The mindset of maintenance without logging

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  • EmmaFitzwilliam
    EmmaFitzwilliam Posts: 482 Member
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    I'm a good six months away from maintenance, but it seems to me it's all about sustainability. If you're looking only at the goal weight, you're missing the big picture.

    I committed, when I started, to finding a plan that I could live with for the rest of my life.

    Some plans I have followed turned into a full time job, and travel and life circumstances dealt a death knell to them.

    With a smartphone, the logging is easy enough. I may not find everything I eat in the database, but I find most of it, and fake it effectively for the rest.

    I also took time to come to terms with some of the less healthy choices I was making before. Fortunately for me, my choices were more a matter of excess of certain foods than anything else. Some things, I choose not to eat any longer. Some foods, I eat only in limited quantities. Other foods, I eat on infrequent occasions.

    So far, it's working. I don't feel deprived; I don't feel like "when I reach <weight>". I'm just enjoying the steady progress.
  • hannahrichins
    hannahrichins Posts: 26
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    Thanks for the positive post! I've only been maintaining for a few months and I pretty much know where I'm at for calories before I even log my food, but I still can't seem to bite the bullet and stop logging altogether. Maybe one day :)
  • blainebrain
    blainebrain Posts: 11 Member
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    I will log forever now because in the past whenever I got to my goal weight, I ate too much and gained it all back. I have trouble with portion control and never feel full, so I would just keep going if I didn't have myfitnesspal to keep me in check!
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    Well for what it's worth, my guess is that it would be easier for people who didn't have that much to lose to maintain without logging. People with binge issues, or who would regularly eat 4000 calories or more in one day might have a harder time doing it than people who, say, ate 300 extra calories a day.

    I can't speak for anyone, but I *need* my diary to keep me in check. Of course I have a much better idea now of whether I'm eating too much or too little, but I can't trust my hunger signals one bit (half the month I could eat at 1600 calories, the other half I'm always hungry). And I love sweets, and we all know that they pack the calories, so if I want to fit them in, I have to log.

    Plus let's be honest... Even if I didn't log my food, I'd be calculating the calories in my head, because it's how I am. So, easier to just log it so at least I know it's more accurate.
  • sheepotato
    sheepotato Posts: 600 Member
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    Francl27 wrote: »
    Plus let's be honest... Even if I didn't log my food, I'd be calculating the calories in my head, because it's how I am. So, easier to just log it so at least I know it's more accurate.

    I still do that, everyday.

    I agree it's easier for some than others, but eventually will be doable for most. My myriad reasons for becoming overweight and having an unhealthy relationship with food all stemmed from growing up with zero understand about how calories or exercise worked. Once it clicked in my head that every food has a specific calorie value it's been easier to make informed choices without needing to see exactly how they all add up.

    That said, I would never attempt to lose without logging, I need to meticulously watch the numbers. It's such a tight fit trying to get in proper nutrients with a deficit, especially since I won't budge on my allotted 'junk' calories.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    sheepotato wrote: »
    Francl27 wrote: »
    Plus let's be honest... Even if I didn't log my food, I'd be calculating the calories in my head, because it's how I am. So, easier to just log it so at least I know it's more accurate.

    I still do that, everyday.

    I agree it's easier for some than others, but eventually will be doable for most. My myriad reasons for becoming overweight and having an unhealthy relationship with food all stemmed from growing up with zero understand about how calories or exercise worked. Once it clicked in my head that every food has a specific calorie value it's been easier to make informed choices without needing to see exactly how they all add up.

    That said, I would never attempt to lose without logging, I need to meticulously watch the numbers. It's such a tight fit trying to get in proper nutrients with a deficit, especially since I won't budge on my allotted 'junk' calories.

    But I always knew about nutrition. The issue wasn't lack of information, but resisting temptation. It's still hard some days but logging keeps things in perspective.
  • sheepotato
    sheepotato Posts: 600 Member
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    Francl27 wrote: »
    sheepotato wrote: »
    Francl27 wrote: »
    Plus let's be honest... Even if I didn't log my food, I'd be calculating the calories in my head, because it's how I am. So, easier to just log it so at least I know it's more accurate.

    I still do that, everyday.

    I agree it's easier for some than others, but eventually will be doable for most. My myriad reasons for becoming overweight and having an unhealthy relationship with food all stemmed from growing up with zero understand about how calories or exercise worked. Once it clicked in my head that every food has a specific calorie value it's been easier to make informed choices without needing to see exactly how they all add up.

    That said, I would never attempt to lose without logging, I need to meticulously watch the numbers. It's such a tight fit trying to get in proper nutrients with a deficit, especially since I won't budge on my allotted 'junk' calories.

    But I always knew about nutrition. The issue wasn't lack of information, but resisting temptation. It's still hard some days but logging keeps things in perspective.

    So we have different crosses to bear, temptation isn't a problem for me.

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