Why do you track?

Misterhyd3
Misterhyd3 Posts: 138 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
What is your motivation for tracking calories?

Replies

  • Cynsonya
    Cynsonya Posts: 668 Member
    To lose weight. If I didn't track I'd undoubtedly overeat and continue to gain.
  • RuNaRoUnDaFiEld
    RuNaRoUnDaFiEld Posts: 5,864 Member
    To keep within my safe 5lb zone.
  • WendyLaubach
    WendyLaubach Posts: 518 Member
    I discovered that I had no realistic sense of how much I was eating or how much I should eat. After three months, I'm starting to get a sense of it, but I'm nowhere near as conscious of it as I'll need to be in order to plan my meals without giving them much thought or calculation, especially if I'm incorporating new foods and dishes. I can imagine a future in which I have a strong enough sense of how much I can eat that I can dispense with counting and logging and simply check the scale every so often to see whether I should adjust. That will be after I hit my target and am in maintenance.
  • Darjaurhziva
    Darjaurhziva Posts: 28 Member
    I was very suprised, when I strated tracking calories and grams. I underestimated everything for about 50%.
    I thought, I didn't eat much, but I was so wrong. Now, after 2.5 months and only 3kg lost, I know I should keep a journal if I want to lose 8kg more. And then maintain weight with MFP and after that, my goal is to maintain weight without MFP.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    I want to maintain my weight loss and I know from past experience I'm really bad at just winging it.
  • Rockstar_JILL
    Rockstar_JILL Posts: 514 Member
    I track for the simple reason that it reassures me that I will lose weight if I am under my goal. It reinforces that I am doing well. There is accountability in it too.
  • CurlyCockney
    CurlyCockney Posts: 1,394 Member
    I track because not tracking got me here in the first place.
  • katiebean
    katiebean Posts: 110 Member
    Because it works.
  • UG77
    UG77 Posts: 206 Member
    I track because it is just another reason to stay away from certain foods. I just don't want to put them on my log.
  • BoaRestrictor
    BoaRestrictor Posts: 194 Member
    Protein. Because I'm building muscle.
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,423 Member
    thegorilla89 wrote: »
    What is your motivation for tracking calories?

    Because I wanted to lose weight and it is helpful to track calories to do that.
  • VintageFeline
    VintageFeline Posts: 6,771 Member
    To ensure I am consistently in a deficit to lose weight. Not tracking got me fat.
  • LaceyBirds
    LaceyBirds Posts: 451 Member
    To know how much I am eating so I can lose weight - 71 pounds lost so far. Also, to monitor my sodium and fats in order to get off of blood pressure and cholesterol medications. I have already been taken off of one of them due to weight loss and lowering my sodium.

    Because it works.

  • yesimpson
    yesimpson Posts: 1,372 Member
    Because in the past I was 2.5 stone heavier, and tracking allowed me to enjoy food, make healthy choices and lose weight.
    In the less distant past, after I hit my goal weight I stopped tracking but I was continuing to lose weight to the point I had a BMI under 17, and couldn't comprehend why; starting to track again showed me I wasn't eating enough for my lifestyle.
    I love data, so knowledge is power to me. I'm just not quite as good at managing my intake intuitively as I would like to be, I suppose.
  • ashmaro
    ashmaro Posts: 9 Member
    Tracking for accountability.
  • Fursian
    Fursian Posts: 556 Member
    thegorilla89 wrote: »
    What is your motivation for tracking calories?

    I thought it bizarre in the past. Hearing/seeing people fuss about the information on the back of food packaging. Fast forward a bit, to being overweight, and calorie counting didn't seem all that strange a thing to do anymore. Lose/maintain by numbers is the name of this game, it works, and I'm willing to play. :mrgreen:
  • yourhiddengem
    yourhiddengem Posts: 171 Member
    My anxiety.

    When my anxiety gets really bad and I'm not tracking I just kind of stop eating and then it makes my anxiety worse in the long run.
  • MommyL2015
    MommyL2015 Posts: 1,411 Member
    To lose weight. And when I reach my goal, I'll continue counting and tracking to maintain because I cannot eyeball portions accurately enough to keep it off. Maybe one day I'll dish out a spoonful of peanut butter and say, Yep, that's exactly the right amount, but I'm not that good yet.
  • FitGirl0123
    FitGirl0123 Posts: 1,273 Member
    Lose/maintain/gain depending on what phase I'm in. Unfortunately I've found that I don't maintain my weight for long periods of time without tracking

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