"but it would be such a bother to LOG your food"

There is no denying that it takes time and effort.
For me, it was exactly what I needed to be able to finally succeed.
As with every aspect of becoming healthy, you have to find what works for you.
It may very well not be a system of logging, but for many people it does work.

If you don't log it, you can't track it. If you can't track it, you can't measure it. If you can't measure it, you can't change it. If you can't change it = fail.

That's just silly.

It is a bother to log my food. I cook a lot of my own meals at home. I always vary my recipes based on what I have on hand, so I need to edit recipes and yield amounts every time I make something. I also make my own soy milk, bread, and yogurt (crazy I know, but I enjoy it) and there's no good way to know the exact nutrition amounts. I like eating without measuring everything.

However, anything that's worthwhile is difficult. I'm giving logging another try because it seems like the only way to keep myself accountable other than joining WW (which I'd rather not do). I overeat when I'm not counting calories. Sigh.

yes , sure is, and being fat and out of breath is a bother too, and adding salt or bbq or eating with a fork is a bother too....

kind of like wiping your bum after you use the facility... no , you dont HAVE to ... but why on earth would you NOT want to ???

I had to click on this post...because I have heard this SO MANY TIMES.

I heard it from my stepsister...she is 46, has always been lean, and still probably a size six...but not the 00-2 that she was in her twenties. I get it. She finds it a chore to log her food and frustrating when she looks up a chain restaurant item and there are 3 different calorie counts in the MFP database. She isn't that bothered, she'll probably just abandon that idea she had to lose a few lb. Fine.

I heard it from my friend "Abby"...she is 37 and weighs over 300 lb and very depressed about her weight, avoids social contact due to anxiety. Logging food is too much trouble she says, she doesn't have time because she takes online college courses and works part-time. She regularly buys in to get thin quick schemes (IMO) like Body by Vi, Herbalife, etc. They work great -- for less than a month -- and she winds up at a higher weight than previously.

Perhaps the MOST annoying is from my acquaintance "Jill"...at 39, she just had a baby. When she was 20-something she lost 80 lb and kept it off, but then it all came back during the last couple of years due to marrying a guy who loves to eat rich restaurant meals all the time and her first, later-in-life pregnancy. On January 1st she decided this year she would lose all of that weight again - she has a lot of health problems that her doctor says stem from carrying excess weight. She complains all the time that she has lost 4 lb in 3 months and she is spending an hour per day at the gym working her tail off. She complains that her husband won't stop buying her "bad food" and her baby takes up too much time. She messaged me on facebook wanting to know how I lost over 70 lb this past year and when I told her she said, "OH I tried that, it's soooo tedious...I'm good with working out!" And then she whines again a week later that she is only down 0.2 lb despite her 7 hours this week of intense gym time. Ugh.

(DISCLAIMER: Yep...It is everyone's business what they do to lose weight or whether they even want to lose weight...but this can get pretty annoying)

If you don't log it, you can't track it. If you can't track it, you can't measure it. If you can't measure it, you can't change it. If you can't change it = fail.

That's just silly.

Almost as silly as someone who has maintained the same weight for decades and never logged a frikkin thing spending so much time on a food logging website.

Just started this process and I like that I can access it with my phone. That means there is no excuse for not logging food in even if I am away from home. I have used a food log in the past and it was really successful for me to see not only what I am eating but how much. Seeing that I've eaten junk is a tangible reminder on what I should be eating instead of what I want to be eating.

I log all of my activities and even add notes to certain days. It has helped me tremendously. Besides, it takes me less time to log then it took me to eat at buffets before I decided to lose weight.

These women at my work go on all these ridiculous and restrictive diets and I'm like you know you just have to eat a calorie deficit and you can easily log your calories online... the response "that sounds like so much work"... :huh: ...

I jut had this conversation today. So silly.

I log each morning, and it helps me to have meals already planned and logged. Then I also know how many calories I can use for snacking, etc. through my workday. If I decide to switch something up, it's easy and quick. It's only a bother until it becomes a habit.

Same where I work. Surely it's a lot of bother though, to eat a cabbage soup and hotdog diet for a week once a month or eat nasty gritty shakes instead of food?

If you don't log it, you can't track it. If you can't track it, you can't measure it. If you can't measure it, you can't change it. If you can't change it = fail.

That's just silly.

Almost as silly as someone who has maintained the same weight for decades and never logged a frikkin thing spending so much time on a food logging website.

Who would that be? Certainly not me, on either count. I logged regularly for some time. And I have not been the same weight for decades.

Also, this is a fitness site with a food logging feature. I use the site for one, but not the other. I'm not sure why that irritates you so, or why it's even your business.

It doesn't irritate me. I just find it odd that you feel the overwhelming need to point out the fact that you don't log your food any time anyone makes a comment about logging their food..... on a food logging site.