Anyone quit logging food and lose weight?

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dewsmom78
dewsmom78 Posts: 498 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I am thinking about not logging food anymore on here. I workout 6 times a week and I have actually gained 2 lbs since starting MFP 3 months ago. Last time I lost a couple pounds was January and I wasn't actively trying. I think I'm obsessing about every calorie and I'm either not eating enough or eating too much. I have no clue. All I know is logging is obviously not working for me.
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Replies

  • wilsoje74
    wilsoje74 Posts: 1,720 Member
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    In the past, has NOT logging worked?
  • scorpiomfs
    scorpiomfs Posts: 167 Member
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    quit and I gained
  • brenn24179
    brenn24179 Posts: 2,144 Member
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    I was wondering the same thing. Maybe I am a brat but this is a lot of discipline. But logging does work for me. Has anyone got healthy habits and can quit doing all this logging.
  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
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    I think it depends on you. I lost weight last year without counting calories, but decided to start so that I didn't have to completely give up foods I love.
  • Amy106Days
    Amy106Days Posts: 172 Member
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    Nope. Never even considered it. Not sure how I would know I was getting proper nutrition daily without logging or at least writing it all down in a notebook. I find the food pyramid a little incomplete and it is hard to guestimate calories for me. One day I hope to have my top 20 days memorized to fit into a healthy lifestyle and to really know how to hit my macro and micro nutrient goals without need of this app and support tool but until then I will probably stick with it. Good luck to you I hope it works!
  • squirrelzzrule22
    squirrelzzrule22 Posts: 640 Member
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    I sopped logging religiously and continue losing but slllooooowwwwly. For me I just can't be bothered to log social weekends of drinking and such....but I try to stay rigid on weekdays. Logging is a giant pain in the butt, and since I eat many of the same foods I don't feel the need to log when I have a good idea in my head of what something I eat five times a week is.

    It's fine for me for now, but If I decide to get serious about rapidly losing ten lbs or so, I may recommit to constant logging for 1-2 months.
  • BeachIron
    BeachIron Posts: 6,490 Member
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    Choice 1, you're absolutely right, it doesn't work.

    Choice 2, you're dong it wrong, perhaps you should ask for advice, answer some questions honestly, and reassess where things are going wrong.

    *cue Jeopardy music*
  • BigBrunette
    BigBrunette Posts: 1,543 Member
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    I have to keep logging. Otherwise, I'm not mindful of what I'm eat, and that's where my trouble starts.
  • ElizabethKalmbach
    ElizabethKalmbach Posts: 1,416 Member
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    I lost 23 lbs before I joined. It was an accident. I joined when I stopped losing. I have not lost a pound since. I think that I may go back to not logging again after I have gathered enough records to speak intelligently with my doctor about my other metabolic issued.
  • KayteeBear
    KayteeBear Posts: 1,040 Member
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    I tried logging for a week or two ages ago but quit because it was too damn hard (I make all my food by scratch, rarely follow recipes and never portion it out since I also cook for my boyfriend) and I can't always remember what I ate all day when I have time to log it at night (can't log it throughout the day as I'm eating, I have to go off memory). Anyways, I am losing weight without logging my food. Personally I don't want to bow down to a number on the computer because that number isn't going to be completely accurate anyways (I couldn't always find the exact brand I had so sometimes calories were slightly different). Instead I focus on eating healthy, correct portions, drinking lots of water, avoiding junk food, etc. which isn't terribly hard for me. I naturally eat small portions and rarely eat junk food.

    For me, it's about maintaining a way of eating that I can do for years to come. I don't want to spend the rest of my life logging every single calorie just so that I can lose weight or maintain my weight. No, thank you.

    I guess it also depends where you start from. If you need to log food to be aware of what you're eating and how much you're eating then it'd be a good thing to do but I personally wouldn't want to get to the point where I HAVE to rely on calorie counting in order to lose weight or maintain.
  • dewsmom78
    dewsmom78 Posts: 498 Member
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    I tried logging for a week or two ages ago but quit because it was too damn hard (I make all my food by scratch, rarely follow recipes and never portion it out since I also cook for my boyfriend) and I can't always remember what I ate all day when I have time to log it at night (can't log it throughout the day as I'm eating, I have to go off memory). Anyways, I am losing weight without logging my food. Personally I don't want to bow down to a number on the computer because that number isn't going to be completely accurate anyways (I couldn't always find the exact brand I had so sometimes calories were slightly different). Instead I focus on eating healthy, correct portions, drinking lots of water, avoiding junk food, etc. which isn't terribly hard for me. I naturally eat small portions and rarely eat junk food.

    For me, it's about maintaining a way of eating that I can do for years to come. I don't want to spend the rest of my life logging every single calorie just so that I can lose weight or maintain my weight. No, thank you.

    I guess it also depends where you start from. If you need to log food to be aware of what you're eating and how much you're eating then it'd be a good thing to do but I personally wouldn't want to get to the point where I HAVE to rely on calorie counting in order to lose weight or maintain.

    Thank you, that's exactly how I feel. There's no way to be completely accurate when you make a lot of food from scratch, we do that a lot as well. I think if I focus on eating healthy and only when I'm hungry, along with continuing to exercise and drink lots of water, maybe that will work for me. It's worth a shot anyway.
  • SueFromRI
    SueFromRI Posts: 206 Member
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    Maybe you should only log desserts, snacks, and alcohol calories. Then you can see where your weaknesses lie. It will make you more aware of the 'non-meal' calories.
  • KayteeBear
    KayteeBear Posts: 1,040 Member
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    Definitely worth a try. I can usually tell exactly how much food I need to be satisfied but not hungry. I pack all my lunches for work so that's always easy and there are days where I don't have enough food and I'm still hungry so the next day I pack a tiny little bit more and go from there. I also pay attention so that I don't overstuff myself. I always go on how my body feels. Some days I just need more food, either I'm doing more housework and burning more calories or walking more at work and other days I'm maybe only doing the laundry after work and don't need as much food for the day. I think it's more important for a person to go on how their body feels instead of a number in front of them.
  • joe7880
    joe7880 Posts: 92 Member
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    Counting calories used to be a huge pain before smartphones and scanners. It's pretty easy IMO with current technology.
  • trdepalo
    trdepalo Posts: 106
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    I had plateaued for about three months, stopped logging for a week while on vacation and just didn't start up again, and I lost five pounds in the first say three weeks of not logging and have since plateaued again. I only have the last ten-fifteen pounds to lose so I don't really mind it being slow now and I'll only start logging again if by September I haven't lost any more.
  • lisabundy5
    lisabundy5 Posts: 39
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    Are you not eating enough calories? You need to eat back your calories when you workout, otherwise your body stores what you've had and end up NOT losing, or gaining. Also, are you being honest about your food log? Are you eating 5 cookies instead of 2 that you logged? Or what about alcohol and any drinks that aren't water? Those 15 m n m's that you forgot to log? Or are your ratios totally bad? Are you eating tons of bad fats and sugar instead of lean proteins???

    If you are doing what you should be doing and being honest about what you are logging or aren't, you shouldn't be gaining. Period.

    (My husband had NO clue why he couldn't lose until I filled him in that just ONE of his vodka lemonades was 305 calories! Calories add up SOOOO fast!)

    Good Luck!
  • tartsul
    tartsul Posts: 298 Member
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    i cook most of my dinners (for just me and my husband) from scratch as well. you should see my "recipe" list on my food tab. i think it's a great way to keep track of what's actually going into my food and also how to change them to make them better (you might be shocked when you see what nutrients are in different foods -i know i was). it's a great way for me to keep track of things and i use it nearly every single day.
    and get a food scale. that's helped me tremendously. before, i'd just wing it and guess what i was eating. once i started actually measuring things, i saw that i was really bad at estimating. this also helps me be more accurate when i am inputting recipes. you have a pound of chicken? put it in your recipe. you plan on having 4 servings from that recipe? simple - measure out 4 oz of the chicken when you are ready to eat. then i scoop out whatever my husband might want, and measure the leftovers for my lunch the next day. pulling it up from the recipe tab couldn't be easier. it's simple. enter the recipe once, make it, eat it, and log it easily for dinner that night and lunch the next day. BOOM.

    OH and i also agree with whoever said they didn't want to bow down to a number on a computer screen. seriously, couldn't agree more. i would get so hung up on meeting this number or that number that i would get really upset with myself when i didn't. my husband gave me a lot of encouragement and helped me to stay on track. i use MFP a lot, and it is a very useful tool to me to keep myself informed. i have learned to not get down on myself so much about meeting number goals, but rather focus on making healthy choices and exercising regularly. also remembering that my self worth and joy are not based in my appearance has been helpful as well. i want to focus on being healthier. MFP helps me do that - but i too have stopped bowing down to the numbers their computer has projected on me.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    Thank you, that's exactly how I feel. There's no way to be completely accurate when you make a lot of food from scratch, we do that a lot as well. I think if I focus on eating healthy and only when I'm hungry, along with continuing to exercise and drink lots of water, maybe that will work for me. It's worth a shot anyway.

    I make pretty much everything from scratch. Use the recipe builder...weigh and measure everything that goes into whatever you're preparing...it's actually pretty easy to be pretty darned accurate.

    I personally don't log anymore...at least for the time being, but I'm also at maintenance. I've been logging since Sept though and have lost 35 Lbs doing so. I've also learned how to eat..portion control...how to listen to my body, etc...if you haven't learned those things, it's going to be pretty easy to fall back into your old habits that landed you here in the first place. I'd say unless you are very confident that you have dialed in a diet (noun) that is sustainable for you and includes hitting all of your macro goals and calorie goals, it's probably best to stick with it.
  • amyk0202
    amyk0202 Posts: 667 Member
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    I log everything. Whenever I don't things start to slip & I go into free fall. I haven't always been on MFP, sometimes I used Weight Watchers, but I have never lost weight without being mindful of what I am actually eating. It is a pain in rear. I make dinner for my family of 6, so I use the recipe builder & base everything on 1 cup servings so that I can calculate what I have eaten. This is a pain as well--dumping the food into a large measuring cup to try to be as accurate as possible. I know that it's not exact, but it's better than nothing. It's just how life has to be (for me at least) & it is worth the effort in the long run.
  • BigGuy47
    BigGuy47 Posts: 1,768 Member
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    After stopping logging I lost 40lbs. Currently I'm maintaining without logging. I use a food scale to check portion sizes and a weigh myself once a week to make sure I'm not gaining or losing.

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