weightloss advice

jenniferpiotrowski0

Lately I've been skipping breakfast even though I'm hungry out of laziness of not getting out of bed soon enough. Eventually I do eat the rest of the day but I've been counting calories for about a year now. Myfitnesspal has has definitely helped me loose weight. I lost 10 pounds using the calorie counting method. I want to continue to loose more weight and then maintain it but counting calories affects me by making me delay when I eat and putting my mind on calorie counting without letting me naturally eat without frying my mind with calorie counting. Is there a way to still use the myfitnesspal app to track the food I eat without the calorie counting part? Is this possible at all?

4legsRbetterthan2

you could log an just ignore the calorie part

I am not sure what you think you will get out of tracking without calories though, just a diary of what you ate? You could use a journal?

ndj1979

just so I understand, you want to know if there is a way to use a calorie counting app without actually counting calories?

I dont know what benefit you would get from tracking food without seeing the calorie counts. That is kind of like asking if you can drive a car without any gas, as the app and calorie counting go hand in hand. If you feel that you have learnt enough about calories and can continue losing without tracking the actual calorie counts, then go for it.

I have not been logging for the past month, or so, just because my life has been crazy and I have managed to maintain my weight. Not sure if I could cut or bulk without accurately tracking but maintaining is easy as I have a pretty good idea of how much I am consuming...

kommodevaran

It sounds counterproductive to use the food diary if you don't want to track calories, and you will do more work for less outcome if you decide to recreate all your own foods with 0 calories. Why don't you just use a notebook or word document? I use a spreadsheet to plan and log meals and I log amounts only when it's called for. I know how much I should eat of each item and I'm in maintenance, I also weigh myself every day, so it's very laidback.

Bonny132

Have you considered pre-logging tomorrow's food and sticking to it?

ponycyndi

You could enter everything at the end of the day. Or enter everything the next morning. Then you'll only know after its too late to change anything, or eat again.

Iv like to pre-log my day, the night before. Then when it's time to eat, I eat what's already listed. If I want to work in a special meal or a treat, I can do it easily that way. And I'm not spending my day thinking about what I'm going to eat next.

kshama2001

jenniferpiotrowski0 wrote: »

Lately I've been skipping breakfast even though I'm hungry out of laziness of not getting out of bed soon enough. Eventually I do eat the rest of the day but I've been counting calories for about a year now. Myfitnesspal has has definitely helped me loose weight. I lost 10 pounds using the calorie counting method. I want to continue to loose more weight and then maintain it but counting calories affects me by making me delay when I eat and putting my mind on calorie counting without letting me naturally eat without frying my mind with calorie counting. Is there a way to still use the myfitnesspal app to track the food I eat without the calorie counting part? Is this possible at all?

Not sure what the problem is here. I eat the same breakfast every day and one of three lunches, so logging these is very easy as the foods are right there in Recent. I cook three - four times per night and have leftovers the other night, so these are easy to log as well.

cheryldumais

Many years ago I read a study that had been done on whether eating breakfast was useful in weight loss. What they did was had two groups eat the same number of calories for lunch and dinner and one group ate additional calories for breakfast. The groups lost weight at the same rate despite the fact that one group was eating more calories. The conclusion was that eating in the morning increased their metabolism enough to make the calories unlikely to affect weight loss.

jenniferpiotrowski0

I think I'm just not really sure what to do about it. I like the fact that I can loose weight by counting calories but I don't like being calorie focused all the time where it is delaying me from eating until I figure out how many calories are in each food. I like the blogs on here and find the nutritional information and community section on here. I just wanted to know if I chose to log without counting calories if it would work or be better but it looks like unless I ignore the calories it won't work. I usually try to pre-log food that I already know ill be eating but sometimes food I happen to eat isn't always plannable cuz last minute someone I'm eating with will want to eat something different or iI go out to eat so its hard to plan in advance for some things or I will log as I eat cuz I will feel like eating something and have to log it. I'm also considering meal prepping too but not sure if it will be something I can do or not as one day I might want feel like eating pasta, another day I might be wanting cookies or another I want a burger. My tastebuds/eating patterns are unpredictable if you get what I mean.

jenniferpiotrowski0

kshama2001 wrote: »

jenniferpiotrowski0 wrote: »

Lately I've been skipping breakfast even though I'm hungry out of laziness of not getting out of bed soon enough. Eventually I do eat the rest of the day but I've been counting calories for about a year now. Myfitnesspal has has definitely helped me loose weight. I lost 10 pounds using the calorie counting method. I want to continue to loose more weight and then maintain it but counting calories affects me by making me delay when I eat and putting my mind on calorie counting without letting me naturally eat without frying my mind with calorie counting. Is there a way to still use the myfitnesspal app to track the food I eat without the calorie counting part? Is this possible at all?

Not sure what the problem is here. I eat the same breakfast every day and one of three lunches, so logging these is very easy as the foods are right there in Recent. I cook three - four times per night and have leftovers the other night, so these are easy to log as well.

Im not the type of person that enjoys eating the same things every single day..I have to have variety.

PaytraB

Plan your menu a day ahead and pre-measure and log. The next day, you're food is ready and you don't have to calorie count.
I think it's pretty common to have a tendency to "obsess" but if you keep it in check, it's a natural way of being aware of your intake. Over time, if you keep a close eye on what "size" the food looks like at a weight, you may be able to eat without weighing food and maintain your weight. That would be the gold ring. It takes constant awareness and diligence (I'm not in that space myself but hope to be one day).

Keep weighing your food. Try doing so the night before, then relaxing through the day.

2snakeswoman

I can tell you what happens when I don't log my calories. I gain weight. I'm back to MFP 3 pounds heavier after deciding to be careful about what I eat without counting calories. If your current problem is breakfast, then just pre-plan and pre-log that, then fly by the seat of your pants the rest of the day.

jenniferpiotrowski0

Thanks..I think I'm going to keep on logging in but I'm trying out meal prepping to see if it helps me manage calorie counting better. If anyone has any tips and tricks to share with me about how to meal prep then let me know. I'm new to it but trying it out today

kimny72

OP, there are some people who get for lack of a better word obsessed with calorie counting and it can become unhealthy. I would say that first you need to abandon the idea of perfection. Sometimes you will go over your calories. Sometimes you will have to guesstimate. And that's not a big deal. As long as it's the exception and not the rule, you will still lose weight. Even if it slows you down a little, this isn't a race. Nothing bad will happen if you reach your goal weight a month later than you wanted to. Maybe you should specifically plan a meal out once a month where you do your best to make smart choices but you don't log it. Give yourself permission and let it go.

As others have suggested, pre-logging meals has really helped me. Can you decide first thing in the morning what you will have for at least breakfast and lunch? Log it and then don't think about the numbers, just eat what you decided to and enjoy it.

I wing it when I meal prep and keep my fingers crossed that it will be edible, so I can't help you there

jenniferpiotrowski0

I can meal prep breakfast and lunch no problem, but snacks and dinner I struggle with a little. For snacks its just a matter of what I should eat. But dinner is only hard cuz my dad always asks me what I want to eat and we both have to go back and forth between me saying Idk, I have to suggest something or he will suggest something. Its annoying though cuz he has allergies to specific things,is lactose intolerant and is picky with food but I'm not really allergic to barely anything and we clash occasionally on what we are in the mood to eat lol he also has the tendency to eat larger portions than I do and pile cheese around dinner time. But he does know I'm trying to watch my calories and stuff. To be honest I think I'm starting to rub of on him at times cuz he will ask me sometimes what theserving size is for something and ill tell him