Why MFP is the only way to lose weight

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adamgottlob
adamgottlob Posts: 36 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I was reading the following article after using MFP for 3 months or so, and it is obvious why this is the only way to lose weight:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/30/sunday-review/why-healthy-eaters-fall-for-fries.html?hp&_r=0

We as humans simply cannot be trusted to measure our own intake accurately and consistently. If we exercise, we will eat what we exercised and then some. If we are asked how healthy we eat, we will remember the times we ate well and "forget" the times we ate that peanut buster parfait. We will overdo the portions and underestimate the calorie content. And if we are given healthy choices, we won't choose them or we will over eat them:

http://www.psmag.com/health/people-choose-larger-portions-of-healthy-foods-61018/

There is simply no way I can see any one having longterm success without keeping a food diary. Yes, it sucks some days. No, I don't like to weigh and measure everything I eat, like a mad scientist pulling a few crumbs out of the bowl to get the food scale just right. But we wouldn't expect a car to run right if we put just anything into it, and we shouldn't expect humans to be healthy unless you know exactly what you are eating and how much.

The one fault of MPF is that the database cannot measure all your food for you. If you go to a mom and pop restaurant, you will not know what they put in their cole slaw, and exactly how much a 1/2 cup or 4 ounces is....and based on the above articles, I am going to underestimate, it's just a fact.

But at least MFP gives people a fighting chance, something to keep with them to make food choices as accurately as reasonably possible, and it's great that such a tool exists.
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Replies

  • DawnieB1977
    DawnieB1977 Posts: 4,248 Member
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    I wouldn't say it's the only way, but calorie counting is definitely beneficial. I guess I have always counted calories, even before I used MFP. I lost a lot of weight years ago, gained weight in my pregnancies, and lost it for a year after without MFP and eating 1200 calories.

    For me, I think the support on MFP and the advice on the forums has helped, rather than calorie counting, although I do like to log. If I hadn't started using MFP I'd still be on 1200 calories a day and not 1600.
  • penelopeyvonne
    penelopeyvonne Posts: 97 Member
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    I sooooo agree with this! I've had varying degrees of success - and sticking to diets - for most of my adult life, and MFP has been - by far - the most successful and the easiest to follow. Who Knew? Weighing food, counting calories (good "old-fashioned" dieting) would be the basis of my success story?

    I've come to realise that I will be counting calories and, yes, logging it all down in MFP for the rest of my life. I don't find it a chore, either, and I've not missed a day since I started back in January.

    It even helps me get through the plateaux that I keep having :frown: but I know it's the only way for me.
  • Missjulesdid
    Missjulesdid Posts: 1,444 Member
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    I was reading the following article after using MFP for 3 months or so, and it is obvious why this is the only way to lose weight:

    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/30/sunday-review/why-healthy-eaters-fall-for-fries.html?hp&_r=0

    We as humans simply cannot be trusted to measure our own intake accurately and consistently. If we exercise, we will eat what we exercised and then some. If we are asked how healthy we eat, we will remember the times we ate well and "forget" the times we ate that peanut buster parfait. We will overdo the portions and underestimate the calorie content. And if we are given healthy choices, we won't choose them or we will over eat them:

    http://www.psmag.com/health/people-choose-larger-portions-of-healthy-foods-61018/

    There is simply no way I can see any one having longterm success without keeping a food diary. Yes, it sucks some days. No, I don't like to weigh and measure everything I eat, like a mad scientist pulling a few crumbs out of the bowl to get the food scale just right. But we wouldn't expect a car to run right if we put just anything into it, and we shouldn't expect humans to be healthy unless you know exactly what you are eating and how much.

    The one fault of MPF is that the database cannot measure all your food for you. If you go to a mom and pop restaurant, you will not know what they put in their cole slaw, and exactly how much a 1/2 cup or 4 ounces is....and based on the above articles, I am going to underestimate, it's just a fact.

    But at least MFP gives people a fighting chance, something to keep with them to make food choices as accurately as reasonably possible, and it's great that such a tool exists.

    Agreed. Even after having bariatric surgery I STILL need to use MFP to help me keep track of my portions, macros and calories. I won't lie, I was one of the ones who really NEEDED the weight loss surgery, I simply could not be successful without it, even with MFP. BUT I also know that I really NEED MFP.. and without it (or another easy to use portion/calorie/macro counting system) I would not be successful even with weight loss surgery. When people ask me how I'm losing weight, I tell them weight loss surgery, exercise, and MFP.
  • TeachTheGirl
    TeachTheGirl Posts: 2,091 Member
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    I think one thing that deters people from logging calories is how monotonous is can become. The people I've seen the most success with are people who have stuck with it for a long time (and kept their streak going), people who make friends here, post blogs or participate on the forums...etc.

    Once you get into the 'lifestyle' of logging, it no longer becomes a chore.
  • laurenward1990
    laurenward1990 Posts: 82 Member
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    Very true!

    MFP was and still is the only way I can lose weight, because i am one of those people who will underestimate what i've just eaten, and those calories add up, making me wonder why i've not lost any weight!

    I also don't lie to MFP, when i'm not using MFP I try to forget about that naughty cheesecake I just ate!
  • Hearts_2015
    Hearts_2015 Posts: 12,031 Member
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    bumping to read later... site's not coming up... probably too many of us clicking it all at once!:tongue:
  • laserturkey
    laserturkey Posts: 1,680 Member
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    What we need is a smart phone attachment with a mini probe you could stick into the food to get a reading of fat content or something. As soon as some tech company comes up with that, we will be golden!
  • SniffTheSweat
    SniffTheSweat Posts: 23
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    No, it really isn't the only way lol.
    It does help :)
    But having a diet based on meat and veg will make weight loss for most people natural.
    The whole "we're programmed to eat loads" bull comes from people with high carb diets. Carbs are addictive, something commonly not understood properly by people who consume large amounts of them.
    Don't get me started on Americans mixing sugar in with water or people drinking coke.
    A lot of people are fat because of the foundations of their diet is wrong, not because they don't count calories.
    Hint: Consider all the people who tried to keep on eating the same food as before, just in smaller portions. I don't even need to know them to tell you they've put that weight back on.
  • Doxeydoxie
    Doxeydoxie Posts: 75
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    Very true! I agree with everything you've written. It's just a fact that you have to be honest and accountable with logging your food.
  • pcastagner
    pcastagner Posts: 1,606 Member
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    No, it really isn't the only way lol.
    It does help :)
    But having a diet based on meat and veg will make weight loss for most people natural.
    The whole "we're programmed to eat loads" bull comes from people with high carb diets. Carbs are addictive, something commonly not understood properly by people who consume large amounts of them.
    Don't get me started on Americans mixing sugar in with water or people drinking coke.
    A lot of people are fat because of the foundations of their diet is wrong, not because they don't count calories.
    Hint: Consider all the people who tried to keep on eating the same food as before, just in smaller portions. I don't even need to know them to tell you they've put that weight back on.

    You mean like me?

    I was my fattest following paleo and not measuring. I respond to meat the way you claim people respond to carbs. Now I'm getting ripped eating carbs (I have most of them at night), meat, veg, and ALL THE ICE CREAMS.
  • farmers_daughter
    farmers_daughter Posts: 1,632 Member
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    I agree that it's not the only way, but a good tool for alot of people, just look at the success boards.

    I also agree, (but dislike) that being a mad scientist is truly how you have to approach food/weight loss. It's ridiculous that we have come to the point that we must weigh food out to the most minute gram and same goes for measuring cups etc.

    Just frustrating that you have to have a degree and a pretty fat pocketbook to stay healthy. Rant over.
  • Cindyinpg
    Cindyinpg Posts: 3,902 Member
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    I also believe the MFP way is the "best" way. It has taught me to stop overcomplicating everything. I am in the camp of believers who are mostly concerned with creating a sustainable average weekly deficit. Period. That is all you need for weightloss. That opens up many dietary opportunities where i do not need to feel deprived. I will not deny myself any of the macros. Give up pancakes? Not in this lifetime. :laugh: That would not be sustainable for me.
  • ms_leanne
    ms_leanne Posts: 523
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    You mean like me?

    I was my fattest following paleo and not measuring. I respond to meat the way you claim people respond to carbs. Now I'm getting ripped eating carbs (I have most of them at night), meat, veg, and ALL THE ICE CREAMS.

    I totally agree.
  • tedrickp
    tedrickp Posts: 1,229 Member
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    The whole "we're programmed to eat loads" bull comes from people with high carb diets. Carbs are addictive, something commonly not understood properly by people who consume large amounts of them.

    A lot of people are fat because of the foundations of their diet is wrong, not because they don't count calories.

    Hint: Consider all the people who tried to keep on eating the same food as before, just in smaller portions. I don't even need to know them to tell you they've put that weight back on.

    weathergirl_eyeroll.gif
  • NonnyMary
    NonnyMary Posts: 982 Member
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    Yes i like to see what I'm eating and it also allows me to fit in something that I really feel I need to get thru this new way of eating. It helps me see a lot, more than I did, like what nutrients are in food ... i was shocked when i discovered certain foods had too much sodium for example that i didn't know was there.

    I think for restaurant eating - seems like what has the worst nutrients are sauces and deli meat. I would have thought bread was the worst, but not in every case. MFP helps me see what I am eating.
  • savithny
    savithny Posts: 1,200 Member
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    It's not just carbs, although they are the easiest target.

    Read "The end of overeating," particularly the summary of the known science of appetite. Human beings actually are born with a pretty good interior calorie control mechanism. Kids presented with a free-feeding meal at lunch have been found to compensate fairly exactly for the extra calories consumed by unconsciously choosing to eat less for the rest of the day.

    The problem is that apparently this mechanism can be "burned out" by overconsumption of super-desirable foods. What's super-desirable? Foods very high in fat, sugar, and salt. The more of your diet that consists of foods that are very high in those components, the less accurate your body becomes in compensating for intake.

    Note that while yes, sugar=carb=one "desirable," fat is also able to throw off our innate weight maintenance.

    I do think that if you can manage to switch to a less processed diet of mostly whole foods, you're likely to be able to better balance your intake... but even then, most "whole foods" that you can buy at the grocery store are bred to be closer to "superdesireable" in their own right; "supersweet" corn varieties, higher-sugar apple breeds, feedlot beef.... all of it sweeter or fattier than the versions eaten for hundreds (if not thousands) of years.
  • CorliJooste
    CorliJooste Posts: 12 Member
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    I think one thing that deters people from logging calories is how monotonous is can become. The people I've seen the most success with are people who have stuck with it for a long time (and kept their streak going), people who make friends here, post blogs or participate on the forums...etc.

    Once you get into the 'lifestyle' of logging, it no longer becomes a chore.

    YES! totally agree! keep it intresting and you get addicted :D
  • adamgottlob
    adamgottlob Posts: 36 Member
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    bumping to read later... site's not coming up... probably too many of us clicking it all at once!:tongue:
    The most poignant segments to me:
    In studies, he has presented participants with a range of menu choices — sometimes just unhealthy items, sometimes neutral items (like a fish sandwich) and sometimes healthy choices like salad. It turned out that including a healthy option did change people’s behavior — by making them eat more unhealthily.
    and
    He found that 54 percent of respondents in New York City said they noticed the calorie labeling. Of those, less than a quarter said they ate fewer calories as a result. BUT their behavior did not, in fact, change. When Dr. Elbel analyzed consumers’ receipts, he found that there was no difference in calories consumed, whether people said they responded to the calorie counts or not.
    If these are representative of human nature, there is simply no way to lose weight without a calculator such as MFP....not that it has to be MFP exactly, but something that relieves the eater from calculating/remembering what they ate.
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
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    There is simply no way I can see any one having longterm success without keeping a food diary. Yes, it sucks some days. No, I don't like to weigh and measure everything I eat, like a mad scientist pulling a few crumbs out of the bowl to get the food scale just right. But we wouldn't expect a car to run right if we put just anything into it, and we shouldn't expect humans to be healthy unless you know exactly what you are eating and how much.

    I'm confused. Are you seriously expecting us to believe that you are unaware that many people never get fat and never keep a food diary? Or that fat people never lose weight without a food diary?

    Or to believe that ALL healthy people keep a food diary? I'm healthy. In fact, I've never had any health problems other than a short term virus or cold. And I'm not fat. I have been overweight, but I've never been obese. Yet out of my 52+ years of life, I've only kept a food diary for < 2 years. And, I never measure my food.

    You make me feel special. :flowerforyou:
  • adamgottlob
    adamgottlob Posts: 36 Member
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    I'm confused. Are you seriously expecting us to believe that you are unaware that many people never get fat and never keep a food diary? Or that fat people never lose weight without a food diary?

    Or to believe that ALL healthy people keep a food diary? I'm healthy. In fact, I've never had any health problems other than a short term virus or cold. And I'm not fat. I have been overweight, but I've never been obese. Yet out of my 52+ years of life, I've only kept a food diary for < 2 years. And, I never measure my food.

    You make me feel special. :flowerforyou:


    I can't imagine anyone having longterm success without keeping a food diary. Yes, some people are naturally thin, or are naturally less hungry. But as special as they may be, or as "not fat" as they are... I would bet that they would not be able to lose x amount of weight longterm without a food diary.

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