Anyone on here doing this without logging? Or only logging certain foods?

Mumzillah

Delitebabe wrote: »

On occassions that I logged religiously, I had to just weight every ingredient then weight the whole food then divide into equal portions before throwing everything back into the pot after taking my portion, this is way too much work to do every single time.

LOL! Exactly!!

Jennloella

Mumzillah wrote: »

Jennloella wrote: »

I don't log anything, I occasionally quick add cals if I have a reason, I track sodium though. I've maintained my ideal weight for 4 years this way - through two pregnancies.

Wow, congrats! I think I am also at the point where i know what I can and can't eat. When I was eating badly this past year, I knew it was bad, but I was too stressed to care, plus it made me feel better

yeah emotional eating is a different thing than over eating. though it can be the "why" behind the over eating, it's a different monster and usually logging won't help.

jonrenly

Just here to say hello from a fellow vegan

oxers

Logging works for me. I haven't been doing it with any kind of regularity lately, and I still keep a running tally in my head so I haven't gained, but that's exactly why I've only lost two pounds in a little over a month. Soooo back to logging for me. I eat a lot of whole, unprocessed foods and I've got a super convenient little kitchen scale, so honestly, the worst part is getting the foods into my diary once. After that, they're there, and I'm good to go.

I've basically not logged for the past two-ish months, though, and I've either lost slowly or held steady at maintenance, and that is super exciting for me. I don't want to have to log everything all my life, so I totally agree - it's important to get a sense of what you can eat without going over and without obsessing. That's a skill that takes time and effort to develop.

I'm back on the horse for the next few months while I take off my last twenty pounds, but after that, I think I'm gonna ease onto a plan more similar to yours :]

Angurla

I log everything for the most part. There have been some days that I had to estimate things. Once I reach my goal I will probably log less but for know I'm am still surprised at how many calories some things cost me. I also try to prelog on days where I have large food/drinks coming up so I know how much I need to workout to make up for it before hand.

socajam

For me it seems I will have to log for the rest of my life. Due to not having a thyroid it is extremely difficult to lose weight for me, even 1 lb per week at a time.

Mumzillah

jonrenly wrote: »

Just here to say hello from a fellow vegan

helloooo

65pcWater

I have been on and off this site over about two years and when I am logging I am loosing, when I dont I gain. Although I log everything I am not anal about the brand, weight etc etc, it is more of a focus on what I am eating but by logging I do think about the whole food piece. It is a balance of finding the right item against time spent trawling the database and time is not a huge commodity. That may defeat the purpose but it works for me

cwolfman13

I logged during my initial weight loss...basically for about 9 months. I maintained that weight loss and my weight for over a year and a half without logging, save for the first month or so of maintenance. This was not an issue for me at all.

I'm about three weeks into a cut now trying to get myself down from 16/17% BF to around 10/12%...I logged the first couple of day just to make sure my estimations were on target in RE to the eating plan I designed for myself and it was, so I'm not logging now and losing just fine...and very slowly (by design).

kamakazeekim

I only log occasionally to see if I'm staying within my daily limits. I have had a gastric sleeve since May so I know I'm WAY under calories but I like to log sometimes just to remind myself that I do have to eat. On average, I'm eating about 600 calories a day.

kcd1961

I think ultimately, you need to trust your experience. If it works, keep on doing it. If it doesn't, try something different. There is no doubt that accurate logging, whether by MFP or paper helps with weight loss. Most people fail because they are unwilling to do the discipline (including me for a long time). MFP (or other apps) make it as easy as it is going to get. Setting up meals and recipes is time consuming, but pays off in the long run. The phone app allows you to copy whole days, which you can modify aferwards if you need to (and that is coming for the web version). I think it's important to do it in detail at least for a few weeks in weight loss mode, then at maintenance, in order to learn what appropriate eating looks and feels like. And obviously do it any time you get off track.

Aiko831

I log EVERYTHING... I sometimes have bad days... but I do "meal-prepping" early in the morning, or a day before to avoid binging... I change things as I go if it needs to be replaced.

I do forget to click the "COMPLETE THIS ENTRY" button most days.. Not because I don't want to share, but I just forget about it... My diary is open, so if my friends want to see it they can give some insight.. NO need to hide what I eat- Am trying to eat better, and not starve myself because I don't want to gain all the weight back.. or lose muscle.

silentKayak

I've gotten a little less strict with logging vegetables recently. I measure and log all high calorie foods - meat, eggs, cheese, oil, starches, even fruit. But I tend to make complicated meals with a LOT of ingredients. It's not unusual for my diary to have 10 ingredients for one meal. And I don't use recipes, so I can't just repeat them.

So now I sometimes just put "one cup of mixed vegetables" for a stirfry or "small salad". I don't want to track "5 grams of garlic, 10 grams of green onion, 20 grams of kale, 30 grams of brocolli, etc".

I don't track macros, just calories, so I think it's OK. It hasn't changed my progress at all.

If it's working for you, then stick with it! If it's not, then consider tracking the high-fat foods as well so you don't have to guess how much you're eating during the day.

Mumzillah

oxers wrote: »

I'm back on the horse for the next few months while I take off my last twenty pounds, but after that, I think I'm gonna ease onto a plan more similar to yours :]

Good luck with those 20lbs, I had around 14lbs to go this time last year, now everything has piled back on.

I feel it's about me setting down habits for life. I can't imagine logging for life, or on holiday, or when someone else is cooking. Far easier for me to just know what i can or can't eat freely and make a choice. I am hoping this will work. if it doesn't I will just try something else.

beamer0821

i dont log my vegetables. i just track everything else. i don't know why just one less thing i have to look up! lol

silentKayak

Delitebabe wrote: »

I have tried logging everything but its just too difficult for me, I'm originally from West Africa and we cook without recipes and do not weight food per serving, everyone basically just dishes as much as they would like to eat. On occassions that I logged religiously, I had to just weight every ingredient then weight the whole food then divide into equal portions before throwing everything back into the pot after taking my portion, this is way too much work to do every single time.

I do the same thing. I sometimes cook in one big pot. Then I count each ingredient separately, then estimate the portion size (did you eat a quarter or an eighth of the whole pot?) It helps if you dish yours up in the kitchen first so you can compare what you took to what's left, and try to get it right the first time instead of going back for seconds.

Mumzillah

To clarify "freely eating" of oils and nuts. There is a difference between eating freely and eating liberally.

Obviously I know these are high in calories, so I make afree choice to limit these, and I am confident I can to this without logging it.

I would not liberally sprinkle oil over all my food, I rarely eat fried food anyway, and I know how much nuts I can reasonably eat. The most oil I would have in a day would be 2tblsp max as I only use oil in stir frys or to sautee onions, garlic, etc. I don't eat nuts every day -but as a vegan, having them as a snack when all that is available is chocolate bars and crisps (chips to those in the US) is a much better choice.

Mumzillah

zarckon wrote: »

I've gotten a little less strict with logging vegetables recently. I measure and log all high calorie foods - meat, eggs, cheese, oil, starches, even fruit. But I tend to make complicated meals with a LOT of ingredients. It's not unusual for my diary to have 10 ingredients for one meal. And I don't use recipes, so I can't just repeat them.

So now I sometimes just put "one cup of mixed vegetables" for a stirfry or "small salad". I don't want to track "5 grams of garlic, 10 grams of green onion, 20 grams of kale, 30 grams of brocolli, etc".

I don't track macros, just calories, so I think it's OK. It hasn't changed my progress at all.

If it's working for you, then stick with it! If it's not, then consider tracking the high-fat foods as well so you don't have to guess how much you're eating during the day.

Yes, I will keep doing it this way for four weeks. If it doesn't work, I will try something else. Even though I don't have a lot of fat/nuts in my diet, I may have to consider tracking it. I hear what you say about the food you cook, as the same applies to me and no two meals are the same as I just use what is in the fridge/cupboard. At one point I was looking up calorie count for chilli flakes - and I promised myself that I would find a better way

Mumzillah

zarckon wrote: »

Delitebabe wrote: »

I have tried logging everything but its just too difficult for me, I'm originally from West Africa and we cook without recipes and do not weight food per serving, everyone basically just dishes as much as they would like to eat. On occassions that I logged religiously, I had to just weight every ingredient then weight the whole food then divide into equal portions before throwing everything back into the pot after taking my portion, this is way too much work to do every single time.

I do the same thing. I sometimes cook in one big pot. Then I count each ingredient separately, then estimate the portion size (did you eat a quarter or an eighth of the whole pot?) It helps if you dish yours up in the kitchen first so you can compare what you took to what's left, and try to get it right the first time instead of going back for seconds.

I used to find the whole eating experience very stressy when I had to do that though. Plus I remember times when my husband would cook if I was late home, and i would quiz him about the contents of the meal, so I could estimate exactly how much I was eating...... obsessive much?

aloranger7708

I "quick add" calories and it has worked great for me. I lost 50 lbs just doing quick add.