Anyone else tierd of logging?
Replies
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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?6 -
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 you2 -
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.0 -
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
Tools get used by people for success and tools get used by people to their detriment.
Logging is a tool. Mindful eating is a tool. Listening to your body is a tool. Eating clean is a tool. Eating keto is a tool. Not eating after 6pm is a tool. Drinking shakes using taperware containers and exercising hard are tools.
Tools that help us manage our bodies at various costs with some of them working better for some of us than for others.
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1670 days and still logging.9
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Really short article on why calorie counting is often frowned up and an alternative approach.
https://precisionnutrition.com/calorie-control-guide-infographic
"calorie counting is usually a recipe for failure: It’s annoying, impractical, and research shows it can be up to 25 percent inaccurate on both sides — calories in, and calories out."
Replace my extremely accurate scale with my hand? That is a good one. Research shows it CAN be up to 25 percent inaccurate is absolutely ridiculous. Of course it CAN be inaccurate beyond the normal unavoidable amount. A lot of people need some education to do it right. Learning portion control and personal weight management requires... Learning.
Every system and plan out there has an incredibly high fail rate and certainly a fair list of reasons NOT to do them. I am certain if I looked into it that the linked site you provided and the system it suggests would have plenty of experts warning of the dangers and downsides of it.
So is the conclusion to never do anything?15 -
For me, being morbidly obese is super tiring, so I'll keep logging. But that's me. I clearly have a problem with food - that's how I got to be morbidly obese. Others do manage to leave logging behind. I can stop for a few weeks, but definitely do better if I don't, so I'll never stop completely.10
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So I did go briefly cruise pubmed. None of the studies I saw addressed the efficacy of calorie counting long term, particularly for maintenance. Most of the articles also had very small and specific study groups. Some suggested calorie counting is generally helpful while others pointed out that it is detrimental in relation to eating disorders. This one seemed the most relevant. Basic summary: weight loss success is complicated. Do what works for you.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4237119/
"In summary, most but not all behavioural weight loss programmes are effective, with the more effective programmes leading to 8 kg of weight loss in 12 months. There was strong evidence that, for programmes with a given length, more sessions led to no greater weight loss. There was evidence, potentially confounded, that asking participants to count calories led to a 3 kg greater weight loss than otherwise similar programmes that did not do this. Likewise, providing contact between participants and a dietitian was associated with a modest but worthwhile improvement of 1.5 kg greater weight loss, as was the use of behaviour change techniques that involved comparing a participant's behaviour with that of others. These findings warrant further consideration in randomized trials. However, the apparent similarity in the descriptions of programmes that varied greatly in their effectiveness hampered our ability to detect the key aspects of the interventions that led to greater effectiveness. Assessments of the delivery of programmes that differ in effectiveness are likely to prove crucial in understanding why some programmes are greatly effective, others modestly so, and others completely ineffective."9 -
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.2
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I was 63 when I started trying to walk death backwards I decided to not start tracking what I eat. Now I did count a few times to just see the numbers. When I went Low Carb High Fat binging went away about as fast as my pain level dropped so for going on 5 years I just eat when I get hungry and stop when I sense I am full like right now. Over the first 12 months I dropped 50 pounds and have maintained that for the last 4 years. In my case I did not have a calorie issue initially but macros issues when it came to Carb, Protein and Fat ratios.
Now some have a connection with tracking things so they enjoy counting and that is just fine.
The down side I see if one is tracking and counting they are forced to think about food and how much they can or can not have several times daily. It just does not sound like freedom to me.
Again if one feels the need to count so be it.9 -
My relationship with food is very binary. I am either logging every calorie and minute of exercise and losing or maintaining my weight, or I am not logging and am gaining weight. There's no in between. My wife and I hope to "train" ourselves via a finite counting/diet effort to get used to a certain portion size and type of food so that we can just kick back and maintain our weights w/o all this number crunching, but in reality, we will probably be counters for life.6
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About 5 years ago, I lost 30 pounds without logging or exercise. Just "eating better" and being more active in the world. I kept it off for over a year. But without having a good idea of how much I was putting into my body, "just eat better" didn't hold. I ended up gaining back all the weight plus 10 pounds.
I am back doing it again this time with logging. Logging has been incredibly helpful for me to lose weight slowly and continuously. I am down 36 pounds, and close to my low 4 years ago. I look considerably better this time, because I am eating the right amount for my rate of loss, as well as the right macros to go along with my exercise.
I really do not find logging to be that difficult or stressful. It takes me maybe 5 minutes of my day. I do try to weigh and measure when I can, but when it's not feasible, I go with a "good enough" estimate. Loose logging for me is still better than no logging. And if I have a day I absolutely can't log, I don't sweat it. I know one day won't take me off track. But overall I find logging to be extremely beneficial, and I plan to continue into maintenance11 -
Logging definitely has diminishing returns and even some negative consequences for many people. Many nutritionists and coaches strongly recommend to NOT log your food.
Coincidentally, many nutritionists and coaches rely for their income on people believing they need their services, as opposed to a DIY logging tool.14 -
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.
I guess I should just gain back all the weight I lost and kept off for going on six years now while logging.7 -
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 😀8 -
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.2 -
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.3 -
How do they suggest people keep track of what their intake is?
You don't need to know what your intake is to lose weight or maintain a healthy weight. Millions of people lose weight without calorie counting. Calorie counting is just one of many tools used to lose weight and I'd wager it's a minority use tool as many if not most people do find it cumbersome. I have many fitness friends who are in good shape and maintain a healthy weight and they've never counted a calorie in their life. Of the people I've known who've lost weight at some point, I only know one who's ever attempted calorie counting and it hasn't worked for him because he never sticks with it and still hasn't lost the weight he's needed to 7 years later.
I ate reasonably well when I was gaining weight and cooked at home a lot, but I also ate quite a bit of fast food for lunches, drank too many sodas, and I tended to cook with more oils and fats than I really needed for the dish even though they were healthy fats. My weight gain was pretty slow at about 40 Lbs over the course of 8 years and largely attributable to going from being an active person working retail and landscape construction to an accountant sitting behind a desk.
I lost a good chunk of my weight without logging a single thing (I didn't even know it was a thing) by just making some tweaks to my diet. I substantially reduced my fast food (and eating out in general) and started brown bagging my breakfasts and lunch for work. I cut back on sodas and ultimately gave them up entirely save for the occasional diet soda. I started making a lot of recipes from the South Beach phase II book that my wife had from years before and quickly realized I could cook with far less oil and still produce a good product. I started incorporating a lot more veg and some fruit into my diet and started using leaner cuts of meat more often...and finally, I started moving more...nothing crazy, just walking a few miles most days. I dropped a good 20-25 Lbs pretty easily without counting anything at all and just making some tweaks and slight improvements to my diet and moving a bit more.
Along the way I got more fascinated with nutrition, particularly as it related to performance since I was starting to do more intense workouts and getting back into racing and whatnot again. That's when I started using MFP. I never considered it to be any kind of long term thing, only a temporary tool for learning more. I haven't logged anything in 6+ years of maintenance and I've been fine. Calorie counting can be a great tool, but it certainly isn't the be all and end all.
Unfortunately, regardless of what tool one uses to lose weight, the vast majority don't keep it off as they revert back to the habits that had them gaining weight in the first place. Fortunately, I am not one of those people.
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I logged for only 2-3 months, 25 lbs. I lost the rest of 150 with no logging and have maintained for 2.5 yr the same. Not many people can do this. I eat a lot of the same things Day to day and know the portion sizes I need and where I can loosen up. I always check calories on new products and do a few days of logging 1-2x yr if there’s anything I want to check.5
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I find logging kind of... comforting? I'd been spending months estimating in my head how much I'd eaten and what else I could safely eat for the rest of the day but remaining overweight. As soon as I started tracking as accurately as possible, the weight began falling off. I've lost almost 10lbs in 2 months. It's nice to see a list of what I've eaten, my weight over a period of time and budgeting in treats I might want. This technology wasn't possible a few decades ago and I think it's easy to take it for granted.8
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I've been logging food and counting cals and weighing myself daily for over 3 yrs now
It's not that big a deal. I am not OBSESSED w/worry about what I eat and what my weight is BUT It makes me mindful of those things and gives me CONTROL over my weight by being focused on those things.
If you have a wt problem (which is likely since you wouldn't very likely be on this forum otherwise), you need to learn how to control your wt in the way that works best for you.
Many people here say that they can control their wt INTUITIVELY w/o logging, counting & weighing themsleves or the food they eat. If you are such a person, good for you.
I am not able to do this AND in my reading of this forum over the past 3 yrs, there are many others like me who cannot control their wt w/o logging, counting and weighing themselves and their food daily.
The way to find out which camp you're in is to just stop logging, counting and weighing. If your weight then rises beyond your limit, you'll know which camp you are in and what you need to do, probably for the rest of your life, which is how long I plan to do it6 -
This is what killed me last time. I got to the point where I thought "Oh, I can do it intuitively now! No need to bother, it's so boring anyways."
Nope, turns out I couldn't.5 -
I do not eat a consistent number of calories from day to day. I have lower days and higher days. In the past when I was gaining weight my low days would be too low which then made me weak and ravenous the next day which led me to overcompensate and eat too much for both days. With calorie counting I can force a limit to how little one day can be and then manage my week with an average to make sure I eat enough but not too much on higher days.5
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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.4
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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.0 -
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....
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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?
That's about how I felt when I started to realize I had a problem...but I didn't stop. I kept going-logging things in advance-doing whatever I had to do to avoid going over. Pretty soon I was logging in the negative-as in....working off more than I ate. Got very ill and was admitted for inpatient treatment for an eating disorder.
In recovery now but...let me tell you...heed the warning signs. If this is feeling exhausting...if this is feeling like it's ruling your life and you obsess. Get help now.6 -
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/wJ0QXCTqjUs1 -
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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