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Your friend sounds like an idiot.
Yeah - I used to be that idiot. I was that idiot for several years. Thing is.....I'm not dumb. I'm actually very smart...raised two great kids....have a great paying job.....a Master's degree, etc...etc..etc. I used to beat myself up.....thinking I'm a smart person, why can't I do this?
Now I know..... I didn't want it bad enough.0 -
TimothyFish wrote: »I don't weigh my food. I don't log everything. I'm still losing weight.
Accuracy is not required for weight loss, you just need to eat less than you burn.
Maybe not but... I love food. I want to eat as much as I can. Logging properly helps with that. Sure, I could overestimate everything and have a lower goal to make sure I still lose weight (or maintain), but why would I do that if I can eat more, be happy, and still lose/maintain?
Sure, there's no way to measure my calorie burns accurately, but it's easy to adjust from one month to the other when your activity is pretty much the same. I would never have been able to figure out how much I can eat to maintain if I didn't log properly... it would be a total guessing game. After 7 months of maintenance, I know how much to eat to lose or to maintain, because I have the data for it.0 -
Eh that's not the worst I've heard. Dude I know thought he could lose weight by cutting back in coffee....0
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I've been doing pretty well so far, only a month in, but the early stages are the easiest...generally speaking.
Anyway, I got myself a food scale last night *YAY!!!!!* and for dinner, measured out exactly one serving of my meal. I was shocked ...*shocked* I tell ya at the difference between what Ive been estimating as one serving of rice, and what an actual serving is. SHOCKED! lmfao
I figured I woudl just add and log more if I was still hungry, but interestingly enough, I was just fine and totally satisfied with what I ate! And also, got some sort of strange thrill out of knowing what I logged, is actually what I ate. Looking forward to my continued progress with this now that I have a scale
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Yep. Been there. My BF thinks it's hilarious that I weigh fruit. And cereal. But it works. In 87 days I'm done more than 13lbs (and it was the last 15). Being accurate is the only way I'm going to be 150 by May 1st.0
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I don't weigh my food but I measure and log it in. If I have a jumbo egg then it's a jumbo egg I just shoot to stay under 1300 a day and comit to logging anything I eat. I have been losing weight, but I don't even have an accurate scale so I don't believe I've lost 10 lbs like it allegedly says. I know I have lost something and that makes me happy
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Larissa_NY wrote: »yopeeps025 wrote: »TimothyFish wrote: »TheVirgoddess wrote: »TimothyFish wrote: »I don't weigh my food. I don't log everything. I'm still losing weight.
Accuracy is not required for weight loss, you just need to eat less than you burn.
How can you know you're eating less than you burn without some sort of accuracy? Sorry that statement is totally redundant.
Obviously you're doing well at estimating, so you are being at least partially accurate or you wouldn't be losing.
For some people, that means weighing/logging. For other people, it doesn't. But that doesn't void the importance of accuracy to a degree.
Suppose there is a bucket with water in it. Could you not tell from looking at it whether it was about to overflow or not? Would you have to know what size the bucket was or how many gallons of water were in it to know that? Likewise, we don't have to have an accurate measure of how many calories we've burned or how many calories we've eaten to know whether we're eating less than we burn. A fairly good estimate is good enough.
The interesting thing is that people stress over making sure that they weigh their food, but they don't have an accurate measure of the number of calories per ounce and they don't have an accurate measure of how many calories they burn. Accuracy is only as good as the least accurate thing.
Here we go with this nonsense again.
Bold maybe for mediocrity goals. Sorry not interested. I will keep counting calories until I go to maintenance. A bulk phase does come after this fat loss phase.
Also with what you said people are more likely to start decreasing calories and increasing exercise as they keep stalling out because that would be the thing to do right. So with that what would stop that person from netting too low on calories?
I hit my goal weight with fairly good estimates. Is hitting your goal weight a mediocrity goal? What would be a superamazingawesomesauce goal? Being twenty pounds underweight? Forty? Being able to count my ribs from 50 paces?
Sometimes good enough is in fact good enough. If you can get to your goal weight without weighing and measuring, you're no less at your goal weight than someone who got to theirs the hard way.
MY goals are not only weight. Matter of fact my goals are more of body fat% and muscle mass more than weight. Since I have breast tissue I want to rule out fat being the issue. I'm prepare for single digit body fat% to see if it is hormonal imbalance. Would you call single digit body fat% an average goal? Would you call visible abs an average goal. Would you call having your three big lift being well over BW? My goals are almost twice my body weight on the three lifts. I'm actually almost 2 times body weight on deadlift. These are not average goals so I cannot do the average just eat less move more comment. Unless I want to spend years and years getting these goal.
I have a range of what I want to weigh but the above goals matter to me more than what some scale says.0 -
TimothyFish wrote: »I don't weigh my food. I don't log everything. I'm still losing weight.
Accuracy is not required for weight loss, you just need to eat less than you burn.
Some people are good at estimating, most are not.
I was able to maintain significant losses for about 5 months without a food scale, but then I stalled. My weight didn't budge until about three months later when I started to use a food scale.
There will come a time for most people that the extra effort of accurately monitoring intake will need to be made. If you're not one of them, count yourself fortunate.
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kellystjohn105 wrote: »Your friend sounds like an idiot.
Yeah - I used to be that idiot. I was that idiot for several years. Thing is.....I'm not dumb. I'm actually very smart...raised two great kids....have a great paying job.....a Master's degree, etc...etc..etc. I used to beat myself up.....thinking I'm a smart person, why can't I do this?
Now I know..... I didn't want it bad enough.
+1 I am a very intelligent person, but dang I was an idiot, denying why I was gaining weight (20lbs in one year). I blamed processed foods (Oh noes---CHEMICALZZZZ!) and sodium (I suddenly gained once I re-entered college--blamed the cafeteria eating).
Denial and non-accountability for our actions is a VERY strong force, if we allow it to be. Almost one year later, I'm still eating at the same cafeteria, similar food choices, but aware of the amount I'm consuming, and raising my activity level to match that intake (or create a deficit, in the weight loss phase).0 -
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TheVirgoddess wrote: »TimothyFish wrote: »TheVirgoddess wrote: »TimothyFish wrote: »I don't weigh my food. I don't log everything. I'm still losing weight.
Accuracy is not required for weight loss, you just need to eat less than you burn.
How can you know you're eating less than you burn without some sort of accuracy? Sorry that statement is totally redundant.
Obviously you're doing well at estimating, so you are being at least partially accurate or you wouldn't be losing.
For some people, that means weighing/logging. For other people, it doesn't. But that doesn't void the importance of accuracy to a degree.
Suppose there is a bucket with water in it. Could you not tell from looking at it whether it was about to overflow or not? Would you have to know what size the bucket was or how many gallons of water were in it to know that? Likewise, we don't have to have an accurate measure of how many calories we've burned or how many calories we've eaten to know whether we're eating less than we burn. A fairly good estimate is good enough.
The interesting thing is that people stress over making sure that they weigh their food, but they don't have an accurate measure of the number of calories per ounce and they don't have an accurate measure of how many calories they burn. Accuracy is only as good as the least accurate thing.
Where do you see people stressing? I enjoy logging and weighing my food. If it stresses you out, or you just don't get it, that's okay.
My goal is to be as accurate as possible, so I can be as successful as possible. Does that mean I'm always right on my logging? No, but it means I did my best. And so far my best has put me at a 72 pound loss. So, I'm okay with that.
Not on this thread, but I've seen many threads, particularly on the "maintenance" board asking, "Do I really have to log forever???" and a fair amount of complaining. Not arguing your point; just saying that's probably what was meant.0 -
Wiseandcurious wrote: »TimothyFish wrote: »I don't weigh my food. I don't log everything. I'm still losing weight.
Accuracy is not required for weight loss, you just need to eat less than you burn.
I agree on principle that you can achieve a deficit without weighing and logging anything. At the same time, I think loads of folks find it easier to achieve it with logging and weighing, and for quite a few, they're practically not going to achieve it without at least logging. I know quite a few of those IRL.
For me personally, the great thing about keeping an accurate food diary in MFP has been learning what portions look like. It doesn't gave to be that way for everyone, of course.
If I get the frustration in the OP correctly, it's about people who say "I can't lose weight, nothing works for me" but refuse to try food journalling with preferably weighing or at least another means to assure a minimum of accuracy.
Yes, and for the 2nd time today I'm going to recommend reading nxd10's thread on the "Maintenance" board,"Why I will continue to log". The OP is a perfect example of why logging long-term works for some people.0 -
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This just made my day. Thanks for the chuckles. I can relate to having those people in my life0
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It sounds like more work than it is.
I avoided logging everything for years because it was too much work. I was wrong. I now think it is easy and the progress is worth it.
I believe that some people can choose the right portion sizes for them without weighing or logging everything and lose weight. I bet most people after months or years of measuring and weighing could eyeball portions fairly well and could still lose/maintain weight if their food scale wasn't around.
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It sounds like more work than it is.
I avoided logging everything for years because it was too much work. I was wrong. I now think it is easy and the progress is worth it.
I believe that some people can choose the right portion sizes for them without weighing or logging everything and lose weight. I bet most people after months or years of measuring and weighing could eyeball portions fairly well and could still lose/maintain weight if their food scale wasn't around.
Maybe there's a better way to sell it - assemble your plate on a scale instead of the counter?0 -
TimothyFish wrote: »I don't weigh my food. I don't log everything. I'm still losing weight.
Accuracy is not required for weight loss, you just need to eat less than you burn.
I agree with this - I do log all my food, but I don't weigh anything on a scale. It's entirely possible I'll get to a place where my deficit is so small that I will need to do this, but I've lost 11 pounds in 9 weeks, and I only had 18 pounds to lose.... My feeling is that the idea of how many cals I burn just by living is TOTALLY an estimate - so estimates of calories eaten are ok too. None of this is precise - it's wrong to think that it is. I do spot check items occassionally to make sure I'm not wilding over/underestimating, but that's it...
I love logging though. Its fun to log a meal and think about what I can eat the rest of the day. It's like a puzzle to put together and I love puzzles:)
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