No longer fun....

2

Replies

  • HeatherBriggs1970
    HeatherBriggs1970 Posts: 59
    Senioritis...we get to the end and are just ready for it to be over!!!
  • jofjltncb6
    jofjltncb6 Posts: 34,415 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!

    Wait. What do you mean "you're almost there"? Almost where? And when she gets "there", then what do you suggest she do? This isn't a race to reach some arbitrary goal and then you're done...or at least I don't think it is. And if she *does* try winging it, starts gaining, and starts tracking again, she hasn't "failed", she's just had a practice run at the rest of her life. From there, she simply practices a little more by logging consistently and can then try to "wing it" again. Think of it as "life practice".

    At least that's how I see it...but I've been accused many times of oversimplifying this whole weight management thing.
  • Jim1960
    Jim1960 Posts: 194
    Lots of good advice and encouragement on this topic. All I can add is what I do to make the measuring chore a bit easier. I will exactly measure my food the first couple of times I make a particular meal. Then I'll eye-ball it from then on. I try to stick to a few basic meals that I fix all the time. I'll change it up from time to time, then I'll have to measure stuff. Sometimes, such as when I'm at a non-chain restaurant, I'll have to guess anyway. But I do try to guess.
  • dare2love81
    dare2love81 Posts: 928 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.

    WIN
  • BogQueen1
    BogQueen1 Posts: 320 Member
    I think I read an article once about the human need, both phsycial and psychological, to take a break from losing weight for a while. Maybe you are at that point where you just need to take a week off, maybe even two, and eat at maintenance or a little above, and just give yourself a rest. Not an excuse to go hog wild, clearly, but eating at maintenance, and if you've been measuring this long, you start to know how much room on your plate half a cup takes up, you can make reasonable estimates for a while. Just my two cents.
  • jaroyan
    jaroyan Posts: 13 Member
    Counting your calories is just something you're going to have to live with for the rest of your life, sweetie. For about 90% of your meals, you should have a pretty decent idea of your caloric intake. If your diet is really varied, it's just something you can't ignore. Everything becomes tedious after awhile, but this is not a quick fix, it's how you should be eating in general. When I find myself in a similar situation with calories, I generally "treat" myself to a nice organic Amy's meal or a nice sandwich and soup from somewhere reliable (money and calorie-wise) like Potbelly.
  • reneelee
    reneelee Posts: 877 Member

    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?

    Love this quote, I'm going to use it. Thanks for sharing!
  • furniem
    furniem Posts: 145 Member
    Set aside a time when your baby is napping and do all the measuring at once. Portion out your protein, fill up baggies with your snacks so they are pre counted and you dont have to think about it. Do it all at once on a Sunday afternoon and you are set for the week.
    I agree with others as well, we dont do this because it is fun, we do it to be healthy and to get rid of all the junk in our trunk from when we had too much fun with food. ; )

    Good luck!
  • ahviendha
    ahviendha Posts: 1,291 Member
    i've taken a break from mfp when i really didn't care. i started caring again, and got back into a good exercise routine about 3 weeks or a month later.

    it was around when i lost 30lbs, and idk, just lost focus.

    but i came back! =)
  • MoreBean13
    MoreBean13 Posts: 8,701 Member
    So....You've lost 30 lbs in the last 81 days??? HOLY COW!

    Anyways, you might be due for a diet break. Actually I'm certain you are due for a diet break. I felt very bogged down by the whole process when I realized I needed my first one:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/MoreBean13/view/reflections-on-maintenance-diet-break-427880

    Christmas is a great time for one, anyway. I wouldn't stop logging though. According to WIN, keeping track of calories is one of the most important markers for success in maintaining weight loss (the other is exercising). The people who lose considerable weight and keep it off long term track calories, pretty much forever. Of course there's exceptions, and tracking calories doesn't have to mean logging every bite for life, but this site makes it SO easy (and FREE!) I don't know why you'd quit.
  • CallMeCupcakeDammit
    CallMeCupcakeDammit Posts: 9,377 Member
    So....You've lost 30 lbs in the last 81 days??? HOLY COW!

    Anyways, you might be due for a diet break. Actually I'm certain you are due for a diet break. I felt very bogged down by the whole process when I realized I needed my first one:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/MoreBean13/view/reflections-on-maintenance-diet-break-427880

    Christmas is a great time for one, anyway. I wouldn't stop logging though. According to WIN, keeping track of calories is one of the most important markers for success in maintaining weight loss (the other is exercising). The people who lose considerable weight and keep it off long term track calories, pretty much forever. Of course there's exceptions, and tracking calories doesn't have to mean logging every bite for life, but this site makes it SO easy (and FREE!) I don't know why you'd quit.

    Second this!
  • 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!

    Wait. What do you mean "you're almost there"? Almost where? And when she gets "there", then what do you suggest she do? This isn't a race to reach some arbitrary goal and then you're done...or at least I don't think it is. And if she *does* try winging it, starts gaining, and starts tracking again, she hasn't "failed", she's just had a practice run at the rest of her life. From there, she simply practices a little more by logging consistently and can then try to "wing it" again. Think of it as "life practice".

    At least that's how I see it...but I've been accused many times of oversimplifying this whole weight management thing.

    I stand by my opinion. When i said "you're almost there", I think it was pretty clear I meant she is almost to her goal weight. I don't think just because some one doesn't do it my way, they're doing it wrong. They're just doing it differently than I would. Perhaps you should look into that approach.
  • jofjltncb6
    jofjltncb6 Posts: 34,415 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!

    Wait. What do you mean "you're almost there"? Almost where? And when she gets "there", then what do you suggest she do? This isn't a race to reach some arbitrary goal and then you're done...or at least I don't think it is. And if she *does* try winging it, starts gaining, and starts tracking again, she hasn't "failed", she's just had a practice run at the rest of her life. From there, she simply practices a little more by logging consistently and can then try to "wing it" again. Think of it as "life practice".

    At least that's how I see it...but I've been accused many times of oversimplifying this whole weight management thing.

    I stand by my opinion. When i said "you're almost there", I think it was pretty clear I meant she is almost to her goal weight. I don't think just because some one doesn't do it my way, they're doing it wrong. They're just doing it differently than I would. Perhaps you should look into that approach.

    Sorry that you disagree with my opinion...(to the point that you would get snarky in your reply: "Perhaps you should look into that approach"...really?).

    "I stand by my opinion."

    I guess I stand by my opinion too...(but somehow, that makes me overbearing/stubborn/overly-opinionated/wrong/something).

    *shrug*
  • jimgatewood
    jimgatewood Posts: 86 Member
    I don't track my food for fun. I track it to be healthy. The task is boring but the results aren't.

    Yep.
  • Cranktastic
    Cranktastic Posts: 1,517 Member
    So dont do it.
  • cubizzle
    cubizzle Posts: 900 Member
    So dont do it.

    :sad:
  • Yukongil
    Yukongil Posts: 166 Member
    if you've lost that much, good bet you know what you can and can't eat, portions, blah blah blah. Finding something boring or dreading it is the perfect way to lose all interest in any associated tasks. You seem to know what you need to do, just do it and have fun.

    Personally, I like to micromanage, and thus finding out how many almonds I can sneak into a meal without breaking a certain calorie limit or finding the right combo for breakfast to bust my proteins is most of the fun for me.
  • canopypilot
    canopypilot Posts: 5 Member
    Almost there... Keep up the good work... Time to dig in and really give it your all... Burn out happens, just ecknowledge it and press on.

    Miguel
  • tywebbbushwood
    tywebbbushwood Posts: 18
    I am only 30 days into this and have lost 16 pounds. I am pretty diligent about it but I try and do a lot of it at once. I eat 12-16 ounces of vegi's a day but I bag it all up once a week. When I cook ground Turkey, chicken or anything, I do the same thing. For example, I cooked a pound of ground turkey and made 4 bags of 4 ounces and froze 3. My vegi bag has Kale, Spinich, peppers, broccoli and Brussels Sprouts. I know I am going to eat it all during the day so I grab what I want as the day goes on with no measurements. As others said, you can eye ball somethings, you just know. Just be careful on the bad calories.

    You got this.

    Mike
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  • Yaya1976
    Yaya1976 Posts: 357 Member
    It is boring, but the results are FANTASTIC!
    Don't give up :)

    23087067.png
    Created by MyFitnessPal.com - Free Weight Loss Tools
  • MsDover
    MsDover Posts: 395 Member
    Last week I "measured" some portions out simply by eyeballing it, then double checked to see how close I'd come. I was pretty close to spot on every time. I think when you've been doing this long enough you get a very good feel about what a portion size is. Test yourself like this and see how you do. Make THAT a game so it won't seem so tedious! I'll bet you'll be surprised how close those measurements will be!
  • TommiEgan
    TommiEgan Posts: 256 Member
    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 track my food to get the most out of being healthy and staying well fuelled for exercise. It isn't suppose to be a fun thing to do. Maintenance never is.
  • myofibril
    myofibril Posts: 4,500 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.

    This.

    You should have a decent grasp of serving sizes by now so you could try eating intuitively.

    If it doesn't work you could always go back to logging.
  • BetterCrazyThanLazy
    BetterCrazyThanLazy Posts: 336
    I don't track my food for fun. I track it to be healthy. The task is boring but the results aren't.

    This^^^

    And it gets addictive, and I get paranoid if I think that my estimates are off and I eat more than I think I did and then all of my hard work goes down the drain.
  • delacruz_courtney
    delacruz_courtney Posts: 30
    Thank you!!
  • delacruz_courtney
    delacruz_courtney Posts: 30
    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.

    I think you are right...I need to buy measuring tape!
  • delacruz_courtney
    delacruz_courtney Posts: 30
    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

    Thank you very much :)! I do not plan on taking a measuring cup to everything for the rest of my life!! This is what I'm going to need to do!!
  • delacruz_courtney
    delacruz_courtney Posts: 30
    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.

    I know you're right...there are things that we don't enjoy, but we still have to do them. I suppose that what was bothering me was that it use to be fun, and now it's not. I agree, it's a lot better than being overweight!! But, I also wanted to add that it IS fun to change my baby's diaper :). It isn't stinky, and he's so happy when I do it :). Just saying ;)!
  • delacruz_courtney
    delacruz_courtney Posts: 30
    Senioritis...we get to the end and are just ready for it to be over!!!

    !!!! Sounds about right!!! lol

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