For those of you who lost a lot of weight using MFP, did you end up not needing the app anymore?
hmorsey
Posts: 2 Member
I was wondering if those of you who lost a lot of weight still rely on using MFP to maintain the weight loss? Or are you experienced enough to "eyeball" your meals or you can just sense from how you feel that "Hey I'm eating too much right now." I always just get worried about not being able to ever maintain my gains without the app.
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Replies
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If they didn't need the app any more, then they wouldn't be here to comment, would they?
As for me, I still need it. I joined in 2012.21 -
quiksylver296 wrote: »If they didn't need the app any more, then they wouldn't be here to comment, would they?
As for me, I still need it. I joined in 2012.
Using the app isn't a prerequisite to be active on the forums in case you haven't noticed.17 -
quiksylver296 wrote: »If they didn't need the app any more, then they wouldn't be here to comment, would they?
As for me, I still need it. I joined in 2012.
Same. I joined in 2011, met my goal weight in early 2013 and drifted away. Gained a fair bit back, returned, lost it again plus some, and learned my lesson. I don't log regularly, but I need to be around enough to not let myself get complacent.12 -
i gained the weight i lost back, and am back at MFP logging my food again.3
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I lost 40 Lbs...I've been in maintenance for almost 6.5 years and haven't logged anything in that time.4
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Nope. Whenever I stop tracking, I gain. It's because of portion creep. I love food and eat more than I should, tracking keeps me honest.8
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9 months to lose 40lbs, 2.5 years in maintenance, still here.4
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Tbh, i stopped tracking my food after losing 40lbs during the holidays and life caught up with me. Gained about 8 lbs back. Noticed a big difference so I'm back again. I've gotta to. My opinion is to stay on it, for me, this app keeps me accountable. 🙈😁
Good luck on your journey👍5 -
quiksylver296 wrote: »If they didn't need the app any more, then they wouldn't be here to comment, would they?
As for me, I still need it. I joined in 2012.
Using the app isn't a prerequisite to be active on the forums in case you haven't noticed.
No, but I think asking the question here should at least raise suspicions of getting a biased sample.17 -
I lost 14lbs nine years ago, so I am in maintenance. I still weigh and log but not very religiously or very accurately, and I skip the whole thing when I go on vacation, eating out, or when I need a break. The only reason to be doing it at this point is to keep a better control of my macros. I keep my wt within the 2 lbs =/- range without a problem.
By the way, I do the logging in my PC and I never downloaded the app, Soooo, no internet= no logging. Freedom!0 -
Some people can manage their checking account/budget without keeping a log. Some can’t.
Some people can manage their food/diet without keeping a log. Some can’t.
I’m firmly in the “can’t” side on both. I think there are lots of variables at play - and needing to log food isn’t a sign of failure or weakness or an indication that you didn’t learn good eating habits.
In my case, it’s that I really like food and have a small TDEE and in my 7 1/2 years here, my mental tally of what I’ve eaten (healthy/good/otherwise) is minimally 200 calories off (usually more) from reality.
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I don't know whether 50 pounds counts as "a lot of weight", but I'm still logging most days, now heading into 4 years of maintaining a healthy weight. Having gotten practiced at the efficient ways to log/track, it now takes me maybe 10 minutes a day, and keeps me from going back to the obese weight where I literally spent decades (and got bad health markers that are now solidly normal). It's about the best payoff on any 10 minutes I spend in my days.
Some people do fine in maintenance without logging/tracking food, as they mentioned above. Some don't. I'm contented enough doing what I do, so I don't feel motivated to change it.
I don't log every single day anymore, which I did while losing: For some days, like the potluck open-house party I went to yesterday, it's more complicated and not necessary as long as it's rare, and I keep attentive to the scale. Seems to be working OK.8 -
Honestly, the app is mostly helpful when starting off. Once you learn to remember calories by meal and track what food has what in it, you can ditch the app, but its veryyyyy helpful in getting to that point. I wouldn't rely on the community portion of the app. It's mostly just a boredom killer and full of dumb threads like "what would you do...."14
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duskyjewel wrote: »Nope. Whenever I stop tracking, I gain. It's because of portion creep. I love food and eat more than I should, tracking keeps me honest.
same here. I've lost over 130, and I know I could maintain in a 20-25 lb range w/o using MFP but I'm interested in staying within more like a 5-10 lb range so tracking daily it is.6 -
My wife and I have figured something out about ourselves after twenty years of food experience. When we track calories carefully, we lose weight fairly easily and even kinda enjoy the experience, and maintenance when tracking everything is a breeze. Conversely, when we don't track calories, we gain all the weight back. Sadly, we have been through several major cycles of that tumult over the years. So this time, we're resolved to drive it all the way to our goal weights with MFP tracking ... and then to continue using MFP (or whatever similar app or neural implant device replaces it in the distant future) to maintain until we're worm food. Some people just need MFP-style tracking no matter how much they think they've developed better habits, and we are definitely two of them.2
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O_shiri_shunokeru wrote: »Honestly, the app is mostly helpful when starting off. Once you learn to remember calories by meal and track what food has what in it, you can ditch the app, but its veryyyyy helpful in getting to that point. I wouldn't rely on the community portion of the app. It's mostly just a boredom killer and full of dumb threads like "what would you do...."
But do you eat the same thing daily, weekly monthly, yearly? Sounds kind of boring.
It’s a shame you don’t see value in the very community you are participating in as we speak...11 -
WinoGelato wrote: »Sounds kind of boring.
Oh, I'm extremely boring... but still not bored enough to participate in those threads
WinoGelato wrote: »It’s a shame you don’t see value in the very community you are participating in as we speak...
Yup. Killing time while at work as we speak. lol5 -
i lost 130 with mfp and maintained it without. have more to lose, so back to log and help keep motivation up.
everyone is different. for some people, maintaining is more difficult than losing. for me, its easier.2 -
I think it's different for everyone. I maintained for about a year without tracking (but still came for the forums). Then last September, my mom got her diagnosis right before I moved and went back to school, so I dealt with some binge-eating backsliding and needed to track again.4
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Current "streak" is 1193 consequtive days logging on MFP.
6 months to lose 36# from 196 to 160. Have been "in maintenance" ever since (mainly between 155-160 but lost another 8# in last 3 months (on purpose) to reach my current wt of 152.
Couldn't have done it w/o logging everything I eat on MFP and weighing myself daily.1 -
Current "streak" is 1193 consequtive days logging on MFP.
6 months to lose 36# from 196 to 160. Have been "in maintenance" ever since (mainly between 155-160 but lost another 8# in last 3 months (on purpose) to reach my current wt of 152.
Couldn't have done it w/o logging everything I eat on MFP and weighing myself daily.
I completely agree with the bolded section.1 -
I think I will be logging for the rest of my life. It keeps me honest and I don't really find it that much of a hassle. 65 lbs down....most of it just logging in a notebook ..been using app for a month now..lost another 9 , upping my calories even. I love the app , so much easier and accurate.1
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I lost 30 lbs a while back. I go through periods wear I stop logging in my food. But I always tend to come back as I notice my weight fluncuate.0
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I suck at eye-balling. Eyes lie. Food scale doesn’t.
120 pounds lost later, six years after, still here.
Join for the food diary, stay for the forums! ❤️9 -
I have lost a lot of weight (137 lbs) and I have transitioned to final maintenance this month. I'm not new to maintaining, I successfully maintained a higher weight for over a year when I decided to take a hiatus. I can maintain without tracking, but I don't want to. It's more restrictive and life is less flexible. I do it is by guesstimating and allowing myself fewer food liberties, coupled with daily weighing. If my weight goes over my desired weight range, I snap back into dieting mode until I'm well within my range. It happens less often when I log everything (even lazy logging), and I get to enjoy more food variety/occasional high calorie days without worrying about gaining weight because I'm able to balance things out.5
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I've been on MFP since 2013 and finally lost 57 pounds. I stopped weighing and logging my foods 2 months ago. I'm in the last 10 pounds of my weight loss and have continued losing on schedule. I think for me that I have learned much better portion control along with having a good understanding of what is satiating to me. Those things are helping me stay within my deficit.
I still weigh my body daily. If I start seeing any weight creep then I will weigh and log food again.2 -
O_shiri_shunokeru wrote: »Honestly, the app is mostly helpful when starting off. Once you learn to remember calories by meal and track what food has what in it, you can ditch the app, but its veryyyyy helpful in getting to that point. I wouldn't rely on the community portion of the app. It's mostly just a boredom killer and full of dumb threads like "what would you do...."
With only 38 posts you clearly have not been around long enough to know how many really knowledgeable and helpful people post on these forums.
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I hardly use the app anymore and I am maintaining. I usually estimate my calories0
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O_shiri_shunokeru wrote: »Honestly, the app is mostly helpful when starting off. Once you learn to remember calories by meal and track what food has what in it, you can ditch the app, but its veryyyyy helpful in getting to that point. I wouldn't rely on the community portion of the app. It's mostly just a boredom killer and full of dumb threads like "what would you do...."
With only 38 posts you clearly have not been around long enough to know how many really knowledgeable and helpful people post on these forums.
Clearly doesn't yet know that it's possible to block the chit chat and fun and games subforums, which do take over recent posts and color a newbie's perception.4 -
een here since 2010ish. Just create a new account each time I return instead of leaving an open account on an uninstalled app (security hole)With only 38 posts you clearly have not been around long enough to know how many really knowledgeable and helpful people post on these forums.amusedmonkey wrote: »
Clearly doesn't yet know that it's possible to block the chit chat and fun and games subforums, which do take over recent posts and color a newbie's perception.
All the advice that one could want fr9m the forums are already there. All one has to do is search or use google. By this point in time, its just regurgitated threads and mainly serve as a purpose for the lonely to get attention or for the middle aged to ask repetitive questions because they are too lazy to search.
Been this way for years. I brought it up back in 2015 and admin told me they dont thread clean because if tbey did, this site would no longer have any activity 🤷♂️1
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