Transitioning from MyFitnessPal

I did this the first time I went on a diet break. It took me three days to "stop calculating in my head". If you can't force yourself to walk away from it, (start with a week, when you just eat without thinking about "how many calories" are in something), then you might need to talk to someone.

There are many responses to this question. I'll just mention a couple. One is the "intuitive eating" approach (Google it). Another is John Walker's take, in The Hacker's Diet: if your appetite is "broken" (in the sense that it doesn't correspond to what you need to maintain your weight), then you might need to control it externally for the rest of your life.

I like Walker's take because he does emphasize that you can learn what reasonable portions are, with some attention. And because he notes that, as long as you weigh yourself daily and calculate the exponentially smoothed moving average, you'll be able to tell when you're gaining weight and deal with it before you gain much.

There's an obvious counterpoint to this. Being accountable and honest about what you eat each day helps keep you on track. For some people watching their weight is a matter of life or death. For me i choose to error on the side of caution so i dont get obese again by logging in each day.

I've never even thought about leaving here, ever!

This may be taken out of our hands anyway once they introduce the premium pay mfp version.
I've got a horrible feeling the forums as we know them are going to either disappear or go downhill

What if you break from logging and, if it should come to pass that you find yourself over your maintenance range, you use MFP as a tool to get back in range? And then break again when you've accomplished that? I go long spells without logging. Eventually my weight will creep up (mysteriously never seems to creep down of its own accord, or if it does it doesn't trigger an intervention). Logging helps me get back on track.

What is true for me is that even when I don't log, there is an element of mindfulness. Where do you draw the line between mindfulness and calculating in your head? Probably different for everyone, but honestly, the online tools are so good, tracking is less effort than the mental gymnastics of estimating. Logging isn't an onerous task for me. So it's an easy habit to return to when I need it.

Yes, Weight Watchers has a maintenance plan that is free as long as the WW member checks in every month (with a free weigh in) and stays within 2 lbs. of their goal. Many Lifetime members still track their food, whether it is on paper or with the WW e-tools (a WW tracking app) which is also free for Lifetime members. I wouldn't call maintenance tracking of any kind an "eating disorder". An eating disorder involves unhealthy things inflicted on the body, whether it's trying to weigh too little, throwing up to lose/maintain weight, or uncontrolled binge eating. If people feel scared about their eating possibly getting out of control if they don't track, I don't see any harm in continuing to track.

If it ain't broken, don't fix it. Blessings.

This might not be a popular opinion but I need to keep track of my food in the same way that I need to keep track of my money. MFP for my food is just like having a budget plan my money. Because life changes so very much from day to day, saying I don't need to keep tabs on my money or my food is just looking for trouble.

Just my $0.02.

brcossette wrote: »

There's an obvious counterpoint to this. Being accountable and honest about what you eat each day helps keep you on track. For some people watching their weight is a matter of life or death. For me i choose to error on the side of caution so i dont get obese again by logging in each day.

This .. I maintained for multi years after dropping 75 lbs. I regained some of the weight when I decided that I didnt need to track anymore or weigh myself. For me this will not be done when I get back to goal. This is now like my budget. I track what I spend and I track what I eat. I started MFP at 207.8 and am down 13 lbs in a month.

The reasons just got even more stark for me. My dad who ran marathons till 50, never smoked, near drank, and still walked 3-4 miles a time 4 times a week (with his dogs) BUT was morbidly obese died suddenly(heart attack or stroke) two weeks ago yesterday. All the doctors including my brother and sister in law who are both doctors plus her father a heart doctor agree it was complications from his obesity. He was type 2 with hyper tenstion. We are all crushed.

And I now know this is life long if I want a long life. Everyone is different but tracking and weighing myself is a needed tool.

Vixen, I am very sorry for your loss!

Both of my parents died young of heart attacks. Neither was overweight, much less obese. So I feel like the deck is stacked against me to begin with. No need to add obesity to the mix and make my odds even worse.

With all due respect I think the advice to "keep logging" is horrible and it's neglecting your feelings about this.

There are people who do not do well with long term tracking/logging. Sounds to me like you're one of them and based on that I'd get yourself away from logging.

You can do it cold turkey if that's your thing. I have limited experience with clients doing this but it tends to work best for people who have firmly established eating habits. So for example, people who have a consistent eating frequency, good appetite regulation, and basically consistent day to day eating habits and good self awareness.

Another method you can take would be to gradually remove logging. This works better for some people because it allows you to ease yourself into it. If you go this route I'd start by logging a few days AFTER you eat rather than before. So for example log your food at the end of the day rather than before so that you're potentially less calorie focused during the day and you're not necessarily looking at your numbers and letting that dictate your food choices. A gradual approach would also allow you to troubleshoot a bit more along the way. A gradual approach also allows you some time to build self awareness about your food habits if you've not done so already.

If you're maintaining successfully for a week or two this way, I'd remove a day or two of logging, preferably during the week (log weekends still). Give it another week or two, see how you're doing and how you feel. Over a month or two you'll peel away the logging habits and eventually full stop.

In either case I'd really recommend that you continue to weigh yourself provided that weighing yourself doesn't cause issues. Keep track of a 7 day average of bodyweight and compare week to week averages. Allow yourself a range of acceptable weight so that you're not immediately resuming logging after a 1lb gain. I think a good 5lb window is appropriate for most people.

If you find that you can't maintain weight without logging, do not conclude that this means you have to log. This means that you haven't established the necessary habits to maintain weight without logging but it does not mean that you can't acquire those habits.

Finally I'll add that some people do need a set of rules in their diet to regulate energy intake. This is a trade off to not logging and it works really well for some people. But whether you need these depends on your CURRENT set of eating habits and how well you maintain those without logging.

I have successfully maintained for 2 years without logging save for a brief time going into my bulk and a brief time going into another cut just to make sure I knew what that intake was to look like.

For me, I always viewed this as a training tool...kind of like training wheels on a bike...my goal was always to be able to simply ride without help...so in that RE, making the transition wasn't too terribly difficult, though it felt odd not to log for awhile. After a couple of months though, I really forgot all about it.

That is not to say I'm not mindful...I eat very healthfully and I'm consciously aware of how many calories are in what. I prepare most of my meals from scratch, whole ingredients and eat primarily whole foods in general. Eating out is only an occasional thing as I have found it difficult to maintain while eating out regularly.

I still weigh myself a few time weekly to make sure I'm on track and I workout religiously.