Women that don't live by calories- are you out there?
Picola1984
Posts: 1,133
Hello
As I become closer to my goal and becoming happy with my body I'm starting to wonder if I now need to really log everything I eat/ burn
I have a clear cut frame of mind of what is healthy, what benefits my body and what not to eat. I stick to a high protein, good carb diet full of veggies, some fruit and extras like flax, apple cider vinegar, supplements and all that gubbins. I can now and again give in to my chocolate cravings but I know how to swing it around and recover from a mini binge. I don't let it ruin my day now like it used to, hey we are only human after all!
I will be going abroad in 2 weeks and probably won't have access to the interent so will break my, what will be, 334 day run of logging in to MFP
I was thinking to use this as a break away from the monotony of logging every day and see how I go.
Are there any other females out there that do this, or males for that matter! And have you succeeded with your goals without logging your expended and consumed calories?
As I become closer to my goal and becoming happy with my body I'm starting to wonder if I now need to really log everything I eat/ burn
I have a clear cut frame of mind of what is healthy, what benefits my body and what not to eat. I stick to a high protein, good carb diet full of veggies, some fruit and extras like flax, apple cider vinegar, supplements and all that gubbins. I can now and again give in to my chocolate cravings but I know how to swing it around and recover from a mini binge. I don't let it ruin my day now like it used to, hey we are only human after all!
I will be going abroad in 2 weeks and probably won't have access to the interent so will break my, what will be, 334 day run of logging in to MFP
I was thinking to use this as a break away from the monotony of logging every day and see how I go.
Are there any other females out there that do this, or males for that matter! And have you succeeded with your goals without logging your expended and consumed calories?
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Replies
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Bumping, still quite a way off my goal but want to see what people have to say.0
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Im only 53% of the way to my goal...but stopping the counting is what has failed me in the past. So I will for the rest of my life log what I eat. Did you know that over eating by 100 calories a day can make you gain 10 lbs in a year? Obviously when I reach goal, I'll eat more because I wont be trying to lose weight anymore, but I'm still going to log it.0
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Bumping this...
Yes. I've heard people just eat inituatively . I would love to be able to do that ; ONCE I am at my UGW.
It seems harder, I don't trust my body and I'm not good at "listening" to it.
Your body is smart, you will be fine... just eat balanced meals and listen to hunger and fullness cues.
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I would say go ahead and try it! Live on the wild side if you're ready 0
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Im only 53% of the way to my goal...but stopping the counting is what has failed me in the past. So I will for the rest of my life log what I eat. Did you know that over eating by 100 calories a day can make you gain 10 lbs in a year? Obviously when I reach goal, I'll eat more because I wont be trying to lose weight anymore, but I'm still going to log it.
Yes, I know. BUT If you weigh every week or every month -- you would catch that weight gain BEFORE it becomes 10 lbs in one year.
When I'm done losing, I will just keep track of the scale - eat lighter if it goes up one week/month .
Calorie counting can distract you from life sometimes... it's sometimes a stress , I seem to want to measure everything.0 -
Im only 53% of the way to my goal...but stopping the counting is what has failed me in the past. So I will for the rest of my life log what I eat. Did you know that over eating by 100 calories a day can make you gain 10 lbs in a year? Obviously when I reach goal, I'll eat more because I wont be trying to lose weight anymore, but I'm still going to log it.
Yes, I know. BUT If you weigh every week or every month -- you would catch that weight gain BEFORE it becomes 10 lbs in one year.
When I'm done losing, I will just keep track of the scale - eat lighter if it goes up one week/month .
Calorie counting can distract you from life sometimes... it's sometimes a stress , I seem to want to measure everything.
It's just a personal preference. I dont stress about logging what I eat..and if I go over I go over, I don't stress about that either. My problem is the scale and I gain a lb and I'll be like "eh...its just a lb" and then that adds up over time. It will be different for everyone, but me personally I'd rather just hold myself accountable and log what I eat.0 -
I take every weekend and holiday off from logging, and sometimes take prolonged breaks from logging. I took about a month off from logging and exercise last winter when I had my stress fracture, and my weight stayed pretty much the same. But I like having the safety net of logging every so often.0
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Nice streak BTW.
I think they are two different goals, but once you are near your target, as you are, experimenting with not logging will probably be good for you. You might find you are able to listen and gauge appropriately. Just know that if it doesn't work for you you can always start logging again, it can be a helpful refresher/reminder if you get off track.
Enjoy your trip!0 -
i don't know about women, but from a man's point of view:
i logged every last crumb for about nine months, and every work out. i denied myself sweets, sodas, cake, and alcohol. then i started re-introducing them into my diet as treats and special occasion items. hell, i even learned how to splurge while still maintaining control.
i pretty much changed the way i look at food and fitness, and developed new eating habits that i think are here to stay.
at the moment, i don't log as carefully as i should, but i also know that i'm on the right track.
at my lightest, with only doing massive cardio and light body weight work outs, i weight 215lbs. now i'm doing cardio and heavy lifting, and working out 5-6 days a week, and i weigh about 225, but my pants are still loose.
my shirts are getting tighter in my shoulders, although no one seems to mind.0 -
I am almost 50. Last Jan was the first time in my life that I ever counted calories. My weight has been up and down in my life but I have always been active and always able to take it off. I have learned SO much from logging my calories and exercise!! Honestly though, I have not decided how long I will do this or at what consistency when I get to my goal (to be stronger and the most fit of my life).0
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Oh, I most definitely take a break from logging on holidays, and some weekends too if I'm away from home. That doesn't mean I go for an all-out pig fest, but I try not to stress so much about it. You are on holiday after all!
Have a great time!0 -
I take my breaks here & there: I do prelog during the week for what I take to work for breakfast, lunch & snax but usually "forget" in the evenings when I get home. I've plateaued for the last several months (granted I go up & down by the proverbial 5 pounds depending on certain factors but I don't freak out). I workout A LOT - it appears you keep a good regiment as well, so I wouldn't worry. Keep up with eating what your body knows you like, workout at least a little when you can & you'll be fine.
I know if I buckle down, I can get rid of this last 10 that plague me, but it's good to know that I can forgo logging sometimes & as long as I keep up with my workouts I keep the same weight.
Enjoy your time away - a change of scenery is always good physically, mentally & spiritually :flowerforyou:0 -
Yes, I would say mfp has helped me regain boundaries around my food intake....and it's becoming more second nature all the time.Hello
As I become closer to my goal and becoming happy with my body I'm starting to wonder if I now need to really log everything I eat/ burn
I have a clear cut frame of mind of what is healthy, what benefits my body and what not to eat. I stick to a high protein, good carb diet full of veggies, some fruit and extras like flax, apple cider vinegar, supplements and all that gubbins. I can now and again give in to my chocolate cravings but I know how to swing it around and recover from a mini binge. I don't let it ruin my day now like it used to, hey we are only human after all!
I will be going abroad in 2 weeks and probably won't have access to the interent so will break my, what will be, 334 day run of logging in to MFP
I was thinking to use this as a break away from the monotony of logging every day and see how I go.
Are there any other females out there that do this, or males for that matter! And have you succeeded with your goals without logging your expended and consumed calories?
Possibly over time I will only log for periods of time, just to check in, or to obtain a fitness goal.
I definitely worry less about a higher-intake day, because I have perspective (like, I know what my TDEE is, and also I know that one day over does not equal 4lbs of fat gain lol!).
And sometimes a good full-tummy fun-eating day is great, and healthy!
I have better eating habits, and eat healthier combinations!0 -
If you are eating as natural as you mentioned in your post, stop eating when full there is really no reason you need to count calories.
You are opting to QUALITY over the QUANTITY so you should be good to go.Hello
As I become closer to my goal and becoming happy with my body I'm starting to wonder if I now need to really log everything I eat/ burn
I have a clear cut frame of mind of what is healthy, what benefits my body and what not to eat. I stick to a high protein, good carb diet full of veggies, some fruit and extras like flax, apple cider vinegar, supplements and all that gubbins. I can now and again give in to my chocolate cravings but I know how to swing it around and recover from a mini binge. I don't let it ruin my day now like it used to, hey we are only human after all!
I will be going abroad in 2 weeks and probably won't have access to the interent so will break my, what will be, 334 day run of logging in to MFP
I was thinking to use this as a break away from the monotony of logging every day and see how I go.
Are there any other females out there that do this, or males for that matter! And have you succeeded with your goals without logging your expended and consumed calories?0 -
I haven't been logging, unless I start to feel bad health-wise. In that case, I log so I can see patterns in what I'm eating to see if that's affecting me. I haven't gained weight. I do consistently weigh myself every week or two, so if I do start gaining I can nip it in the bud. I have developed some "food rules" that help keep me from going back to the way I used to eat which caused the weight gain in the first place: I try to stay away from bread (not all the time, but I do limit it severely), I make sure I'm eating protein foods with every meal, I try to limit my dairy as much as I can (more due to allergies than anything else), I work on eating plenty of plant matter, and I don't eat sweets unless it's a special occasion, like yesterday was my and my dad's birthday, so we have cake and pie and I'm eating that. Those are just my rules though, and they might not be right for everyone.0
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Probably no need in your case. You know how much you can eat and have a basic knowledge of the calories in what you eat. For someone starting out and having trouble knowing how much they actually eat, they need to log everything. But once you've figured it out, the need to log diminishes.0
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I stopped logging about a month ago. Sometimes I add things up in my head to see where I am. The only draw back is now I don't think I'm getting enough protein and I forget to take my vitamins (logging them helped me remember). I'd like to lose more but am not terribly concerned with it at this moment.0
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I can do that but I prefer to log to be safe. I'm at a point now where if I KNOW I'll be under my calories (just because I've mentally added up what I'm eating) then I wont log it. But if I've had a bunch of junk and need to do damage control, I'll log it.0
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Honestly.. this is our ultimate goal! To lose the weight and then be able to maintain a healthy weight without sitting in front of MFP to see if it 'fits'. It sounds to me like you are ready to leave!!
:drinker: 0 -
If you figure this out , let me know. Logging gives me comfort and keeps me cognizant of what I am eating. Some days I am under my calories when I feel very full …so it helps me both ways, staying on the right calorie count, not over or under.0
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At this point that wouldn't work for me. Even though I'm at my first goal weight, not logging would probably cause me to eat less. I'm trying to mindful to not fall back into a low calorie rut, and my tendency is to forget to eat. That may sound weird but if I get stressed or busy food is the last thing on my mind. Maybe when I've been at a higher calorie level for longer it will feel ok to not log.
In your case though it seems you have a healthy grasp on your bodies needs so I say take that break.0 -
I for sure take breaks!! As a professional athlete I need to know what I have going in because I train so heavily but FOR SURE when I have a few weeks off in between events I take a breather to relax my mind . I like to know what is going in my body as well BUT moderation is key to everything :-00
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My plan after I get to goal is to log until I have a good understanding what my calories to maintain my weight are and then I will probably occasionally log just to see how I'm doing.
If I'm gaining, I'll go back to logging. Right now I feel like logging is a habit for me..... I do take a day or two off here or there- when I get too obsessive about it, I step away for a little bit. I don't feel like I will have to be a life-long logger, and hopefully I'll be right about that. I don't mind but I also don't like to think about food that much, haha 0 -
Personally, I don't find it useful to count calories. I've lost weight over the past year without counting calories - I tend to know intuitively what foods are healthy for me, and I listen to my body. For me, what has made the most difference to my body is doing occasional fasts, and starting to do strength exercises. Occasional fasts help me become a lot more in tune with my body - I'm trying the 5:2 fasting thing now that there was a BBC documentary about it, but that seems a bit too regimented for me (and again involves counting calories, which I don't like). I think the fasts I just did naturally were probably best for me.
I do like to keep track of my food, but not in terms of calories - I like to take photos of all I eat and keep a photo blog. That makes me a lot more mindful about what I eat. I do keep track of my food here with the food diary, and have been doing so regularly for about a month, but I don't find it helpful - and it can be a bit of a hindrance at times, because when I see my food intake in terms of numbers, it stops me trusting my intuition and I become confused.0 -
bump for later.0
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I have a friend who just reached her goal. And her first reaction was to say "How am I going to eat 500 more calories a day?" Now she's really struggling with the balance of maintenance. So she's still logging everything.
I've lost more than 100 lbs twice. And gained more than that back twice. I like the structure and reinforcement of logging. It makes me feel much less stressed about eating and much more satisfied with exercising (immediate positive reinforcement). I look forward to always logging and seeing the balance. It gives me the confidence that I can and will get to a healthy weight and this time be able to maintain it.0 -
I don't live COMPLETELY by the calorie number because it makes me crazy. I will log my food for a few days but when I find myself slipping back into that "Let me play a game here with these numbers" mindset, I know it's no longer healthy to log my food. I have a ton of weight to lose still, but I know approximately what I can and cannot eat in a day at this point, and food is not my biggest issue - exercise is!0
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I started a topic similar to this a few months ago but the search function isn't that useful!
The issue is whether you'll really be eating the right amount. As someone said, you eat 100 calories over and you'll start putting it back on. That's how we started. As for eating intuitively, I guess I did that before and only when I logged it, I realised I was eating about 1200 a day which is too little for me. Is there anyone out there who is lean and eating intuitively... and not even exercising?
Another issue is that you said you still binge but know how to deal with it afterwards; if you don't log things, how will you know how much you binged with? As an aside, I'd speak to a therapist about why you need to binge. (I say this in a non-judgemental fashion.)0 -
It's really nice to see the variety of answers here. I have hit my goal weight and mostly stopped logging, but went back just this week to log a day because I went up a pound. It turned out that I was fine, and it went back down again.
That said, this summer, I had to take off three weeks from logging because of various trips, and it turned out that MFP has taught me how to eat smart. I kept losing at the same rate. I think that once you know how to do it, you really can almost feel when you're at your limit for the day, and paying attention to your body is probably a better way to learn to control it than always logging in. Unfortunately, in the past, I might have been able to hear the "words" coming from my body, but I sure didn't listen. We'll see whether the stress of a school year can interfere with what I've learned.
As long as things are going well, I won't be here often, but I will check occasionally to make sure my sugars are low and my protein is high enough. Whoever said that about protein, ditto!
Besides, I love this community. It's a wonderful place for support.0 -
I'm a whole foods eater (nothing processed.. just food that comes from nature) and i HATE counting calories. I like to use MFP mainly to log in my workouts and some days i will log in what i eat but i never follow the "calories" that MFP tells me but anyway, by eating whole foods i dont believe in counting calories. I always seem to do better and lose weight when i dont count them and i've lost weight by eating like 3000 calories of whole foods before. Plus, i believe that its unhealthy to obsess with counting calories. If you work out and eat healthy then you'll be fine.0
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