how to eat if you don't track food

Just wondering how post-op people, especially those in maintenance, figure out what to eat in a day if they don't plan, track and weigh/measure their food?  I've been asked to stop counting calories by my bariatric centre, but it strikes fear in me since I'm not sure how to decide what to eat.  Its been all about hitting protein targets, keeping a carb/protein/fat/calorie ratio and overall calorie amounts for just over a year now and suddenly, in maintenance, I'm being asked to abandon it all except for maintaining a basic protein intake count.

So non-trackers...tell me how you make your food decisions each day.

Thanks!

By trade I am an analyst of numbers so I have always kept track in my head everyday since I had surgery.  I put out the food on my plate I know I should/can eat and then stop or eat the portion I know from experience is right if I am out.  It is second nature now, I don't eat until I feel full because that is too late for me by then I feel sick.  It has always worked for me but it might not for everyone.  I keep track of protein, watch carbs and count calories.

Did you ask them about it, since they made the suggestion?

I track my calories once in a while, just to see where I stand.  I do measure my food, to make sure I don't eat too large of portions.  Basically, I make healthy food choices (most of the time, anyway), eat plenty of foods high in protein, and measure my portions.  As long as I do that, I find things work out OK for me.

What if you just continue to eat the way you've been eating?  If you've been getting enough protein and calories, wouldn't you continue to do so by eating the same way?

I don't track anymore either. Occassionally I'll check the ratios to be sure I'm not way off. I can tell by how I feel if I'm getting in enough protein and too many carbs make me feel bad so I jus****ch those.

At this point as long as I eat protein forward it works for me. Like Heidi I don't overeat to full it's not worth feeling bad.

Some people do have to track daily during maintenance. If the scale shows me in range I eat what I want protein forward when it inches up I change what I'm eating.

I focus on protein first and limit crappy carbs. I have learned to realize when I have had enough. I do not eat until I am full, I eat until I am satiated. I don't track everyday, but if I'm up a few pounds, I do. I am a daily weigher and that helps keep me on-track. Some of us do become obsessed with the numbers, but too many people who had surgery when I did have already had huge regains. I will not let that happen to me.

I don't track any more, and I only weigh myself every few days. I've been stable for a while now, and I'm not too worried. I know how much I can eat, and I focus on the protein. If I weigh more than a few pounds over my goal weight then I'll start tracking again for a while. (I did gain a bit over the holidays, tracked for the first few weeks of January, got back to my goal, and then stopped tracking again.)

I think from doing it so long I'm a pretty good estimator. I track one week out of the month and I always pretty much hit the numbers I think I do in my head. I bet you're the same way. 

Also, I am a creature of habit so I don't vary my food that much (contrary to what it might seem like on my blog!). I eat pretty much the same thing every day. Sometimes prepared differently but the same core ingredients.

First of all, don't stop tracking if you don't want to.  I tracked for the first two years every single day.  By that time, I was well into maintenance and had a "rhythm" of stuff I rotated in my diet.  I only track every now and then now, just to see what my numbers look like.  I always track for a month or two after the holidays because I tend to get a bit loosey goosey indulging in holiday stuff and going back to tracking sets me straight.

I know every day, I'm going to have 6-7 small meals, and I generally swap out an array of about 10-15 different things, so I'm basically the same number wise every day.

As someone else said, if you feel more comfortable tracking everything, then by all means continue!  Most of us, though, find that it isnt necessary after a caertain point, and many of us find that it contributes to keeping a "diet mentality" that works AGAINST the mentality of changing your lifestyle and eating habits permanently.

I have not tracked my food regularly since before I was six months out.  I will be six years out in August.  I track it for a couple of days once or twice a year just to do a double check that I am still at my desired protein/carb/fat ratio, but that is it.  I still eat much the way I did at six months out.  A wider variety of foods, and larger portions, but I still eat a protein forward diet that limits "white carbs" and doesn't include fried foods.  Since I limit my carbs to those from fruits, veggies, beans, and whole grains (except for my daily treat, which is usually something sugary or something crunchy and carb-y) I don't count carbs (never did).  Since I don't eat high fat foods, and we need a certain amount if fat in our diet (it REALLY helps avoid constipation), I also never tracked fat but I eat full fat cheese, use butter instead of margarine, eat nuts as a protein snack, etc.

If you continue to focus on high protein, limited carb meals, and have worked to develop a healthy eating plan during the initial months, it is really just a matter of continuing to do what you have been doing.  I also find that my surgeon's rule of eating protein first at each meal (with only a couple of bites of side dishes until 75% of the protein is consumed) REALLY helps keep me on track.

Lora

I track my food most of the time with My Fitness Pal.  I don't always pay as much attention to the calories as I do my raito of protein, carbs and fat.  What was the rationale behind their request for you to stop tracking calories?