Anybody else get tired of counting calories?

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  • collectingblues
    collectingblues Posts: 2,541 Member
    tinkerbellang83 wrote: »
    oat_bran wrote: »

    I really don't understand how people here take "only a fe minutes to log". Most of my meals are made from scratch and contain many ingredients. So I have to weigh every one of them every time I cook and log it while I'm cooking or preparing my meal to eat later. Which takes quite a lot of time in my opinion. If I include the time I spend on grocery planning to fit my goals, meal planning, weighing separately the ingredients for my every meal (3-5times a day), or looking for the closest estimates when I don't know the exact calories, logging it, making sure it fits my goal etc. it takes much more time than "a few minutes" and much more energy and headspace than I want to spend on t.

    I cook a lot of stuff from scratch and it still only takes a couple of mins to log each day - I have almost all my recipes for things I regularly make in My Recipes, if I change the ingredients or the amounts of the ingredients it literally takes about 30 seconds to update it in the app. Sure it takes a couple of mins the first time that I make something but at this point I have probably close to 100 recipes in there.

    I agree. I make 90 percent of what I eat from scratch. Things that are recipes are saved as recipes. Things that are just "toss a bunch of ingredients together" have ingredients that I use all the time. I start typing it in, it pops up, and I just make sure I've got the right ingredient weight entered.

  • wmweeza
    wmweeza Posts: 319 Member
    I don't mind counting calories, and I think I know why; I see results! If it wasn't working for me or I was measuring by guessing and not seeing results I'm sure I'd be sick of it, but after all this time I'm still okay with it. In the beginning it bugged me but now with weight loss I'm happy
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,097 Member
    cartersmom06 wrote: »
    amyepdx wrote: »
    Weighing & logging is “hard”? Being overweight is hard. Choose your hard.

    I didnt say it was hard...I said it gets tiresome. I really dont appreciate your "tough love" attitude. I just wanted some " positive" reinforcement.

    Positive reinforcement is when people praise you for the good aspects of your behavior, rather than criticizing you for the bad part of your behavior.

    It's great that you're thinking about the aspects of this process that you don't like and maybe creating an avenue for people who have also used the process to offer some insight.
  • ElC_76
    ElC_76 Posts: 3,054 Member
    cartersmom06 wrote: »
    Getting tired of logging everything I eat...there has to be an easier way!

    Yeah... I feel it makes think food all the time.. and I feel I get obsessed sometimes
  • Gisel2015
    Gisel2015 Posts: 4,189 Member
    kimny72 wrote: »
    I never had a weight problem until I slowly gained weight in my late 30s. I lost 15-20 lbs and have been maintaining for a couple of years.

    I spend 5 minutes or less logging my food everyday. Prepping food is just making it ahead of time instead of making it at meal time, I don't really think it takes extra time. I just do it when I'm more relaxed and have more time, as opposed to eating out or trying to make good choices when I'm hungry or rushed. I suppose weighing out a portion takes more times that just eyeballing, but I don't think it takes more time than measuring.

    I don't mind it. It's taken most of the guessing and worrying out of eating for me. It has given me a measure of control that has changed my relationship with food. It's very little work considering what I've gained.


    Thank you for your answer. You nailed it!
  • maureenkhilde
    maureenkhilde Posts: 849 Member
    Logging and weighing has given me great results. Therefore I shall keep on doing it. And when I think about getting lazy the good voice waps me up the side of the head and says log now. I love to cook, so am using the recipe recorder all of the time. Finding that handy.
  • GottaBurnEmAll
    GottaBurnEmAll Posts: 7,722 Member
    I really am quite fine using measuring spoons for oil in the pan. Sometimes I'm sure it's a little more than what I log, sometimes I'm sure it's a little less. Over time, I'm guessing that it evens out.
  • hesn92
    hesn92 Posts: 5,966 Member
    Rayvis1014 wrote: »
    This is going to sound bizarre, but I actually find logging to be freeing rather than restrictive. Before I was logging I knew I had gained weight so every time I ate something I felt guilty, like "Oh, I shouldn't be eating this cookie." Now I know I can eat the cookie because I planned for it. Knowing I can have dessert later (because I pre-logged it) helps me turn away the stale donuts at work. There is no more internal struggle about it. But I know that's not how it works for everyone. I'm only sharing my experience because it's a different mindset, which some people may find helpful.

    It's not bizarre at all. That's how i feel about budgeting. I love budgeting and it makes spending money so much less stressful. I don't feel guilty spending money on XYZ because I had saved up money for it. lol.
  • anothermfpuser
    anothermfpuser Posts: 84 Member
    If logging is something you find helpful to sustain your goals.. log away!

    People have lost weight and maintained it long before MFP or the web, etc... came into existence.

    If it's a tool you find helpful - use it. Just be cautious in believing someone can not be successful long term by not.
  • sytchequeen
    sytchequeen Posts: 526 Member
    stephieleee wrote: »
    I hate it if I'm honest... Especially when I'm eating with other people and I have to log my food before I forget. I always feel stupid for doing it.

    But it seems to be getting the job done so I will stick with it.

    this... while I don't hate it, I feel really self conscious getting my phone out and logging when I am out with other people - especially as those particular entries have to be guesstimates. Even more embarrassing is logging at a friends house who just cooked you dinner. Awkward...

  • petethegamer_mfp
    petethegamer_mfp Posts: 26 Member
    my only advice is to set up recipes/save meals. i tend to eat the same sorts of foods and i just do not have the time to be weighing every ingredient/scan every barcode for every meal. it is never 100% accurate but as long as i get a ball park figure i am happy
  • Lillymoo01
    Lillymoo01 Posts: 2,865 Member
    rsclause wrote: »
    paperpudding wrote: »
    rsclause wrote: »
    Logging to ensure deficit and exercise consisting of 30+ miles a week with a gym workout every other day helped me lose 50 pounds. The exercise was okay but the logging was a pain, time consuming and made me appear rude. I would sit down to eat and log food but others would think I was addicted to facebook. I was always hungry. I stopped and put 30 pounds back on. I was ready to go back to what I could best call a pain in the you know what and stumbled on the documentary "the magic pill" and it started me down a path of a different way of eating. I switched to LCHF which really translated to cutting out bread, pasta, root vegetables and my true love beer. I don't count calories, I don't limit my food, I eat at meal time when I am hungry and stop when I am full. I feel no need to snack. It has been incredibly easy and I have lost twenty five pounds. My blood work came back as fantastic so this feels like something I will continue from now on.

    This is where the quote mongers will bold highlight passages and insist I am limiting, I am in deficit, you can do the same with any diet (insert boring chart of why all diets work here). Bottom line is that it does work for me and counting calories was not sustainable for me. Whatever works for you rock on. If you are still searching you have nothing to lose by trying LCHF.


    Not quite sure what your point is - except the plug for LCHF - which may well work for you but doesn't suit everyone.

    Yes you are just losing because you are in calorie deficit - sorry if you find that fact boring.

    I think everybody has agreed that some people can lose weight without calorie counting - but obviously they still need to create a deficit by whatever method.
    Nothing magic about LCHF.

    So predictable. The point is counting sucks and I don't need to do it. And yes it was a plug for LCHF and yes it isn't for everybody but I don't recall saying it is. Nothing magic about counting calories either.

    Glad what you do works for you. I, on the other hand, would say that LCHF and the restrictions that come with it sucks and counting calories is much easier. There is nothing magic about any method that people have success with because it all boils down to one thing. Eating at a deficit consistently will result in weight loss.
  • Lillymoo01
    Lillymoo01 Posts: 2,865 Member
    lemurcat2 wrote: »
    rsclause wrote: »
    but the logging was a pain, time consuming and made me appear rude. I would sit down to eat and log food but others would think I was addicted to facebook. I was always hungry.

    I hope newbies reading this don't think it is normal.

    I enjoyed logging, and have maintained without logging, but go back to logging off and on (often when my motivation starts to slide). There are different ways to log -- indeed, for me merely writing down what I eat can be enough as it keeps me mindful and (again) motivated. I'd recommend the thread on consistency vs. accuracy -- hope someone links it.

    But assuming one is committed to trying the logging method, there is absolutely no reason to be sitting at a table with your phone. I'll log when cooking or, if I happen to buy lunch, before or after eating, depending on what is most convenient (calorie information in a restaurant is going to be online too, even if your memory isn't good enough to retain it). When doing a restaurant without calories (normally when I go to dinner, about once a week), I'd remember what I ate and estimate it afterwards, with extra calories beyond what I could see (usually extra butter). I can't think of one case when I've ever pulled out my phone and made others wait -- and in fact I've always logged on my computer.

    As for being hungry, that has zilch to do with logging, it's about food choices. Hopefully adults are able to come up with ways to eat that are filling and satisfying and calorie appropriate and don't leave them hungry. If for you that required keto (I suspect most people who say that weren't really trying to eat in a filling manner pre keto, but I know some do fine large amounts of fat quite filling), that's cool, but I don't think that's the case for most, and of course there's no reason you couldn't have cut carbs while logging to experiment with what's more filling if struggling.

    Back to the OP, what is it that's seeming like a pain? Often it's getting used to the process and figuring out how to find the good entries, but sometimes it's stressing about the impossibility of being perfect or just learning how to deal with recipes or many other things. I don't think logging is necessarily necessary, but I do think it's a helpful and educational process for many, at least temporarily.

    I've been known to go to the toilet and quickly log food there, rather than at the table. Only my immediate family ever see me log my food.
  • deannalfisher
    deannalfisher Posts: 5,600 Member
    Gisel2015 wrote: »
    Reading some of the comments (and the OP question has been evaluated and discussed in the past) it seems that mostly the people that had 1) a lot to lose, 2 ) have been overweight for a long time, 3) had lost and regained weight several times, 3) have difficulties with portion and food control, 4) suffer from BED, 5) etc. are the ones without a problem planning or prepping meals, weighing the food and logging. Good for them if that keeps them in the right path.

    However, my question is, and only based on my own experience and curiosity, if those people that only had few lbs. to lose (less than 15), and never had a weight or food problem, really, really don’t mind doing all the prepping, weighting and logging?

    i've never met any of the criterion you reference - i've been in the overweight but not obese BW for years; don't have a lot to lose (10lbs would make me ok); etc

    i find logging makes me more aware and ensures that i fuel my body properyl - since i tend to default to less nutritional valued food
  • 65davi65
    65davi65 Posts: 2 Member
    I wish I could maintain without logging, but I could never be accurate enough. I like to be accurate, not only with calories, but all the nutrients. I like to track nutrition for health as well as weight.
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