Anybody else get tired of counting calories?

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  • sytchequeen
    sytchequeen Posts: 526 Member
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    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
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    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
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    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
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    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
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    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
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    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.
  • sytchequeen
    sytchequeen Posts: 526 Member
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    snickerscharlie wrote: »

    If I'm at a friend's house for a meal, I make a mental note of what I've eaten and then log it as best I can when I get home.

    I'm glad you can remember what was on your plate when you get home :D
    Not my strong suit. Unless I photograph the food, then I'm "that person" ;)
    (I have been known to do the above to aid logging later... I did that at a wedding reception earlier this year)

  • mazdauk
    mazdauk Posts: 1,380 Member
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    Of course I get tired of it. But I know I have very little self-control, so unless I log for example "2 jaffa cakes", then I can easily eat 4, scarfe down a packet of crisps when I don't have the calories to spare, etc etc. I'm not tired enough of logging calories to under my hard work and get fat again because I can't spare a minute to log food.
  • sytchequeen
    sytchequeen Posts: 526 Member
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    try2again wrote: »
    said it before (in this thread) and I'll say it again:

    I'm a 50 year old woman whose brain has become swiss cheese, and I've never had to log my food in the presence of others. :)

    show off... :D - well, I'm 49 and a half, and I can't :p
    I'll do what I have to in order to keep logging and keep on track B)o:)

  • Katrina1196
    Katrina1196 Posts: 3 Member
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    It’s annoying but I know if I didn’t log, I’d eat 3000 calories daily. I wish I could just look at the food and have it show up in my log automatically
  • snickerscharlie
    snickerscharlie Posts: 8,578 Member
    edited November 2018
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    try2again wrote: »
    sytchequeen wrote: »
    snickerscharlie wrote: »

    If I'm at a friend's house for a meal, I make a mental note of what I've eaten and then log it as best I can when I get home.

    I'm glad you can remember what was on your plate when you get home :D
    Not my strong suit. Unless I photograph the food, then I'm "that person" ;)
    (I have been known to do the above to aid logging later... I did that at a wedding reception earlier this year)

    I said it before (in this thread) and I'll say it again:

    I'm a 50 year old woman whose brain has become swiss cheese, and I've never had to log my food in the presence of others. :)

    After a few weeks of experience logging, a person should be able to put together a reasonable estimate in their head for a plate of food, and maybe add 200 calories if you're concerned about underestimating. Then just remember that number. But yeah... log it at home (or at least away from the table).

    I just turned 64, so, yeah. Even I can remember what I ate for dinner a few hours after the fact. The next day might be a challenge, though. :D

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