The endless search.....

Mokey41

There seems to be a never ending search on these forums for more burned calories to log. What is the obsession with the endless search for more to eat? Did anyone gain weight by eating too little? Did you worry about every move you made before you started logging? Is there an assumption that if you move a little more today and don't eat those calories that you'll possibly drop into the dreaded "starvation mode"?

"Thin" people don't go around all day wondering if the extra flight of stairs requires more food, questioning whether walking the dog at a slow pace is exercise, trying to figure out how many calories they burned by standing instead of sitting. It's life! Every movement isn't noteworthy, every calorie burned doesn't need to be compensated.

If you've set an unrealistic goal for yourself then make an adjustment. IMHO the biggest obstacle to weight loss is right between our ears. Until you can get into a mindset where food is not part of the majority of your thoughts you aren't going to be successful. Food is nourishment for our bodies, it can be enjoyed but it doesn't need to be the focus of every waking moment.

quirkytizzy

I'd assume it's because people get hungry when they work out. I would think (though I don't know for sure) that the hunger that comes from a higher calorie burn v.s the hunger we get when we're over-eating are different. Or at least that the body takes different things from it. Or something like that. I'm not entirely sure, but it seems like the two would be different.

I see a lady post on the forums about how she doesn't log anything that she was doing before she started doing her weight-loss. If it didn't help her lose weight before, it won't now, she says. That made sense to me.

nanainkent

I log in every day, weigh and measure everything, and make sure I get the right amount of exercise every day, every day. I keep my focus on the weight loss to keep myself motivated. I am here to lose weight.When I am creating a habit I focus on creating it. As I get close to goal I will have learned how to incorporate these things into my life without thought. Then I will be like the thin person I used to be who goes about the day doing what comes naturally. Such as watching my food intake, knowing what foods are the right ones, exercising by doing what I enjoy. That is why thin people don't worry about it. They already do these things naturally without thought, or they are just one of those people who don't seem to gain weight.

mmapags

I think this is one of the drawbacks to the MFP system of not giving exercise calories until you earn them. Then people naturally try to find out how to earn them. Especially if they are at too high a deficit and hungry all the time. The good part of it is the same coin on the other side. You can't fudge, you have to do the work to log it and get calories.

Many prefer when trying to lose, to set a level intake as a deficit from TDEE and just make sure you get in the amount of exercise within a week to make the numbers work in your favor. This eliminates the questions like "I walked 1/2 mile to from the bustop to work, do I log that?" or the housecleaning one that pops up. To me, that stuff is NEAT not exercise. So if you get a little extra NEAT one day, it makes up for the lazy day you had. Don't look to log it, they come back and complain how your are stalled in a month!

prokomds

If I do something out of my norm, I do like to account for the fact that I'm likely more hungry than usual. Walking a couple extra miles, do hours of house/yardwork, whatever. Plus I get grumpy if I undereat

Really, though, I'd rather see these threads than the plethora of "comparing sizes" or "I've lost all these inches but not pounds" or the "I'm not losing FAST ENOUGH" threads, but maybe that's me. We all have our pet peeves, hahaha. I was going to add the "I eat 500 calories a day, exercise for hours, and am not losing" threads, but those are the people that need advice the most...