Log For Life?!

Logging everyday once you have reached your goal seems a bit sad really, if it is a lifestyle change then there is no need

Funny -- that's sort of how I feel! Once you learn the way to eat and portion control properly, logging should be optional. I sort of figured when I started logging, it would help me understand, and learn how many calories are in what, portion sizing, and even macros. More of a learning tool than a life long thing. Seems as though everyone is different and will have a different plan of attack!

Sorry, I'm not much help. I've been logging for over three years now. It's a simple habit for me, like brushing my teeth, and it doesn't stress me out at all. I enjoy cooking and eating all kinds of food, and logging hasn't prevented me from enjoying life at all. I honestly would have no problem logging for life, since it's so easy for me - almost like a game rather than a chore. For someone like you, who IS stressed by logging, maybe you should just trying intermittent logging. Do your best to maintain on your own, and when you feel yourself slipping, come back and log again until you've got it under control again. Maybe that could work for you? :flowerforyou:

I couldn't have said it better.

"Forever" and "For life" are long times.

I'm not sure whether I will be doing this for life - but am going to do it for the foreseeable future - because it is working for me and I don't find it tedious or difficult.

having said that, I have found it best to wean myself onto what I call Long Term Relaxed Logging - by that, I mean, yes I still log every day but I don't weigh everything exactly, eg. I call every mandarine a small or medium mandarine, I eyeball portions of low calorie vegetables, I don't weigh condiments, I guestimate when I eat out etc

This, to me, is the fine balance between still logging and therefore still being accountable (and successfully maintaining my weight) - but not becoming obsessive or dragged down by it.

So as I mentioned earlier I had some thoughts on this.

I think that tracking is a great plan for a lot of people and for some people it's not a good plan. I think the goal for most people should be to get to a place where you do not need to track on a regular basis to maintain a reasonable body-weight.

But eating "without logging" isn't necessarily the same as "just winging it".

You may need to form specific habits around your eating such that when those habits are implemented you naturally eat within a range of calories that roughly meets your needs.

Due to individual differences in energy needs, preferences, and current habits, I don't think there's a blanket approach that is going to work for everyone. But if I were to list some general concepts that I think may be useful for people who are trying to implement this:

- Keep a simple log to document when you feel hungry and pay close attention to actual hunger. Allow yourself to feel hunger for a short time and embrace it. The process of doing this can help to separate hunger from other drivers to eat.

- Eat a set number of meals (3 or 4 seems to be a good fit for most people) and keep some form of structure in how you compose those meals. For example you can approximate protein relative the size of your palm, you can approximate vegetables in terms of "handfuls", etc.

-Either eliminate snacking or keep snacking consistent, minimal, and of low energy density (ie a piece of fruit).

-Limit the nutrient sparse, energy dense food items based on calorie availability (this assumes you are going from a calorie counting model to a non counting model). For example a person with lower energy output may need to limit to 1 small "fun" item per day or even less frequent. You may need to also keep tabs on bread/starches and other energy dense/lower satiety items.

- Consume mostly whole and nutrient dense foods. You may need to set a target for number of servings of vegetables and fruits.

- If I were to attempt this approach I would make sure each meal contains all 3 macronutrients for satiety purposes, and I would lean rather heavily on protein and fibrous vegetables when possible, again for satiety.

- I would consider paying attention to environment if needed. As an example I would move energy dense ("junk" food to use a loose term) foods to a less convenient location so that I don't have to see these foods on a regular basis. Moving these foods from the countertop to a concealed cabinet for example, prevents me from seeing it and thus reduces the time I spend thinking about this food or deciding whether or not I should eat it. I would also move energy sparse, nutrient dense foods like vegetables and fruits to more open positions so that they are more present/convenient to eat.

-I would continue to weigh myself and track average body-weight over time. I would probably allow a window of 5lbs or so before determining whether or not it's "not working" or "working".

-I would consider implementing some of these habits while tracking if someone were to consider moving from a tracking to a non tracking system.

You could also pull away tracking piece-wise. With some of my online clients I'm starting the process by implementing some of the above behaviors while simultaneously removing the food scale on most items. This is sort of a "baby steps" process in which eventually we may reduce tracking frequency (example -- tracking 3-4 days/week).

These are just some ideas and I'm sure I'm leaving stuff out.