Anxiety About Choosing Not To log A Meal

echristensen010

Hi there,

I logged (almost daily for 8 months to lose a substantial amount of weight, it was a challenge, but I stuck with it and got great results. With that being said, I am feeling a bit fatigued with logging everything, even tiny bites.

In Mid-December 2022 I started a 12 week diet and exercise program to really hone in on my body recop, building muscle, and transitioning to finding my new maintenance point.

This weekend I had a cancel a weeklong vacation with a friend, where I planned to do a de-load for a week and not log food. Instead I would just enjoy and eat intuitively for a few days. This was something I had been looking forward to for months. Instead I have to stay near home, where it is wet, cold and dreary. Needless to say I felt pretty bummed.

To help my morale I chose to not log 2 means this weekend and instead eat intuitively and enjoy some fun foods and a beer. I am still doing my workouts, I logged most of my food for those days, and I don't feel like I stuffed myself too full.

Even so, I am struggling with guilt and fear that this will mess up all of the progress I have accomplished so far. I know logically this is not the case, but if anyone has tips and tricks for managing complicated feelings related to making the conscious choice to not log, please let me know!

Sinisterbarbie1

If you aren’t eating in a disordered way then I don’t see the problem with continuing to log meals. You say you are burned out from “logging every little bite” but that if you skip logging a couple of meals where you know you didn’t overeat you get overly worried. Can you find a middle ground and log approximations of what you ate over the weekend so that you can reassure yourself that you did indeed eat as you think you did?

Since you both dieted and did a recomp what do you intend to do to maintain in the long term? At least in my case I log what I eat whenever I can because it is easier and less stressful for me. If I can’t log I don’t do what others would call eating intuitively. To me intuitively means something very specific now - not necessarily just avoiding eating until “I’ve stuffed myself too full” as you say — instead if I can’t log exactly I eyeball what I am eating and apply what I have learned over a couple of years of eating at a slow deficit (and now maintaining) to eat what I know will be close to my maintenance calories (or at least what I have decided I will eat that day taking into account my maintenance calories for the week). I don’t think that my definition is actually what people mean when they say they are eating intuitively!

Weight is tough and messes with your head. But if you found what works for you to get you to where you need to be, what is wrong with continuing to use the tools that serve you? I don’t feel like we get any extra points for being able to do this blindfolded and with our hands tied behind our backs. So use what helps but also don’t put extra pressure on yourself to either log or not log every single day if life gets in the way. It is not as if the true measure of health is not having to pay attention. I think it is actually quite the opposite for most people.

TexasBlaze

I try to log everything, even when I know that I have went over my calories , like this weekend two days in a row I almost doubled my limit. I know it’s going to show on the scales tomorrow. I also known that I am going to get back on track tomorrow. It works for me. I prefer seeing the trend, and understanding how many calories I need to omit to make up for my splurge.

If you need a couple of days to not log, then don’t. It is meant to be a long term lifestyle change. I personally prefer to log everything, even when I know it’s way overboard calorie wise. It keeps me in check.

cupcakesandproteinshakes

I’ve had periods of logging and not logging. The non logging periods are when I’m in maintenance.
It gets better with practice. I remember being worried about portion creep, meals out and so forth. But actually it turns out I can balance my intake without an app.

There is nothing wrong with deciding to log for the rest of your life, I just find it tedious after a few months. I am logging again at the moment as I want to drop a few pounds for summer. I intend to stop once I have.

Many long term maintainers here swear by logging as a tool to keep them on track. I’m not one of those people.

You could just keep a rough paper and pencil journal of your food without calorie counting as a way of staying mindful of what you are consuming. This could be a transitional step away from logging.

88olds

Nothing wrong with a break. The vacation idea was sound. It had the added dimension of doing different plans in different places. Home= logging. Out of town= not logging. You could just start up again when you got back.

Problem I see right now is lack of a clear plan. If you’re going to take a break I’d have a certain day the break starts and a certain day the break ends. And when you get to the end beware of the voice in your head trying to talk you into extending the break. Stick to the deal you make with yourself going in. If you want another break down the road, you can make a new deal. But keep making plans and sticking to them.

It sounds like a break is something you need to try. You can get valuable information from a break. Try to let go of the idea that you are going “off” you program trying a planned break. If you are getting near goal you need to start working on the next phase. What I’ve found is that I’m not very good at “intuitive eating.” Maintaining now I only go back to logging when I’m over my red line for more than a couple of weeks. But ask me any time and I can give you pretty close number of how many calories I’ve had today. My food scale never leaves the kitchen counter and I use it every day.

Losing weight and keeping it gone is just one big never ending experiment. Gotta keep trying new stuff. Trial and error is really the only way to find out what’s going to work and what won’t. Good luck.

Antiopelle

First of all, kudos for logging during 8 months !

I think you need to ask yourself what will provoke the most anxiety: the thought of possibly gaining weight, or the chore of logging? Only you can answer that - there is no right or wrong - and then you'll know what to do.

Vette8828

I often skip logging but keep an eye on what I eat. Yesterday though I was attacked by a bar of chocolate, and just could not fight it off, so logged yesterday's food. That measly chocolate took me over by 600 calories! That's equivalent to 6 bananas which I really enjoy. I don't feel guilty as the error of my ways is easily corrected by skipping the soda water in my scotch for the next few nights! We are all in this for the long run after all.