Struggling with logging

ktsj2015

15 years ago I was a real health nut ... I had the healthy lifestyle and I knew exactly what to do when I needed to lose weight.

Roll on 15 years, one menopause and a super busy work life that leaves no room for balance...

I’m struggling serial starter!! I get back to being heathy and logging and it usually lasts a day!!!

However I think I’ve had a breakthrough... I think I’ve clocked the problem...

I think I’ve just reached the point where I don’t have the energy to weigh and measure .... years ago when I wanted to cut down I would go super strict and eat a lot of things that where easy to log ... chicken breast, veg protien shakes, pre weighed bags of nutts. I ate to fuel myself ... it was in its self a job.

However these days I’m in a different mindset ... I have really grown to love good food I love to try out new recipes and I eat out regularly and I think this is what is causing a problem ...

Homemade recipes are frankly a pain in the butt to calculate and log and when I eat out (due to work that’s at least 3 times a week) It’s impossible to really know what’s in the food...

I am a perfectionist and not knowing what to log plays with my head!! So I don’t log, then I fall off plan!!!

How do people log recipes without going nutts? And how do people log eating out when there is know way to know what’s in the food? Or how much??

cmriverside

You don't have to log food.

If it doesn't work for you, what do you think would?

As far as logging food eaten out, I can guess really well based on years of using a digital food scale and seeing what a portion is. Maybe just log as often as you can using your food scale and then use the Quick Add calories for those meals eaten out. I mean, you can get within a couple hundred calories. Knowing I'm going to be eating out I can eat a smaller meal on both sides of that, too.

It's not a perfect process for anyone. I just try to be in calories more than over. It doesn't happen every day. Luckily it doesn't have to.

LyndaBSS

I fill out my food diary a few days in advance. It's what keeps me in a calorie deficit.

It was time consuming at first getting used to the process but once I had logged in the majority of the foods I eat, it was simple and quick.

For me, logging is a priority. I'm only 6 weeks in and wouldn't be disciplined enough to wing it.

As for eating out, that's rare for me but still doable. Break down the food by its components and enter them.

You have to do whatever makes the process sustainable for you. Good luck!

dianeayres23

I know as soon as I stop logging, I'm in trouble. So for me, logging is a must. Do I do it everyday? I try but I went to a social gathering and had a little bit of this and a little bit of that. I just try to stick to the least calorie items but not always. On those days, I sometimes don't log my food only because it is hard to remember exactly what I put in my mouth. If I stop logging for long, I'm pretty much on a binge.

elisa123gal

Don't log it you find it tiresome and something you just are not going to do. I don't log either, so I get it. Maybe you could take the time to set up go-to meals you know will be easy and tasty and keep you losing weight. Come up with two breakfasts ..two lunches and dinners to start..then add meals as you feel like you want to.

88olds

Logging works. But there are other ways.

But I’m a big advocate for food diaries so I’ll give it a shot. First, there’s a fairly long learning curve. Crunching the numbers for your recipes will take some time. But once your favorites are in the database, they stay there.

But new recipes are always coming you say. Over time, those will get easier too as you learn the numbers of certain ingredients. Yes it will take time and effort. But in addition to knowing the numbers, you can learn some plan friendly modifications. Do you actually want to lose weight, or just wish you weighed less?

I lost regularly and have maintained for years eating out a lot of the time. I’m talking 50% of my meals. There’s a lot of trial and error in eating out while trying to lose weight. Trial and error takes considerable persistence. You can make this work.

I lost a significant amount before I hit the plateau. About the time I discovered the value of food diaries I read a book attributed this to Winston Churchill ( I think he was repeating it) - Perfect is the enemy of the good. Calorie counting doesn’t need to be so precise to work.

Try it. Just start crunching some numbers and see where it takes you. You can invest your time in something proven effective or invest you time wandering around Diet land looking for something else that might, or might not, get you results.

Annie_01

I enter my recipes to give me an idea of calories per serving but I don't weigh and measure. I meal prep so I just divide it into storage containers. I do log my food in to MFP but it is all just estimates. I did a lot of work on portion sizes and that has helped. To be honest though if I ate out a lot this plan might not work. I eat between 1200-1600 calories which give me 3/4 lb to 1 1/2 lb weekly weight loss. I am sure that during the last 20 lb weight loss I might have to go back to weighing my food but for right now this works for me.