eye opener and reality check

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2

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  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    Nicely done OP!
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,150 Member
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    Excellent admission. Go get it!
  • nordlead2005
    nordlead2005 Posts: 1,303 Member
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    Orphia wrote: »
    lemonychild wrote: »
    my God, that just sounds like a miserable way to live. i'm sorry, worrying about a dollop's and slices ... its something I would not commit to, period.
    different strokes for different folks

    What's miserable about it?

    You keep an eye on your bank balance, and tally everything you spend.

    Why freak out about keeping an eye on your food intake, especially if you have a goal to lose weight?

    Well done, OP, for your honesty! A refreshing post.

    That is a miserable way to live. I much prefer bouncing checks and paying fees!
  • caranais
    caranais Posts: 101 Member
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    Tinawood40 wrote: »
    You have soooooo inspired me to weigh my food more. Just the other day I had an aha moment when I decided to weigh the cheese I was putting in a quesadilla. I could see it was a lot less than I had been eyeballing previously. Good for you and thanks !!!

    that's good. That is what I was hoping for, it shocked me how just a few small amounts make such a big difference when you add them all up. It shouldn't have shocked me because I know, but obviously wasn't realising how small the amounts can be to make the difference. We all know if we have extra slices of cake, or boxes of chocolates etc, to expect the worse, but not so much how the small sneaky little things matter too. Good luck xxx
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    lemonychild wrote: »
    my God, that just sounds like a miserable way to live. i'm sorry, worrying about a dollop's and slices ... its something I would not commit to, period.
    different strokes for different folks

    Dunno. Less miserable for me than when I was carrying 80 extra pounds around.
  • maidentl
    maidentl Posts: 3,203 Member
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    lemonychild wrote: »
    my God, that just sounds like a miserable way to live. i'm sorry, worrying about a dollop's and slices ... its something I would not commit to, period.
    different strokes for different folks

    Not as miserable as being fat . . .
  • WBB55
    WBB55 Posts: 4,131 Member
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    lemonychild wrote: »
    my God, that just sounds like a miserable way to live. i'm sorry, worrying about a dollop's and slices ... its something I would not commit to, period.
    different strokes for different folks

    So what are you willing to commit to @lemonychild?

    Accurate logging has helped lots of people here lose that 20 extra lbs. Some of us would be miserable giving up carbs or exercising an hour every day or drinking expensive shakes or taking supplements or yoyo-ing for years on end. For some people those are things they're not willing to commit to.

    I'm sure you'll find tons of people who agree with you in the MFP forums, but the science behind CI<CO for weight loss is one of the few things that is proven in peer-reviewed studies to help people lose weight.
  • ManiacalLaugh
    ManiacalLaugh Posts: 1,048 Member
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    OP, I had a very similar experience, which is why I'm back on MFP. I learned how to count and measure, but after a while it just seemed like I'd built up enough context and knowledge regarding food that I could stop.

    I did stop - and I had quite a bit of success doing it on my own - but then everything slowed down. I'd lost so much that I hadn't changed my calorie goal and now it was too close to my maintenance to really make a difference. I'd also lost perspective on what a decent serving of rice looked like.

    So, I'm back to weighing foods, measuring liquids, and logging everything. I still don't intend on logging for the rest of my life, but I am content with returning to this habit every so often to keep myself in check and make sure I'm on track.

  • caranais
    caranais Posts: 101 Member
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    ManiacalLaugh wrote: »
    OP, I had a very similar experience, which is why I'm back on MFP. I learned how to count and measure, but after a while it just seemed like I'd built up enough context and knowledge regarding food that I could stop.

    I did stop - and I had quite a bit of success doing it on my own - but then everything slowed down. I'd lost so much that I hadn't changed my calorie goal and now it was too close to my maintenance to really make a difference. I'd also lost perspective on what a decent serving of rice looked like.

    So, I'm back to weighing foods, measuring liquids, and logging everything. I still don't intend on logging for the rest of my life, but I am content with returning to this habit every so often to keep myself in check and make sure I'm on track.

    good luck, I hope you reach your goal. I empathise with you xx
  • PeachyCarol
    PeachyCarol Posts: 8,029 Member
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    lemonychild wrote: »
    my God, that just sounds like a miserable way to live. i'm sorry, worrying about a dollop's and slices ... its something I would not commit to, period.
    different strokes for different folks

    And this is why some people don't have success. She stated she wasn't having success, because those extra hidden calories were sabotaging her efforts.

    For some people, they wouldn't make a difference -- taller, younger, active men, for example. Take a short, older, sedentary woman? 100-200 calories in little dabs here and there easily adds up and can make or break one's weight loss efforts.

    Congratulations for finding out what was getting in your way, OP -- and for sharing! Wishing you continued success!

  • caranais
    caranais Posts: 101 Member
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    PeachyCarol wrote: »
    lemonychild wrote: »
    my God, that just sounds like a miserable way to live. i'm sorry, worrying about a dollop's and slices ... its something I would not commit to, period.
    different strokes for different folks

    And this is why some people don't have success. She stated she wasn't having success, because those extra hidden calories were sabotaging her efforts.

    For some people, they wouldn't make a difference -- taller, younger, active men, for example. Take a short, older, sedentary woman? 100-200 calories in little dabs here and there easily adds up and can make or break one's weight loss efforts.

    Congratulations for finding out what was getting in your way, OP -- and for sharing! Wishing you continued success!

    thank you so much for your kind words and understanding. You are on the button as I am short 4ft 11in, 53 yrs and now unfortunately due to some health issues quite sedentary too! Trying to move more as well now though too, so hopefully it will all come together. I don't expect miracles, but a slow steady loss would be nice. Good luck to you with your journey too xxx
  • rugratz2015
    rugratz2015 Posts: 593 Member
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    lemonychild wrote: »
    my God, that just sounds like a miserable way to live. i'm sorry, worrying about a dollop's and slices ... its something I would not commit to, period.
    different strokes for different folks

    There's a number of stories around slimming world that basically charts one ladies day, and how much she eats, and what she logs - she thinks she's done well, but the reality is she has eaten about 3 times more than she thought because of these 'dollops' and 'slices'.

    Some of us have to be super strict, it's the only way we manage, I'm trying to stop the habit of finishing other peoples food, or grabbing a bit of 'this or that' from the fridge, because I know that it's these items that are my downfall, not the food I'm logging.

    Well done @caranais, great post :)

  • caranais
    caranais Posts: 101 Member
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    thanks rugratz2015. When my children were young I used to put washing up liquid straight away on their leftovers to stop me picking before I got chance to wash up!! (desperate times mean desperate measures), now I'm thinking of putting a big sign on the door of my fridge saying something like STOP DO YOU REALLY WANT IT? I go for slices of ham or other cold meats, or anything savoury there might be handy in there that I can just grab and go. I might even have logged one of the 2 or 3 slices I ate!!! No more of that carry on. If it goes in the mouth it goes into my diary lol xxx
  • VykkDraygoVPR
    VykkDraygoVPR Posts: 465 Member
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    caranais wrote: »
    thanks rugratz2015. When my children were young I used to put washing up liquid straight away on their leftovers to stop me picking before I got chance to wash up!! (desperate times mean desperate measures), now I'm thinking of putting a big sign on the door of my fridge saying something like STOP DO YOU REALLY WANT IT? I go for slices of ham or other cold meats, or anything savoury there might be handy in there that I can just grab and go. I might even have logged one of the 2 or 3 slices I ate!!! No more of that carry on. If it goes in the mouth it goes into my diary lol xxx

    I've seen things like chip clips that moo or oink when you open them. Problem is, they make me laugh, so it's not effective for me.
  • caranais
    caranais Posts: 101 Member
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    haha - I would probably giggle too. Although it might just stop me for that mindless second that it takes to grab a slice of something from a pack etc to just make me think don't do it. I've just thought, a photo of myself would probably be the best thing to put there. A few I've seen of myself lately would put anyone off going into the fridge!!! ha!
  • PaulaWallaDingDong
    PaulaWallaDingDong Posts: 4,641 Member
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    lemonychild wrote: »
    my God, that just sounds like a miserable way to live. i'm sorry, worrying about a dollop's and slices ... its something I would not commit to, period.
    different strokes for different folks

    Welcome to the calorie counting website.

    You know what's miserable to me? Being morbidly obese and cutting carbs and fats out of my diet, when I could eat anything I want in closely monitored quantities and lose weight.
  • bkerr30
    bkerr30 Posts: 131 Member
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    Thank you @caranais for this post! I work as a chef and my biggest downfall to weightloss is tastes and bites of this or that! I have maintained my weight for well over a year but I would like to drop the final 9/10 pounds. As tasting is a requirement of my job I'm thinking I should just add a base amount of a few hundred calories to my diary. That should (hopefully) cover the excess ;)
  • middlehaitch
    middlehaitch Posts: 8,484 Member
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    Great going OP, those little things do count.
    I even do a best guess logging all the little nibbles given out at Costco! That is a challenge.

    I have just restarted logging, after a 6 month hiatus, to track energy expenditure on my new winter exercise programmes. Usually I can maintain within a 5 lb range without logging, and have done so for the past 6 years.

    When I am logging I have a casual and strict variation.
    Casual is usually just using my own generic entries, ie; I weighed and averaged out my bag of oranges and just use one weight for all. Used generally as a portion size check with no gain or loss problems.
    Strict is when everything is weighed individually, that is generally when I am worried I may gain or lose due to outside influences- exercise can lead to a loss if I don't eat back enough, and being little, light, and old, generic burn tables are too high, so working off them easily leads to a gain.

    Cico can work well for everyone, it is learning how it works best for oneself that can make it sustainable.

    Cheers, h.
  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,464 Member
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    Way to go!
    100 calories per day = 10 pounds per year
  • NJCJF
    NJCJF Posts: 134 Member
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    Amen OP!

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