Do you plan on logging forever?

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24

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  • smantha32
    smantha32 Posts: 6,990 Member
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    I'll probably have to yes. When I leave it up to myself I gain. I don't seem to be able to judge it accurately without MFP or another calorie counter. And MFP is easiest to use.
  • Godan2b
    Godan2b Posts: 57 Member
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    I hit my goal about 6 months ago but like someone else mentioned I just keep after it to make sure I'm eating right and enough 'good' food. plus if I do have some days of overdoing it I can catch myself quicker. I do it first thing in the morning and adjust as needed through the day. and Sunday was 820 days in a row for me. :happy:
  • tomwatso
    tomwatso Posts: 1,304 Member
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    I am hypothyroid and may continue to log even when I hit a safe maintenance level. I would like to be 10% body fat. For me, that would be 190-192 lbs. I am at 13% right now. I feel like I am monitoring my thyroid level and will try to keep up with as much as I can.
  • BrookeBQ
    BrookeBQ Posts: 163 Member
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    I do plan on logging forever, I don't trust myself and my instincts.
  • zjpq
    zjpq Posts: 198 Member
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    No. I have this amazing ability to maintain the same weight no matter what I do so long as I keep track of my weight and reign it in a little if needed. However, that also means I have lost 10lbs in 6 months because my body LOVES to maintain so getting to the goal weight in the first place could very well take forever...
  • teddabod
    teddabod Posts: 222 Member
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    Yes... I am like the Stepford Husband of MFP....

    Join us... forever and ever...
  • 55in13
    55in13 Posts: 1,091 Member
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    I log every now and then as a sanity check and sometimes for a stint of a few days, but I don't want to depend on it. I do pay attention to meals as units of my diet and think about the rough numbers, so I know about where I am. I will pay attention to the scale and weigh often even when I have maintained for a while. I think it may be more important during the first big loss (assuming you have one) where you get from unhealthy back to healthy. For me that was over 50 pounds and I still want to lose a little more even though I am back in the healthy zone now. I have pretty much given up weekday daytime snacking and I think that will be permanent. That does make keeping rough numbers a lot easier.
  • nilbogger
    nilbogger Posts: 870 Member
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    Yes I do. Maybe not religiously, but my plan is to keep logging indefinitely. I lost weight before, stopped logging and gained everything back and then some.

    It's not that big a deal... just anothe one of the silly, mundane things I do online every day. I notice when I stop logging it's because I'm not eating very well and don't want to have concrete proof of that in my face.
  • ackdyolen
    ackdyolen Posts: 15 Member
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    I view weight like debt: once you get your debt paid off, does that mean it's time to stop budgeting and logging your money? Nope. Gotta keep on keeping on. So when I get my weight off, I absolutely plan to continue logging for as long as I'm able, because every time I stop logging my food, my weight creeps up & up & up, slowly but surely. I don't want it to get ahead of me, I want to stay accountable and responsible, and logging my food & exercise has been the only think keeping me grounded.
  • megalin9
    megalin9 Posts: 771 Member
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    My hope is that I will log for a few months on maintenance to make sure I have a good understanding of how it works, what I can eat, how much I can eat, etc. And then I plan on testing myself for a few weeks to make sure I'm comfortable. If it's too scary (logging it is a security blanket, ya know) or if I start gaining/slacking, then I will start back up. But I honestly dream of the day when I won't have to log every single thing. I have learned how to cook, weigh, and pack my food as habits for the rest of my life, not just while I'm trying to lose. I have considered closing my account and saying farewell to my friends, but I think I've decided against that so that I can be a success story and inspire others. Also, my fitness goals won't ever stop, so it will be a good way to keep me accountable for my exercise.
  • sharleengc
    sharleengc Posts: 792 Member
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    I tried to maintain when I was going though my divorce and stressing over my job. I didn't log consistently and while I thought I was doing fairly well, I did gain back about 15 lbs. I lived in an area where there were no restaurants so I wasn't eating out and didn't buy junk food. I thought I was staying within my limit as I had been tracking and logging for over a year.

    So, I hope I don't have to log forever when I go back to maintenance but I may need to be more cautious about what I am picking and the amount because it can be easy to slip into old habits.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,868 Member
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    My hope is that I will log for a few months on maintenance to make sure I have a good understanding of how it works, what I can eat, how much I can eat, etc. And then I plan on testing myself for a few weeks to make sure I'm comfortable. If it's too scary (logging it is a security blanket, ya know) or if I start gaining/slacking, then I will start back up. But I honestly dream of the day when I won't have to log every single thing. I have learned how to cook, weigh, and pack my food as habits for the rest of my life, not just while I'm trying to lose. I have considered closing my account and saying farewell to my friends, but I think I've decided against that so that I can be a success story and inspire others. Also, my fitness goals won't ever stop, so it will be a good way to keep me accountable for my exercise.

    That's definitely a good idea...I logged for a good 6-8 weeks at maintenance to get a good handle on what maintenance looked like...

    I've never even considered closing my account here. I have different friends now that I'm at a different stage...and remember, this is called My FITNESS Pal, not my diet pal...so there's always good info to be had here. Most of my friends now are just really into general fitness and nutrition...don't have a whole lot of 'em anymore actively trying to lose a lot of weight.
  • jmoliveson
    jmoliveson Posts: 40 Member
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    This is my first time keeping track of calories and I find it highly invasive only because some days I don't feel like eating or I fill up on veggies which have very little calories, so having to log everything to me is a pain. On the other hand being part of this site is the best thing I ever did. Knowing what I eat on a daily basis not only helps me feel better about losing weight but it also allows me to stay within the normal range. For instance if I decide to eat 5 stuffed jalapenos, counting calories will help me avoid eating over 1000 calories for one meal. If you stop logging your calories there is a chance you could slip up. Congrats on all your success!
  • chandanista
    chandanista Posts: 986 Member
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    Yes, I do plan on logging forever.

    Though I've never been this low in my adult life (I weighed over 200 lbs in 6th grade) I have lost & regained quite a bit and what I've learned is that bad habits creep back up on you slowly and stealthily. For me, a few minutes a day logging and planning my eating gives me confidence that I'm still in control. Small price to pay.

    But that's me, and how my mind works. I was obese for almost 50 years. I don't trust myself to stay slim without diligent accountability.
    Vypeters, I just want to say, you are my hero of the day. You show that it's never too late to change a life. Thank you!



    @ the OP, once I get to maintenance I plan on logging during the week but relaxing it on weekends and at parties/social events. If I start to gain more than a couple of pounds, I'll get back to logging daily, but I hope to be in a place where I can make the healthy choices without having to look up the numbers on a website. Eventually I want to be at a point where I just log if I want to make sure I'm still on track, and maybe just log my exercise to show how well I'm doing with that. Just because I'll be at a healthy weight doesn't mean I want to lose the strength I've barely realized I can obtain.
  • tinak33
    tinak33 Posts: 9,883 Member
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    Nope. Not gonna log forever. Pretty sure when I'm 80, I'm not gonna give a *kitten* about logging my damn calories. hahaha
    :laugh: :bigsmile:
  • MelsAuntie
    MelsAuntie Posts: 2,833 Member
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    Yes, possibly for the rest of my life.
  • taiyola
    taiyola Posts: 964 Member
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    Probably.

    Sadly, I spent the ages of 8-20 with eating disorders, and then without those, I gained weight.

    I have denial about what I eat. I'm scared of ever getting an eating disorder again, and I don't want to be overweight either. So, I guess so!
  • TeachTheGirl
    TeachTheGirl Posts: 2,091 Member
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    I've lost the majority of the weight that I've wanted, but I'm nowhere near the way I want to look, so I'm going to at least continue working until I am at my ideal bodyfat percentage and then see what happens.

    Honestly, I love this community. There are worse habits out there than logging my calories every day. ;)
  • Espressocycle
    Espressocycle Posts: 2,245 Member
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    Every time I stop I gain weight, so I guess so.
  • zyxst
    zyxst Posts: 9,135 Member
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    On MFP, as long as I have internet. When I don't have internet, I'll probably keep a journal of some kind.

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