Just curious about how you log

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nxd10
nxd10 Posts: 4,570 Member
in Goal: Maintaining Weight
I have logged everything since I've been on MFP (3+ years). I skip lettuce on hamburgers sometimes and never log tea or water, but basically, if I eat it, I log it. I find it helpful.

I don't like sharing my diary because it makes me self-conscious (and tempts me to lie on it), so I rarely see anyone else's diary.

Question: Do you log most things? I have looked at other folks diary with long strings of days and they have only one or two things entered. And, if it's not complete, why do you do it?
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Replies

  • lilRicki
    lilRicki Posts: 4,555 Member
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    I log everything but spices...I can't be arsed to figure out how much a tsp of parsley is worth. I also log everything first thing in the morning so I know what I can and can't do throughout the day, or if I have to go for a walk on my "off" days. I don't log tea because I never put anything in it, and I don't log the splash of lemon juice I sometimes put in my water.
  • Artemiris
    Artemiris Posts: 189 Member
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    I log everything to the point of obsession, I have always done it when I used MFP. I skip the same things you mentioned though, lettuce and tea. Oh, and my vitamins and iron.

    If I put 11g of olive oil instead of the 10g I logged, I go on the app and add them.
  • sscarmack
    sscarmack Posts: 210 Member
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    I try to log everything within reason.

    Like, if I get a burger with pickles, I most likely won't log the pickles.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    I log everything but spices (because I don't know how many calories they have, if I do, I log it), black coffee, 0 calorie stuff. I don't log the vinegar I use because the bottle says 0 calories a serving, although I doubt it's accurate... need to look into that...
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
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    I have logged accurately for 1 1/2 years - weighing everything, using some clever techniques I learnt her on MFP, the tare function on peanut butter jars, using 1 grams portions of homemade soups, subtracting weight of bones and peel and cores. I never logged things like coffee or tea.

    Logging and aiming to stay within the calorie goal made me aware of what kinds of foods/combinations that work best for me, what it should feel like before and after a meal, how big and how many meals are right for me - so that I, when I 3/4 year into maintenance got bored with that degree of meticulousness, was able to stop weighing everything and logging religiously, and continue to maintain, with a few corrective actions. I still log what I eat, but not how much, and only as a part of a meal planning system that I still find exciting.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
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    Caveat - I've always chased consistency rather than accuracy and worked from actual results rather than blind faith in numbers.

    When losing initially:
    Logged fairly comprehensively (very educational to see what my portion size was compared to the suggested portion sizes!).
    But gave up logging water and zero calorie drinks very quickly as it seemed ridiculous and still does.
    Happy to guess-timate amounts of very low calorie foods (salad for example)
    Would have a rough guess after holidays/vacations when logging suspended.

    After hitting initial goal:
    Consciously relaxed logging, more eye-balling and estimating. Still tended to weigh high calorie items (cheese, cereal as examples). Used quick add calories rarely.

    After hitting final goal relaxed logging even more. More likely to use educated guesses and quick adds. Really as much interested in macros as calories.

    After a long while maintaining successfully I stopped logging completely. Found habits and choices entrenched enough to maintain easily. Not so easy to lose a few pounds after a holiday/vacation though but there's other tools and tricks to create a temporary deficit without logging.



  • patrikc333
    patrikc333 Posts: 436 Member
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    I weigh everything, so no general entries (unless I really need to, picking the highest one)

    I log everything except

    - spices, but if there are nutritional info then I do if it makes sense (chow mein condiments, 200 cal/100g for example)
    - diet sodas
    - chewing gums
    - a couple of sweets I might eat (I know how many cals they got)

    I always end up with ~120 cals left/day, that will cover the above (really cannot be bother for example to weigh the grated parmesan I put on my pasta, I did it a couple of times and it was ~15 cals)

    I log my HMR estimation (garmin) and my walks (or better, the planned walks)

    when losing I was interested in just the cals, then I discovered the macros
  • ahoy_m8
    ahoy_m8 Posts: 3,053 Member
    edited September 2015
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    I've done it a couple different ways. Bottom line--when I'm cutting, I strive for maximum accuracy; when maintaining, the need for accuracy is less. Inevitably, my weight creeps up 5 pounds... maybe in 3 months, maybe in a year. At 5lb up, I switch to a slight deficit with as much accuracy as I can.

    I have gone periods in maintenance not logging at all and logging only the first 1200 kcal in which I try to hit all the macros/micros I care about. I will count low-calorie vegetables for the fiber, for example, but not stuff that contributes few nutrients or used in tiny amounts(vinegar, garlic, spices). I also estimate things that don't vary much in weight and that I use a lot (milk in coffee, tortillas, oil spray in pan). Once I have the nutrition covered, I know I have several hundred calories for extras and only give them a rough count. My tracking data for these periods isn't very useful since the count is pretty inaccurate. I concluded it's not that much more effort to log accurately and have good data.

    My exercise doesn't vary, so I use TDEE rather than logging exercise.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    I haven't logged for over a couple of years now, but when I did I logged most things and I pre-logged most things. I did not worry about insignificant things like marinates or that piece of lettuce on my burger, etc...but I made sure I was logging what was important as accurately as possible.

    many people are just really bad at this all the way around...they aren't consistent...they choose erroneous entries from the database and log wishful thinking exercise burns. that's why there's so many "it's not working" or "why am I gaining" threads. a lot of people are pretty bad at this.
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
    edited September 2015
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    I now only weigh certain things like pasta/cereal now, 3 yrs of logging means I can eyeball most things really well and saying I've been maintaining my loss for 2 years I'm obviously doing something right :smile:

    For my meals I eat most of the same kinds of things so its just a matter of copying each day. For all my main meals I've used recipe builder and that just gets added to when I try new recipes. All the grafting was done ref logging foods in the early days but now its a 2 minute job....

    I have weeks when I don't log anything at all and then other weeks I'll log everything, I like to keep an eye on macros.

    I log every single item, regardless of what it is.

    If my weight loss depended on me keeping logging my food, I would do it for all the time it takes - sooo worth it :smiley:
  • Spiderkeys
    Spiderkeys Posts: 338 Member
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    Ive been logging for over 2 years now, and i've developed bad logging habits.

    I log everything after my last meal at the end of the day, starting with the food i last ate, as it's easier on me to count everything backwards.

    But yeah I tend to skip the little things like carrots or chewing gum, they are hardly worth the effort logging.
  • nxd10
    nxd10 Posts: 4,570 Member
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    So most long term loggers log like I did. We must be a type :).
  • karyabc
    karyabc Posts: 830 Member
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    Oh no i don't log things like spices, coffee, even my veggies in my omelette or the lettuce in the burger , or to be honest nothing that I'm not really sure about the calories , amount , weight , etc . Or when I eat out or if I take a tiny bite of something

    And much less thing like pre package bread, eggs and stuff like that .

  • moribunny
    moribunny Posts: 417 Member
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    I don't log spices and gum.
  • marciaholland77
    marciaholland77 Posts: 85 Member
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    I try to log everything but the diet sodas I drink.
  • Sweetie_1103
    Sweetie_1103 Posts: 10 Member
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    I've been at it for 3 months and I try to log everything. But when it comes to things like salads and things like that I'll search for a general item like homemade garden salad instead of taking it appart to log it. If it takes me too long, it won't be fun anymore and I'll just quit. I do log tea of coffee because if I add sugar and cream, it's calories. And I'll pre-log the days I know I'm going to eat out so that I know what I can eat the rest of the day or how much cardio I have to do to burn enough extra calories to allow myself that meal. Whatever I'm doing I guess it's working cause I've lost about 10lbs since starting.
  • airangel59
    airangel59 Posts: 1,887 Member
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    I try to write what I bite, but in general don't log spices, sugar free gum or a Tic Tac or two. I will log my diet soda, teas & coffees just so I'm aware of what I'm consuming. Since there are carbs are my salad veggies, I'll pretty much just weigh it all regardless since I've got the food scale out (i.e lettuce)

    I always end up with extra calories at day's end so figure I'm covered. I realize that no matter how anal we are about weighing/measuring/logging....it's really not as accurate as we'd like.

    As long as I stay within my goal weight I figure I'm doing something right. I hit what I thought my goal range was in 3/2014 and since then have dropped another 15+ lbs while trying to get the hang of maintaining & being where I'd like to be.
  • airangel59
    airangel59 Posts: 1,887 Member
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    I try to write what I bite, but in general don't log spices, sugar free gum or a Tic Tac or two. I will log my diet soda, teas & coffees just so I'm aware of what I'm consuming. Since there are carbs are my salad veggies, I'll pretty much just weigh it all regardless since I've got the food scale out (i.e lettuce)

    I always end up with extra calories at day's end so figure I'm covered. I realize that no matter how anal we are about weighing/measuring/logging....it's really not as accurate as we'd like.

    As long as I stay within my goal weight I figure I'm doing something right. I hit what I thought my goal range was in 3/2014 and since then have dropped another 15+ lbs while trying to get the hang of maintaining & being where I'd like to be.
  • PonyTailedLoser
    PonyTailedLoser Posts: 315 Member
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    I log everything but spices. Slowly becoming more accurate as time goes on.
  • PegMoffat
    PegMoffat Posts: 24 Member
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    I log as accurately as possible. I will have been logging for 1 year on Monday and have been maintaining within a range of 2 lb. up or down since last December. I do meal plan so if I'm not eating out I try to pre-log in the morning so I know if I have any wiggle room. MFP and logging has really helped me with portion control.

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