has anyone stopped logging calories and just eats healthily?

fionarama

I find the minute you tell yourself to do this you will gain weight. The calories just slip in. I'll never stop. I might take a break if I am fed up but its working so well I really wouldn't want to. Like anything in your life your weight needs to be managed and this is the ideal way of doing it. I will never stop working out and I I don't want to work out but not improve from working out, so I'm going to keep doing it.
there are loads of people who stop. You know about them because they end up having to come back again!

goldfinger88

Wondering if anyone has stopped logging their calories?
It is starting to seem a bit tedious, like a job, getting burnt out from it...
And I know how many cals are in pre much everything I eat anyway..

After logging for about four weeks, I quit and I'm glad I did. Here's the thing. No one is going to log calories all their life. Yes, you'll lose if you limit your calories and log them. But when you stop logging, you can start gaining it all back. We have to learn to simply eat good foods in moderation.

Temporary logging is fine. It gives us the chance to see where we may be getting unnecessary extra calories, extra salt, etc. After that, we pretty much know how to eat and what to eat and how to control our weight.

I find logging nerve racking and not fun. I want to live my life - not log it. You can't really enjoy food if you have to eat it and then log it. We need a way to handle our eating that is a way of life we can live with our entire lives. Too many people lose all the weight and then gain it all back plus more. That's because they didn't develop a life plan for themselves. Moderation is, I think, the key.

Like you, I pretty much know how many calories I'm eating. I know how much fat and sodium and sugar I'm getting. I buy mostly organic natural foods - very little processed foods. My portions are small but filling. So, at least in my opinion, logging is self-defeating after a few weeks.

The only time I log now is if I see myself gaining weight - if my clothes are too tight, etc. Then I'll log for a few weeks and see what I may be doing wrong. Usually, in my case, it's the medication I take so there's really nothing I can do about it but just stay fit as possible.

But you have to do what feels right to you. If you decide to quit logging, I'm sure you'll do fine.

goldfinger88

I find the minute you tell yourself to do this you will gain weight. The calories just slip in. I'll never stop. I might take a break if I am fed up but its working so well I really wouldn't want to. Like anything in your life your weight needs to be managed and this is the ideal way of doing it. I will never stop working out and I I don't want to work out but not improve from working out, so I'm going to keep doing it.
there are loads of people who stop. You know about them because they end up having to come back again!

So you think when you're in your sixties, seventies, eighties you'll still be logging?

vjrose

I don't see myself stopping until I get to my goal, which is lilely a year away but I do use the tools a lot, save common meals, save common foods, copy from other days and edit, all time saving measures, you can get your logging down to less than 5 minutes. I use the mobile app if I eat away from home but it takes a bit longer than the desktop. I spend more time reading the forums than logging, lol. Putting in recipes when I have time really helped, especially yesterday, I used downtime to get recipes into my personal database and it was sure easier to decide what and how much I could eat.

fionarama

Probably! I've been working out for 25 years (I'm 43 ) so I be I'll be working out for another 25 years. And yes I'll probably still log at least some of the time. Why not? doesn't it matter when you're "old" or something?

dsjohndrow

No. If it is the same, just copy the day before. If it is similar every few days, just copy to Date. Be sure to add you recipes for complex meals. Sure we all get in a rut, but it is good practice for when we eat out, are at some one else' home, traveling, etc. With the rate of people gaining back their hard lost weight, I don't want to take any chances.

MichelleWagner50

I"ve been on here almost 3 years (I think~it might be more). I have taken breaks in the past, but now I log every day. Even though I've been on maintanence over 1 1/2 yrs., I find I tend to eat more crap when I don't log. I also use the mobile app more, especially during the summer. We camp alot and I eat more junk then...but if I am logging, I eat a little more healthy. :-) I definitely know what I should or shouldn't be eating, but sometimes I need to give in to the cravings. I also don't log every bite some days. It just makes me crazy to try to figure out how much of that did I eat.
You will figure out what is best for you. Try taking a break. You might be fine, or you might miss it. You will know. Good luck!!

Kelly_Wilson1990

I log and measure everything I eat. I have for about a year. I will am going to continue because it keep me on track.

krazyforyou

For me logging in ALL my food has been an eye opening experiance. Now I logged in yesterday and was over >800 calories. Yes it was Christmas and yes I ate food I otherwise would not eat. But OMG booze adds up quickly. So for me at this point logging in is very important to keep me on track.

Elle_Jamaicangirl81

it's become routine for me now.. so i'm used to doing it

Menene

I tried it for a month with very bad results. I need the diary to keep me accountable.

klloyd

Nice weight loss!

Kaddyshack21

I have never had a concept of calories. I had no idea how much I was truly eating. And I am not of that kind of personality that would actually manually figure it out for myself. The very thought of it was overwhelming to me.

So MFP has actually been a great help to me. It is a few minutes a day and I have concrete facts to look at. It has kept me very accountable and I have even started to conceptualize where I am calorie wise and whether or not I can "afford" to eat a certain food or not. And I have started to have self control.

It is very rewarding to me. I can find it a little tedious to find the 1 tsp or this or that in my dishes but full on honesty means I know that I have truly earned my good results.

Hope you find out what works for you!!

FuzzieJelly

:flowerforyou: I have logged in meals in e-Tolls for WW website since March 2011. I decided this month to try NOT logging in WW (and use the simply filling technique) instead. I eat "power foods" cuz I already know the points plus value of what I eat.

BUT I am new to MFP and I just started logging my meals in this website. Its a little difficult to convert points into calories. I'm getting there. Maybe one day, I can learn what I eat in calories by memory (like I do in WW) and not log meals in MFP. Time will tell.

LorinaLynn

I stopped logging on weekends and holidays in June when I reached my initial goal.

But for the most part, I log because it's about more than calories for me. I know I need to get adequate protein to feel my best. Plus, I like to consider myself a bit of an athlete now, so if I'm going to train like one, I need to eat like one. I need to log my food to eat enough just as much as to not overeat.

vsyates

Even on maintenance I'm continuing to log. It's just what I HAVE to do for me. I've never been able to maintain and this time I am having success -- because I'm continuing to log.

cheree1965

I quit logging and I quit exercising and boom it went on quick. I have to really watch it.

paladeac

I've stopped logging. It does nothing for me but make me crazy.

I'm now doing mindful eating with the help of the McKenna mediations. Just started, but I am amazed at how much less I eat when I eat only when i'm hungry... and stop when I'm full. I'm actually putting down my fork now and tasting my food. It's quite a revelation.

Besides, I love food and want to be able to enjoy it. this way, I really do enjoy my food (and don't have to eat as much.)

I haven't weighed, but my clothes are starting to get looser. The exercise thing is easy for me because I love to exercise.

MaximalLife

They'll come a day when this becomes such second nature that I will not use a food log.
But the instant my weight creeps up, I'll run back fast.
Why?
Because I know what works!

dakitten2

I dont see me stopping anytime soon. I have to far to go and as I've shown before I cant do it on my own. It holds me accountable for now. Maybe at maintenance time I'll feel more secure and weigh in only but I refuse to let myself get back to my old weight again. So I'll take the time needed and continue logging! For me, if it's not broken, dont change it!

floweringcurrant

I could see not logging once I reach my ultimate goal weight... I think right now I have a pretty good idea of the calories in all my food, but I need to log it because I don't really have the wiggle room I'd have in maintenance. Since I am in a deficit still, I want to make sure I know if I go over, or frequently I am under too, and need to go eat a spoonful of almond butter to hit at least 1200.

ann162

I have only been on here 5 days but I have noticed that logging everything I eat is making me more aware of what I am eating. I can stay with in a set amount of calories every day with out logging, but with the logging I am seeing where I could do better with the foods I am eating

rb16fitness

I usually log religiously, but pretty much stopped for 3 weeks over the run up to xmas/new year and gained 5lbs
I've restarted and the xmas pounds are coming off. I need to be able to gage my food intake without logging so once i'm at goal i'll stop but continue to weigh myself each week and only track my calories if my weight goes up by more than 3lbs (need to allow a little leeway in life!).

Bekzness

I usually log religiously, but pretty much stopped for 3 weeks over the run up to xmas/new year and gained 5lbs
I've restarted and the xmas pounds are coming off. I need to be able to gage my food intake without logging so once i'm at goal i'll stop but continue to weigh myself each week and only track my calories if my weight goes up by more than 3lbs (need to allow a little leeway in life!).

exactly this...

7lbs over christmas... those 7lbs originally took me ages to loose through diet and running, all piled back on again over 3 weeks

Whenever I stop logging food when I am trying to lose weight I find myself piling it back on again as my memory and maths sucks so I guess I don't keep track of calories in my own head too well :P

pratod

I find it really hard to log when I am at college because I eat in the dining hall and can't always know what exactly went in to the food I've eaten - I just ate healthy and only checked in on here now and then last semester and still lost 10lbs, You have to know yourself though and decide if you need the accountability factor.

LuciaLongIsland

No, I haven't but I have time since I am retired. It works for me as I need to be held accountable. Hopefully, I will continue.

swimmchick87

Am I the only one that kind of likes logging stuff? Not only because it's healthy, but looking up new recipes and such and tracking everything has kind of become a "hobby" of mine that I actually enjoy, as weird as that sounds haha. When I've been thin in the past I kind of kept track of calories in my head, I figure this is the same thing but I like how it's concrete. I don't know that I'll ever stop doing it even when I reach my gw. I guess something to consider if you dislike logging would be to stop when you get to your gw, but make sure you weigh yourself every week and if you start to gain, go back to logging. If you don't gain, then you know you don't need to!