Keeping up During Workweek

HL_Chilly

A common trap is that, as a teacher, I don't make the time to log during the workweek until I've come home for dinner and forgotten everything I ate (which cannot be much anyway) during the morning and afternoon. Often, too, my foods are small unknown portions, homemade, random bites of this and that.

The only time I am diligent about food logging is during the weekend.

I also have an Apple Watch but not an iPhone, so my calories burned/steps aren't counted for me to be logged later in an easy way.

Brainstorming: I have a FitBit, but I haven't worn it in ages, preferring the Apple Watch. I could get it back out. MyFitnessPal is not a blocked site at my school, so I suppose I can keep it as an open tab throughout the day.

totameafox

plan your food and enter it before the next day. Then eat to that plan.

Alatariel75

Where do all the bites and nibbles come from? Honestly, I think the way is to pack your own lunch, log it in advance, and stick to it. If having grab and go snacks is the best way to keep you fuels, pre-prep that. I have a fab little bento box that I fill with veggie sticks, single portion dips, olives, cheese cubes, small veggie fritters, veg and cheese frittata etc etc. I log the whole box and then delete anything that's still left at the end of the day.

AnnPT77

Preplanning, prelogging, and prepping is a good strategy for many, but I'm not that woman. I just note what I ate on a piece of scrap paper I keep at hand, or sometimes - when polite, and it's a plate of stuff - snap a photo with my phone, ideally with a fork or something in the photo for scale - in order to log it later. Over time, I've gotten pretty good at keeping in reasonable bounds, based on experience, without having to prelog things.

Another option would be to pre-think-up some options that can work based on what you eat now, and use those as habit patterns. If you're buying foods at local fast food joints, or from machines, or at the school cafeteria, pre-identify some varied options that will work for you that you can get there, within a rational calorie range, then use those patterns in practice.

There are lots of reasons why "this won't work". What we need is a personally-suitable plan to work around those challenges or obstacles. If the Fitbit is that for you, that's fine, worth a try. If that doesn't work, try something else.

I'd add that calorie counting isn't the only way to lose weight. I'm soooo ooold that I was adult before calorie counting apps, when calorie counting really wasn't practical. People lost weight anyway, if they committed to it, by eating less until they found the right habits that would give them reasonable results. It was a little bit less predictable than counting, but it worked.

Best wishes!

briscogun

I have long workdays that are kinda hard to plan for, so I have to pre-make a lot of my meals: One, that way I have food I've made that I know the calorie counts of and it fits into my day. Two, I'm not tempted to get something "fast food" that will derail my day. Three, I can pre-log it so I know what my day looks like ahead of time.

It takes a little time in the evening or morning, but once you start doing it there's a speed that comes from the repetition of it all.

That works for me anyways! Good luck!