Results of not tracking.
DietPrada
Posts: 1,171 Member
For the last 3 weeks I haven't been tracking my food intake in my diary. Quite frankly after 2 years (and I just had surgery) I needed to relax a little. I have not, however, ate anything that would tip me over my 20 g carbs a day. Yes I'm sure. I'm not eating vegetables, or artificial sweetener, or "fake baking" or bars, But - I'm no longer in ketosis, and I've gained about 1 kg per week. I find it curious that people tell newbies in particular "oh, you don't need to track, just eat when you're hungry, until you're satisfied and cut out carbs". A while ago I was told when i wasn't losing weight to "stop tracking and trust the process".
What's changed? Pretty much I am consuming more protein. If I had to guess at my calories per day (an educated guess based on years of weighing and tracking) I'd say somewhere in the region of 2000 to 2500 calories. And I'm not over eating, or stuffing myself all day. BPC breakfast, moderate lunch, moderate dinner, a few snacks of cheese and pate and such.
I read in another post that you have to eat ridiculous amounts of protein for it to convert to glucose and kick you out of ketosis, but that's not what I've found. I know urine strips aren't accurate, but after using them for 2 years I know they show pink - purple when I'm in ketosis and nothing when I've eaten something I shouldn't have. They've been showing nothing for the last 3 weeks.
What I've learned. Not tracking is not an option. Eating more than 90 g protein a day is not an option. I am NEVER going to be able to relax around food. I am NEVER going to be able to eat when I'm hungry and enjoy food without obsessing. I am going to have to track, and weigh, and think about, everything I eat for the rest of my life. Or I'm going to gain back the 30 kg it's taken me 2 years of hard work to lose.
I find this so so depressing, given that I need to ideally lose another 20 kg, and I can't seem to lose more than 1 kg a month at the moment, but I can gain 1 kg a week without even thinking about it.
What's changed? Pretty much I am consuming more protein. If I had to guess at my calories per day (an educated guess based on years of weighing and tracking) I'd say somewhere in the region of 2000 to 2500 calories. And I'm not over eating, or stuffing myself all day. BPC breakfast, moderate lunch, moderate dinner, a few snacks of cheese and pate and such.
I read in another post that you have to eat ridiculous amounts of protein for it to convert to glucose and kick you out of ketosis, but that's not what I've found. I know urine strips aren't accurate, but after using them for 2 years I know they show pink - purple when I'm in ketosis and nothing when I've eaten something I shouldn't have. They've been showing nothing for the last 3 weeks.
What I've learned. Not tracking is not an option. Eating more than 90 g protein a day is not an option. I am NEVER going to be able to relax around food. I am NEVER going to be able to eat when I'm hungry and enjoy food without obsessing. I am going to have to track, and weigh, and think about, everything I eat for the rest of my life. Or I'm going to gain back the 30 kg it's taken me 2 years of hard work to lose.
I find this so so depressing, given that I need to ideally lose another 20 kg, and I can't seem to lose more than 1 kg a month at the moment, but I can gain 1 kg a week without even thinking about it.
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I'm with you.
I try to stay around 1500 calories and below 30 gr carbs.
Still don't lose any of the 60 pound tire.
Went on vacation and didn't track.
One week, gained 6 pounds.1 -
I log only what I eat not their numbers anymore.
If my bg# is high I can usually figure out why.
I'm down almost 90 lbs & not willing to cut back more calories.
or 
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I think eating too much protein is basically only an issue for anyone with IR or diabetes. In those cases the demand for glucose is higher and is more likely to happen.1
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EbonyDahlia wrote: »(...)
What I've learned. Not tracking is not an option. Eating more than 90 g protein a day is not an option. I am NEVER going to be able to relax around food. I am NEVER going to be able to eat when I'm hungry and enjoy food without obsessing. I am going to have to track, and weigh, and think about, everything I eat for the rest of my life. Or I'm going to gain back the 30 kg it's taken me 2 years of hard work to lose.
I find this so so depressing, given that I need to ideally lose another 20 kg, and I can't seem to lose more than 1 kg a month at the moment, but I can gain 1 kg a week without even thinking about it.
This is me at the moment too. And when I think about it I get depressed too. I know I'll never be able to eat rice, pasta, bread ever again. And I'm ok with it, after all this time I don't even miss it. But I was hoping that as my IR/BG improved I could sometimes have some fruit... no such luck, instant bloat. A couple of days to gain, a month to lose (if I'm lucky).
What keeps me going is, yes, that much given advice to "trust the process". I don't know about you but, having lost 45kg/98lbs I'm at the lowest weight of my adult life. Sadly this is still at least 30kg/65lbs higher than my ideal weight. But my body loves it here and I've been gaining and losing the same 2kg over and over, with a net loss when everything goes well of 1kg a month. So I'm giving my body time to get used to this new weight and I hope that in time it'll realise that being healthy requires losing some more.
That's my balanced view, when I'm feeling balanced. And then there's the awful fear that all this is just another gimmick and the weight will all return the minute I relax. It's a lifetime of being betrayed by "healthy" food and dietitians advice, I'm not sure I'll ever have an healthy and relaxed view of food. That's why I come to this group every day, there's so many great people with similar problems and they've beaten them, I have to believe I can too. And so can you.
When we reach an healthy weight and keep it for a year or two the body internal scales reset and it gets much easier to stay at that weight. We have broken metabolisms so maybe we have to work harder and track everything but in the end every organism wants to be healthy. It may take more time than we'd like but we'll get there.
::flowerforyou::
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Yep. I agree with you all. Constant and eternal vigilance is required of folks like us. Sigh....2
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Yep. I agree with you all. Constant and eternal vigilance is required of folks like us. Sigh....
Me too. I lost 102lb. I'm maintaining a 92lb loss right now. That 10lb was from muscle gain and body recomp, but the rest is from a little water weight since I don't do keto anymore and FAT from NOT TRACKING.
I can't not track. I just gain. I've tried it over and over. My satiety meter is busted. So I'll be doing this forever.1 -
Thanks for sharing your story and for doing the experiment. You tried and learned something about yourself. Good job.
To lose weight I need to track and weigh and accurately measure portion sizes. I tried to eye-ball a 5 oz sirloin the size of the palm of my hand the other night. I figured I am an old pro at this now. For kicks I put it on the food scale it was really 9 oz. So much for guesstimates.
I also don't just eat when I'm hungry. I eat when I'm bored, depressed, happy, tired, mindless munching. I need to pay attention or it just becomes a big blur. Tracking is the only way to do it.3 -
Ugh...took this week to experiment with not tracking. It wasn't good. I must have things portioned out or i will keep eating. I lack self control. Also, even after 3 yrs of this I can not eyeball portions.
It's been so freeing not having to weigh and log everything but it just doesn't work for me. I worked too hard to lose this 50+ pounds. I want another 10 gone not added.
You are not alone and yes it is depressing.3 -
Ugh...took this week to experiment with not tracking. It wasn't good. I must have things portioned out or i will keep eating. I lack self control. Also, even after 3 yrs of this I can not eyeball portions.
It's been so freeing not having to weigh and log everything but it just doesn't work for me. I worked too hard to lose this 50+ pounds. I want another 10 gone not added.
You are not alone and yes it is depressing.
I try not to get depressed about it. It is what it is. If tracking is what will keep the weight gone and me feeling good and healthy, then it's just the price for keeping thin. Everything worth having/keeping requires effort.
Being overweight is hard.
Maintaining weight loss is hard.
Life is alllllllways hard.
So choose your hard.
There will be hard. Whether or not you have to track. And I will get to choose whether or not I gain it back or keep it off. I'm not going to compare myself to those who don't have to track. Because I'm not them. I am me. I'm proud of myself. And I like myself. I'd rather be me than anyone else. And what comes with being me are certain limitations. It might stink, but it's just another good habit I need to keep up. I've made my peace with it. I give myself a bigger calorie day every week where I only track carbs, and then track every single bite the rest of the week. Ad infinitum. It's just another routine. And tracking really doesn't take that long to do. About 2 minutes most days. Or less. Tracking daily is lots less of a hassle than being in poor health and being overweight. I'll take it.
Everything is about perspective.12 -
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Seems to me that it's about:
400 calories in = 1 pound gained.
40000 calories burned = 1 pound lost.
Wish I knew why
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Midnightgypsy0 wrote: »Seems to me that it's about:
400 calories in = 1 pound gained.
40000 calories burned = 1 pound lost.
Wish I knew why
I resemble that remark.
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@KetoGirl83 That's why I come to this group every day, there's so many great people with similar problems and they've beaten them, I have to believe I can too. And so can you.
That's exactly my feeling about this group. The people here are my mentors and inspiration. They ask the questions I have and answer them to provide balanced viewpoints.2 -
Tracking food is a comfort for me... still less than 60 days into LCHF. Not only will tracking keep me honest, it rewards me for doing it right.3
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I haven't logged everyday since last August (I did before then) because I felt I wasn't learning from it anymore. Once I had learned the macros of the foods I eat I didn't see the need for it anymore. I don't eat between meals very often (hungrier days do happen sometimes), but I always choose keto friendly foods when I do. I consider myself very fortunate that my relationship with food has changed sooooo drastically! But, I don't advocate not logging! Without it I wouldn't have gotten here!
It's good that you all recognize the need for yourselves! That is the important part!4 -
Very astute @midnightgypsy0! I am continually reminded that I am not alone.1
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Unless we're at the dentist, asleep, or under anesthesia, we are pretty much total bosses of what goes into our mouths.
Like anyone else, we could choose hazardous items that also happen to bring us pleasure.
Fortunately, we live at a time when we have a good chance of figuring out what's harmful and what's not.
Yee ha! That's something to celebrate!
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I think it'd be interesting to see an experiment with people like those of you here who have said you gain when you don't track, have someone track your intake for you (so it's blind to you), and see what the consumption and activity level differences are. I don't know about you guys, but I'd know I'd be curious about the differences if I felt I was eating largely the same thing I was when tracking.3
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I have to count calories. If I don't I will stop losing weight and sometimes gain. Maybe it has to do with where you are as far as reaching goal?
LC is my healthy choice for feeling better and living a more healthy lifestyle. I can no track and maintain my weight. But when I want to drop some pounds, like right now I want to drop 12 maybe over the summer, calories matter.
I know it takes vigilance. But it is great to know a plan that works instead of feeling weight issues are something I can't control. Yeah... I have to monitor what I eat. I probably should have all along so I would not have gained weight!!
I hate adulting some days
Ok most days ...
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I think our bodies have a set point. If you have recently lost weight, you have exceeded your set point limit and your body is ready to gain and go back to your older, heavier set point. You have to be at your new weight for awhile before it becomes your new set point. But how long you have to be vigilant and not over do it to get your new set point to take, is differnt for each person each time they change their weight.
Many of us have lost weight and kept it off. Many of us have regained the weight we lost. We all have to be careful when losing weight to ensure that we don't fall back to our old weight. But once you've lost it and kept it off for a month, six months or a year, (depending on your body) then the extra weight does not come back so easily.1 -
So great to read everybody's stories! We are all so different but, its good to know that lots of people struggle daily and its just not that easy for most of us
Makes me feel better about my lifetime of weight struggles. 0 -
Interesting info! Personally I enjoy the process of logging. I love statistics and charts and it makes me feel organized and on top of things. Winging it feels like mental chaos to me, so it's nice to see there's a real reason to stick to logging, even after I get more familiar with this WOE.3
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When ever I get lazy about logging it is a sure sign I'm off track with what I'm eating. Logging is the only thing that keeps me honest.2
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Tracking is the only way I can pace myself through the day. I've been fighting this for several years now! I think I'll friend some of you and start following this blog.1
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I agree with @cedarsidefarm. I tried a month without logging not long after I hit my goal weight, and it did not go that well for me. It might be that once you've maintained for a while, it works better for you.1
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baconslave wrote: »
Me three. I just had a weekend of fun, ate mostly low carb, but had a few sugary treats and extra wine... came back 2 kg up! Need to get right back on track for the next week or two to lose it again. Lather, rinse, repeat...
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I have to track too, and that doesn't bother me. It's a tool that makes my life, and my health goals, easier, not a source of stress.
I know it seems like it's a lot easier to gain than to lose, and it is, but it gets easier not to gain, if you can maintain for a year or so, so stay strong, track your macros, and relax.1 -
I also learned that I need to track everything I eat. this past weekend I did not track and I totally went off the deep end and once it started I could not stop myself. So today I am starting off my tracking everything that passes my lips. I feel so much better when I am accountable for my actions0
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