Is it common to have to rely on the app, at least at first, to know when you should stop eating?

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  • blossomingbutterfly
    blossomingbutterfly Posts: 743 Member
    I absolutely adore and love using the MFP app to track calories. It's too easy to underestimate your intake without it.
  • SnuggleSmacks
    SnuggleSmacks Posts: 3,731 Member
    Camilleathome wrote: »
    Ive been using the app on and off. And I find that using it helps me so much. This is my first time back where I feel like Im finally getting the hang of things. Im on day 9 of being under calory and fat goal and well over the 1200 calory goal. lost nine pounds(Most of that is most likely water weight from all the junk). I live in the middle of nowhere and am fairly nervous about going to a huge convention in two weeks and having access to all the fast food temptations but I know the app will definitely help me pick good choices.

    One thing that helps me in situations like that: seek out women who have bodies you admire, the kind of figures you want, and pay attention to what they eat. Look not only at what kinds of foods they choose, and the quantities, but also how they go about eating them. You'll find that their experience of food may be very different from yours, and it can often make a huge difference for you if you mimic their behaviors, and try to get into their mindset.

    Just...you know...don't be creepy about it.

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  • cincysweetheart
    cincysweetheart Posts: 892 Member
    I have tried keeping a mental tally. But what happens, is usually stick to the major things to make the counting easier. And I lose track of those little things… like mayo on a sandwich. Or butter on veggies. Or beverages. Or those little things that I just have a bite of. I can keep a running tally of the major things. But remembering and adding up those little things here and there tax my brain, so I don't count them. And before I know it, I've gone way over. The app takes the mental work out of it, so I can log more accurately. Mental tallying makes me lax in my efforts to watch what I eat. And then it's not long before I just quit altogether. Right now… I really don't have a problem staying under my calorie goal. Somedays, I have to deliberately eat something out of principle just to make sure I'm getting enough… But I also know that wouldn't last long if I wasn't logging. Logging keeps me accountable.
  • StrawberryJam40
    StrawberryJam40 Posts: 274 Member
    I have never been able to keep the weight (any weight) off that I have lost. To the point I had resolved (for 10 years) I would just be fat the rest of my life. I'm now down 29 pounds and it is all because I log my food. I don't know if I'll always log my food when I hit maintenance but I know I will never get there without MFP.
  • mysmileighs
    mysmileighs Posts: 103 Member
    I have to be able to see the number the same way I have to be able to see my bank account balance. I can get in denial quickly with "Certainly I didn't spend *that* much at Vera Bradley" and "Nooo, I only ate 1 candy bar". Self accountability for me, it absolutely necessary.
  • DoNotSpamMe73
    DoNotSpamMe73 Posts: 286 Member
    I can totally relate. When I didn't have internet for 3 months I gained back a few because of it.
  • NikonPal
    NikonPal Posts: 1,346 Member
    edited October 2014
    My consistent weight loss would not have been possible without the use of this app. I had almost thrown in the towel and thought I was doomed to obesity. I started logging religiously 12/1/13.

    The very few times I haven’t been able to log; I simply use the recorder on my phone for a quick message to myself – OR – use common sense in eating only healthy foods & keeping portions to “fist-size” etc.

    All my daily decisions are focused on my calorie expenditure and the need to leave 50-100 calories for a TV snack. Except for vacations and rare situations – I think this must remain a necessary lifetime habit. I WILL NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES allow myself to regain the weight it has taken me a year to lose…and I still have another 30 pounds or so to go.

    Best wishes – Good luck!

    Tomorrow is my weekly weight recording day.

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  • Docbanana2002
    Docbanana2002 Posts: 357 Member
    edited October 2014
    That's the whole point of the app... many of us here don't know how to eat the right amount without data to guide us... so we end up underweight or overweight. This keeps me on track.
  • lorib642
    lorib642 Posts: 1,942 Member
    Docbanana2002 wrote: »
    That's the whole point of the app... many of us here don't know how to eat the right amount without data to guide us... so we end up underweight or overweight. This keeps me on track.

    Thank you :)
  • jrose1982
    jrose1982 Posts: 366 Member
    I think that's pretty normal. I agree that we should know when we don't need any more food, but there seems to be too much going on for us to pick up on that (emotional stuff, for example). And, as a culture, we've been trained more to clean our plates than to stop when we're not hungry. So many of us have forgotten what it feels like when we just don't need anymore. Oh, to be a four-year-old again.

    I'd like to get to a point where I can maintain without counting calories, but we'll see if that ever happens. The app exists to help, use it.

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