Hi everyone

vterrinoni
vterrinoni Posts: 1 Member
in Introduce Yourself
I’m Vicki. I live in Illinois. I’m 65 years old and recovering from shoulder surgery so exercise is not in the plan right now. I need to work on logging my meals and drinking more water. Anyone have any tips to help me be more consistent?
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Replies

  • Corina1143
    Corina1143 Posts: 3,665 Member
    You eat, you log. That simple. Put a red plastic fork in your fork drawer to remind you.
    Waters a little harder and may take a little more time. Put a red band on you water bottles for work? Pitchers of water in the fridge at home? It all gets easier and more automatic if you're totally committed.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,370 Member
    Hi, Vicki, and welcome!

    Good tips from Corina above.

    I'm 69, been hanging around here since 2015 (just under a year of loss, maintenance of a healthy weight since, fairly active most of the time). I've had various times of limited/no exercise along the way because of injury, illness or surgery, and am currently recovering from a skull fracture and small brain bleed on November 9 . . . so I hear what you're saying about exercise limitations and empathize.

    For steady water intake, one thing that helped me was filling a water bottle - I use one with a carry strap, usually - then carrying it around with me during the day. There are even some that have helpful measurement markings on them to help with remembering/tracking. Nowadays at home, I pretty much always have a glass of water or similar nearby where I can see it, which does help me sip through the day. For me, that's more effective than big glugs more infrequently.

    If you have a cell phone, I know there are some reminder-type apps available (I think some are free), though I don't have a specific recommendation because I'd gotten my water habits fairly grooved in before they were common.

    As far as establishing a logging habit: New habits always take time to establish. It can help to link the new habit to an old routine habit.

    Just as an example, someone who drinks a cup of coffee first thing might start by logging while drinking that, or logging the next day(s) as part of getting ready for bed at night. No need to beat ourselves up if we miss the mark at first, just keep chipping away at creating the habit rather than giving up, and you'll get there, I predict.

    Many people here find it most effective to pre-log the next day or few with an eating plan, which they can tweak a bit on the day if the details change. Personally - especially since I've been at this for 9+ years and have pretty routinized eating habits - it works best for me to jot things down on paper as I prepare my food. (I often use the back of junk mail envelopes ;) ). Then, at some point during the day when convenient - often while eating the food - I put it in MFP. I usually wrap up by logging the last stuff from the notes at some point in the evening.

    For me, working away at creating these habits has resulted in a huge long-term quality of life improvement via reaching a healthy weight and being routinely active (except during things like the current skull fracture healing!).

    I'm wishing you success, too: The rewards are worth the effort!

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