Does anyone NOT track their food intake?

On days I've decided to treat myself, I don't track. That is once a week or once every 10 days.

LOL I thought I was cheating myself because I do this too...then I see people here saying they log everything even when they are over eating...

without information how can one make an informed choice? whilst I'm not particularly religious about tracking (I don't go to competing websites and smash their windows etc) I do try to track in general terms as it helps me understand what's happening.

I just wanted to clarify I meant to say those days of treating myself...I do track too, but sometimes in those days I tend not to...

I just wanted to clarify I meant to say those days of treating myself...I do track too, but sometimes in those days I tend not to...

Understood, it's all about trends and what has a known effect. I tend to not worry too much i I'm over or under goal, as long as I'm about right or under on a weekly basis.

I track religiously & plan to continue doing so even once I reach maintenance. I have a history of ED so it is important for me to ensure I am eating neither too MUCH nor too LITTLE. I also log to track my macros so that I can get a better idea of what types of deficiencies trigger overeating or certain cravings for my body.

That's a funny question to ask on a site that's made for calorie counting.

Plenty of people have successful weight loss without calorie counting, without MFP, etc. With that said, most of the "I stopped losing weight" threads are from folks that either stopped logging or are not logging accurately. If it works for you, fantastic. If not, keep logging.

I dont track anymore. And this is NOT just a calorie counting site. There are blogs, groups to join, etc...

I tried Eat Stop Eat without tracking. (2 24hr fasts per week)

Turns out I can eat too much if I want to :laugh:

Ended up gaining a bit over 2 months of that experiment. (Not the worst thing in the world by the way, as you shouldn't lose weight indefinitely )

On days I've decided to treat myself, I don't track. That is once a week or once every 10 days.

LOL I thought I was cheating myself because I do this too...then I see people here saying they log everything even when they are over eating...

If I've decided it is a treat day, I don't want to be sweating the calorie count. No matter how bad I am on a treat day, it's not anything that can't be undone in a few days of being good.

I do not track calories anymore. I did MFP about 3 years ago and lost over 30 lbs. The calorie counting became too much like work for me. Within 1 year I gained back all, plus another 10. Truth is, I know I won't count calories forever, so this time I am just learning to eat the right foods. I am making this a life change, not a diet.

MFP is still a great tool because I like to track my weight and exercise.

I usually only track when i change something up. Since i eat mostly low calorie density food, i really don't need to track. If i eat what i want, within the types of foods that i eat now (mostly fruit and veg), i eat just about exactly what MFP says i should to lose weight. Usually around 2100-2300 Cal/day.

Why would you be on this website if not to track food?

Track work outs? Log weight/measurements?


I do not track all the time, depends on what my goals are at the time.

I tracked regularly for first 3 months. That gave me a great guide to learn about portion sizes, restaurant meal calorie counts, etc. After a while I felt like you - I just wanted to focus on other things throughout my day and not constantly focus on counting calories. And it takes me much longer than 10 min a day (like someone responded on here) to log my foods. I too, get frustrated at not finding things in the log, or finding so many of the same things with different info that causes me to have to go to websites of the foods and look up the correct and enter it, etc. Very tiresome! And I am not one to eat the same foods often, so they are not on my recent logs.

I think once you get used to what sizes are for portions, measuring, etc. and used to the amount you can eat daily without logging, you can stop and use the website for getting and giving support, tracking weight, etc. If you find yourself gaining weight, you would obviously know that you need to go back to logging. I had stopped for a while and just went on maintenance because I wanted to focus on other things than every thing that goes into my mouth. If you feel that way, it's better to take a break, than keep pushing yourself until you give up completely! Anything that will keep you trying to stay on track and not giving up is what you need to do. Yes, everyone's weight loss journey is their own.

I just estimate. Works well for me.

i have to track..... thats what works for me. i started right after valentines day and am down 12.4 so far. it only works for me and keeps me accountable for what im doing if i track it all. otherwise i will lie to myself and it won't work. i can't speak for anyone but me but i HAVE to track. thats what brought me here :drinker: good luck.