Does anyone NOT track their food intake?

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2

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  • IsabellaGiano
    IsabellaGiano Posts: 158 Member
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    I am approaching my 80 day streak and feel that despite my slow progress I am doing well. I tracked beautifully for the first two months and lately its been harder to do. I am still weighing food, still keeping portions in control, and eating better. I can't help but feel guilty though. I know I need to track more but sometimes I just get obsessed and irritated when I cant find things in the database etc. I do still put my recipes in the recipe builder so I have an idea of what I am eating.

    Just wasnt sure if any other mfp people succeed without hardcore tracking. Either way I plan to monitor my progress and track if I feel I need to, but at this point I feel its more frustrating than helpful.

    I don't always track accurately.
    I don't always have a scale, I often eat outside.
    Sometime I cannot find the food I'm looking for in the database -but it is rare, mostly I found TOO MANY entries and I get confused.

    And I'm going well.
    Anyway, I loose consistently when I can track, while if don't the results tend to be lower or, if I completely try to do all by myself, well.. :)

    So, yes, you can succeed even not tracking accurately. BUT. Pay attention... is this "tracking stress" due to your real difficulties, or just because if you track everything you have to struggle more to be in your calory goal?
    Is this difficulty something real, or just a way to stop your way?

    You don't have to reply to nobody than yourself :)
  • bethlaf
    bethlaf Posts: 954 Member
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    i track like religion , and as far as finding "correct" food entries, i use the "whole" or "raw" option, and find those work best, the ones without the asterix are the ones that are entered into the MFP database by the MFP programmers(we love you all muah)
    and those seem to me to be the most accurate, i "know" my food numbers and all, i just find that i am more reliable when i track , and when i make a food myself, i go in and "build" that food, its actually kind of encouraged me to reduce and change a lot of my "old" recipes ...

    this is working for me , i stopped tracking for about 6 months, and i gained a couple pounds... just 4... but that was what kind of forced me to come back and face the tracker every day again


    Edited for spelling
  • MattyFTM
    MattyFTM Posts: 68 Member
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    If logging your food is frustrating you, it can't do any harm to try giving it up for a couple of weeks. Give it a trial, see if it works for you. Plenty of people do lose weight without logging every calorie that passes their lips. Trying it for a two or three weeks isn't going to do any massive harm. If you stop losing for that short period of time, it isn't the end of the world, you can always go back to logging.

    Just make sure that you are keeping an eye on what you are eating, and maybe have a ballpark figure for your daily calories in your head. It won't be completely accurate, but it'll ensure that you don't go massively over.

    Alternatively, you could find a middle ground and continue logging your food, but don't be quite so meticulous about it. Stop weighing, just estimate the weight. If you can't find the exact entry in the database, use a close alternative. This will give you a reasonably accurate number, whilst relieving you of much of the frustrations.

    Just find what works for you. Try out different methods to figure out what allows you to lose weight with as little frustration as possible.
  • snowflake954
    snowflake954 Posts: 8,399 Member
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    Great idea! You seem to already be tired of tracking. Let us know how you're doing in a couple of months. Best. :smile:
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
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    You do realise that this is a calorie counting website and the whole point is to track your food

    No I didn't realize this?! Of course I realize this. I am just asking what others do or if anyone does things a little differently. Everyone is different.

    The food log is a big feature, but this is a fitness site (My fitness Pal). I don't see that the food log is any more important than the exercise log. No matter how prefect your diet may be, you will not be fit without exercise.
  • RJKontos
    RJKontos Posts: 17 Member
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    I track everything, it helps me being in control.
  • MrsKgettingfit
    MrsKgettingfit Posts: 28 Member
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    No I don't. I did for a about a week but gave up. I don't have weight to lose atm so I use this site for motivation and getting tips on best forms of exercise etc.
  • jimwon953
    jimwon953 Posts: 20 Member
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    I only joined this site a couple weeks ago, but I actually changed my eating habits nearly 6 months and have lost 2 stone before I started on here.

    On my last attempt at weight loss, I lost 5 stone by severely reducing the amount of food I ate. Thinking back, It was probably quite a dangerous diet really but it helped me drop from obese to juuust overweight according to the BMI graph.

    I am back at the same point now and have started on this site because I want to lose another stone to get comfortably into the middle of the normal range of BMI and then learn how to eat the right amount to maintain that weight so I don't start to regularly gain weight like I did before. I figure I'll be doing this for a year to get to that point (which would coincide nicely with my wedding next year).

    For me, the logging is not a problem because I am such a creature of habit. The things I eat are pretty much the same every week so once I had all that stuff built up in my 'Regular' lists I find it very quick and easy to log the food. I am not planning on doing this forever though, I figure 6 months to lose another stone and six months to learn how to maintain a weight will be good enough to set me off on good eating habits.
  • albayin
    albayin Posts: 2,524 Member
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    On days I've decided to treat myself, I don't track. That is once a week or once every 10 days.

    LOL I thought I was cheating myself because I do this too...then I see people here saying they log everything even when they are over eating...
  • albayin
    albayin Posts: 2,524 Member
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    You do realise that this is a calorie counting website and the whole point is to track your food

    No I didn't realize this?! Of course I realize this. I am just asking what others do or if anyone does things a little differently. Everyone is different.

    "Everyone is different" that's exactly the key...some who can lose weight without tracking but they are not you, and you are not them...DIdn't want to sound mean or anything but I have been there trying to copy other's success but only failure came to my way...but again, everyone is different and has different goals...
  • MeanderingMammal
    MeanderingMammal Posts: 7,866 Member
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    On days I've decided to treat myself, I don't track. That is once a week or once every 10 days.

    LOL I thought I was cheating myself because I do this too...then I see people here saying they log everything even when they are over eating...

    without information how can one make an informed choice? whilst I'm not particularly religious about tracking (I don't go to competing websites and smash their windows etc) I do try to track in general terms as it helps me understand what's happening.
  • albayin
    albayin Posts: 2,524 Member
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    On days I've decided to treat myself, I don't track. That is once a week or once every 10 days.

    LOL I thought I was cheating myself because I do this too...then I see people here saying they log everything even when they are over eating...

    without information how can one make an informed choice? whilst I'm not particularly religious about tracking (I don't go to competing websites and smash their windows etc) I do try to track in general terms as it helps me understand what's happening.

    I just wanted to clarify I meant to say those days of treating myself...I do track too, but sometimes in those days I tend not to...
  • GiveMeCoffee
    GiveMeCoffee Posts: 3,556 Member
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    Let's see I got really fat because I didn't track my intake, I spent 5-10 minutes a day now track what I'm eating and have dropped 105 lbs. Think 10 minutes of my day is worth it.

    Also what is hardcore tracking? Even if I eat lots in a day that might take 15 minutes...
  • MeanderingMammal
    MeanderingMammal Posts: 7,866 Member
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    I just wanted to clarify I meant to say those days of treating myself...I do track too, but sometimes in those days I tend not to...

    Understood, it's all about trends and what has a known effect. I tend to not worry too much i I'm over or under goal, as long as I'm about right or under on a weekly basis.
  • albayin
    albayin Posts: 2,524 Member
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    I read a few blogs about food tracking. Quite a few suggest keeping a food journal, not caloric tracking necessarily but simply write down what you eat every day, then evaluate it over time to see how you are doing. If counting number gets into you, maybe try something like this for a few days to see how it goes? It still records a story of your doing but perhaps takes some stress out of your mind...
  • ChrysalisCove
    ChrysalisCove Posts: 975 Member
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    I track religiously & plan to continue doing so even once I reach maintenance. I have a history of ED so it is important for me to ensure I am eating neither too MUCH nor too LITTLE. I also log to track my macros so that I can get a better idea of what types of deficiencies trigger overeating or certain cravings for my body.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,868 Member
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    I maintained for 11 months without tracking and had no issues...I've tried to do a cut without tracking and it just doesn't work for me as I just naturally tend towards maintenance calories based on my energy levels and the way I feel. I'm in a small cut right now so I'm tracking, but I'm only logging during the week. I don't log weekends as I don't really worry about those couple of days...largely due to the fact that I have my long ride on Saturdays and I can consume upwards of 3200 calories and still be in a 500 calorie deficit position.
  • Teenie71
    Teenie71 Posts: 52
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    That's a funny question to ask on a site that's made for calorie counting.

    Plenty of people have successful weight loss without calorie counting, without MFP, etc. With that said, most of the "I stopped losing weight" threads are from folks that either stopped logging or are not logging accurately. If it works for you, fantastic. If not, keep logging.

    I dont track anymore. And this is NOT just a calorie counting site. There are blogs, groups to join, etc...
  • tinavflynn
    tinavflynn Posts: 80 Member
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    I always track my breakfast and lunch, and usually any snacks in between. However, I have a hard time tracking dinner. By the end of the day I get lazy and just don't feel like it. I know this isn't the best way to go about it, but I've still lost weight. I make sure to exercise almost daily, so that probably combats any extra calories. Plus I try to leave a minimum of 1000 calories for dinner, not including the calories I earned from exercising. So I usually have roughly 1100 to 1400 calories for dinner after having added my exercise calories.

    I hope this helps. I know it's best to track as much as you can, but sometimes you have to do what's best for you.
  • psychicmedium26
    psychicmedium26 Posts: 48
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    That's a funny question to ask on a site that's made for calorie counting.

    Plenty of people have successful weight loss without calorie counting, without MFP, etc. With that said, most of the "I stopped losing weight" threads are from folks that either stopped logging or are not logging accurately. If it works for you, fantastic. If not, keep logging.

    I dont track anymore. And this is NOT just a calorie counting site. There are blogs, groups to join, etc...

    I agree that its NOT just a calorie counting website and I use it for various reasons. Again appreciate everyones input.

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