Will I be hindering weight loss if I ONLY do calories?

xLyric

It's nearing the end of the semester and I don't have time to sit and log food. This site and its app is convenient, yes, but to find the foods is tedious sometimes, and heaven forbid I make food with several components, I'll be sitting there forever. (And yes I'll freely admit that all that is probably code for "I'm too lazy.")

I only really look at the calories anyway, so would it work if instead of logging each food item individually, I added the calories on my phone throughout the day and just quick-added those? I'd still be using the site and getting in my calories, but it would be much quicker.

On the other hand, there won't be numbers for fat or sodium, etc.

Will I still lose weight?

Sl1ghtly

If all you're concerned about losing is weight, then yes.

mallory3411

You will probably still lose weight however you won't know if you are getting the proper nutrients in.

For me I find it doesn't take too long to add meals into the day. Takes me maybe five to ten minutes to add my whole day.

Preplan your days and take ten minutes to enter everything for the next day.

Brittany3914

I'm starting to look back at old diaries and see what I ate - how it made me feel (full or starving all day), bloated, energized. For example, when I eat a lot of sodium and don't drink much water, I tend to feel bloated the next day. Just something to consider. When you quick add cals, you don't know anything else about the nutritional value.

Good luck with the end of your semester!

Francesca3162

If you tend to eat the same combinations of food, then create your meals and then you can just add the meal.
I tend to eat the same two or three things for breakfast and the same four or five things for lunch,
so dinner is the only one I have to spend time on.

BarbaraC47

I've gotten into a routine now and there's a copy facility which is useful when you tend to have favourite meals - which I do.... nutrition is as important as weight loss.

msshiraz

You have to take time for yourself- I have literally taken weeks or months a few times when I was too busy- and I am talking no problem at all working out- I teach 8 fitness classes a week- yet the scale doesn't budge. I didn't gain- that was good, but probably only because I taught those 8 classes. Do you want to lose weight? You need to commit time to yourself- and log your success. Not every day will be pefect- but my best success with this site has been when I held myself accountable- and 80% of weight is affected by diet- so I am going to say this- you need to be aware of your sodium, your fat- a calorie is just a calorie- but not all are equal.
I think its great you want to log in every day- but this site showed me an area I was really overdoing it- sodium- big time!! Really bad- as a result- I stopped adding salt to food in cooking, eventually stopped adding it at all to meals I ate- now I never salt the food- the habit to shake something on my food is going to a lot of pepper these days

AllTehBeers

I love MFP and the community but honestly, I don't even use the food and exercise logs on here just for that reason (lazy). I add up my calories and put them in a note pad i have on my phone. For right now i'm focusing on eating better and losing weight with exercise. I've changed a lot of old habits like eating out, where i may have went once every day or other day, I don't eat out at all at fast food and only do sit downs maybe once a week. That's what i'm focusing on right now because I have a lot of weight to lose and the other stuff is not as high up on my priority list. I eat a lot of fruit, vegetables and lean meats with very minimal processed foods so I think that where I'm at is a good place to start. When it comes to a point where the little things matter more, I can make an adjustment to what I eat and go from there. This is what works for me and everybody has their own preferences so you just have to figure what works for you.

LuckyLeprechaun

Will I still lose weight?

Yes.

jadedone

I log my food to make sure I am eating enough fiber, to check my iron and my sodium and making sure I eat my produce.

I find it annoying because I never eat the same thing, and I definitely eat prepared foods a few times a week.

But to be honest, if I don't put exactly what I eat in, I will gain. I'll forget about something, and my body is sensitive. The more "bad food" I eat the more my weight holds steady or increases. Keeping an accurate tally is a lot more effective for me.