Is the food diary a life long endeavor or does it ever stop?

zumbagirl2526

Hello all!

I am fairly new to the entire logging in of my caloric intake. I tried it once before by writing it down in a physical journal and got tired of it.

Logging into a website each day makes it a bit more tolerable, but it is definitely not something that I would prefer to do for the rest of my life in order to lose and maintain my weight goals.

Is the food diary in general/ or usually something that requires a lifelong commitment, or is it something that you can eventually ween off of and maintain your weight goals naturally/ or second nature?

Gallowmere1984

I stopped doing it for about three years, and maintained my weight (plus or minus seven pounds either direction). So long as you take away the important parts of logging and use it as a learning tool to develop better eating habits, it doesn't have to last forever. I only came back due to deciding to go VLCHF, and since it was a bit of a shift from how I was eating before, the macro logging feature made it easier, because I had just gotten used to mentally logging calorie intake before.

dutchandkiwi

I foudn MFP much easier than the paper journal. My phone is always with me and I can also log off line and sync later. With a paper journal that was always a mission.
When I started I said I wanted to do this for two years max. But as my goals shifted it will take longer to get there. Plus by that stage it was just a habit, going on 2.5 years now closing in on 1 000 days :-)
Will it be for life? I doubt it. I think I will stop for a while once I have a comfortable maintenace routine and only return if I decide that I am reaching my upper action limit (if that ever happens). But at the same time I don't mind continueing logging for a long tiem either. As said it is a habit and at present, with most of my recipes have been loaded, it is rally quite easy to log

sijomial

It is quick and convenient to log on here (web or phone) but no it doesn't have to be forever.
It's just a tool that educates you at first about calorie density / serving sizes / food choices and then supports the good habits you create over time.

I find I can maintain at goal weight without food logging but it's there to fall back on if I need (or want) it.

snowflake930

I am sure there are many people than can succeed long term without the benefit of logging. For me it has to be forever. Statistics show that over 80% of people who lose weight, gain it back within 5 years, and many of these people gain even more weight than they originally lost. There are multiple threads here daily that support this with people coming "back again".
I am pretty good at estimating and portion sizes, but logging keeps me focused on my long term plan. I lost over 1/2 of my current body weight and have kept it off for over 2-1/2 years. My long term goal is to be in the small percent that keep the weight off. Everyone IS different. I know I have to log to keep myself accountable.

Machka9

Previously, with other methods, I've managed to stick with logging for 3 weeks. They were just too complicated and time consuming. Fortunately, each time I lost the weight I needed to lose during the 3 weeks of logging, and a few weeks after.

This time I knew I needed to stick with it for more than 3 weeks. I figured I'd give it 6 weeks. Fortunately, MFP is really easy to use so I stuck with it like glue for 16 weeks. Then I took a month off the logging. Then I returned to logging for another 16 weeks. Then I took about 6 weeks off logging. And since then I've been logging during the week and about half my weekends.

kommodevaran

It depends. Some people track calories/macros several years into maintenance. I too thought I'd be doing that for the rest of my life, but it suddenly changed last summer when I got bored with it, it felt like too much hassle, meaningless and inaccurate, I wanted to listen more to my body's needs, and I felt I had learnt enough about portion sizes, making my own food choices, hunger and satiety cues, environment control, to maintain my weight. In short, I had learnt to eat. I had counted calories before, memorized some arbitrary eating rules, but I hadn't learnt to eat, just to count calories, and I regained. I think that's a fundamental difference.

Some kind of awareness and/or adjustment of eating habits is necessary. It doesn't have to be an enormous change, but it has to stick.

I still log my intake, but only roughly, weigh and count, but mainly because it's a natural extention of my meal planning, and I weigh myself every day, take the weekly average, and aim to stay within a range. It has worked well; I hit goal weight in October 2014, and my confidence is growing.

jessicarobinson00

I find it quick and convenient..I've been logging so long that I think that I would be able to mentally log if I had to...but I'm here for the people. My fit-fam is what keeps me accountable, moving, and inspired..so I have become a permanent resident. 2 years 4 months..and counting!!!

Francl27

Lots of threads about this on this forum if you look.

alias1001

Depends on the person. For me, it's necessary.

dfranch

I need the numbers in my face to prevent myself from making bad decisions. It only takes like 5 minutes a day to log everything in MFP. 891 day streak. Would be almost 1100, but missed 1 day (damn super bowl 3 years go).

Sharon_C

I've been on MFP for 4 years. 3 of those years I logged consistently, rarely missing a day. For the past year I've been logging on and off. If I feel that my eating is slipping then I start logging again. For me it will be something that I will always do. The more you do it the more you build your database of food and the easier it gets. Now it takes me less than five minutes to log a days worth of eating.

lamilli09

Just my personal experience... Dropped the weight I needed to drop in a few short months, then maintained for a year (with logging). Lifestyle changed after six months - new city, new job, new house, new routine. Year two, gained back 25% of the original weight lost; felt fine. Year three, gained back an extra 25% of the original weight lost, felt ok. New lifestyle change - new city, new job, new house, new routine. And hello, year four - all of the weight gained back... and now I'm back to logging again.

For your question - overall, it depends on the person. Most people are able to stop logging and maintain for quite a while... but I would note that for me, changes to my routine meant I was not *quite* as conscious of the slide.

RoxieDawn

This is a personal decision. It does not have to be a life long thing that you do, but it is just a tool.

It is not a law or rule that is to be broken. It is like making a grocery list or a task/to do list, or keeping an on ongoing schedule, these are all necessary things we do in life to stay on track, so decide if the food/exercise journal is something you need to stay on track in the future or not.

lithezebra

I need to keep logging, unless I want to keep gaining and losing the same 7 pounds again and again. I just finished losing the 7 pounds, again, and I'd like to keep it that way.

MarziPanda95

That depends on YOU. Some people have to log forever. Some don't. Some people learn portion sizes and accurate eyeballing through calorie counting, others never do. I personally do believe I will be logging for the rest of my life. I don't mind. I wouldn't buy something expensive without checking my bank account, so I wouldn't eat something without checking I have the calories for it.

ncfitbit

For me, logging is what makes the difference between being able to lose weight and fooling myself that I am eating "pretty well." I'm not a good natural judge of how much I am consuming although I've gotten a little better after being on MFP for a while. Ignorance is not bliss when it comes to eating for me. I like knowing so I log.

It takes an investment of time at the beginning when you are figuring everything out, but it gets a LOT easier as you go. Stick with it. After a while it only takes a few minutes a day and is second nature. Some things that make it pretty easy for me are saving favorite meals (which I prefer to creating a recipe because its easier to adjust the ingredients), saving favorite ingredients (I also use meal function for that), using the copy meal function, and the bar code function. Good luck!

KetoneKaren

If I commit to logging every bite, lick, and taste, then I am less likely to...well...bite, lick and taste, because I don't like figuring how to log those pesky smidgens. Sometimes those innocent bits and bites add up to a few hundred calories, which is the difference between maintaining and "creeping". I need to keep logging.

I know not everyone does...my buddy Clay just hops on the scale every morning and if he's gained a couple of lbs he cuts back for a few days until he likes what he sees on the scale. I don't think he has ever logged a bite in his life...

ARGriffy

I've not logged for months and I've not gained. I'm fact I've lost through exercise! But I logged for 3ish years before that, you hsve to learn how to eat within cals or you WILL gain! X

Koldnomore

Having been overweight for a good part of the last 20 years has made it impossible for me to remember how to eat properly. Logging helps me to visualize what a proper amount of food looks like. I stopped logging for the better part of a year and gained back almost 30 lbs so I know I obviously can't stop yet.

I think that in time I will be able to adjust to the new normal and then I may not need to log everyday but for now I know it works for me so I will commit to doing it because I'd rather take 15 minutes of my day to log than go back to being as fat as I was when I started this journey almost 5 years ago

cwolfman13

For me, it was just a teaching tool. I've been in maintenance for over three years and haven't logged a thing in that time save for early on in the maintenance process to spot check.

I did log for about nine months while losing weight...for me it was just a learning process, I never had any intention of logging for all of eternity...that's not the "lifestyle change" I was looking for. I plan on being around for a good 40-50 years longer and I think it pretty unrealistic that I would actually log in a diary for the next 50 years.

ericatoday

The diary is to teach you what you can eat and what you need in moderation. Like it taught me that if im going out for pizza dont eat pancakes for breakfast. Once you generally have an idea of what works gor you and how to control your eating and pay attention to food you can absolutely grt off of it. Once i hit my goal and go to maintance i plan to be off of mfp after 3 months of maintenance

srecupid

Im trying to figure out the same thing. I don't want to do it but at the same time it's handy tool. Like I look at my log and see I haven't been eating enough of one vitamin or the other. Next thing I know when I'm at the grocery store I look at the labels and buy stuff high in that. I guess the important thing is stopping yourself before you get out of control. I'm weighing myself within t minutes if waking up every day and writing it in a notebook. Every 14 entries or so I plan to jot it into Libra over my morning coffee so I get a nice chart. Just as long as it doesn't become an obsession

sgt1372

I logged for 5 months and lost 40 lbs -- 198 to 158 in that time period. Didn't log for 3 years and maintained my weight at around 175 just eating normally and not even exercising. 158 wasn't a realistic weight for me; 175 was/is.

Got stupid and starting drinking beer again w/o exercising about a year ago and quickly gained 21 lbs to 196 and just started logging about 2 months ago. Have already lost 18bs in that time and am only 3 lbs/1-2 wks away from my target of 175.

Will go back to maintenance again when I hit 175 but will continue to track for awhile because I want to continue to exercise daily (which I didn't do b4) and want to know how many cals I need to consume in order to maintain my weight at 175. After I figure it out, I'll stop logging but will continue daily weigh-ins to make sure that I'm still on target.

RaeBeeBaby

I logged faithfully for the better part of a year and it really helped me focus on my weight loss. I already knew what I needed to eat in order to lose and/or maintain, but the food diary keeps you honest. That is IF you ARE honest with it (which some people are not, so what's even the point)?!

I will skip a day or two, or even a week or two, but it draws me back for the accountability factor.

salembambi

i think logging every single damm day is not necessary for maintenance i like to take days off once in a while keeps me sane

kommodevaran

I don't think food logging constitutes or should constitute a lifestyle change, but eating awareness would

Tracking is just a means to an end. If tracking makes you more aware, good. If tracking gets in the way of your daily life, don't. There are other ways. Tracking can be a learning tool, or it can be a permanent aid. Eating is a personal matter. No prizes for eating "right" and no condemnation for eating "wrong".

1nprgr3s

Every time I stop logging I gain weight. So for me it's something I have to stick to.

erianswilliams

I think it depends on the person. Sometimes I stop logging & im able to maintain my weight. But I got very busy this past couple months & didn't log...along with eating a bunch of crap. I gained a couple of pounds. It's super quick & easy for me to track so I'll probably continue to do it for a long time.

CrazyMermaid1

Logging keeps me honest and aware, combined with daily weigh-ins

gmallan

I've been maintaining fairly well now for a couple years without logging. I have an acceptable maintenance range the upper limit of which generally results in certain items of clothing being too tight. When I hit this I will come back to logging for a couple weeks to a month to drop a couple kgs and as a reminder of how much I should be eating. I also tend to log new foods or recipes from time to time if I want to get an idea about calories and macros.

Basically, if you plan on taking away the logging and maintaining you need to keep track some how of your weight so you don't allow the kgs to creep back on. Scale, tape measure, mirror or clothing size. I like mirror and clothing size personally as it allows for fluctuations without the harshness of the scale (also muscle mass affects this)