Lessons learned from reviewing your MFP history?

wmsmcfadden

Hi all,

New to the forum but have been using MFP off and on for a few years. Just started back and, looking back over my previous weigh-ins, I'm thinking there are some interesting patterns I can discern, and I'm curious what lessons about yourself, your habits, and/or weight loss and fitness in general you've gleaned from doing the same?

For me, the big question is "what factors influence me to stop logging/using MFP"? I thought I'd look back and see that once I lose a few pounds I feel better about myself and then stop using it, but I'm seeing lots of sessions where I log weight once or twice then stop for 6 months. I have a general theory that if I just use the app and weigh myself consistently over time, I'll make at least some progress; if this is correct then the I need to figure out how to stop stopping!

I suppose this raises another question—for those who have repeatedly started and stopped using MFP, any sense of why you stopped and strategies to prevent stopping next time?

Duck_Puddle

I have been here (continually) logging all my food and exercise for 2600 and something days. What I see different in me vs those I see who leave and return and leave and return and...is that I don’t have “good” and “bad” days or days where I’m “on track” and “off track” or any other designation that today was acceptable or not.

I have days I eat over my calorie goal-sometimes spectacularly so. I have periods where I have gained (or maintained) when that wasn’t really my goal. But I’m here anyway-invested in the process. I don’t have a track. I don’t get on And off a wagon. My wagon goes where I go-and if we have an 11k calorie day-my wagon goes with me.

Typically the people I see who disappear have incredibly rigid and very aggressive goals - and often lose a considerable amount of weight quite quickly (much of it water). Weight loss slows down. It becomes difficult to maintain the incredibly rigid plan. I see so many who stop logging if they have a “bad” day - and they plan to get “back on track” tomorrow. After a few of those cycles-they disappear.

Then they reappear a few months later-and the cycle begins again.

That’s not everyone of course. But many.

tulips_and_tea

I'm much like @Duck_Puddle in that I'm not on or off a wagon or have good / bad days depending on the food I eat or its quantity. I just live my life every day and make the best choices I can, knowing I'll make bad choices at times.

However, I think your last sentence is very important: "for those who have repeatedly started and stopped using MFP, any sense of why you stopped and strategies to prevent stopping next time?" We often ask others or try to identify our own "why" as it pertains losing weight or getting healthier but asking "why" we get complacent and stop using the tool that helps also needs to be answered.

More importantly (as you stated), what strategies will you use to stop the start / stop / re-start cycle? For me it means keeping track of my nutrition and exercise is as automatic as I track my finances. Making this part of my life a habit means it's not an option to just leave off my daily to-do list. I mean, just because I may be doing ok financially it doesn't mean I stop keeping track of my spending so why should my health be any different?

steveko89

With regard to how to figure out how to "stop stopping" I'm with Duck_Puddle and BZAH10; I don't follow a good/bad, on/off sort of methodology. For most people, they end up here because what constitutes as eating "normally" for them doesn't result in a satisfactory weight, physique or level of health and fitness. It's become cliche and often misapplied to talk about making lifestyle choices rather than dieting but I hold the belief that is the path to success for most people. For me, normal is logging my food. If I've learned anything about myself since becoming a user here in 2012 is that if I eat unregulated I eat way too much. Some days I still eat too much, but it's never by accident and it's measured and logged. I did have to do some work to really lock in my logging but eventually it becomes a habit if you support doing it and becomes non-intrusive to one's daily life.

wmsmcfadden

All really helpful responses! Yes, I absolutely subscribe to the on-track/off-track way of thinking, which then means I'm more emotionally invested than is probably optimal (i.e., if I do "badly" one day I'm tempted to stop logging/stop thinking about it). Almost sounds like what people say about meditation—it's more about learning to observe and in some ways let go than about trying to force your mind to have or not have certain thoughts.

StartFeb2019

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I find myself really looking at my behavior and discovering why consistently logging my food, or controlling my portion size has become such a problem. Is it laziness, lack of discipline, stubbornness, boredom, or simply waiting too long between meals? With being less active and facing health challenges, my weight has crept up and it’s now harder than ever to lose. I truly am committed to staying on target. I believe I HAVE to do this in order to continue enjoying the things that are priorities in my life; activities with friends, grandchildren and other family. Carrying extra weight is uncomfortable and downright dangerous. I’ve conquered a number of difficult challenges, so I know I can do this. I guess my goal in all this is to and make it fun!

88olds

Duck_Puddle wrote: »

I have been here (continually) logging all my food and exercise for 2600 and something days. What I see different in me vs those I see who leave and return and leave and return and...is that I don’t have “good” and “bad” days or days where I’m “on track” and “off track” or any other designation that today was acceptable or not.

I have days I eat over my calorie goal-sometimes spectacularly so. I have periods where I have gained (or maintained) when that wasn’t really my goal. But I’m here anyway-invested in the process. I don’t have a track. I don’t get on And off a wagon. My wagon goes where I go-and if we have an 11k calorie day-my wagon goes with me.

Typically the people I see who disappear have incredibly rigid and very aggressive goals - and often lose a considerable amount of weight quite quickly (much of it water). Weight loss slows down. It becomes difficult to maintain the incredibly rigid plan. I see so many who stop logging if they have a “bad” day - and they plan to get “back on track” tomorrow. After a few of those cycles-they disappear.

Then they reappear a few months later-and the cycle begins again.

That’s not everyone of course. But many.

This exactly.

brightresolve

I am a serial yoyo lifelong, and for 5 years on here... lose 20, gain 15, lose 20, gain 10 kinda thing. Unmonitored, I gain through comfort and stress eating. I found the above posts super helpful because my pattern has indeed been, judge myself and don't log when I'm not doing "well".

Also, where's the comfort in comfort eating if I am watching myself sabotage my goal to be healthy and lean while I do it? I just disappear from here, stick my fingers in my ears, sing la-la-la-la, and eat. And gain back a few pounds before I get disgusted and start to log again.

Wow that was better than a therapy session. Thanks for the challenging question OP.

jan110144

What I have found most helpful for me is to take a few minutes every.morning to plan my day. That includes preloading meals and exercise, so I plan to be on plan. I sometimes have to go back and change entries, but not that often. These few minutes simplify my day and makes everything easier.

psychod787

As the Dalai Lama would say.... "what wagon?" Lol only 560 days for me, but what the research shows, is people who maintain cognitive restraint, have better adherence to weight loss over time. Those who do not... far less.

elisa123gal

I found looking at my weight loss history from the time I joined MFP. very insightful. Last January I ..again..started a weight loss effort that was NOT based on CICO. It was a plan of eating six smaller meals a day of all food groups..Whole Foods..zero processed foods..eating all the vegetables you want at meals and eating complex carbs at most meals.

Anyway.. I was very successful in that effort. when I logged my new weight in.. I looked back at my weigh in history - and realized after 8 or so years of counting calories .. I never lost more than 10 pounds..and always regained and started over.. yo yo was the pattern.

It helped me realize the counting calories just didn't work for me ... I am still following my successful eating plant maintain. I gained a few pounds over the holidays.. almost have it all off..maybe 2 or 3 pounds to go.

psychod787

elisa123gal wrote: »

I found looking at my weight loss history from the time I joined MFP. very insightful. Last January I ..again..started a weight loss effort that was NOT based on CICO. It was a plan of eating six smaller meals a day of all food groups..Whole Foods..zero processed foods..eating all the vegetables you want at meals and eating complex carbs at most meals.

Anyway.. I was very successful in that effort. when I logged my new weight in.. I looked back at my weigh in history - and realized after 8 or so years of counting calories .. I never lost more than 10 pounds..and always regained and started over.. yo yo was the pattern.

It helped me realize the counting calories just didn't work for me ... I am still following my successful eating plant maintain. I gained a few pounds over the holidays.. almost have it all off..maybe 2 or 3 pounds to go.

This is for whoever woo'd this lady... how much cred do you have on the forums? If you do have some great... if not.... we all have our own path...

wmsmcfadden

Thanks all. Glad others are finding this thread helpful as well! I've responded to a few comments below. One thing I'll say is that what I'm realizing I'm most susceptible to is not logging anything in the evenings, mostly because I end up eating a lot of bad stuff and partially because almost *anything* I eat in the evenings is going to be harder to log than what I eat for other meals and snacks. THEN, the next day, I consider going back and logging but tell myself to not make perfect the enemy of good (i.e., I feel like logging yesterday feels a bit like flogging myself, and since I'm prone to guilt I'm trying to take it easy on myself this time, if that makes sense). THEN THEN—(and this hasn't happened to me yet this go-around, but I think it's the pattern from previous cycles) since I didn't log last night and feel bad about both not logging and what I ate, I don't log the next day either. Cycle complete and I'm off the much-alluded-to wagon!

So, applying the advice I've received in this thread, I should def. not let guilt keep me from logging again the next day. Of course this thread also suggests I should have logged the previous night's food as well, ideally approximately when I actually ate the food. I think the combo of eating or wanting to eat worse in the evenings PLUS the fact that the foods are harder to log is a serious double whammy for me.

End ramble! OK, on to some responses:

@Jan: preloading is an interesting idea. I feel like there's so much stuff I want to do/be better at in the morning that using the app this way seems unrealistic for me for now, but I'll keep it in mind for sure!

elisa123gal wrote: »

I found looking at my weight loss history from the time I joined MFP. very insightful. Last January I ..again..started a weight loss effort that was NOT based on CICO. It was a plan of eating six smaller meals a day of all food groups..Whole Foods..zero processed foods..eating all the vegetables you want at meals and eating complex carbs at most meals.

Anyway.. I was very successful in that effort. when I logged my new weight in.. I looked back at my weigh in history - and realized after 8 or so years of counting calories .. I never lost more than 10 pounds..and always regained and started over.. yo yo was the pattern.

It helped me realize the counting calories just didn't work for me ... I am still following my successful eating plant maintain. I gained a few pounds over the holidays.. almost have it all off..maybe 2 or 3 pounds to go.

Yeah, I've read a lot of studies suggesting the same. Heck, even last week, MFP had an article citing a study showing that consuming 20% carbs vs 60% carbs led to an increase of 250 calories burned per day—so I totally agree that CICO is not the whole story. And, just from a practical perspective, having lots of healthy foods in front of you, and having a mindset of eating before you get famished, seem like very good strategies because they make it less likely for me to get super hungry and then just decide to binge and not count for the rest of the day.

******

psychod787 wrote: »

This is for whoever woo'd this lady... how much cred do you have on the forums? If you do have some great... if not.... we all have our own path...

I assume Woos are good things here, right? So are you criticizing the Wooer for encouraging the poster for saying that after years of trying she's found a successful way to meet her health goals? Confused....