Burnt out on logging...

Ok guys, I have a confession..I'm getting super burnt out on logging calories. I've been at this fairly consistently for about 4 months, I've lost all but 3-5 lbs of my weight (depending on the day) and these past couple weeks have been like torture logging my food. Not because I'm eating bad, just because I think I need a complete break for awhile...Have any of you felt this way on your journey and what did you do to deal with it? I still love this website and all of you and I don't want to get off the site completely....In short, it's not you, it's me Any advice will be welcome!

No you are not alone. We all feel this way from time to time. I havent logged food in a few weeks because of the same feelings, however i do make sure that i log in here just to stay in touch with the community and to remember that i am still committed to this weight loss journey. Take a break, no one said that it cant be done. This is your plan, make it how you want it to be.

If you have made the lifestyle changes, and have a good eating/exercise routine, there will come a point where you don't need to log your food any longer - if you begin gaining weight again then yes, get back on track that way - otherwise, well done, you succeeded...

I'm sure it happens to everyone especially when life becomes hectic and you don't have the time. I have found it better for me to plan my whole week ahead of time (I usually do this on Sat or Sun) which keeps me on track and doesn't require that I remember what I ate (if I stick to it of course:blushing: Of course there are days where things have to be modified but at least I don't have to enter everything every day. I also have the app on my Droid 2 which helps when I'm on the go... which is most days lately:ohwell: . Just like we need a break to give our bodies rest from exercise once in a while we also need to give ourselves a break from tracking everything we eat. You've accomplished a lot in 4 months so treat yourself to a "burnout break" from tracking calories ...I'm sure you will still make healthy choices regardless. Enjoy!:flowerforyou:

I could have written the OP.

I make most of my food, and it's become so.frelling.laborious to enter every recipe, figure out how many servings, figure out how much I've eaten...

Ugh.

I took this week off, mostly because I went to Vegas for Spring Break with my hubby and I didn't really eat (but I drank like a fish!) I might just estimate my cals each day to see if I can get over this hump.

Do what you gotta do...breaks can be good.

I regularly logged my food for the first 7 months I lost weight... I then felt burnt out too. Didn't want to have to do it every single day for the rest of my life, so I stopped (sort of) I began mentally counting them and only logging in my food diary once every 7-10 days just to confirm I was still okay (and I was) Then that stopped too - and I gained back quite a few pounds. I decided I needed to put forth full effort into logging again and did for about 5 months straight - I hit my goal again, lost 16 pounds!! Then guess what - I cut back to doing it only once a week or so again just to check up on myself and continued to maintain my weight for a few months and again, my logging got less and less and eventually I began gaining some back.

For me, I know what the calorie counts are in most things, and yes - I am very capable of mentally tallying them and knowing what I should or should not eat as well as when I am doing well and when I am not. However, when I write them down I seem to own them better, and am able to control my weight more. When I am not writing them down I seem to become more lax about my diet as if "nobody will know" - which really doesn't matter because the calories count if I eat them whether anybody knows or not!! LOL

Anyway, I don't see a reason to count them every day for the rest of your life, but I definitely think they need to be mentally tallied on a daily basis and you should definitely go back to the written diary periodically just to keep track of yourself and be sure you're not allowing yourself too many or miscounting by continually averaging foods low.

In a nutshell, if you need a break - take it! If you feel yourself burning out (just like an exercise) you should make a change.... Could be that the only change you need is a different way of logging (just like a new exercise), or maybe just a week off will help. You could even try keeping a written diary instead of online for awhile!

Just my experience and opinion

I used to log calorie intake by hand four years ago for a year.
I started counting calories again this winter but I've been doing it through online services like MFP.
I think it scares me more to think about I might be doing this for the rest of my life, you know?

This has been me all week. I've been avoiding logging because I felt like I was obsessing. I stayed off the boards and didn't log for two days. This morning I got on the scale and it showed. I'm still annoyed by it today, but I'm going back today.