Is logging sustainable long term?

Live_life_well

Hey,

Like many of you, I joined this site because I wanted to make a lasting change in my diet and to hopefully lose a couple of pounds in the process. I have been logging religiously over the past 20 days and it has gone well.

The main issue for me is that I don't see this process as sustainable long term. (1) I feel like an accountant every time I eat, (2) Every meal feels like a business transaction with legal paperwork to sign, (3) I went from eating out twice a day to once in 20 days as my usual spots don't allow accurate logging, (4) I no longer judge food by just its taste - everything is a real estate deal with calories replacing money.

Anyone else having success with logging but wary of it being something that they can stick to long term?

cmriverside

Well in one of your earlier threads you said it was causing you so much stress that you weren't going out.

We all tried to talk you off the ledge in that thread, this will be no different.

If it's stressing you out and you are feeling like it has to be done perfectly - that's part of your personality, but you can change that.

In the very beginning of using this site I went through a period where I felt like that, but I got over it. Some people can't let go of that and they choose not to log food.

I think it's good to do for a while so you get an idea of portion sizes, but not everyone chooses to do it forever. You have to figure out the pros and cons for yourself.

With that said, I've been logging for most of the past ten years. It works, I can do it quickly, and it keeps me mostly in line. When I've stopped in the past, I've struggled with my eating. So I'll keep logging. It just takes me a few minutes, like two or three minutes per meal. It's worth it to me. Your mileage may vary.

lucerorojo

I'm going to keep logging forever. I do not want to get fat again and I believe that I will get lax if I don't keep a record and weigh/measure.

Lounmoun

I've been logging my food for about 3 years. Usually I prelog my food for the day every morning.
However, I eat the same calories for each meal so if I just went somewhere and looked for something that fit it would be okay.
Like 100-300 calories for breakfast, 400 calories lunch, 500-600 dinner.
I also know calorie counts of a lot of foods I commonly eat and what portion sizes look like by now.
I could probably skip logging and be fine but I like doing it because it helps me make better nutritional choices if I log.

CharlieBeansmomTracey

I have been here a little over 3 years and still logging.

vanmep

Been logging for 2 years. It takes about 3 minutes per day. I will likely do it for the rest of my life.

crabbybrianna

Every time I stop logging I gain weight, even when I’m watching my portions and think I’m eating the right amounts, so yeah, I’d rather log forever than gain weight. I find logging very easy, not stressful, and it only takes a few minutes.

W8WarI

I'll take breaks, via logging but I'll continue to, weigh weekly & if/when I regain 10 pounds, I'll log again; until it's gone! Therefore I fully expect, to regain weight; once I reach goal & cease logging!

The_Ta

Once you are at your target weight, you can stop logging to see how you do. You should probably continue to weigh yourself once per week to catch yourself before poor choices wreck your weight.

It may be that you need to log in order to maintain weight. It may be that you’ll only need help getting to your goal and be fine afterward.

My boyfriend agreed to lose weight with me, but he got so annoyed trying to log food. Our agreement now is that he can be more aware of how he’s eating, but he has to go back to logging if he goes up in weight twice

VintageFeline

I take short breaks for vacations, celebrations etc but have been logging for nearly 3 years. No biggie to me and better than the alternative of regaining. I still eat out/take away often, my eyeballing is good enough alongside my otherwise accurate logging for it to be no issue.

Different strokes but to me it's sustainable. Technology makes it really quick and easy.

PAV8888

I think it is naive to assume that you're going to effect a long-term change to your base weight level without making any long term and persistent changes to what you were previously doing.

What these changes will be are up to each of us as an individual to find and implement.

If they were particularly easy to find and implement, long-term success in weight loss would be much higher than it is.

The fact that you're thinking and exploring are both points that increase your probability of success.

85Cardinals

Logger4Lyfe, baby! Just try and stop me, can't be done.

sgt1372

It's "sustainable" for me.

I have no problem logging what I eat but I am not anal about the level of precision.

Close enough is good enough.

Nutritional "facts" and exercise calorie estimates are just "guess-timates" anyway but logging "something" for everything I eat is better than logging nothing at all and just hoping for the best.

I lost and have maintained my weight doing it over the past 20 months. I lost weight doing it b4 and quickly gained the weight back when I stopped.

So, as long as I want to maintain my weight, I do not ever expect to stop doing it ever again.

Gisel2015

It is up to you to decide how long you need or want to log your food for. In my opinion it also depends on your relationship with food, and how much weight you need to lose. If you are a volume eater, love food too much, or can get hooked on binge episodes, and are not good at estimating, then you may need to log for a long time. I get what you are saying because the weighting and logging drives me crazy sometimes so here is what I do to keep my sanity.

1) I eat out 2 or 3 times a week. I only log the food if the restaurant has the nutritional information. If not, I don't log at all and I don't spend time looking for something similar in the database. I write a note of what I ate in the comments section, and that's all.

2) I don't log while on vacation (short or long), unless I prepare the meal. And if I do cook, it would be an estimate because I don't travel with a food scale.

3) I don't log when I eat at a friends' house, and I don't take pictures of the food or take a food scale either so I can log later.

4) I don't log during the holidays.

What I do is: control what and how much I eat; I try to exercise more to get extra calories in the bank; and/or don't eat exercise calories during the week so I have more calories available during the weekend.

There are many people that are in maintenance and not longer logging and others that will need to log for ever and they don't mind. I do.

ahoy_m8

For me, it's sustainable long term. Been doing it for years. Honestly, it's the easiest way I've found to enjoy delicious foods in the right amounts. Logging really isn't the hard part. I hear you on having to guess in restaurants, but you know, it's all an estimate. Guess your best and don't worry. I pre-log my day when I'm having that first cup of coffee. It only takes a couple minutes. An analogy might be checking your bank account every morning just to be sure nothing's amiss. It takes about as long and affirms things are on track for the day.

To me, the hard part is sticking to the plan when I am tempted. But logging, that's not a lot of effort.

marieamethyst

I've done it for 4 years now. Not necessarily every day or week, sometimes I take a few months off, but definitely I'm here every year doing it. Lost the weight once and got to goal weight, and I'm almost there again after having another baby. MFP works as long as you want it too and put in the effort. (And I plan to keep using it)

Seffell

I've been logging for 2 years. Takes me 5mins on the night before.
However I don't plan to log forever. I've been slim for most of my life wuthout logging and I plan to get back there when I feel like it.

rheddmobile

I plan to log for the rest of my life. I'm diabetic and tracking how many carbs I consume at one time is critical to maintaining blood glucose control.

Logging gets easier the more you do it, and the more you use the tools. For example, one of my usual spots is a Korean restaurant, which does not have a menu available on MFP. I went to some trouble to find close entries to the different foods, and created some, and then created entire meals representing what I usually eat there, so now I can just log a meal there with one button, and it will add my soup, side dishes, rice, meat, appetizer, and main dish. Portions may not be exact but they are close enough to average out over time. After a year of creating recipes and saving foods I usually eat, I only have to spend seconds logging most meals, even complicated ones.

If, like me, you are a person who tends to have weight issues, then judging food by its calories as well as taste is something you are going to have to do forever, to keep from getting fat again. I have to accept that I will never be able to cut lose and eat whatever I want until I feel satisfied, because I would become huge. That doesn't mean you can't have special treats. But your treats have to be connected to reality in some way. If you pig out on Tuesday, you can't pig out on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday too, or you will see results you don't want.

Poisonedpawn78

Are you teaching yourself what a proper meal size looks like for various foods? to know when you are over eating or under eating without actually calculating the calories? This should be a goal to prevent yourself from going back to old eating habits.

You dont have to be a food accountant for the rest of your life if you learn and teach yourself to maintain properly, and if you start to gain again you know what to do to get back to where you want to be.

SCoil123

Once a year when I take my vacation I don’t log or wear my Fitbit. The rest of the time it’s just a part of my normal life. It’s been a couple years now and takes less than 5 minutes a day

mph323

I've been logging for almost two years now. I lost around 50 lbs and am in maintenance, and I plan to continue logging for the foreseeable future. Logging takes a lot of stress out of weight management for me - I don't have to wonder if I can fit that treat in on any given day, or if that spike on the scale is water weight or fat. I'm fairly casual about the calories, meaning I'm not obsessive about getting to the exact count of everything I put in my mouth, but I'm precise enough to make sure that I'm hitting my net calorie goal most days. It really doesn't take much time or energy at this point, if I'm eating out I estimate, and most of my usual foods come up automatically in the calculator at this point.

jenilla1

I've been here logging and maintaining successfully since 2011. I guess it's all about your mindset. If you have a negative attitude about it, it's probably not sustainable. For me, it's a simple habit that takes not too much longer than brushing my teeth. I intend to keep on logging here as long as the site exists. I have no reason to stop doing something that has proven effective for me. It works and it works well. But I guess it's not for everyone.

yirara

I usually log when I cook something new or when my conditions change, like a new job or international move. Other than that I now got a good hang of it.

Have you looked at it the other way around? What does going out give you? Is the food so much better than your own? Are you bored otherwise? Or is it about being with friends? Even if you cannot log, you can make better choices with what you learn with logging, or just accept its your decision to eat a certain meal. Or if you are just bored find something that you enjoy doing and keep eating out for those special occasions.

OldHobo

Live_life_well wrote: »

Hey,

Like many of you, I joined this site because I wanted to make a lasting change in my diet and to hopefully lose a couple of pounds in the process. I have been logging religiously over the past 20 days and it has gone well.

The main issue for me is that I don't see this process as sustainable long term. (1) I feel like an accountant every time I eat, (2) Every meal feels like a business transaction with legal paperwork to sign, (3) I went from eating out twice a day to once in 20 days as my usual spots don't allow accurate logging, (4) I no longer judge food by just its taste - everything is a real estate deal with calories replacing money.

Anyone else having success with logging but wary of it being something that they can stick to long term?

That caloric transaction you talk about isn't just a feeling. It's the real cost/benefit relationship between food and health in my life, whether I'm paying attention to it or not.

Yeah, I think it is sustainable in the long term for me anyway. At first, I complained that logging took longer than cooking, eating, and cleaning up afterward. It was also extremely frustrating. Countless times I would almost finish a long list of recipe ingredients only to somehow lose it in cyberspace. Or get to the end and discover my beef stew had 18,000 calories per serving. If my goal was "to hopefully lose a couple of pounds" I wouldn't have considered the learning curve worthwhile.

Most of that frustration has gone away as I've slowly gained experience and gotten used to doing it. Sometimes the logging is done while I"m deciding what to eat. If not, it's done before the meal is cooked. It might be easier for me because I rarely eat out. Also, I enjoy cooking for myself and thinking about ingredients and how to prepare them is something I'd be doing the rest of my life either way. But time goes by either way. If I hadn't been doing this the upward weight trendline would likely have continued and I might have gone from 274 to 300. Instead, I'm now at 242 and looking forward to graduating from obese to overweight, maybe this summer. From there, "normal" will be in sight and setting new goals will be in order.

They will definitely involve eating in such a way as to control calorie input/output because over the last few years every time I stop paying attention; every time I stop logging, the weight gradually increases and before I know it I'm at a new lifetime high. So I'm as certain as I can be that whether through MyFitnessPlan.com or not, I'll continue to track calories and nutrition as well as weight and other health metrics for the long term.

Machka9

Live_life_well wrote: »

The main issue for me is that I don't see this process as sustainable long term. (1) I feel like an accountant every time I eat, (2) Every meal feels like a business transaction with legal paperwork to sign, (3) I went from eating out twice a day to once in 20 days as my usual spots don't allow accurate logging, (4) I no longer judge food by just its taste - everything is a real estate deal with calories replacing money.

Yeah!!! Isn't that great!!! Love the data and the numbers!

kommodevaran

I don't know if "Is logging sustainable long term?" is the best question. Some people have to log long term, others don't. Doing something unnecessary that you don't even like, is not sustainable. But if you need it, and like it, it's sustainable.

I think there's a dynamic between habits, attitudes and food environment. Every person has their ways of thinking about certain things, and like certain things, but that can change - when you start doing something differerent(ly), you may end up liking that better than what you did before. Sometimes you need a "positive attitude" to make that change happen, sometimes it just happens. Sometimes a new environment sets off a change in habits. Sometimes new habits force a change of your environment.

I have counted calories before, in another program, and I can deeply relate to your points. MFP was different for me, though. It was no judgement, just a calorie goal to hit, and macros, if I wanted. This freedom and taking personal responsibility had a tremendous impact on my relationship with food. Food was no longer a dichotomy of boring but good for me vs delicious but unhealthy. Logging in here made me seek out the best I could get for my calories, both in nutrition and in taste. It actually turned out I love most nutritious foods, and I can eat anything in moderation. I had just misunderstood, and when I had tried to "eat healthy", I had eaten unbalanced and restrictive (low fat, low sugar, low salt) and never felt relaxed and curious enough to really get to know all the differerent flavors of real food. In this process I practiced mindful eating - I paid attention to portion sizes and feedback from my body and brain. I also started to really enjoy cooking - I could make whatever I wanted and make it taste delicious, it's easy and a lot cheaper, so now I go out to eat only if I "have to" (away from home, meeting someone).

I logged in here for a year, hit maintenance, then used Fitbit for another six months. I was initially ready to keep on logging indefinitely, but it started to feel burdensome as well as unnecessary and limiting - my appetite wouldn't quite hit what I had prelogged, but my weight was stable, I had no trouble sticking to appropriate portions and my urge to nibble was gone, and I saw how little precision logging actually provided, while what was actually needed, was consistency over time. In the meantime, I had started planning (and thus logging) my meals in a spreadsheet (better overview and faster). So I stopped tracking. I had also started weighing daily, and that was a good move, because I made other changes and the same time and miscalculated, and my weight started to climb. But some simple adjustments took care of it.

Since then, I have learnt new things every week. It's a challenging process that feels meaningful. I'm so grateful to MFP and the community.

LivingtheLeanDream

I logged for the first 3 years here, I've been at goal for almost 5 years now... but it was essential I logged in those early years or I'd have went back to old eating habits.
You are over thinking things, I wouldn't let calorie counting stop me from eating out, I'd guesstimate the cals.

tinkerbellang83

I think of logging more like a fuel tank indicator, my body requires fuel and this is the way I make sure that I get adequate fuel of good quality, logging has become as natural to me as brushing my teeth in the morning, it's just part of my routine, I plan my food ahead of time, most of the time and pre-log so it only takes about 5 mins in the morning or the day before and then a minute or two to tweak weights/portions. I think I am now on Day 383.

As for eating out, you're never going to be 100% accurate, but that's ok. Your weight loss trend over time is what is important and one meal out now and again is not going to impact it, there a wise quote floating around the boards that you see from time-to-time that goes along these lines:

"One burger won't make you fat and one salad won't make you thin"

MegaMooseEsq

kommodevaran wrote: »

I don't know if "Is logging sustainable long term?" is the best question. Some people have to log long term, others don't. Doing something unnecessary that you don't even like, is not sustainable. But if you need it, and like it, it's sustainable.

I think there's a dynamic between habits, attitudes and food environment. Every person has their ways of thinking about certain things, and like certain things, but that can change - when you start doing something differerent(ly), you may end up liking that better than what you did before. Sometimes you need a "positive attitude" to make that change happen, sometimes it just happens. Sometimes a new environment sets off a change in habits. Sometimes new habits force a change of your environment.

I have counted calories before, in another program, and I can deeply relate to your points. MFP was different for me, though. It was no judgement, just a calorie goal to hit, and macros, if I wanted. This freedom and taking personal responsibility had a tremendous impact on my relationship with food. Food was no longer a dichotomy of boring but good for me vs delicious but unhealthy. Logging in here made me seek out the best I could get for my calories, both in nutrition and in taste. It actually turned out I love most nutritious foods, and I can eat anything in moderation. I had just misunderstood, and when I had tried to "eat healthy", I had eaten unbalanced and restrictive (low fat, low sugar, low salt) and never felt relaxed and curious enough to really get to know all the differerent flavors of real food. In this process I practiced mindful eating - I paid attention to portion sizes and feedback from my body and brain. I also started to really enjoy cooking - I could make whatever I wanted and make it taste delicious, it's easy and a lot cheaper, so now I go out to eat only if I "have to" (away from home, meeting someone).

I logged in here for a year, hit maintenance, then used Fitbit for another six months. I was initially ready to keep on logging indefinitely, but it started to feel burdensome as well as unnecessary and limiting - my appetite wouldn't quite hit what I had prelogged, but my weight was stable, I had no trouble sticking to appropriate portions and my urge to nibble was gone, and I saw how little precision logging actually provided, while what was actually needed, was consistency over time. In the meantime, I had started planning (and thus logging) my meals in a spreadsheet (better overview and faster). So I stopped tracking. I had also started weighing daily, and that was a good move, because I made other changes and the same time and miscalculated, and my weight started to climb. But some simple adjustments took care of it.

Since then, I have learnt new things every week. It's a challenging process that feels meaningful. I'm so grateful to MFP and the community.

Well, this certainly isn't the first time @kommodevaran made the point I'd been planning to make before I did, and much more eloquently too! Your question doesn't have a yes or no answer: some people are going to be like @machka9 up there (and me, for that matter) and find logging to be not a chore at all. I've got a color coded spreadsheet (two, actually, since I started a new one for 2017) and I actually find it motivating to watch those numbers and graphs move around every day. I suspect that I wouldn't have much difficulty sustaining this into maintenance, although I'm already moving towards looser measuring and logging. For other people, it's not sustainable, and it sounds like you're in that camp. That's totally fine! Logging is just a tool. So long as you have some way of monitoring and controlling your intake and output as necessary, you're going to be fine.

BusyRaeNOTBusty

I have been logging off and on since 2010. It's allowed my to maintain my weight within a 10lb range which is fine.

rainbow198

Pre-planning and keeping track of my meals in my written food journal has been very sustainable for me for the past 6 years. I've lost a lot of weight, kept it all off and now I'm the smallest I've ever been as an adult. I maintain a 10 pound weight range year round.

Planning and tracking keeps me accountable, in control, helps me to fit things in/spread out my macros and it's very easy to do. Just takes minutes to complete.

I don't know what the future holds, but for me to stay this way I will have to stay on top of my food intake in some way for the rest of my life. I'm okay with this and it doesn't feel obsessive. It's just my new normal now.