Logging food - yes/no/sometimes

Deena_Bean

I've been a pretty steady food-logger for over 2 years now. I still haven't lost that magical last 15 pounds I want to lose and I'm well aware of the reason (sloppy choices, basically). I hover around the same 5 pounds - so what I'm eating now is basically maintenance in my mind.

I'm curious now what would happen if I stopped logging everything. Right now I watch the numbers and think, "Oh I have this much left, I can eat ____." I almost always eat more than _____ and end up over these days. I wonder if I pull the plug on tracking if I'll default to better choices out of fear of making too many bad choices, kwim? The way my brain works, it's possible that not logging may end up being effective...possibly temporarily, though. It's a slippery slope to think "Oh I can have 5 fries" that evolves to "If I eat a small order of fries today that'll still be under my goal --- but then I'd eat a piece of chocolate and a handful of chips later....and then I'll start gaining. Basically I don't really know what's the better method for me at this point. I am just not hitting my mark lately, so I want to shake it up. I keep landing over 100 total carbs/day (anywhere from 115-175 some days).

Do you log or no? Or maybe just track carbs?

MyriiStorm

I've been faithfully logging for about six weeks, and for me it has been very helpful as I need to look at how many carbs are in everything I eat. I'm afraid if I stop now, I will inadvertently eat too many carbs to reach my health goals. The downside is that I obsess about it, but I'm hoping as I get more and more familiar with this WOE that the food choices will become more natural to me, and the obsessing will stop. At that point, I probably will be more lax about logging.

It's entirely personal what your reaction may be to ditching logging. If you feel it may help, then by all means stop logging for a bit. Maybe give yourself a set amount of time (a week, two weeks, a month?) and see how you do.

Phrick

I still log but have lately (past couple of months) been right in the same boat you're in (and as a result I'm up 11lbs over my lowest weight and 8 above my happy weight, at least last I was able to check - we're on vacation so no scale).

I think a logging break might work for me, in much the same manner as you describe, and here's my reasoning:

Being on vacation has been an exercise in guesstimating portions. I've still been logging and we even brought a food scale but I have only been able to use it for "downstairs apartment" things like measuring the coconut oil into my coconut chai tea. "Upstairs things" like all the community meals, I've had to guess.

Well, today in Washington, it is raining. Gee whiz. I reluctantly pulled out the single pair of jeans I brought. Reluctantly, because, when I got them off eBay 3 weeks ago they "fit" but were very tight and I was afraid they would be even tighter now. They actually fit better today than they did the day I got them in the mail! So I must be doing SOMETHING right even with the sloppy logging. I think it has turned me more conservative in my guesses. I'm going to be at my aunt's house today for a bit so if I manage to not eat before then I'll have a peek on her scale just to see. I know the comparison won't be super accurate since it isn't MY scale nor same conditions, but just for curiosity's sake I'm dying to know.

baconslave

It might work for you. If you are having logging fatigue, try it for a few weeks. It won't hurt to experiment for that length of time. And a break can be refreshing.

On the other side of the coin, I took a logging break for a couple months, and gained. I'm still trying to get it off. I need those limits. I'm a bottomless pit. I can eat a lot of fat before my belly gives me the full signal. Which ends up being more calories than my system will burn off. I have to log every day, or I will regain. I've tried to just count carbs multiple times, and I just gain weight. That might not be your result. But it certainly has been mine. Just my experience. YMMV.

Carnivorekat

I have stopped logging at the minute but am following ZC so only eating meat and animal products no veggies so this would all be OK and I am eating to hunger

MimiOfTheLusciousLawn

The thought of not logging scares the bejeebers out of me! That said, I know there will be a time when I will get to maintenance and most likely back off of logging. My strategy for this will be: fly by the seat of my pants during the day, using the accumulated knowlege in my brain to make the right choices. Then at the end of the day, log my meals. That way if I'm losing my grip, I'll know it that day, not weeks or pounds later.

Sarahb29

I log most of my meals every day, even if I'm going over my calories or over my carbs. That way I know what I can have the next day and what I should do for the rest of the week. If I have a big mac and a large fries for dinner on some splurge day then I log it and know I gotta keep it clean the rest of the week and have nothing but low carb friendly meals. As far as calories go I don't pay too much attention and keep them in a range of 1600-1800.

You can also "bank" calories if you have them left over at the end of the day. If you didn't eat those 100 calories on Monday, save them for Tuesday and have a little more, or save 100 calories a day and eat an extra 500 calories on Saturday.. OR don't eat them at all and they will count towards more weight loss.

LowCarbInScotland

I lost consistently when I logged, but after moving and having no Internet access for a month I got out of the habit. I still lost a few lbs the first month, but my weight has been a total rollercoaster this second month. I'm not stressing about it as I've come a long way and still have a long journey ahead, but its time for me to buckle down and refocus and get back to logging and losing.

RowdysLady

For me no logging means thinking I'm doing great and really not so much. I need to log to see where I am. What I have learned though, is how to eyeball things like four ounces of meat. I've gotten really good at that.

KarlaYP

Logging on MFP taught me so much about the foods I chose to eat! Without it I would have never learned!

But, once I had learned, I felt I would be able to continue losing without logging. I was correct! I've continued steady weight loss without it! I did begin logging again when testing myself by adding some veggies back into my diet, but after my belly bloated 3/4 of an inch in less than a month I dropped them again to maybe once a week, or less! Then I dropped the food diary again.

missippibelle

I quit logging for about a year and a half. I did OK at first...but portion size crept up slowly over time, as well as more frequent and larger snacking. If I have to write it down I am much more thoughtful and intentional with my snacks and meals. I also tend to eat out of boredom and habit rather than actual hunger. I am trying to re-learn how to listen to my hunger cues now. I had gotten so good at stopping when full, only eating when hungry, etc before. It seems like such a simple concept to me, that I should just be able to do it naturally. I do get obsessive about food when I am tracking sometimes, so I get where you are coming from. Why not try for a couple of weeks and see how you do?

anglyn1

I've logged my food every day for over 1300 days. It's kind of an OCD thing at this point and I'm not sure I could bring myself to stop. I log regardless of whether I'm trying to lose or maintain. It is fun to look back and see what you ate a year or two prior.

karebear5891

I have a lot more weight to lose, but for me, it actually makes me think about what I put in my mouth. I'm going to have to log this and everybody will see it and I'm going to have to look at it. It keeps me from lying to myself. It doesn't work that way for everybody, obviously. You have to do you.

RowdysLady

I got bad about logging for a few days and it didn't help anything. I need the accountability.

tlflag1620

I've been doing low carb for three years. When I first started, I did log my food (not here tho, usda's website of all places, lol) to get a sense of how many carbs different food choices contained. After about six weeks I stopped logging altogether and just stuck with foods I knew were low carb. Lost 50 lbs in seven months and maintained the loss, until I got pregnant with my fourth child. I bumped up the carbs during the pregnancy (still lowish tho - about 100 g per day). I was gaining faster than I wanted, so I joined MFP and started logging, which helped slow down the gain to a more reasonable rate. My takeaway from that experience was that if I go up to about 100 g if carbs per day, my appetite gets screwed up and I need to log calories. Once the baby was born (nearly a year ago) I went back to my usual carb levels (50-80 g per day). I logged periodically while losing, just as a "spot check", and the baby weight (50 lbs, ugh) was gone by the time she was seven months old (and she was born in August, so that included me not being super strict around the holidays).

I have found that when I log consistantly (I did a challenge back in May, where I logged everything for a month) it seems like losing actually becomes harder for me. Just like what you mentioned, when I see there are calories "left over" at the end of the day, I'm tempted to eat them, even if I'm not genuinely hungry. When I'm not logging I have to rely on hunger cues as I have no earthly clue how many calories I've consumed, and I seem to do much better (so long as I stick wi low carb foods!). It probably doesn't help that I've never weighed or measured my foods, I just estimate, so when MFP says I have calories left over, in reality I probably don't, lol. Maybe if I used a food scale, logging would be more useful to me. But I don't want to weigh and measure food, and I don't like the idea of having to log everything, everyday, for the rest of my life. I just stick with simple low carb foods and the calories seem to take care of themselves

LINIA

I do log very consistently but never weigh, measure or do more than a " guesstimate "

Originally joined for FITNESS, I wiggle out of exercise and avoid it, otoh having an Apple Watch and logging fitness/workouts plus the LCHF lifestyle have helped tremendously.

Everyone can see that I'm smaller now.

NonnaTurtle

I log every day to keep myself 'honest' and it's the only way I can stay within my daily MacroNutrient goals.
If I dont log, I tumble off the wagon in a heartbeat.

nvmomketo

When I was losing I logged everyday. I was another who got near goal and let logging go. That worked fine for a while but my carbs crept up which increased my calories which increased my weight. I probably should get back to logging but I dislike thinking about food that much and I keep putting it off.

tinywonder25

I've logged for 165 consecutive days as of today. Id like to get to a place where I don't log someday but it's just so effective I'm kind of like why not?!

I've never had a weight problem per se but I lived in a walking city(Chicago) and was strict paleo and worked out 3days a week for years. Never logged food or Exercise once and wS in the best shape of my life.

Now I have a 3 year old, Live in a driving city (LA) and am basically a stay at home mom. I work out 4-6 Times a week and log everything but since pregnancy have never been able to be as strict as I once was with my diet and obviously I'm just not burning the cal in daily life like I was when I was working full time and walking/running everywhere.

I'm also a small framed short person under 5 feet so cals add up fast. Maybe in a year or so I'll just sort of mentally log my calories but idk. It's still kind of fun!

Zenwenner

I log most of the time, to keep myself on track. I like to plan my day out and log everything first thing in the morning so it is easier to know what to do all day instead of winging it, and possibly screwing up.

bjwoodzy

I log like a wh0re sweats in church. I like to. Mostly, it's an OCD/organization thing for me, and also, I'm a foodie (I hate that word, but for lack of a better one, Ima leave it), so I obsess over meal planning, recipes, and stuff. I enjoy cooking like pigs love mud, so there's that, too. Logging recipes I've created gets me off. I'm weird, lol.

tcunbeliever

I log - I do not weigh, and only sometimes measure - I always assume that there are 500 calories I have consumed and failed to log and try to make sure to leave at least that much and at least half of my exercise calories uneaten. If I don't log I just gain weight because I really like food and like to eat. Plus, I'm mostly vegetarian, so I like to log to make sure I am getting sufficient protein and iron, those are challenging nutrients for me.

ccrdragon

I will log 1 meal a day out of habit but other than that, I don't bother. Just started ZC this week, so I am concentrating on that instead of logging.

CoffeeNBooze

I can keep up with logging calories for about two weeks and get over the top sick of it. And starving. So, no more of that for me. I find I don't need to anyway with low carb life. I used to count carbs but now that I understand what foods are good, I do not want to count them. I just wanna live! Not to say I'll never count carbs again but right now everything is good as I'm almost a full week back in.

mandycat223

With my amazing powers of self-deception ("There, that looks like a half-cup to me" she said as she struggled to lift the mixing bowl) I would never have lost the weight without weighing, measuring and logging. In the past 18 months of maintenance, I have set myself a "top weight" and if I reach that I weigh/measure/log until I'm back in the middle of my acceptable weight range. With sufficient practice, I don't get up in the danger zone very often but it's good to have a plan in place for when it inevitably occurs.

GaleHawkins

Deena_Bean wrote: »

I've been a pretty steady food-logger for over 2 years now. I still haven't lost that magical last 15 pounds I want to lose and I'm well aware of the reason (sloppy choices, basically). I hover around the same 5 pounds - so what I'm eating now is basically maintenance in my mind.

I'm curious now what would happen if I stopped logging everything. Right now I watch the numbers and think, "Oh I have this much left, I can eat ____." I almost always eat more than _____ and end up over these days. I wonder if I pull the plug on tracking if I'll default to better choices out of fear of making too many bad choices, kwim? The way my brain works, it's possible that not logging may end up being effective...possibly temporarily, though. It's a slippery slope to think "Oh I can have 5 fries" that evolves to "If I eat a small order of fries today that'll still be under my goal --- but then I'd eat a piece of chocolate and a handful of chips later....and then I'll start gaining. Basically I don't really know what's the better method for me at this point. I am just not hitting my mark lately, so I want to shake it up. I keep landing over 100 total carbs/day (anywhere from 115-175 some days).

Do you log or no? Or maybe just track carbs?

I use CICO net results form of counting because I only just jot down what I weigh each morning first thing after my first trip to the bathroom and before I eat or drink anything.

After 2 years I have been at 200 with +/- 5% weight fluctuation after being at 250 for a long time. That is the first time I have lost weight and kept it off in over 40 years.

The best system in your case is the one that works for you.

macchiatto

Ironically, in the past (my first round of low carb, when I did Dukan) it seemed like logging (when I dabbled in it, though Dukan doesn't require in it) was almost like bad luck: I'd lose pretty well but any stretch when I tried logging I'd stall out.

On keto it's gone well but recently I've had some days where I don't log and if I'm "in the zone, it seems to pay off. My appetite regulates itself. B/c yeah, I think sometimes I totally eat b/c I have calories left and not b/c I'm hungry. (Though my calorie level is only 1350 so there's not a WHOLE lot of that! I do also eat back at least half my exercise calories too most days.)

macchiatto

mandycat223 wrote: »

With my amazing powers of self-deception ("There, that looks like a half-cup to me" she said as she struggled to lift the mixing bowl) I would never have lost the weight without weighing, measuring and logging. In the past 18 months of maintenance, I have set myself a "top weight" and if I reach that I weigh/measure/log until I'm back in the middle of my acceptable weight range. With sufficient practice, I don't get up in the danger zone very often but it's good to have a plan in place for when it inevitably occurs.

How big is your acceptable range? I think mine might be too small (3 lbs). I'm still working on doing maintenance well long-term.

canadjineh

I find logging a PITA, but after a year of being very slack (IDK... 3 days a month?) it's pretty easy for me to just add thousands to my calories in low or no carb food (like random cheese just because I feel like it) and of course I wouldn't ever get the last 5 lbs above my 'scream weight' off. My range for maintenance is 4.5% of my goal body weight (6 lbs or 131-136 with goal weight at 132).

kammy92

I log my coffee and vitamins in the morning but a lot of the recipes I have been using are from dietdoctor and they don't give all the nutritional info so I don't log it.........

neohdiver

I logged religiously from sometime in November (shortly after my diabetes diagnosis) through shortly after my breast cancer diagnosis in May - when I was told I needed to up my calories in preparation for surgery, radiation, and healing - in general.

I started logging again, when I went back on the Blood Sugar Diet (to complete my attempt at diabetic remission) in September/October.

I've been spotty since then. I use my blood sugar to determine if my carb count is right nd my weight to determine if I'm in the ballpark on calories. Other than that, I log a few days if the scale is outside of my 5 lb target range, to make sure I'm not feeding my face out of habit. I log new recipes (and servings) to make sure I'm not unconsciously eating more carbs that my body tolerates.

But - generally - I now how many carbs something has, and as long as I'm below 20 in one sittting, my body is happy. Aside from nuts - I'm not likely to eat excessive calories since appetizing things are too high in carbs (and have to be spread out - limiting the quantity), sp the risk of putting on weight is pretty small.