Do you still log calories and exercise?

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Junebuggyzy
Junebuggyzy Posts: 345 Member
in Goal: Maintaining Weight
I've been yo-yo dieting for years. I never took maintenance seriously before. This time, I am tracking my calories and exercise, which I also never did before. Doesn't logging your calories and exercise get tiresome after awhile? I can't imagine doing this my whole life, but I don't want to gain the weight back, either.

I have it in my head that you diet, then you're done and you can go back to normal eating. But unfortunately, I never went back to normal eating. It was almost like my body was in a race to gain back the weight it lost as quickly as possible. I always started drinking a lot of wine after I lost the weight I wanted to. Wine stimulated my appetite after dinner. And I snacked like crazy after dinner. That's always been my downfall, snacking after dinner.

My goal is to keep the weight off. Not to gain it all back and then some, like I have done every time before. Do you still log your calories every day after you get to your goal weight? What else do you do to keep eating healthy?

Replies

  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
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    I am 5lbs from maintenance and yes my plan is to log my food.

    If I don't log how will I know how much I am consuming...if I don't know what I am consuming I could forget that I ate 1500 already that day and eat 1000 for supper bam weight gain will happen if I do that too many times...
  • nuttyfamily
    nuttyfamily Posts: 3,394 Member
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    Yes I do.

    I have hit goal a few times and stopped tracking and gained some weight back so it is needed for me to track.

    I know a few folks IRL that are able to stay at goal and not track and are able to maintain but not me.
  • andylowry
    andylowry Posts: 89
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    Recording everything you consume is not only for tracking your intake-- it also forces you to think about what you eat. For me, that's a good thing.
  • poedunk65
    poedunk65 Posts: 1,336 Member
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    First off DO NOT use the word diet. It denotes a temporary situation. Lifestyle change is the appropriate word.

    And yes I will ALWAYS LOG EVERYTHING.
  • rachelamber_x
    rachelamber_x Posts: 104 Member
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    If you know you cant maintain when you don't log then you should log :)

    Do what works for you, not what works for everyone else. You need to fit it to your lifestyle.

    I would suggest continue logging for now, then if it gets tiresome stop but don't suddenly start eating very differently.

    And keep track of your weight, and if you put on any nip it in the bud before it becomes a lot. Give yourself maybe about 5lb range to keep within, and if you go outside the range cut back a little.

    Also, if you do decide to stop logging every day, maybe try logging one day a week just to check you aren't massively overeating.
    If you carry on eating how you have been, just slightly increase calories so you don't lose more weight you should be fine.

    Good luck!! :)
  • Branstin
    Branstin Posts: 2,320 Member
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    As you have learned, maintenance is another journey in our efforts to a healthy lifestyle. Tracking really helps with control and accountability. I don’t mind doing it because it’s much easier now with online and apps tracking tools. There was a time when we tracked on paper and carry the items all day, every day. LOL!

    If you don’t want to track it then you should practice tracking it mentally. I lost 33lbs on Weight Watchers. I started tracking like a military sergeant (no offense to real sergeants). After a while and with practice, I was able to look at food and knew the number of points associated with it so I stopped writing it down. The bottom line is control. If you feel that you could remain in control without tracking then try it but if you are like me and can’t remember what color of panties you wore last week (Haahaahaa) then I highly suggests keep tracking. It doesn’t take that long anyway.
  • Junebuggyzy
    Junebuggyzy Posts: 345 Member
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    I am 5lbs from maintenance and yes my plan is to log my food.

    If I don't log how will I know how much I am consuming...if I don't know what I am consuming I could forget that I ate 1500 already that day and eat 1000 for supper bam weight gain will happen if I do that too many times...
    Yep, that's what I do too. Maybe logging will be the trick.
    First off DO NOT use the word diet. It denotes a temporary situation. Lifestyle change is the appropriate word.

    And yes I will ALWAYS LOG EVERYTHING.
    That's the thing, thinking that's it a diet. Then it's over. It's like when I quit drinking wine. I did it last time I "dieted" and lost fifteen pounds just from the alcohol calories alone. Kept on "dieting" and I got down to 140. Then a year later, I was at my daughter's house October, 2013, still 140 pounds. I had a glass of red wine with her. By February, 2014 I got back up to four or five glasses of wine a day, and 160 pounds. I thought I could drink like "normal" people do.

    It's the same with weight. I have to keep it in my mind that I can never go back to eating like "normal" people do. That's what bothers me. I don't want to "diet" my whole life. Right now I am eating really healthy. But what happens when I start eating ice cream, cake, pizza? I know I can't eat just a little bit, so I just avoid those foods.
  • Branstin
    Branstin Posts: 2,320 Member
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    Have you tried drinking a nice size glass of water before eating the junk food? It helps to curve the cravings so you'll eat a little and not a lot.
  • optineo
    optineo Posts: 4
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    when I stopped logging calories in/out, I gained 25 pounds. So yeah, I plan to continue logging my calories
  • Quasita
    Quasita Posts: 1,530 Member
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    [/quote]
    That's the thing, thinking that's it a diet. Then it's over. It's like when I quit drinking wine. I did it last time I "dieted" and lost fifteen pounds just from the alcohol calories alone. Kept on "dieting" and I got down to 140. Then a year later, I was at my daughter's house October, 2013, still 140 pounds. I had a glass of red wine with her. By February, 2014 I got back up to four or five glasses of wine a day, and 160 pounds. I thought I could drink like "normal" people do.

    It's the same with weight. I have to keep it in my mind that I can never go back to eating like "normal" people do. That's what bothers me. I don't want to "diet" my whole life. Right now I am eating really healthy. But what happens when I start eating ice cream, cake, pizza? I know I can't eat just a little bit, so I just avoid those foods.
    [/quote]

    Well, I am just going to say this... 4-5 glasses of wine every night is not how "normal people drink." People that enjoy wine with dinner typically have 1, maybe 2 glasses. 4-5 is pretty well an entire bottle. If you find yourself drinking that much daily, I don't think the problem is metabolism or not being "normal" but rather a dependency issue.

    "According to the NIAAA, men may be at risk for alcohol-related problems if their alcohol consumption exceeds 14 standard drinks per week or 4 drinks per day, and women may be at risk if they have more than 7 standard drinks per week or 3 drinks per day. It defines a standard drink as one 12-ounce bottle of beer, one 5-ounce glass of wine, or 1.5 ounces of distilled spirits.[25]"

    A 4-5 glass a day habit is a serious problem. If you are ingesting them within a 2 hour time frame or so, this means you're technically binge drinkin every day.

    Restrictive sugar/fat intake has been proven to encourage binge eating on occasions when these things are made available. Perhaps the reason things are yo-yoing and long-term success seems difficult is because the conception of "normal" eating and the dieting mentality are not accurate. It is NOT over when you hit maintenance.

    What about ice cream? A serving of ice cream, typically 1.5 scoops or so, is going to be 200-300 calories. It's not going to blow it all apart. However, if you are not accountable and do not practice moderation, it won't work. When we hit maintenance, we aren't magically released from the calories in vs calories out equation.
  • Deipneus
    Deipneus Posts: 1,862 Member
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    I've been yo-yo dieting for years. I never took maintenance seriously before. This time, I am tracking my calories and exercise, which I also never did before. Doesn't logging your calories and exercise get tiresome after awhile? I can't imagine doing this my whole life, but I don't want to gain the weight back, either.
    I'm nearing my second anniversary of hitting maintenance and I'm still logging. The reason is that last time I did this and thought I had "trained" myself to eat correctly, I gained much of it back.

    And yes, it does get tiresome. Nearly everything I accomplished in life required doing things I didn't like.
  • Junebuggyzy
    Junebuggyzy Posts: 345 Member
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    Quasita, you are so right about four to five glass of wine not being how "normal people" drink. Unfortunately, I just have to not drink at all, period. If I have one or two, soon I am back up to drinking way too much. I may even be an alcoholic. I have a glass of club soda with a lime when I go out to dinner now.

    SouthCarolina, you said "I'm nearing my second anniversary of hitting maintenance and I'm still logging. The reason is that last time I did this and thought I had "trained" myself to eat correctly, I gained much of it back. And yes, it does get tiresome. Nearly everything I accomplished in life required doing things I didn't like."

    I think that's the thing, I thought I trained myself to eat properly too, but I didn't, and gained most of it back too.

    Logging everything in sounds like it is the way to stay successful. I know that if I even just write everything down on paper, it keeps me honest. I don't want to see junk food listed on the paper, so I don't eat it. I guess this is going to be a forever thing if I want to maintain my weight loss.
  • GertrudeHorse
    GertrudeHorse Posts: 646 Member
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    I am in maintenance and I am still logging and measuring everything, but it's early days (been maintaining for 2 months) so I'm still trying to ingrain good habits for the long haul. I have started sometimes trusting myself to measure portion sizes by eye-balling (I usually verify on the scale every once in a while just to check my eyes aren't getting greedy) and I'm less strict about logging a stray bite of this or that. I think a life-long approach is important, but I imagine as time goes on you can have greater flexibility. I also imagine that lots of things that seem to be tiresome now will become second nature within a few years. Overall, though, you just need to find a balance that works for you and fits in with the rest of your life. Good luck!
  • Cheeky_and_Geeky
    Cheeky_and_Geeky Posts: 984 Member
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    I'm at maintenance & log everything. I'm a creature of habit & typically eat the same foods anyways so it's pretty easy. I don't measure my food or wear a HRM, so my logging is only ballpark estimates at best anyways :)
  • Junebuggyzy
    Junebuggyzy Posts: 345 Member
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    Logging calories is so new for me! I've been writing down my food, but not the amounts. Logging is keeping me honest! I have even started weighing my food to see if I am logging it correctly. I hope I can start eyeballing it like some of you are doing, that will be great.

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