No longer fun....

delacruz_courtney
delacruz_courtney Posts: 30
in Motivation and Support
When I started MFP, I found measuring food to be so much fun...but now it's not :(. I find it to be annoying at times :(. I've lost 67 pounds & I have 11 pounds to go until I reach my ideal body weight. I feel so close to my goal, and that should be motivation enough, but it doesn't make measuring food fun. IDK what the solution is. Part of me says wing it, but what if I'm off on my measurements and over eat?. I've been logging faithfully and honestly for 81 days...I lost 37 pounds before joining MFP (I had a baby :). Hmm
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Replies

  • AllergicToExercise
    AllergicToExercise Posts: 436 Member
    The whole thing becomes boring after a while but then how many tasks do we all do daily that are boring because they just have to be done? It's working for you, you've done great so far and only have a short way to go so I would say stick with it cos you'll soon be where you want to be. ????
  • JustANumber85
    JustANumber85 Posts: 644 Member
    i dont really have advice- for me its just habit now.
  • Codefox
    Codefox Posts: 309 Member
    I don't track my food for fun. I track it to be healthy. The task is boring but the results aren't.
  • belladonna786
    belladonna786 Posts: 1,165 Member
    I am taking a break from counting everything. I mostly eat the same things cycled throughout the week so I have a great idea of what my portions are. If I find myself gaining I will go back to measuring.
  • enigma4u
    enigma4u Posts: 16
    On the contrary, I like to log and see how much I can still eat. i have iPhone app and it has become very handy. Also I eat all the same healthy meals over and over again so you just need to check and add quantity. I would go blind on my weight loss if I didn't count calories.

    You have come so far, now don't loose the momentum !! Good Luck
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    I don't track my food for fun. I track it to be healthy. The task is boring but the results aren't.

    100% agree with this! It can become very tedious and sometimes cumbersome, especially if you're in a hurry...but the results are loud and clear...and fun.
  • georgie304
    georgie304 Posts: 143
    I don't track my food for fun. I track it to be healthy. The task is boring but the results aren't.

    This.

    I saw a quote...

    Essentially...

    It isn't fun to have to diligently exercise and eat healthy.... and it isn't fun to be over weight and unhealthy... Which will you chose? (Not verbatim)

    Stay the course, you will thank yourself for it!
  • just4nessa
    just4nessa Posts: 459 Member
    I don't weigh and measure food because it's fun, I do it because it helps me get to my goal. I sometimes get bored with it and tired of measuring and weighing every little thing, but it's what keeps me on track. Maybe mix it up a little by playing a mind-game with yourself; eyeball your portions before you weigh or measure to see how close you are.
  • harvo
    harvo Posts: 4,676 Member
    Only measure two or three days a week,. That is how my diabetes doctor told me to keep control on my portions without measuring everything all the time..
  • _Katastrophic
    _Katastrophic Posts: 98
    I dont measure anything
  • Duck_Puddle
    Duck_Puddle Posts: 3,237 Member
    I don't track my food for fun. I track it to be healthy. The task is boring but the results aren't.

    Agreed! Paying bills isn't "fun" either, but it has to be done if I want to keep the electricity on...
  • rjcelmer
    rjcelmer Posts: 431 Member
    I don't track my food for fun. I track it to be healthy. The task is boring but the results aren't.

    Couldn't have said it better.
  • MinnieInMaine
    MinnieInMaine Posts: 6,400 Member
    I very rarely weigh or measure my food. At first I did to be accurate but now I mostly eyeball and guesstimate. Think of it this way, as with the rest of the changes you've made, will you really be measuring and weighing your food for the rest of your life? Not likely... So it's better to lean the skill of eyeballing.

    Here are some nice tips on measuraing and guesstimating:

    http://www.mynetdiary.com/estimating-portions-for-food-diary.html
  • itgeekwoman
    itgeekwoman Posts: 804 Member
    It was so fun in the beginning because you saw change faster. I would urge you to measure yourself now.. give it another couple of weeks and measure again. Maybe if you start seeing the small changes you will find it at least more tolerable.

    Good luck! stay strong and stick with it. You are the only person that can make yourself succeed.
  • sunnyside1213
    sunnyside1213 Posts: 1,205 Member
    Does anyone else eat out of the measuring cup?
  • AllonsYtotheTardis
    AllonsYtotheTardis Posts: 16,947 Member
    If you think it will stop you from trying to achieve your goals, because you're fed up with the process.... take a few days off. Maybe a week. Then come back to it refreshed and ready to continue.

    When I was on vacation earlier this year, I found it to be a royal pain to log everything. So I didn't for that week. When I got home, I felt very ready to get back at it.
  • mk_hammer
    mk_hammer Posts: 105
    I find weighing food to be much easier than measuring it (a lot fewer dirty dishes, too!). Just put whatever container you're going to eat out of on the scale, put the food on the scale, then track and eat the food. It's a quick in-between step (albeit a very important one). Accountability is key!
  • daj150
    daj150 Posts: 815 Member
    I have suffered from the same problem of finding it boring to log everything. My solution...aside from dinners..I have usually have a 1 of 10 different breakfasts, 1 of 5 different lunches, and a wide variety of dinners. Snacks are usually pretty consistent as well. Although individual items from each meal exist, I turned them into recipes that I can add with 1 click.

    Example:

    1. Breakfast - Egg whites and turkey sausage
    2. Breakfast - Oatmeal
    Etc.

    I started noticing that there are some consistent dinners and sides as well. So I did the same thing. I still don't enjoy inputting and tracking, but this makes it pretty easy and less tedious for me. I am still trying to convince myself this is just a way of life. Not working yet.
  • delacruz_courtney
    delacruz_courtney Posts: 30
    Thanks for the advice/ comments :). I suppose it doesn't have to be fun :/.
  • drmerc
    drmerc Posts: 2,603 Member
    man up
  • ObtainingBalance
    ObtainingBalance Posts: 1,446 Member
    Brushing your teeth might be boring, does that mean you should stop? Lol.
  • laserturkey
    laserturkey Posts: 1,680 Member
    You could buy more pre-measured, portion-sized things, or measure out things into smaller containers to keep in the freezer or fridge, so you have some items ready for spur-of-the-moment use.
  • jofjltncb6
    jofjltncb6 Posts: 34,415 Member
    A couple of options:

    1. Stop logging and do your best to guesstimate. Keep track of your weight/measurements and if the trend starts going in a bad way, start logging again.

    or

    2. Keep logging anyhow. Part of being a grown-up is that we sometimes have to do boring things.
  • UsedToBeHusky
    UsedToBeHusky Posts: 15,228 Member
    I would think that by now you could safely "eye-ball" it. Remember that calorie-counting in and of itself is not an exact science. There is no way MFP or anything else could ever precisely predict how many calories that your body will need through out the course of the day.

    I have been "eye-balling" my food since the very beginning. Every once in awhile I'll measure liquids, but for the most part, I guesstimate weights. It could still work. Of course, if your progress slows down, then you might go back to measuring again for a little while, just to reaquaint yourself with what the appropriate amounts of food looks like.
  • marieautumn
    marieautumn Posts: 928 Member
    First...congrats on the huge loss!
    Second.. do not..i repeat...DO NOT wing it. i tried this for a month or so and found myself gaining. Turns out my passive guesses were not as accurate as i thought. just stick with it, you're almost there!
  • lovechicagobears
    lovechicagobears Posts: 289 Member
    Does anyone else eat out of the measuring cup?

    Ha! I do this when I measure peanut butter for a snack. :) I like to have a little bit at night before I go to bed, and I find it's easier to just eat it out of the tablespoon than to scoop it out of the tablespoon with a regular spoon (and dirty another utensil).

    I also do this with berries. I put them into the one-cup measuring cup and eat them out of that instead of putting them into a bowl.
  • John2347
    John2347 Posts: 336 Member
    i have never weighed my food... just eyeballed it... 1 serving of grains approx the size of your fist, 1 serving of meat approx the size of your palm, and then as many fruits and veggies as wanted always works for me
  • jcstanton
    jcstanton Posts: 1,849 Member
    You just have to look at it as one of those things in life that just has to be done, whether it's fun or not. Like changing your baby's diaper. Definitely not a fun chore, but it must be done in order to avoid some even more unpleasant side effects. It may be tedious and annoying, but it's a whole lot better than being overweight.
  • Melo1966
    Melo1966 Posts: 881 Member
    Does anyone else eat out of the measuring cup?

    I have:laugh: Why dirty a bowl too?
  • chickfromsc
    chickfromsc Posts: 31
    A couple of options:

    1. Stop logging and do your best to guesstimate. Keep track of your weight/measurements and if the trend starts going in a bad way, start logging again.

    or

    2. Keep logging anyhow. Part of being a grown-up is that we sometimes have to do boring things.


    ^^^^ THIS! I became bored and stopped ( actually deleted my account) logging in daily...I gained almost 10 pounds of the nearly 35 pounds I had lost back within months. SO- my advise... put your big girl panties on...and JUST DO IT. You worked way to hard to slip back! And trust me....it's very easy!

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