How many of you keep your food diary?

ltosti

Has anyone been successful at losing weight or maintaining without keeping the food diary. I kept the diary for about 3 weeks but it seems to be a real burden for me to weigh, measure, and track. I am not sure if its my schedule or if its a mind game I have with myself but everytime I track my food and I watch my calories in that way...I start to feel deprived and think in the "diet mode" instead of life style change. I know that I would never be able to track the rest of my life to stay at a healthy weight range.

Thanks for any insight!

hill2302

I don't find logging a burden at all. But then again, I do it all on my Iphone. I would imagine it would be more burdensome to have to do it on the computer as opposed to a smart phone.

I'm definitely not to the point where I would feel comfortable not logging. My estimates are still too far off for me to rely upon my learned knowledge.

jenniferg83

I stopped doing the food diary for a couple weeks end of last year. found that i wasn't doing as well. As soon as i stayed with tracking, i was back on track. once you get the food in the system for your diary, it's not that bad. I enjoy it actually. it's taking a moment out of the day to focus on your goals. good luck

jbucci1186

i keep the diary every day but i hardly ever track my weight/measurements these days. i just like to know that i'm not going over my cals for the day

SunshineKB

It helps me tremendously. You should be able to get to a point where you're not having to really weigh and measure your food. I can tell by looking at something if it's 1/4 cup, or if a chicken breast is about 4oz. I guess it could be different for everyone, but tracking my food helps me NOT feel like it's a diet because I know when I have some wiggle room, when to tighten it up, etc...it's really helping me to learn how this is a lifestyle change I can easily stick with the rest of my life!

MAG2010

I love my diary but I'm guilty of slacking on my entries on weekends. I think my mind seems to think that if I don't log it, it never counted. LOL. But I journal religiously Mon-Friday.

KimbersNewLife

You will get used to it and it will become habit over time. I find I do soo much better when I log everything.

janeite1990

If you have lost 15 pounds, you are way ahead of me, so keep doing what you are doing! I have been keeping the food diary, and it has helped me. If I can keep my calories in check until about 7 pm, I can make it the rest of the night on water, and I think I'm building some healthy habits that will last: better snack choices, fewer sodas, more water. One key for me is eating plenty of calories early so I'm not as hungry the rest of the day and eating healthy snacks throughout the day so I don't ever really get hungry. Once I get too hungry, it is hard to stay in the calorie range.

rachelhohenbrink

Unfortunately you have to be held accountable for it to be a lifestyle change. If you find that logging is to hard for you then you definately have to go with poriton control which is counting/weighing. After you do it for a period of time it becomes second nature and you don't give it as much thought because you just do it. But it takes awhile to make something a habit. You will have to find what works for you.

jwaitman

I find that as soon as I stop keeping track of what I am eating the weight creeps back on.

laurie_powers

I stopped tracking, and was fine for a while, but a couple of pounds crept back on, so I'm back to logging. I am pretty sure that tracking my exercise helps a lot, too...just for me personally.

cobaltis

I think its important to do it until you can judge portion control accurately. This morning my fiance grabbed chicken and I asked if she was going to weigh it... She said no its about 6 oz, I told her it was closer to 8, and she weighed it and it was 8.0. The point is if you do it long enough you will learn how much you should be eating to lose weight or maintain and once you hit your goal you can just weigh yourself regularly to see how your doing without tracking.

ronda_gettinghealthy

I have to track....otherwise I snack.....but I hope to one day.....be able to do without the constant tracking.....

janeite1990

Yeah, I do it from my phone, too. It is easy to add things on my phone when I just have a few minute between appointments or tasks.

MrsPike07

I tend to feel like I am being deprived but also feel that if I dont track my food I will "fall off the wagon" so to speak. But, I think I am going to stop tracking my exercise so that I only eat back a small portion of the calories I burned instead of thinking I need to eat them all back....thats my downfall. I know it is so hard to sit there and punch in all the things you ate but I think it holds me accountable. Best of luck to you!

sometimes_blondie

I try to think of it as a game, so it dosen't have a negative feeling to it. Also, I work in foods that I love into my calorie allowance so I don't feel deprived. Also, I kind of eat things routinely, so I know what amount I can have without measuring. Hang in there, it really does work!

MrsRadder

I have to keep a food log! My exercise is great.. but if I don't monitor my intake I go over by 500-600 calories (1700-2000 calories a day). Friend me and take a look at my food log. I never feel hungry I think it's about what you eat more then the amount. I only eat four times, every four hours, 300 calories a meal and I eat a TON of food! I also pre-plan my meals. I do it all right after dinner while I am putting away my leftovers, I too am busy with a family and it's my only real time to deal with food. Good Luck!

BRANDYLYNETTE

IT keeps me focused! I dont feel like Im dieting at all. Im choosing food that is better for me. I dont miss the chips etc. AT ALL. I am staying full....up my calories on weekends for doing so well during the week....and maybe that is what has helped me. We go out to eat on weekends...and I dont worry about "Dieting." I just choose the best I can.... We usually go to MExican REstaurant. Instead of me eating three thousand baskets of chips with salsa...I share one basket.... That isnt exactly healthy...but, it is a change...and it is working.
I love logging in to MFP. I love reading the forums and I love logging my food. I get excited when the bottom of the screen tells me what I will weigh in five weeks if I "Keep it up."
My husband no longer logs his food on MFP now. He KNOWS what he is eating now...and he is still losing. So, there may be a time where you will realize that you wont need to log it in. Im still learning....so....Im really enjoying it for now. BEst of luck. : )

Cdcaldwe

The last time i lost weight i was logging what i ate in a little notebook. I put all the weight back on then some. I will have to log for the rest of my life once i get to a healthy weight level. That is ok at least i will be fit.


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carteremma

I find when I log my food I only feel cheated by how high the calorie content of the food I WANT to eat is, so try to choose somthing else. For example: for the same calories as the sandwich I used to eat most days I can have a tuna salad AND fruit AND a yougurt. I probably have not met the calorie level of the sandwich yet, but by this point I am full.

I see it more as a game as I am ALWAYS hungry!!

Jenscan

Tracking has become second nature, really, and it doesn't take very long to do once you build up your own system. I find it enlightening actually. Without the diary, I don't think I'd be losing weight nearly as well as I have been. One tends to "lose track" of things during the day!

rileamoyer

Keeping the diary for food and exercise is the only thing that has ever worked for me and kept me on track for the long run. I found the first 6 to 8 weeks a real bear doing the measuring, logging etc. But now, I am good at eyeballing measurements, have built in recipes for the those things I cook often, use the reports to track where I am on various nutirents, and actually get antsy if I am behind getting things logged in. I highly recommend sticking with the diary. It is a tool that will stick by you.

krash999

for me i have found it not to be a burden at all to log. in fact i am so happy with myself that i just got a message that i have hit 80 log in days in a row. i started losing weight and working out in January and tried doing it on my own and lost a little, but then a friend showed me a site i could log my food on. i did ok with it but i had to log it from a computer all the time so i got really lax with it and stopped logging in. after that i stopped losing as much weight until my friend showed me this site. i found the app for my android phone and have just been rocking and rolling since that point. i have lost something like 30 or so pounds just since i first fount this site and it helped me be conscious of what i was eating and how bad for me certain types of food are. i definitely could not have done as well as i have without logging.

CARNAT22

I not only use my diary to log, I use it to plan - without doing that it would be pointless me being here. I plan as far in advance as possible.

I only weigh my carbs and it is no hassle, I do it very discreetly and it doesn't feel like a chore. It' second nature to me now!

dibdobw

I couldnt diet if I didnt log everything as I would convince myself that something was less calories than it really was! I use my Iphone as I always have this handy. I have never stuck to a diet for longer than a week before but I have stuck to this for a month so far!!

jmikels67

It helps me tremendously. You should be able to get to a point where you're not having to really weigh and measure your food. I can tell by looking at something if it's 1/4 cup, or if a chicken breast is about 4oz. I guess it could be different for everyone, but tracking my food helps me NOT feel like it's a diet because I know when I have some wiggle room, when to tighten it up, etc...it's really helping me to learn how this is a lifestyle change I can easily stick with the rest of my life!

I totally agree with this! I've been on MFP 45 days, and I am starting to be able to judge portion sizes. I too feel like it's NOT a diet since logging causes me to think about if I want to "spend" my calories on something before I eat it. I don't feel denied of anything, just thinking before I eat. I think if I weren't logging I wouldn't think first.

VeganGal84

If not tracking works for you, then don't track! For me, I need to track my food at least 6 days a week (I have been taking Saturday off from tracking, but not off from making good choices).

When I got to a goal weight several weeks ago, I tried to maintain that loss with Intuitive Eating... and gained 9 pounds in 6 weeks. So I'm not yet ready to be an intuitive eater! I need the tracking.

I usually come up with a plan for the day the night before, then edit the journal throughout the day as I eat my meals and snacks.

sewist

I was able to maintain without logging a diary. I fell into a mindset of feeling deprived and stopped my efforts to drop pounds for a while. But I recovered my mental equilibrium and I love logging my food again. I feel it helps me make good decisions. I eat whatever I really want. I just eat smaller amounts and the logging celebrates my success at self control.

fibularfracture

On multiple occasions I have stopped keeping the diary, but I found that setting myfitnesspal.com as my home page has been very helpful. The times when I've stopped the diary were times when I had removed it as my homepage (friends were over using my computer and I didn't want to explain) or when I never set it to begin with.

Also with amounts and such I tend to estimate as best I can for weights and things. Like last night I had half a chicken breast in my dinner, and I knew the whole pack was 1.7 pounds, so 1 breast out of 3 was about .6 lbs, half .3 pounds or about 4 oz, it may be less or more but It's good to just half relative amounts as a good estimation.

Try to see it as a tool to help you make your lifestyle change. You won't need to track for the rest of your life, by the time you are to your goal weight, you'll be so used to tracking, that you will either have no problem doing it anymore, or you won't even need it anymore because you'll be eating the same way anyway so you'll already know meal calorie content.

kikislove2

I used to feel the same way, thinking it was just too much of a burden to try and track and keep a diary. This is the first site that makes it easy because the other sites I used had hardly any food in it. So I had to add just about everything I ate and that was too time consuming. I don't take my measurements anymore, I just know when my clothes are lose, and the scale goes down, that I've lost inches. But I go in my food diary on my first break, on lunch and when I get home. It's second nature because I'm already at my computer when I'm at work..and the site is in my favorites, so I just click one button and I'm there. I love it now and wouldn't want to do without it.

Qarol

I would not be where I am without tracking my food. I often pre-track, meaning I enter in the planned meals for the day before I eat them, to make sure I'm hitting the mark on all my tracked nutrients. If something looks off, I tweak the meal plan before I eat it. Once I've eaten it, it's too late.