Do you ever get tired of logging your food?

sbwood888
sbwood888 Posts: 953 Member
edited September 27 in Health and Weight Loss
Anyone else ever wish they could just make healthy choices and not log everything in? Has anyone ever tried it? I know it is helpful to keep track, but it also a pain! I am interested in hearing from people who have actually tried losing weight WITHOUT logging. Thoughts from you guys? :smile:
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Replies

  • lsd007
    lsd007 Posts: 435
    Nope, I love logging. Seriously. :smile:
  • funkyspunky871
    funkyspunky871 Posts: 1,675 Member
    Honestly, I'm tired of it all. I'm so sick of MFP. It's an addiction and taking over my life.
  • Steveeee
    Steveeee Posts: 62
    I often don't log, just to prove to myself I can do it without the help of MPF, as I don't intend to log everything I eat for the rest of my life, I'll do it alone eventually. I've only logged half of this week (Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday) I haven't logged since Wednesday and I am 2lbs down this week atm.
  • admmommy
    admmommy Posts: 143 Member
    At the start of my weight loss I didn't log my food/exercise but I didn't know about this website either. However, it is helpful to log your food especially when you get closer towards your goal weight. It gets harder to lose the pounds so watching what you eat and being able to look back at what you ate is helpful.
  • CraftyJenguin
    CraftyJenguin Posts: 28 Member
    I have tried to lose weight without logging, but I notice when I don't log it I let myself slip a little more than I do if I'm tracking everything. Like "I'll just have one Oreo... it won't matter in the long run!" And it just gets worse from there. I do better when I keep myself accountable.
  • sherry2626
    sherry2626 Posts: 49 Member
    I get tired of it at times. The way my work schedule is sometimes. But I find when I Don't I have weight gain. I pay closer attention to amounts eaten etc. when I do it. I have the App on my Phone so it makes it so much easier to do. Good Luck in your Journey!
  • lsd007
    lsd007 Posts: 435
    Nope, I love logging. Seriously. :smile:

    I should add I am also a nerd. I'm an accounting major, I like numbers. I even make a spreadsheet each month detailing what I spent on groceries.
  • sccamero
    sccamero Posts: 164 Member
    I occasionally stop blogging every couple of days, when I already know the calories in the food that i am eating. I also do this to stop myself from being obsessed with counting calories and tearing myself apart if I eat too much. Stress is a factor that prevents weight lost and the less stress i can have in my life the better. Personally I feel logging is stressful in its own way.
  • Harleydiva68
    Harleydiva68 Posts: 50 Member
    I started feeling the same way. But if I don't log, then I feel guilty for not doing it. But it does helps when you look back to see what you have eaten and see what you can and cannot put into your diet.
  • soni_me
    soni_me Posts: 95 Member
    I log most days, but there are days that I don't close out, because I don't feel like it. I also keep track ,all day, of what I eat on a piece of paper...I just don't feel like entering all that at the end of the day!
  • I stopped logging for about the last 3 mths of 2010 and I hit a plateau. It is a bind, but it's one I do well, however I dont think Id be so accurate without the app....Most ppl think Im obsessed, if they knew I counted calories like this, what on earth would they think then?
  • cathys01
    cathys01 Posts: 221
    I think the problem when you don't keep track of what you eat, whether in a daily tracker or on this site is that you lose track of calorie counts and so on and it is easy to slip into bad eating habits, at least that is what has happened with me and before I knew it I was gaining weight.
  • sweetheart03622
    sweetheart03622 Posts: 928 Member
    There have been numerous studies done about the benefits of logging. For me, this site (the support, tips, logging, etc) has kept me more accountable than anything else. I've been going strong for over three months and losing consistently. I feel like I could keep up the healthy eating on my own. I usually pick all my food in the morning and then log it later and my numbers turn out just fine. But, where I'm training for a few races, I like having access to the information about my carb/protein breakdown as well!
  • GemmieNoWobbles
    GemmieNoWobbles Posts: 398 Member
    Nope, I love logging. Seriously. :smile:

    I should add I am also a nerd. I'm an accounting major, I like numbers. I even make a spreadsheet each month detailing what I spent on groceries.

    Ditto... nerdy accountant over here who loves the logging!! Such a loser!
  • kacarter1017
    kacarter1017 Posts: 651 Member
    I've had fleeting thoughts, but I've read way too many studies that show that documenting what you eat is the cornerstone to continued success. Not worth the risk in my book.
  • ksr5000
    ksr5000 Posts: 19
    Personally, I enjoy the logging, it keeps me in check. This is/was an important thing for me to finally lose weight and i can honestly say that this website and fatsecret.com are the single reasons why it got done (i started at that site, came to this about halfway through).

    That being said, I started this with my wife. She was on mfp for a couple months until she lost the 25 lbs she wanted to lose and has not been back sense. We both changed our heating habits completely so she doesn't have to log anymore and she hasn't been an ounce back on.

    To each his own I guess.
  • I like it and I have always found tracking a pain in the past. I think I would hate it if the Android app didn't make it so easy.
  • lsd007
    lsd007 Posts: 435
    Nope, I love logging. Seriously. :smile:

    I should add I am also a nerd. I'm an accounting major, I like numbers. I even make a spreadsheet each month detailing what I spent on groceries.

    Ditto... nerdy accountant over here who loves the logging!! Such a loser!


    MFP: Nerdy Losers Unite!!
  • Kjanthony
    Kjanthony Posts: 39
    i don' log in every day but try to at least 2-3 times a week. i work 2nd shift so it is not always easy to do at the end of a day that has been really bad at work. i do like to see what my numbers are as it does help keep me on track. i plan to keep up with mfp even after i hit my goal weight just so i know i am not going nuts with my food intake just because i reached my goal weight.
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
    I don't much mind logging. I find it an interesting challenge at times to come up with healthy meal options that still taste incredible, especially while being mindful of the sodium.

    That said, there's times when I'd love nothing more than to sit down with a block of cheese and a box of crackers, or a jar of salsa and bag of nachos, and just nibble away without thinking about it.

    Since I'm pretty much at goal (135 was my original goal, and 130 a pie in the sky number), I think I might start having "No Log Weekends" and see how that goes. Stick with my regular logged eating plan during the week (set for a half pound loss), and follow my instincts on the weekend. I was always pretty decent at maintaining my weight (until life through me major curveballs that lead to depression), and that was without any kind of regular exercise. Now that I'm a running fool, it should be easier.
  • CraftyGirl4
    CraftyGirl4 Posts: 571 Member
    I do get tired of it. But unless you're going to be using this site for the rest of your life, you have to do it on your own. People before me are right. If you log your food and can see it like you can on MFP, you end up making better choices. Once you feel pretty confident you can make those choices with or without the site, you can spend a few days or weeks not logging anything. But it might be a good idea to come back once in awhile just to check yourself.
  • trishlambert
    trishlambert Posts: 213 Member
    I'm not tired yet this time around. I lost weight in a previous effort by logging my calories, only then there wasn't a site like this or such a thing as phone apps. I kept an Excel spreadsheet and looked up nutrition information in a book I had to carry around. I managed to do it for about 3 months, and lost steadily, but life intervened and I stopped logging.

    For a while, I was able to control portions and know in my head what my approximate daily calorie intake was. But, bit by bit, I backslid. Underestimated what I was eating, overestimated ingredient amounts in my cooking, assuming that I was ordering healthy in restaurants just because I was not ordering fried foods and sweets.

    And, no surprise, the pounds returned. This time around is SO much easier! If I'm in front of my computer, I can log easily. And if I'm away, I have the phone app so I can log in a really short amount of time...MFP autocalculates stuff I used to have to compute myself, which is great.

    I admit there have been times when I "didn't wanna" bother to log, but then I remember that this is a way that really does work for me to lose weight, and that compared to what I used to do, this is a snap. So far, that's been enough to keep me entering my calories in and out.
  • LeeShirreffs
    LeeShirreffs Posts: 16 Member
    I dont bother logging my food anymore.. Only because i am running on a strict diet so i know exactly what i am eating!

    Only login to update my "check-in" weight :)
  • peteyTwang
    peteyTwang Posts: 250
    DO I EVER!!! ...about 6 months or so after i reached goal i went about two years without logging before my pants started feeling too tight again -- so yes i do get tired of it... but if I get too complacent about it , i know sooner or later i have to start again anyway :yawn:
  • knapowell
    knapowell Posts: 230 Member
    I don't find it tedious logging, I actually find it comforting. I have done the weight loss thing twice before over the last 5-6 years, each time losing 50 pounds. Each time I got to my goal I stopped logging (I was doing it in excel on my own back then and looking everything up). Each time I put the 50 back on plus friends, a lot of friends. That is when I ended up at 289 (more likely 300+ but I wasn't going near a scale). I figure that I am going to have to treat this like any other disease that I would have to manage the rest of my life, and I'm okay with that. This was a lifestyle change for me after all.
  • blisterpeanuts
    blisterpeanuts Posts: 67 Member
    I've only been doing this for 53 days. Daily logging is a commitment to myself to stick to it. I'm not a very stick-to-it kinda guy; I tend to get distracted by the Next Big Thing and get bored with what I'm doing--jobs, books, diets. But this time I'm making a go of it, because #1 it's working and #2 it's kind of fun.

    The only annoying part is when I eat out--it's almost impossible to guess the calories sometimes, so I just reserve 800 or 1000 for the meal and give it my best estimate.
  • IrishEyes68
    IrishEyes68 Posts: 31 Member
    I get tired of it ALL THE TIME... lol

    I don't always log everything, it's usually very small things I leave out, but I am so dang impatient!
  • leftymac
    leftymac Posts: 169 Member
    Sometimes. But you know what I get tired of even more? Being fat and unhealthy.

    Seriously, I love logging because it keeps me in control. It's the opposite of stress for me.
  • axman19
    axman19 Posts: 79 Member
    Love logging in and will have no problem doing it the rest of my life if need be. Also, only been here a week and have met some pretty cool people that I would like to continue communicating with for many years to come.
  • tatiana_13
    tatiana_13 Posts: 325
    Sure I do. And, depending on your situation, your personality, and goals, you won't always have to. Its just a tool, like everything else, not a religion. Some people find it ESSENTIAL and others don't. I didn't log anything to lose my first 55 pounds. I stopped eating certain things and practiced visual portion control. I do it now to try and lose those last sticky pounds and...because...losing weight is tedious and BORING, and counting calories and logging meals gives me something new to do....to change things up.

    If you are really experiencing it as a drudgery, and if you are more than halfway to goal, I'm going to be the lone dissenter and say...find another way. Once you've lost enough to retrain yourself and gain good habits the following is key: You will maintain the exact same way that you lose. People forget this all the time. And if logging every day is something that is more than a mild annoyance, but is something that you hate so much that you can't imagine doing it while maintaining, experiment with other ways that you will be more likely to keep.
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