Ugh....just can't keep logging

Does it help a lot? yes..is it completely necessary? not always. I'm one of those people who does not have a long enough attention span to log my calories. I just exercise a lot and eat whenever I want to. I'll count once in a while to see what i am actually consuming and make sure it's an ok amount (usually 1800 - 2100 calories). It has definitely slowed down progress compared to when I was counting, but I'm more happy not doing it and as long as there is at least a little progress, there is no need for me.

Yep, it's a drag. But everyone I see on this site who's been successful either continues to log religiously or at least started out logging strong. So I'm going to follow their lead and keep at it!

i am totally with you. logging is like, THE biggest pain in the butt. the only thing bigger is my actual butt.

however - i have found it to be the only way for me to really hold myself accountable for what im eating, and what im burning. some days its really hard to be honest with yourself - yes, i did have an extra serving of chocolate cheerios for my snack. but if i dont log it, it didnt happen, right? sadly, that is the opposite of true. the scale will log it for you.

i started fresh again this week - told myself if i really want this to work (and good lord, do i want this to work) i need to be honest with myself. yesterday i even logged the TWO ketchup crispy minis i had from a colleagues snack bag. (only 28 calories - but those can add up!) and i logged all my condiments and dressings too. still came in under goal, if barely. gotta see it - not just eat it.

as an added bonus, if you keep your diary detailed, when you are feeling stuck or you hit a plateau, how nice will it be to go back into your log and see what you were doing that worked? maybe you forgot about a great meal you had all the time that was low calorie but kept you satisfied.

end of two cents. thank you.

Different people work different ways. For me I start my goals slow, and then it builds easily. For example, just try to log breakfast all week without missing, If you log more great. But it gets quicker and less of a pain. It just becomes habit I usually log while I cook. Good luck.

It takes like 2 minutes to do an entire day. Those 2 mins a day have changed my life the most, even above the 30 mins a day I spend exercising. Solution - suck it up and do it anyway.

I'm actually pretty good with breakfast and lunch. I don't do a lot of variety for either. But if hubby is not on shift and he cooks, a lot of the time I don't know what he puts in his "creations" so I have to guess. I'm going to try and be better (she said again for the trillionth time). :blushing:

By and large, I'm not a fan of the "quick calories" feature, but if the alternative is not logging at all better to guess high and log a quick calorie entry.

I think it can be a bit of a task sometimes but once you've been using it for some time a lot of your regularly eaten foods are stored on your search so it's a lot quicker to log your meals. I tend to plan my meals for the following day the night before so i'm not rushing around in the morning before work trying to scan things or before every meal. This works 90% of the time but of course there are days were I don't fancy what I've already entered into my diary so I just change it up then. I'd say if you haven't got a strict deadline or anything for weight loss then just take it or leave it but if you do have goals you want to reach by a certain time you'll benefit from tracking your cals. .:flowerforyou:

I find I really eat a lot of the same basic foods over the course of a week or two so I find logging pretty quick and easy. Once you've built up a 'frequent foods' or 'my meals' list, logging is just a matter of selecting the item and verifying the portion size. For me, weighing and measuring is the worst, most time consuming part. But if I don't do it, my scale is pretty quick to let me know. If you're getting the result you want without doing it, you're fine. If not, its worth taking the time to do. Best of luck.

I jus keep a running daily total in my head. Works better for me

I'm taking a weight management class and we log everything we eat, I'm logging even more with MFP and I think it's a great thing. you can really see where you go wrong if you don't get the weight loss you expected for that week. it's a great tool and log everything. I can't see not logging everything.

I used to count calories back in the day. I hated it. I do not like having that kind of relationship with food.

It was much easier for me to just count carbs when I was low carbing. I did that off and on for years.

This current weight loss journey, which I'm about 130 lbs into so far, has seen the first 40-50 lbs go with carb counting and then when I stalled out on that, I switched to intermittent fasting for my deficit.

I haven't lost a single pound this time around counting, logging, or weighing anything. I feel you on the tedium.

I used to do really well for a few days and then give up. Then I scrolled through the "photos only success stories" and I got SERIOUS about it. I'm on 53 days straight and I can't remember what it was like to eat something without logging. Keep at it!

Logging serves several purposes for me.

If I want to eat something, I log it first to see if it will allow me to stay within my macros. If not, I don't eat it.

Logging allows me to see long-term trends in my eating habits.

Logging gives me a feeling of self-control.

I'm with you OP. It's completely tedious and horrible and boring and makes me think too much about what I'm putting in my mouth... but that's the point.

I also hate gyms, and I've been going every day since Jan 1st. I figure I dug myself into this hole, and this is the best way to dig myself back out. But, once I'm out of the hole I will have the knowledge of how much meat I should be eating in one serving, how many calories are roughly in a handful of chips, and I'll be able to run out doors and do yoga and activities I love 100% of the time while maintaining my goal weight.

It's just getting to that point that I have to put my head down and tolerate the tediousness of it all, the tediousness of learning! But, the community here is amazing and that makes it a lot easier to cope with the struggle and frustrations

I have found that cause I eat the same 50 food items I just have the items there and reuse them over and over, yes I hate long grocery shopping trips so this makes it much easier. Logging for the day is like less than 5 min.

It keeps me accountable .. and on track.

So .. think about it this way, is that time not worth knowing that you will get to your goal by doing it ?

I think if you dug deep .. if you don't want to log and make that little bit of effort, you cannot blame anyone but yourself for not succeeding in your goals.