Anyone else tierd of logging?

13

Replies

  • showjefb
    showjefb Posts: 109 Member
    puffbrat wrote: »
    showjefb wrote: »
    nooboots wrote: »
    showjefb wrote: »
    nooboots wrote: »
    Of course calorie counting is not 100% accurate, unless you're carrying around a science lab with you all day you're not going to know what you're expending or intaking to that level of accuracy.

    But the hand portion thing/eye balling thing/ guesstimating thing is a recipe for disaster. Its why someone like me has got to this size in the first place despite eating 'healthy'.

    If you have gained a lot of weight by eating healthy, then you might have a medical condition that needs to be addressed. If not, then tracking your food is not going to be a long term solution.

    I am 7+ years in on this. I know how frustrating weight loss can be and how much confusing info is out there. I wish you well.

    I wish I could blame it on that, but Ive never blamed it on anything other than me over eating, eating too much in terms of portion size while believing to myself it was a reasonable portion. I have seen that booklet before and used it in the past. Size is deceiving, its less accurate than the inaccurate calorie measurements the authors are criticising.

    If someone with a small appetite or reasonable levels of consumption can manage that way, thats great. I see and hear people say all the time 'oh I couldnt eat another thing' after what I consider to be bird sizes portions. Me I would eat double portions all the time.

    Our eyes are not accurate, the numbers are more factual.

    I get it. I have always been a BIG eater with some binge eating tendencies. Everyone is different and I do not mean to imply that logging is ALWAYS useless or harmful. Based on anecdotal evidence and research, it is just not helpful long term.

    Having said that.... self experimentation is awesome, so go for it! BTW, despite knowing that logging doesn't really work well, I am currently back on MFP and logging.. lol.. so there it is... But logging is a short term thing for me at this point.

    Honestly curious, what research?

    It’s been nearly 2 years since I have looked at this stuff in any detail. If you honestly want to crawl through studies on pub med I will try to cite some of them for you
  • puffbrat
    puffbrat Posts: 2,806 Member
    showjefb wrote: »
    puffbrat wrote: »
    showjefb wrote: »
    nooboots wrote: »
    showjefb wrote: »
    nooboots wrote: »
    Of course calorie counting is not 100% accurate, unless you're carrying around a science lab with you all day you're not going to know what you're expending or intaking to that level of accuracy.

    But the hand portion thing/eye balling thing/ guesstimating thing is a recipe for disaster. Its why someone like me has got to this size in the first place despite eating 'healthy'.

    If you have gained a lot of weight by eating healthy, then you might have a medical condition that needs to be addressed. If not, then tracking your food is not going to be a long term solution.

    I am 7+ years in on this. I know how frustrating weight loss can be and how much confusing info is out there. I wish you well.

    I wish I could blame it on that, but Ive never blamed it on anything other than me over eating, eating too much in terms of portion size while believing to myself it was a reasonable portion. I have seen that booklet before and used it in the past. Size is deceiving, its less accurate than the inaccurate calorie measurements the authors are criticising.

    If someone with a small appetite or reasonable levels of consumption can manage that way, thats great. I see and hear people say all the time 'oh I couldnt eat another thing' after what I consider to be bird sizes portions. Me I would eat double portions all the time.

    Our eyes are not accurate, the numbers are more factual.

    I get it. I have always been a BIG eater with some binge eating tendencies. Everyone is different and I do not mean to imply that logging is ALWAYS useless or harmful. Based on anecdotal evidence and research, it is just not helpful long term.

    Having said that.... self experimentation is awesome, so go for it! BTW, despite knowing that logging doesn't really work well, I am currently back on MFP and logging.. lol.. so there it is... But logging is a short term thing for me at this point.

    Honestly curious, what research?

    It’s been nearly 2 years since I have looked at this stuff in any detail. If you honestly want to crawl through studies on pub med I will try to cite some of them for you

    Thank you for the offer. I can go ahead and mosey my way over to pub med and look.
  • puffbrat
    puffbrat Posts: 2,806 Member
    Back on track with the point of this post - I am someone who will need to track calories long term. Doing stricter logging has given me a much better sense of estimating calories and portion sizes but I know that not logging leads to me knowingly and unknowingly overeating while pretending I'm not gaining weight or will easily take it right back off. Having said that, there are times when my logging is much tighter or looser depending on my mood.
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  • tinkerbellang83
    tinkerbellang83 Posts: 9,140 Member
    edited June 2019
    Kittyy1994 wrote: »
    Thanks for all the replies everyone - since I have never really been over weight and I have nearly reached my “goal weight” I had in mind when first logging in so I think I might stop soon.

    Even in a short time of 6 weeks I have learnt a bit about portion control (like my previous servings of things like rice and pasta were wayyyy off!!).

    I wish logging was for me but honestly it is causing me more stress than good! Constantly looking at labels, obsessing over food and always on my phone checking calories. Definately not for me long term.

    Have previously had quite a healthy relationship with food before and never been very overweight (just a little chubby here and there😉 so not sure where these feelings came from.

    So, I think safest for me to just eat mindfully and continue weighing each week. If I find that the scale is creeping up significantly I might log again for a few weeks to get back on track 😀

    Seems that might be a good plan for you if it's messing with your relationship with food, if you want to keep track of your trendweight there are some great apps which will tell you your averaging weight and roughly what your calorie balance is (i.e. if you're at maintenance/surplus/deficit and by roughly how much). With that info if you find your weight creeping up for example if it says you're in a 200 cal surplus you can cut out a snack/make a meal lighter or try and be a little more active.

    For iOS you have Happy Scale, for Android there is Libra.
  • nooboots
    nooboots Posts: 480 Member
    I think I would be considered a lazy logger (as I have seen it referred to here) I dont tend to weigh most packaged goods, I use the weight it says on the packaging or the calories it says a slice has or a thing has. So if it says its 200g of houmous, thats what I count it as. Other things I pop on the scale such as a chunk of cheese this evening (dead on 25g -Im quite good at knowing the weights by eye so like to have this confirmed), a big spoonfull of chutney, about 30g that was.

    Later Im having a pitta bread and some egg mayonnaise in a pot, so I will count the calories for both of those by the package rather than weighing them.
  • bosque1234
    bosque1234 Posts: 60 Member
    I love logging not just for the calories but for what I learn about nutrients and foods. Take today, I learned that a cup of Cheerios (which I never eat) has a lot of iron. It was my highest intake of iron so far in 31 days. I'd never know these things without the logging and the daily reports you can view. I'm bit by bit learning how make food choices based on nutrients. That is how I'm changing my way of eating/cooking and losing weight as I go. I guess it could depend on what you're looking for with the data the logging provides.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    bosque1234 wrote: »
    I love logging not just for the calories but for what I learn about nutrients and foods. Take today, I learned that a cup of Cheerios (which I never eat) has a lot of iron. It was my highest intake of iron so far in 31 days. I'd never know these things without the logging and the daily reports you can view. I'm bit by bit learning how make food choices based on nutrients. That is how I'm changing my way of eating/cooking and losing weight as I go. I guess it could depend on what you're looking for with the data the logging provides.

    I get your larger point, and it is a good one.

    However, as far as iron goes, iron was added to Cheerios, so if you are anemic like me, take the value of that with a grain of salt. There are many forms of iron and I tried about a half dozen before I found a form that got both my iron and energy levels back up. I figure the form of iron food manufacturers add is even more cheap and useless than that in the useless pills I was prescribed.
  • J72FIT
    J72FIT Posts: 6,008 Member
    Kittyy1994 wrote: »
    Hi, not sure if it’s just me or does anyone else get so tierd of logging every single thing they eat? I am starting to find it really mentally exhausting it’s like I am contanstly thinking about food and calories and my weight. I hate seeing my calories in the negative and I honestly feel stress about it if I am over .. anyone stopped counting and been alright with it?

    Yep. My goal is to eventually no longer have to....
  • showjefb
    showjefb Posts: 109 Member
    One of the better fitness accounts on YT. He does much more exercise than nutrition, but this video on counting calories (or not) dropped today. Just passing along. Might be of help to someone.

    https://youtu.be/wJ0QXCTqjUs
  • NovusDies
    NovusDies Posts: 8,940 Member
    showjefb wrote: »
    One of the better fitness accounts on YT. He does much more exercise than nutrition, but this video on counting calories (or not) dropped today. Just passing along. Might be of help to someone.

    https://youtu.be/wJ0QXCTqjUs

    Like all systems it would work for some people. It would not work for me.

    The problem with his system still come back to food choices. Even without stacking in a single meal I can choose food that exceeds my calorie goal and fit it all in the designated areas. Many people will naturally assume they need to be eating lower calorie food if they are trying to lose weight. Others may think that they can eat whatever they want if it fits the plate.

    His comment about being a "slave to the app" does not apply to me either. I pay attention to what I am eating and the portion sizes. I can somewhat accurately estimate the things I eat on a regular basis. I push myself in this regard because I need this skill when I eat things that I have no option to weigh my food like a restaurant meal.

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