Ugh....just can't keep logging
mrsfyredude
Posts: 177 Member
I was pretty sure I was motivated to lose weight until the whole "log everything you eat" came into play...anyone else just finding it an absolute beating to log every day? Is it psychological? I go great for a few days, a week, then....YAWN! Just can't bring myself to do it! I don't mind logging my exercise, but logging food is just.....:yawn:
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Does it help a lot? yes..is it completely necessary? not always. I'm one of those people who does not have a long enough attention span to log my calories. I just exercise a lot and eat whenever I want to. I'll count once in a while to see what i am actually consuming and make sure it's an ok amount (usually 1800 - 2100 calories). It has definitely slowed down progress compared to when I was counting, but I'm more happy not doing it and as long as there is at least a little progress, there is no need for me.0
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I was pretty sure I was motivated to lose weight until the whole "log everything you eat" came into play...anyone else just finding it an absolute beating to log every day? Is it psychological? I go great for a few days, a week, then....YAWN! Just can't bring myself to do it! I don't mind logging my exercise, but logging food is just.....:yawn:
its highly annoying and my other half and daughter think i am strange, but it really doesnt take that long. In the end it will just form part of your normal day. If you can do it without logging like some try it, but for some of us logging for now has been successful.0 -
Yep, it's a drag. But everyone I see on this site who's been successful either continues to log religiously or at least started out logging strong. So I'm going to follow their lead and keep at it!0
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It's tedious and not exciting, but I absolutely have to do it. I have a horrible sense of proportion and everything is a trigger food for me (for now). When I log all my food, fiddling around to meet macros, I feel a sense of accomplishment and hope that I can actually conquer this bad relationship with food I have developed.
I take 15 minutes in the morning to log my exercise and all my food for the whole day. Then I just follow my log. It's easier for me and I am much more likely to succeed. I have even thought "Wow, those wavy Lays look amazing! Let me see if they're in my log. No? Let me see if there's room in my log? No? I'll have some tomorrow, then."
Prior to using MFP, I wouldn't think twice about opening the Wavy Lays and inhaling every crumb in some kind of land speed record.
MFP is saving my life and logging is part of it. Just my perspective. (It's totally not exciting, though.
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i am totally with you. logging is like, THE biggest pain in the butt. the only thing bigger is my actual butt.
however - i have found it to be the only way for me to really hold myself accountable for what im eating, and what im burning. some days its really hard to be honest with yourself - yes, i did have an extra serving of chocolate cheerios for my snack. but if i dont log it, it didnt happen, right? sadly, that is the opposite of true. the scale will log it for you.
i started fresh again this week - told myself if i really want this to work (and good lord, do i want this to work) i need to be honest with myself. yesterday i even logged the TWO ketchup crispy minis i had from a colleagues snack bag. (only 28 calories - but those can add up!) and i logged all my condiments and dressings too. still came in under goal, if barely. gotta see it - not just eat it.
as an added bonus, if you keep your diary detailed, when you are feeling stuck or you hit a plateau, how nice will it be to go back into your log and see what you were doing that worked? maybe you forgot about a great meal you had all the time that was low calorie but kept you satisfied.
end of two cents. thank you.
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dont forget about the meals and recipe tools to help make it go faster. From my personal experinece, that is the only way I have had success, but thats not to say you would be the same, alot of people just do the intuitive eating things and it works for them0
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Different people work different ways. For me I start my goals slow, and then it builds easily. For example, just try to log breakfast all week without missing, If you log more great. But it gets quicker and less of a pain. It just becomes habit I usually log while I cook. Good luck. 0
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I'm actually pretty good with breakfast and lunch. I don't do a lot of variety for either. But if hubby is not on shift and he cooks, a lot of the time I don't know what he puts in his "creations" so I have to guess. I'm going to try and be better (she said again for the trillionth time). :blushing:0
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It takes like 2 minutes to do an entire day. Those 2 mins a day have changed my life the most, even above the 30 mins a day I spend exercising. Solution - suck it up and do it anyway.0
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It takes me maybe 15 minutes total to plan my entire day. After it's planned, I just use it as a reference. It makes me want to snack less, it curbs binges, and has made me more creative with meals. It's essential for me. I can't trust myself to not give in to temptation.0
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I'm actually pretty good with breakfast and lunch. I don't do a lot of variety for either. But if hubby is not on shift and he cooks, a lot of the time I don't know what he puts in his "creations" so I have to guess. I'm going to try and be better (she said again for the trillionth time). :blushing:
By and large, I'm not a fan of the "quick calories" feature, but if the alternative is not logging at all better to guess high and log a quick calorie entry.0 -
the diary is a tool - and I guess everyone gets to use it in a way that best suits them
Some people open theirs up to be accountable
Some people record every crumb they consume
I take the approach of giving myself a 1200 allowance ( step away from the key board - I know 1200 is really low ) BUT - I do not bother recording the milk in my coffee, the 4 or 5 carrots I may munch on, the mint I ate - stuff like that - I expect I am about 200 over what I actually record - I`m losing weight - I`m eating at LEAST 1200 - I`m not driving myself batty measuring and recording every crumb - I accept as i get closer to my goal weight I may have to tighten up this regime but for now I`m losing weight and feel great.
I also eat more of less the same thing every day so the quick copy options make the diary a snap to fill in0 -
I think it can be a bit of a task sometimes but once you've been using it for some time a lot of your regularly eaten foods are stored on your search so it's a lot quicker to log your meals. I tend to plan my meals for the following day the night before so i'm not rushing around in the morning before work trying to scan things or before every meal. This works 90% of the time but of course there are days were I don't fancy what I've already entered into my diary so I just change it up then. I'd say if you haven't got a strict deadline or anything for weight loss then just take it or leave it but if you do have goals you want to reach by a certain time you'll benefit from tracking your cals. .:flowerforyou:0
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Pre-logging can help, but then it can be annoying when you change your mind and eat something else and then have to switch it. Other idea: take planned breaks from logging. Re-charge. Start again. Good luck!0
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I find I really eat a lot of the same basic foods over the course of a week or two so I find logging pretty quick and easy. Once you've built up a 'frequent foods' or 'my meals' list, logging is just a matter of selecting the item and verifying the portion size. For me, weighing and measuring is the worst, most time consuming part. But if I don't do it, my scale is pretty quick to let me know. If you're getting the result you want without doing it, you're fine. If not, its worth taking the time to do. Best of luck.0
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It annoys me on rare occasion... But mostly I don't mind. More than anything I see tracking my calories & macros as important - just as important as tracking how I spend my dollars.0
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I jus keep a running daily total in my head. Works better for me0
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Anything worth achieving takes effort and sacrifice. If you don't want to do it then don't. But don't complain about failure if choosing not to log doesn't get you to your goal either.
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Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition0 -
I'm taking a weight management class and we log everything we eat, I'm logging even more with MFP and I think it's a great thing. you can really see where you go wrong if you don't get the weight loss you expected for that week. it's a great tool and log everything. I can't see not logging everything.0
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I use my phone app, and it has become increasingly easier the longer I do it because I tend to eat a lot of the same foods pretty consistently. Also, I noticed that I am losing more consistently when I pay attention. It's a trade off. Either log and lose, or don't and don't-- for me. I'd rather be cognizant of my choices, and this helps me stay on track because I focus more on my caloric intake and I KNOW that if I am eating and logging appropriately then I am not gaining fat, and any changes on the scale are a temporary gain of water weight. I dunno.... it just helps me so I'm doing it.0
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I used to count calories back in the day. I hated it. I do not like having that kind of relationship with food.
It was much easier for me to just count carbs when I was low carbing. I did that off and on for years.
This current weight loss journey, which I'm about 130 lbs into so far, has seen the first 40-50 lbs go with carb counting and then when I stalled out on that, I switched to intermittent fasting for my deficit.
I haven't lost a single pound this time around counting, logging, or weighing anything. I feel you on the tedium.0 -
OP I am totally on the same page. I hate logging! It just seems like such an exhausting thing to do and it's aggrivating to find the food you're looking for.. Is it correct? Was it made with the same ingredients I used? How much was my friggin serving size? I have no clue.
I have found it easy to log my own recipes with the recipe builder so that is nice, but I still have to go through the process of creating the recipe and figuring out how many it serves, etc.
As most on this site would say though: suck it up, butter cup, or don't lose the weight. Which is probably why I haven't lost any weight lol.0 -
I used to do really well for a few days and then give up. Then I scrolled through the "photos only success stories" and I got SERIOUS about it. I'm on 53 days straight and I can't remember what it was like to eat something without logging. Keep at it!0
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It's only tedious at the beginning. If you're consistent for a couple weeks, you'll have a lot of items in your 'recent' and 'frequent' lists, and it becomes quite fast to log.
What do you think giving up will accomplish?0 -
Logging serves several purposes for me.
If I want to eat something, I log it first to see if it will allow me to stay within my macros. If not, I don't eat it.
Logging allows me to see long-term trends in my eating habits.
Logging gives me a feeling of self-control.0 -
I must do it. It is the key to my success. I have never had a plan work without it.
I do OK for breakfast, lunch, and snacks. They are individually prepared and entered on my own time. Suppers kill me. KILL me. I hate the recipe building part. It is difficult and time consuming and four days a week is a kid cook meal so I'm helping them and - man - just an awful process for me. There are kids milling around for this or that - it is the time of day we all come together for the first time and they need me. 80% of the time I just use something already in the database that seems close and call it good. That is better than nothing.0 -
I'm with you OP. It's completely tedious and horrible and boring and makes me think too much about what I'm putting in my mouth... but that's the point.
I also hate gyms, and I've been going every day since Jan 1st. I figure I dug myself into this hole, and this is the best way to dig myself back out. But, once I'm out of the hole I will have the knowledge of how much meat I should be eating in one serving, how many calories are roughly in a handful of chips, and I'll be able to run out doors and do yoga and activities I love 100% of the time while maintaining my goal weight.
It's just getting to that point that I have to put my head down and tolerate the tediousness of it all, the tediousness of learning! But, the community here is amazing and that makes it a lot easier to cope with the struggle and frustrations 0 -
It's more about being accountable, if you're seeing the amount/what you're eating in black and white, you tend to make more account for things than just mindlessly eating.
It takes extra time out of my day but then again so does exercise, eating thoughtfully, making meals instead of the microwave.. it's just one of those things that makes good sense in the long run if you're on the journey to making some changes.. which also takes extra time 0 -
I have found that cause I eat the same 50 food items I just have the items there and reuse them over and over, yes I hate long grocery shopping trips so this makes it much easier. Logging for the day is like less than 5 min.
It keeps me accountable .. and on track.
So .. think about it this way, is that time not worth knowing that you will get to your goal by doing it ?
I think if you dug deep .. if you don't want to log and make that little bit of effort, you cannot blame anyone but yourself for not succeeding in your goals.0 -
I was pretty sure I was motivated to lose weight until the whole "log everything you eat" came into play...anyone else just finding it an absolute beating to log every day? Is it psychological? I go great for a few days, a week, then....YAWN! Just can't bring myself to do it! I don't mind logging my exercise, but logging food is just.....:yawn:
you are saying you do not have ten minutes a day to log your food?
If you find it boring then you obviously are not really motivated to lose weight..0
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