anyone here not keep a food diary

mom23nuts

after a month of diligently writing every morsel down and even breaking down recipes that weren't in the the food list into individual parts (tedious) I am finding keeping track of the food diary an exhausting and futile practice for me....especially after gaining and losing the same 3 lbs the whole time.

I know what to eat and how much and what is better left out of my body and I still exercise and do tons of yard work and chasing after the kids, I just don't have the time to log in after every meal and snack or at the end of the day when I have clearly forgotten a few things along the way to chart it all and see if I did well or not.

I guess I know enough to eat when I am hungry and stop when I am full and to limit sodium and bad fats and sugars I just feel guilty I dropped the ball in charting.

With 3 kids and most of my time booked, logging in often enough is too much to add to my day.

SheilaSisco

That's why I wait until my kids are in bed and log tomorrow's food. Sometimes I'll even plan it out a few days to a week in advance. It takes all of the guesswork out of what am I going to eat. I can go about my day KNOWING what I'll be eating and that I'm good with the calories, fat, protein, etc.

As far as breaking down recipes, if you make a lot of the same things, why not just enter the recipes INTO your recipes and give it an amount of servings per... then it'll be there the next time you make it and you won't have to keep reentering individual ingredients. I still do the individual thing from time to time, but I also have about 2 pages of our common recipes so I can just log a serving of whatever it is and be happy with that, knowing it's already figured and correct.

It only takes me a couple of minutes at the end of each day to log tomorrow's meals (maybe a little longer if I have to enter a new recipe) and then I don't HAVE to come back several times a day to log what I HAVE eaten. Is that maybe an option for you?

PeachyKeene

Just keep on doing the best you can. It is difficult sometimes to get everything down. If you don't that's okay, try better the next day. You odviously know what you are doing, you have lost 55 pounds, just keep working what you know, and you will eventuallly make your goal.

tn2010

I tracked religiously for the first 6 months of being on mfp. Now I generally track breakfast, lunch and snacks. I find it's still good for me to see how much I have left at the end of the day. I found my biggest issue was not WHAT I was eating but rather how MUCH I was eating. It is certainly difficult when you have to enter recipes. However, now that the weather is getting nicer, I tend to gravitate toward a piece of grilled meat and lots of veggies...much easier to log than the hearty soups and stews of winter! Good luck.

Triffany

I agree that this is a tedious task! I began logging my food faithfully this week because I started a detox and I pretty much eat and drink the same thing each day so I can just check the box beside the items that I eat most often. But, the 3 weeks prior to that, I didn't log hardly anything because I was eating such a huge variety of foods that just the thought of logging each individual food was enough to keep me from doing so. I must admit that once this detox is over, I highly doubt that I will continue with the food diary.

SarahofTwins

I understand how you feel about having the 3 kids and life being hectic. About 10 years back I never kept track of what I ate but made sure that I ate right and in moderation. I still lost the weight no matter. However at this current time I do keep track of it so I feel like I hold myself accountable now. It gives me the motivation to log in my foods and to make sure if I'm within my cals, sugars, sodium, etc. You can still lose the weight no matter if you log or not. It's all about eating the right foods, drinking enough water, and getting some excercise in

MinnieInMaine

It's worth a try to see if you can still lose while not tracking. Maybe instead of writing it all down in detail here, just jot it down with pen and paper so at least you're staying mindful of your portions, etc.

mom23nuts

I guess I could preplan it as if it were a weekly menu and make sure I leave a few hundred calories in each day for last minute changes in the plan or add ins.

Maybe I should try that.