second this. I find it much much healthier and more sustainable to track good enough than to stop completely if it’s not perfect.

 

[rancell]

@lookingforhelp this is what i do for dinner! i track breakfast and lunch to a T because i have a few meals that i cycle through and i know the nutrition info for the amounts that i eat. but my partner cooks dinner for us, often trying new recipes, so i guesstimate almost every night. my weight loss journey is pretty casual but it works well for me!

 

[lookingforhelp]

@rancell Casual and sustainable is the way to go!

 

[jesstheblessed]

@slant I no longer calorie count. I weighed everything In the beginning to learn correct portion sizes and such. Now I just eyeball stuff and keep a loose total in my head and use that to make smart decisions. I'm still loosing weight.

That might not work for everyone though and I do like the suggestion of not counting calories a few nights a week. It doesn't have to be all or nothing

 

[zoidar]

@jesstheblessed This is they way! And bonus! When people around you start to count, you can wow them with your knowledge. My husband was so impressed at the amount of things I just knew the calories and grams of protein for, lol.

 

[rily]

@jesstheblessed I did the same now I just eyeball everything, i occasionally still weight my food

 

[jacob2848]

@jesstheblessed These days I eyeball portions but still loosely track my protein during the day to make sure I'm near 120g target. But I've been in maintenance for a long time now, which is much more forgiving than while cutting.

 

[tinyfaith]

@slant Maybe you could take a mini break and see how you go? Give it a few weeks and see how you feel, chances are with all the calorie counting you’ve done in the past you should have a pretty good idea of the caloric amount in most foods and will be able to find a good balance

 

[slant]

@tinyfaith Totally fair, I have noticed my ability to correctly portion things out without really trying now that I’ve done it so much. I’ll keep an eye out for new stuff, but maybe I can stop religiously weighing and counting the things I have a feel for. That’ll help lessen the burden!

 

[pamray62]

@slant I take a break by just looking for a closer approximate in the app, and rounding up.

If you really want to take a break, I don't think a short break will make a huge difference. You may end up gaining a little, but nothing that can't be course-corrected.

 

[lmg633]

@pamray62 I do something similar for things I have no way of knowing for sure, like when I grab something out at a random place. I search my app (Lose It) for that thing, then adjust the calories til I feel like it’s about what I think it is. Super quick and dirty, but it helps and imo is better than nothing/keeps me on the wagon.

 

[pamray62]

@lmg633 Yeah, I went out to the movies the other day, and even though I'd budgeted for candy and a pre-movie drink, I ended up sharing a popcorn and forgot to see how much my candy mix weighed before I started digging in. I thought about blowing off the calorie count for the day, but instead just made estimates and rounded up, and felt much better. For me, it would be a slippery slope to just not count things here and there.

 

[dmhanson511]

@slant My RD suggested a “cheat meal” 1-2 days a week where you don’t track. Maybe try that?