@DreamOn145 once I started logging my foods right after I ate them, I finally got into the swing of it. I have the advantage of being retired, so I have the time to check in three times a day. It also helps me remember to correct my prelogged items. Meal done, dishes to do, but first, whip out the phone and log or correct the prelog. I do the same when we eat out.

DreamOn, I used to be awful at logging and yes, training myself to log has resulted in much better results for me.
I do check in multiple times throughout the day, I record breakfast after eating it, I record lunch after eating that, I also prelog any snacks, and I record dinner after eating it, and if I need to tweak any entries, I do it then or if I am busy or going out, I return right before bed to do a final tweak. This works for me. I do have MFPals who find prelogging the day is what has helped them, they don't want to have to go back to tweak. Whatever works.

Having the ability to scan product codes with my phone helped a LOT at first. Now I can usually find an item in the database, but I always check what the dbase says a count is, some people subtract net carbs etc. so I try to find the usda info or check against calorieking.com, or the company website if I ate at a restaurant with nutritional info. Calorieking. com is a great resource. I started using that one while doing WW, ages ago.

I have found that for me, the act of weighing and measuring encourages the entry activity, I worked hard to get it right I want to record that victory. Ever meal that is logged accurately is a small victory in the battle against the bulge

More than anything else it is your attitude. Do you want to lose weight or do you just say you want to? Unless you can track your food, know your calorie needs, and match those up properly, you are not going to lose permanently. We are older now, we can't rely on losing weight at some vague date in the future. We should do it now. And then eat at maintenance levels going forward (like Jean and Bobbie are doing for some good role model examples).

Jean, I see this time and again for in at work. I am a move coordinator, and when I have an initial move meeting, I tell people moving to new offices that they should hold complaints about their new space configurations and changes they would like to make for 6 weeks. After 6 weeks they have created new habits and don't know why they had complaints in the first place!

Well these first couple of days have really shown me how long it has been since I did journal! I have spent the last two days adding recipes for the things we do eat regularly now, and I still have a ways to go with that. I know that getting back on the journaling wagon has a lot to do with having those things in the system and being able simply click on them.

Did manage to journal and close out my day for two days. Working on day three! It's also, of course, that same old rude awakening about how many calories I am actually eating!

I'm becoming an extreme charter. I have spreadsheets for my weight, my monthly goals and how many servings of fruit and vegetables I have a day. When starting MFP I knew I had to tap into my minimum obsessive skills and so MFP was my main focus for many months. I would log food every time I ate but then I am not good at planning meals. It meant some days I was over and most days under but as long as the week averaged out I was happy and it worked for me.
I do find setting monthly goals with a community helps. I'm now doing it on this group and with another great group on MFP called 3 Things Monthly Challenge. These 3 things are not always diet and fitness goals so I find that helps me find other things to work on now I am in maintenance. Let me know if any of you would like an invite to that group.

Jean, if I tried your water trick I would never leave the bathroom. It's so hot here that it is easy to drink lots.

Eating slowly is one thing that I did change...most of the time....but I still have signs up around the house to remind me. Eating very fast for over 60 years may never change without reminders.

I remember reading years ago that it takes 21 days to establish a new habit. I've never succeeded at that in as little as 21 days....maybe 21 months/years lol.

There is a new book out on this very topic that I have on hold from the library. It is called Better Than Before: Mastering the Habits of Our Everyday Life by Gretchen Rubin. I like her writing so I am looking forward to reading this.

Wanda

@bvifun: Wanda, I love excel. Drives my family and co-workers crazy because I spreadsheet everything! If I can't make a spreadsheet, it isn't worth doing! I'm preparing to leave for vacation. I have spreadsheets on travel times, routing and rest stops, groceries, packing lists, etc.

bvifun wrote: »

I'm becoming an extreme charter. I have spreadsheets for my weight, my monthly goals and how many servings of fruit and vegetables I have a day.
Wanda

I'm right there with you and Charlie. The weight reports on MFP aren't flexible enough for me. (7 days or 6 months? Please!) I have an Excel sheet for each month and I enter weight, calories, water, fruits/vegetable servings, and whether or not I exercised that day and I've included a line chart of my weight. I fill in the last day of each sheet with my goal weight for that month

@mamamiau: Fitbit offers great stats/reports and are exportable as .xls or .csv formats. You can choose your time frame. Once downloaded, you can sort, filter and tally however you want. You get a separate worksheet for weight loss and BMI; Steps, miles, activity, food (I just get totals as I log food in MFP so it only totals calories for the various meals, but that is enough, etc.); sleep. Love the activity spread sheet because it even tells you how many minutes you were at each level: sedentary, lightly active, etc. This is part of the FREE version. You don't have to pay extra.