Transitioning from MyFitnessPal
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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 $0.02.0 -
I have a ways to go before I hit my goal, so of course now I'm logging everything. But honestly? I've seen what happens when I STOP logging things. I quickly forget what a portion size looks like and end up overeating.
For some people--myself included--logging what we eat is something we'll have to do forever. And I don't see anything wrong with that.0 -
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.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.
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.
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booksandchocolate12 wrote: »But honestly? I've seen what happens when I STOP logging things. I quickly forget what a portion size looks like and end up overeating.
Yes, indeed. "Creeping Quantities" is what got me back to needing to take off pounds again.
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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.0 -
Thank you it has been the roughest two weeks of my whole families life.booksandchocolate12 wrote: »Vixen, I am very sorry for your loss!
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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.0 -
I've been maintaining for 4 months and have slowly transitioned from not weighing. I still test myself to make sure I'm being close to right, and I'm usually within a gram or two of being correct on a serving. I will only weigh something if I've never had it before, but here lately I am getting a good hang of estimating a serving.0
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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.
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If you still want to keep track of your food but don't want to obsess, maybe add your food at the end of the day? When I'm not on a cut I don't log during the day, I just put in everything I eat (as close as I can) at the end of the day, before I settle in for a late night treat. That way I have an idea of what I ate and, if it turns out I ate more than I thought, know to be a little better the next day.0
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Sophsmother wrote: »I can't tell you how many people have told me that MFP is a gateway to an eating disorder.
When I read on here how people knock every other way of eating as unsustainable for life, I cringe because they clearly think that weighing and measuring every solid and liquid that enters their body is something they should do for life. That's an eating disorder in the making and such unhealthy thinking.
MFP is a tool, just like Weight Watchers or Jenny Craig ... Like them, it's not sustainable for life and shouldn't be thought of that way. but you don't need it anymore and everybody's goal on MFP should be to not need it.
Transition slowly and trust that you have learned to intuitively eat well. If you get off track, you can start counting again. It's scary to give up something that served you well, but not doing it may lead to something unhealthy.
Awesome job!
Or, weighing and measuring for life can be exactly what some people need to do to prevent an early death. Studies show that successful maintainers continue the behaviors that helped them lose the weight.
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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.
Most sensible thing I've read on MFP for a long time.0 -
This makes a lot of sense.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.
No one tells people that they need to get the hang of estimating money without keeping detailed records of their transactions.
I think that sustained logging of food is more of an "eating order" than an "eating disorder", especially with the ease of logging online. Detailed records are much easier to keep these days than they used to be and you can go back through and look at trends when you have the data.
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Thank you it has been the roughest two weeks of my whole families life.booksandchocolate12 wrote: »Vixen, I am very sorry for your loss!
I too send loving condolences. I have two sisters who also died from heat attacks albeit they did not take care of themselves. I went for a stress test due to fear of genetic heart issues. Time may not heal wounds but it teaches us how to move on. Blessings.0 -
I view MFP the same as a spreadsheet I use to track my finances and net worth. I have developed good habits and generally make good decisions however it's nice to see the numbers also.0
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"Creeping Quantities" What a great name for a bandbooksandchocolate12 wrote: »But honestly? I've seen what happens when I STOP logging things. I quickly forget what a portion size looks like and end up overeating.
Yes, indeed. "Creeping Quantities" is what got me back to needing to take off pounds again.
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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.
This is a great analogy!
It's healthy in my opinion to keep tabs on something that can get out of control.
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OP can you tell us some more about why you want to transition? Is it because you don't want to feel tethered to the tool, or because people say you should or you feel it's the right thing to do at this point in your journey? I'm just reading so many conclusions on how it can be unhealthy to log long term but obviously this may or may not be the case for you. I myself continue to log but I do take breaks when I travel. In my case I eat all the food during those breaks, so coming back to log does feel necessary and more like part of my normal, daily routine that happens to include Weight Management activity, for ME.
My suggestion would be to truly sort out your feelings on why you want to transition. At that point, the next step should be a bit more clear0 -
I'm 11-21 pounds above maintenance and the idea of continuing to weigh and log makes me feel like I will maintain this loss. But if you feel like it's not working for you, why not take baby steps? Eyeball your portions for a bit to see if you gain before you quit logging completely.0
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Sophsmother wrote: »I can't tell you how many people have told me that MFP is a gateway to an eating disorder.
When I read on here how people knock every other way of eating as unsustainable for life, I cringe because they clearly think that weighing and measuring every solid and liquid that enters their body is something they should do for life. That's an eating disorder in the making and such unhealthy thinking.
MFP is a tool, just like Weight Watchers or Jenny Craig ... Like them, it's not sustainable for life and shouldn't be thought of that way. but you don't need it anymore and everybody's goal on MFP should be to not need it.
Transition slowly and trust that you have learned to intuitively eat well. If you get off track, you can start counting again. It's scary to give up something that served you well, but not doing it may lead to something unhealthy.
Awesome job!
I disagree with the bold statement above, and I have an eating disordered past. In fact, I think that kind of statement is bull and probably a projection from the person(s) who told you that.
I commend you for not wanting to count calories for the rest of your life, but there are some of us who have no problem continuing to log food and count calories. I've always known what a portion looks like, but I never wanted to do portion control because staying fat and unhealthy benefited me. I've been in maintenance for over a year and I still weigh my food and count calories because I have a long history in obesity. However, when I was on vacation in Ireland last year, I did not log and I did not gain any weight, but I was more active than I am now so I burned off the calories.
There is no right or wrong way to do weight loss or maintenance. Some people have never counted calories or logged food in their life and lost weight and kept it off, others do it from weight loss and for the rest of their lives.
You need to do what's best for you.
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