How many of you keep your food diary?

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.

kutterba

I will have to track for the rest of my life - If I don't, I gain. This is no longer a diet for me - it's the way I live my life. Not focused on food, focused on keeping healthy so I can do what I want to do. Too bad I it took so long to learn. <sigh>
You youngsters take note! :laugh:
+GB+
katey

Gemini_1980

I track everyday and it has become a part of my daily routine. I believe it has been a very successful tool in my weightloss and it keeps me on the right path. I will admit I do not always make healthy choices when it comes to eating but this is another reason why I love to track because then I can get a visual of where I may have went wrong, had a great birthday dinner, or enjoyed more portions of something that was yummy:bigsmile: tracking may not be for everyone which is fine. Before I found MFP I was tracking on another site and I was ready to give up because I had to enter everything manually and it would take me an hour or more just to log for my food for the day:sad: this site is so easy for me and I find that I eat a lot of the same foods so a pattern has developed. The recipe tool has been a lifesaver because I cook for my family of (4) and it takes the guess work out of figuring my calories for a certain meal.

dream_nc

Don't give up. I don't usually weigh or measure my food anymore. I just estimate. They say a piece of meat the size of a deck of cards is appox. 3 oz so I usually guess that 1 chicken breast is about 5 or 6 oz. In a salad, 2 cups of lettuce is about 2 handfuls when you are pulling it out of the bag. My suggestion would be to weigh/measure your food for one week, noting what each measurement looks like and then just wing it from there. It makes things so much easier and then tracking your food isn't so hard. Also, before I got my smart phone, I had a little dry erase board on the refrigerator where I would track my food. In the evening when I was done, I would take it upstairs to the office and fill in the food. Once you get your normal foods into the system, it becomes easy to just check them off.

By the way, I am a TeamBeachbody Coach; which is a free coach to keep you motivated and accountable. So if you have anymore questions, just let me know and I can direct you to some good tips and tricks for making weight loss become second nature rather than a chore! Let's connect:
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Coach-Cassie-Bishop/243308372354441

psmith64

I would say the food diary has been my saviour.

Even when I don't log now, I have got into a good routine of eating sensibly at regular intervals.

I can understand your feelings at the outset, it does take a lot of work, but after a month when you have built up a regular list of food and meals, all the hard work is done. It literally takes me 5 minutes in the mornings now to plan my days food.

When I don't log, I simply print out a days food from a previous day and follow it.

As for weighing, I would would't be without my scales. It is no trouble to place a bowl on some scales when pouring cereal. the ones I have switch over to fluid measures so i can easily pour say 100ml of milk on my cereals.

Stick with it, it will help you in the long run.

Regards

Paul

TayJoMama

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.

I agree, tracking has helped me train myself on portion control and calories to the point that I don't have to rely on MFP. It's become more of a lifestyle change for me. I can go on a week vacation and make good choices with my food and not stress. I don't think I'll log of the rest of my life, but I will until I hit my goal and as I need to after that to make sure I' still doing good. But this does take time and effort. It's easier for me since I have a desk job. But try to look at logging as a tool to help you get to your goal. You've already made progress. Keep going and try not to look at it as a negative. :drinker:

photorific

I can tell you from experience the last time I lost weight... I stopped tracking and the weight came back. I'm likely to be a little looser with "eyeballing" things once I'm in maintenance for a while, but my advice is to never stop paying attention & tracking.

Minnesnowtagurl

I've gotten so used to logging my food that I feel kind of weird when I don't log. I try to log everything everyday but on the days that I am unable to log I keep track in my head and watch my portion size very closely. I honestly believe portion control is the biggest key to weigh loss with the success of logging. We all know that weight gain comes from over calorie consumption so I just watch my intake and keep mental notes now that I am closer to my goal weight. stick with it. You can do it ; )

Scoobies87

Even before mfp I always kept a food diary, I find it helps a lot. However it is such a ball ache somedays, especially when everything is in measured in cups!!

OnionCookie

I've taken to testing myself at times by not logging until the end of the day . That way I know how well I can do if I can't log it. Most of the time though its a steady routine. Like a previous poster said, setting it as your homepage helps tremendously. I also love the challenge of keeping the numbers out of the red, but I think maybe that's the nerd side of me talking. :laugh:

Frenchyxoxo

I do keep a food diary. I don't do the measurements though. I do feel like the calorie tracker has helped me a lot. I find that I get to eat more than I thought I could. I am lowering my calories every two weeks so that I may get used to eating less and healthier!