Still logging everything you eat?

TayJoMama
TayJoMama Posts: 348 Member
edited September 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
Just wondered after being on MFP for a while, do you still feel the need to log all of your meals or have you gotten to the point where you get IT and you don't need to log everything, everyday. After being on vacation last week with no internet available and feeling comfortable with my portions and not feeling lost because I didn't have MFP to tell me the calories in my meals, I feel like I'm getting to that point and I'm pretty happy about it. You?
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Replies

  • FaithandFitness
    FaithandFitness Posts: 653 Member
    Well, I have not been at this as long as you, but I still log everything. (Even the chocolate cake I ate tdoay) I'll admit I do have a better idea of what my most common foods are, but I also use it as a self discipline tool.
  • liz_bolin
    liz_bolin Posts: 88 Member
    I log everything and I probably always will.
  • OLP76
    OLP76 Posts: 768 Member
    It's become a habit for me...Even though my diary is the same almost as last week etc.

    But, next week I'm uppin' my calories intake - cause I'm doin' P90X Lean and its an extreme workout. I will need to eat more - I'm already at a comfortable weight - but I'm still aimin' for 130 lbs. to maintain for the rest of my lifestyle.

    I'm a creature of habit...I have dumped facebook for this site lol. I only go on to facebook to share my success to all my other 'unfit' friends lol
  • reese66
    reese66 Posts: 2,920 Member
    Log it...
  • lauralamarche
    lauralamarche Posts: 2 Member
    i have just started again just a thought i aways fal off track when i stop .
  • lucysmommy
    lucysmommy Posts: 460
    i just like to have a note of what i eat more than anything incase it all goes wrong one week

    x
  • ickybella
    ickybella Posts: 1,438 Member
    I will log for the rest of this year, at least. I want to be sure I know how to maintain (once I get there) before I allow myself to just stop logging. I don't want to gain all the weight back.
  • Katybun3
    Katybun3 Posts: 172
    I know what you mean. You get to know your portion sizes by looking at them. I log everything but if I didn't have MFP I would kinda know what I could and couldn't have.
  • beesareyellow
    beesareyellow Posts: 335 Member
    The short answer is Yes. I stopped logging last year because I really thought I had the whole thing down pat. It worked for a while, then the weight started slowly creeping back on. I found that when we are not logging every day, we can let little things slide or even forget the small bite of this or that. I am now back on track and, for me, this is the only way to go.
    As an aside, I don't track while on vacation, but I try to plan ahead before meals, and start again the minute I get back home.

    Good Luck!
  • MelissaL582
    MelissaL582 Posts: 1,422 Member
    I've been doing this for 60 days now. Logging in helps me to be accountable for what I put in my body. My mind is busy keeping track of other things that I need this site to show me in black & white what I have done.
  • misskimlilac
    misskimlilac Posts: 306 Member
    I log everything! Leaving for vacation Saturday and a little anxious about not being able to track while I am gone. Trying to figure out a way to make it work, won't have cell service and maybe limited internet. I love this tool!
  • musicgirl99
    musicgirl99 Posts: 252 Member
    I haven't been on MFP long but knowing myself I probably will always log what I eat. For me, I need the discipline and feel that if I were to stop I would fall off track. That's just me though. Everyone is different! :smile:
  • sbwood888
    sbwood888 Posts: 953 Member
    I'm not there yet. It will be nice when I can trust myself to just know my limits. Good for you. Just watch to see if any undesired effects come up.
  • ukgirly01
    ukgirly01 Posts: 523 Member
    Havent been on that long but I know from previous diets that when I stop logging I start gaining weight. It's a way for me to keep on track.
  • JimHeid
    JimHeid Posts: 42 Member
    Log, Log, Log. As for vacations, invest in an iTouch for the MFP app, and it'll carry all your daily calories back home with you, and you can sync then if you haven't been able to while you were away.
  • happyhaunt
    happyhaunt Posts: 180 Member
    I think I'll always log unless I go on vacation. I'm enjoying keeping track of everything, I don't think I could keep track without mfp.
  • vayax
    vayax Posts: 152 Member
    I think I'll log for the rest of my life!!!! It has become a habit!
  • manymuses
    manymuses Posts: 162 Member
    I think I will ALWAYS log every bite. It is part of the big picture that is keeping me on track and focused. I think removing this crucial element would be a mistake for me personally. It keeps me accountable, positive and looking forward each day.
  • EvilMomma
    EvilMomma Posts: 70 Member
    I've dieted for years losing more or less but always ending right back UP where I started. After a great deal of soul searching I determined that the common denominator to wight gain has been easing up on the accountability piece. I have an eating disorder that has resulted in obesity and recovery requires me to stay accountable--not to anyone else but to myself. This site is the tool that I am using to be accountable. I'm not especially strict on what I eat--fast food is always an option, so is looking up the calorie cost of what I eat and recording it as well as rounding up the 2/3s of a beer I drank last night.

    If you don't have an eating disorder and are on this site to get control early and lose a few pounds than I don't think posting every bite is necessary. For me (I need to lose 75 lbs but that is too intimidating--50 lbs seems do-able to me) I need to maintain the discipline of logging on every damn meal/snack.
  • godblessourhome
    godblessourhome Posts: 3,892 Member
    for me, the point of logging my food now and retraining my brain to recognize portion size is so that i DON'T have to log for the rest of my life. :) lately, i have been logging on, but have not been logging my food. it is going fine, but i can see how over time, i may slip back into eating more carelessly so i think i will need to 'check' myself occasionally.
  • Amandac6772
    Amandac6772 Posts: 1,311 Member
    I think I'll have to log forever. I forget all those little bites when I don't.
  • dlaplume2
    dlaplume2 Posts: 1,658 Member
    I still log everything. I think I always will. I want this to be a lifestyle. I do not want to ever gain and have to lose this weight again.
  • doll2002
    doll2002 Posts: 427
    I learned the hard way that I have to log what I eat. If it is getting close to the end of the day and I am close to going over my calories for the day, I know I have to eat less for dinner and/or exercise more to make up for it. It works for me!!
  • kinectamama
    kinectamama Posts: 21
    I still feel the need to log everything, I know how many calories I eat without it but it is nice to see all the other nutrition facts at the end of the day! It honestly makes weight loss more fun!
  • TayJoMama
    TayJoMama Posts: 348 Member
    Thanks guys for the input, I feel like GodBlessOurHOme, that I am retraining my brain for a new lifestyle to know what my diet should be from now on. I'll definately keep logging until I reach my goal, and then check in regularly to keep myself in check. 35 more pounds to go!
  • backinthenines
    backinthenines Posts: 1,083 Member
    I have absolutely no intention to do this for the rest of my life.

    For me this is a temporary measure until I have achieved my aim. This is in my mind temporary assistance to keep me on the right track, but until a recent injury I have never been overweight, I have no emotional food issues etc etc.

    So personally I'm looking at this as a temporary measure.
  • lesley1981
    lesley1981 Posts: 329 Member
    I log everything! The iphone app makes it a lot easier for me to log, but I find that it really helps!

    I pretty much know what and how much I should be eating, however, I think I log so that I don't revert back to my old ways, and so that I know when I can have that icecream...
  • Valtishia
    Valtishia Posts: 811 Member
    I find that I do eventually get comfortable enough from time to time but then I slide slowly... I still eat the right foods but the portions just aren't right. so even when I don't log, I still need to weigh stuff.
  • Ely82010
    Ely82010 Posts: 1,998 Member
    I log everything, and I do it everyday. I have a generic phone so when I am not home, I write down everything in a little notebook that I carry in my purse, and then I enter the info in the PC.

    I like to see the calories and micronutrients right in front of my eyes and also the amount of calories that I burn exercising. I don't know if I will do this for ever, but so far, I am not planning to stop anytime soon.
  • callipygianchronicle
    callipygianchronicle Posts: 811 Member
    I will log until I reach my goal weight. I am very clear on what healthy foods are and appropriate portion sizes, but losing the weight requires a certain attention and discipline that I don’t believe I can have without recording what I eat (either here or elsewhere). There is something about writing it all down that really works for me. But I have no intention of doing this for life. After 90+ pounds of weight-loss, I’m hoping to have a permanently changed relationship with food a fitness that paying such close attention wo what I eat is no longer necessary. But that won’t be for *at least* another year.
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