Stopping logging and weighing?

OlisMummy
OlisMummy Posts: 19 Member
edited December 2 in Goal: Maintaining Weight
Hello everyone :)
A little background, I've been maintaining 112lbs/8 stone loss for under 6 months. It took me about a year to lose it, and I've built some very good habits.
Recently I've found prelogging & logging in general gets me very obsessive about the numbers and about food in general.
I have no cheat day but I try and fit in everything I like everyday. I work out 4 times a week,a mix of running, YouTube workouts and I think I've finally cracked my maintenance calories.
I want to transition to not logging, but I am so afraid of eating food without counting calories let alone not weighing it and ending up over eating. For those who stopped logging; Did you feel ready or you just took a chance? Did you gain any weight initially?
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Replies

  • OlisMummy
    OlisMummy Posts: 19 Member
    mom23mangos wrote: »
    Do it gradually. That's what I am doing. I had one cheat day a week while losing. When I started maintaining, I decided to eat under maintenance during the week (with logging) and eat intuitively (and what I what) on the weekends. At first I logged the weekends. After a few weeks of making sure my weight was staying steady, I stopped logging on the weekends. So far weight is still staying steady. Eventually I would like to stop logging completely. I'm in the same boat as you in that it makes me more obsessive than I think is healthy.

    it is a relief to to have someone who understands the unhealthy feeling of obsessing.
    I wonder whether it's the case with every diet plan? I'll take your advice and do it gradually. I think I'll trial this Saturday and see how it affects the scales..thanks a lot xx
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    I stopped tracking/counting around nine months into maintenance. It never got obsessive, but a combination of feeling bored with calorie counting, realizing I didn't need it anymore, understanding that when you're in the ballpark, it's more about consistency than accuracy and it evens out over time. I still log loosely, as in what I eat, but not how much - because I know how much I need (and I weigh what I can to be sure I have the right amount), and I don't feel urges to overeat anymore - and just in a spreadsheet. I also weigh myself every morning, and stay within a range of 55 to 58 kilos.
  • sunshira
    sunshira Posts: 14 Member
    I am at a similar spot. Part of me wants to stop tracking and focus on portion control but another part of me is scared I will go back to my old ways. I like the idea of gradually reducing tracking. I might try to start by skipping tracking 1 or 2 days a week and see how I do. I wish you the best in maintenance as it had its own challenges.
  • OlisMummy
    OlisMummy Posts: 19 Member
    kommodevaran wrote: »
    I stopped tracking/counting around nine months into maintenance. It never got obsessive, but a combination of feeling bored with calorie counting, realizing I didn't need it anymore, understanding that when you're in the ballpark, it's more about consistency than accuracy and it evens out over time. I still log loosely, as in what I eat, but not how much - because I know how much I need (and I weigh what I can to be sure I have the right amount), and I don't feel urges to overeat anymore - and just in a spreadsheet. I also weigh myself every morning, and stay within a range of 55 to 58 kilos.

    Thank you for your input . Great point about it being more about the consistency than the accuracy. I sweat out everything, every cherry tomato, raspberry and lettuce has to be accounted. I rarely have urges to overeat but i always feel the need to use up my calories even if I'm not hungry because I might be hungry tomorrow but will not want to go over the number! I also weigh daily.
  • OlisMummy
    OlisMummy Posts: 19 Member
    cmriverside wrote: »
    I lost 65+pounds in 2007-08 and I've kept it mostly off. If I stop logging I start to gain again. I think for me I will have to do some form of food logging forevah. I used to feel like it was obsessive until I found out how hard it is to lose that last ten pounds over and over again. Every time I think "I got this," I really don't. Using how my clothes fit doesn't work either because I tend to justify a few pounds. I can do pretty well if I weigh myself daily, then I can catch my oopsies...but I have to do one or the other: either food logging or weighing myself. Doing both only takes me five to ten minutes a day and it's FAR easier to keep the weight off than to re-lose it over and over.
    This is my fear, I don't want to start gaining because I know how hard it is to lose
  • OlisMummy
    OlisMummy Posts: 19 Member
    sunshira wrote: »
    I am at a similar spot. Part of me wants to stop tracking and focus on portion control but another part of me is scared I will go back to my old ways. I like the idea of gradually reducing tracking. I might try to start by skipping tracking 1 or 2 days a week and see how I do. I wish you the best in maintenance as it had its own challenges.
    Wishing you the best too.. Maintenance definitely brings its own challenges which no one tells you about!
  • BurnWithBarn2015
    BurnWithBarn2015 Posts: 1,026 Member
    edited June 2016
    i am maintaining since November 2015

    And i am in the habit of prepping my food for some days a week.
    Which means for me that on Monday i make meals and snack bags/tubs for work and school. This covers the week till Friday most of the time

    because of this i count on Monday the calories of my food during the week. I know my average and what i can eat "extra" like buying an ice cream of lovely mocha smoothie or fries whatever.
    But also that i dont weigh/log anything for those days...so no counting anymore.

    Saturday and Monday i count because i eat more and drink some wine etc etc. So i keep an eye on what i eat.

    Maybe an option?

    Also doing it this way which works for me...learned me the average of my meals, so my cheese/ham wrap is 180 calories aboutish.... My soup 100, my egg 70, my veggie and fruit snack back 300 etc etc. So i learned what my regular portions are and dont weigh them out anymore.

    I keep a close eye on my weight and weigh every morning. Work with a weight range and average week calorie allowance
    I exercise atm ( school and work take most of my time lol) 4 days a week for an hour

    In a way you could say that meal prepping on my day off is learning me to not count :)
    and what a portion is in calories ( about)

  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    I've been in maintenance for over three years now and don't log and haven't in that time...I do weigh or otherwise measure most things to ensure I'm getting proper portions and I maintain the numerous healthy habits I developed when I was losing weight, including what I eat and regular exercise. I also weigh in regularly to make sure I'm on track and within my range...I've had a few occasions where I've started to put on weight again and it's good to just catch that early and re-evaluate what I'm doing
  • sunshira
    sunshira Posts: 14 Member
    I like your plan.
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
    I stopped for awhile. I was obsessive and then broke up with my long-term boyfriend and it got to be too much. The first thing I'll say is I felt really GOOD, and healthy. And I was eating a wider variety of foods because well...I'm a lazy logger which means I eat a lot of the same things. My workouts also improved.

    In the end, I did gain a bit over the course of the month. My quarter of an avocado in the salad turned into half, then...whole. If I could do it again I'd continue to log maybe my calorie dense food, or just weigh...or just log.
  • ARGriffy
    ARGriffy Posts: 1,002 Member
    I don't log, but it took me 3 years to be able to accurately estimate my cico balance to maintain my weight. It's an end goal, just take it one day at a time and sometimes log, sometimes dont and see where you get! Or, eat then log at the end of the day and see how close your estimate was!
  • OlisMummy
    OlisMummy Posts: 19 Member
    Thanks everyone
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,458 Member
    Yay!
  • amanda000002014
    amanda000002014 Posts: 73 Member
    I haven't lost the weight that I want to lose but I am on my way. I only plan to use this app until I get myself completely familiar with what I eat, going paleo. Anyways, I plan to use this app for about six months I do keep track of my calories but more so what I am actually eating (keeping myself in check).
  • llbrixon
    llbrixon Posts: 964 Member
    I would like to stop food logging too. I tried it on the weekends and I ended up gaining weight. I think I might want to try a day or two during the week....then slowly increase it as long as I am not gaining weight. I seem to stay on track with my calories during the week compared to the weekend. Maybe because, I am walking during the week.
  • OlisMummy
    OlisMummy Posts: 19 Member
    llbrixon wrote: »
    I would like to stop food logging too. I tried it on the weekends and I ended up gaining weight. I think I might want to try a day or two during the week....then slowly increase it as long as I am not gaining weight. I seem to stay on track with my calories during the week compared to the weekend. Maybe because, I am walking during the week.

    Yes maybe try not logging during the week or incoparate the walking during the weekend?
    I havnt weighed or logged my food for the past 2 days ( Saturday and Sunday) so onto day 3, if i see a gain I will start logging immediately.
    Not logging has made me more aware of hunger and fullness plus I'm scared of eating my child's leftovers because I have no idea if I'm over on my calorie goal
  • OlisMummy
    OlisMummy Posts: 19 Member
    SideSteel wrote: »
    I would consider a few of the following options:

    1) Start by taking away a few weekdays but continue to log on weekends. Typically people are more likely to over consume calories on weekends and/or have less consistent habits.

    2) Take a few days where you log everything at night after you've eaten. Doing this will allow you to eat by habit rather than by numbers and you can track it on the back-end as a way to monitor where your energy intake was for the day.

    Continue to weigh yourself and take an average of those weigh ins for the week. That will be your weekly average weight and you will compare this week to week to monitor trends in average weight. Set SOME sort of RANGE of body-weight that you are comfortable staying in such that if you go above or below that range you add tracking back in as a method of making sure things don't get too far out of control.

    Excellent advise thank you :)

  • llbrixon
    llbrixon Posts: 964 Member
    I think in order to stop logging on some days, I would have to be very strict with myself and force myself NOT to do any snacking during the day. Once I started snacking, I would need to start logging all foods that day. Little snacks add up very quickly.

  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    I think i may be able to stop logging eventually, it's the not weighing my food which worries me. I'd have to be very aware of portion creep, as i'm hopeless at guesstimating and my eyes are bigger than my belly!
  • mappeal67
    mappeal67 Posts: 28 Member
    I read on an MFP blog, that maintaining your new weight for one year, after getting to goal weight, increases the chance of keeping the weight off. How you do that is, I guess, up to each individual.
    Weighing every week to keep an eye on your weight is a good start. If you feel confident about your food choices then don't log, but by weighing weekly you can nip any weight gain in the bud, by going back to the food diary.
    Hope this is of help!
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    I'm not logging at the moment - just got fed up with it one day and stopped. It's not had any impact on my weight.
    I use food logging as just one tool to control my weight. Main tools are daily weighing and making sensible choices - nothing too complicated!

    Restarted logging in the Spring when I had to lose some weight I gained after an injury setback as I find although I can maintain without logging losing weight takes more precision and attention. I was also training extra hard for an event so wanted to be more particular about my macros.

    I just flip in and flip out of logging depending on need, after a holiday gain I might log for a while for example.
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