High maintenance?

linlinjay
linlinjay Posts: 66 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi!
I really do want to lose weight but it seems a bit high maitenance to weigh all your foods to log them, so it also means that i can only eat at home so basically i'm gonna ruin my social life since i'm gonna stress about everything i eat. I don't think it's a way to live (no offense to people that actually do that) i don't know, i feel miserable being over weight even though i'm healthy..
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Replies

  • LokiGrrl
    LokiGrrl Posts: 156 Member
    I completely admit to being obsessive about weighing and logging because I'm an obsessive person, and I'm always going to be obsessed with something or other, so it might as well be that! LOL.
  • Shana67
    Shana67 Posts: 680 Member
    It is pretty simple to weigh food. And to use the app as a good estimate when you're out. I mean.... if that's what you want (to drop weight), it's not so tough.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,223 Member
    I think it's pretty easy, once you learn the tricks of using a food scale. Adds only a few minutes to my day, and those minutes have had a huge payoff - losing over a third of my body weight, 60+ pounds. And logging has helped me improve my nutrition, besides, so I feel just great now, even though I was reasonably healthy & well-nourished before.

    For sure, weighing food is easier & quicker than using measuring cups. I did eyeballing/estimating for a while before I joined MFP, and did lose weight, but then hit a plateau, so I joined MFP, started weighing food . . . and learned that eyeballing was not a very accurate way of accomplishing a calorie deficit, for me. ;)

    Obsessing or stressing over it seem like a separate choice from the choice to do it, though. To me, the weighing makes it so understandable & manageable - like a fun science-fair project for grown-ups.

    I didn't have any trouble with eating out, or at other people's homes: While I do it regularly, it isn't constant, so the weighing happened at home, and when eating elsewhere I either used the restaurant's website calorie info (in the few cases where it was available), or estimated from memory, choosing similar dishes from the MFP database (and not the lowest-calorie examples out there, either!). Didn't seem to impair weight loss.

    That said, weighing & logging food is not for everyone. You probably know yourself best.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    OP you could start a thread asking how non loggers/weighers have lost weight. You may get some useful tips from them.
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
    I find this episode of Ben Coomber's podcast to be helpful for people who are feeling overwhelmed about diet.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPhLgzGgjQM&list=PLtpOTGOc6gWery6BPQ3wZFACZj2rid4pa&index=91
  • Bmoremama
    Bmoremama Posts: 84 Member
    Choose your hard.

    I decided 3 meals a day was hard for me so I replaced two with shakes, and weigh/measure/ log the third. It's hard(ish) but being undisciplined and huge was way more hard.
  • ogtmama
    ogtmama Posts: 1,403 Member
    I don't weigh and rarely measure and I've lost 30 pounds at a consistent rate of 2 pounds per week until I decided recently to slow down.

    I still log, I just assume the worst. I know that serving sizes are small but I always measure one out the first time just to see HOW small.

    If I think my strawberries are medium sized, I assume the powers that be think that they're large...and I use a measuring cup for cereal, rice or pasta just because a) they're pretty calorie dense, and b) it's easy to get carried away and deceived by the bowl.

    When I go out I use best estimates of similar foods or I add up the ingredients with the amount of oil/butter I imagine is appropriate for the restaurant.

    Is that at all helpful?

  • Bearbo27
    Bearbo27 Posts: 339 Member
    edited August 2016
    I use the app and it honestly isn't that big of a hassle to log. On the odd occasion I go to a restaurant with my family, I pick an option that is healthy (salad usually) and log it based on the nutritional info from the restaurant. I tend to leave a few hundred calories as a buffer in those occasions in case the restaurant info is off.

    You just have to ask yourself how bad you want to lose the weight. I wanted/needed to lose this weight and with 32 days of consistant logging I am down a total of 18 lbs as of today (I was 120 lbs overweight to start though). I still have a social life too. In fact me and some friends are planning a mom day out for lunch and a movie later this month. I'll be definitely making sure I stay reasonable with my choices and make sure it fits in my calories. I probably will forego the popcorn at the movies and order a salad so that I can enjoy my sangria margarita without going over, but that doesn't cut into my social life. I can still have a great time with friends all while logging my food and losing weight.
  • bquartermainNZ
    bquartermainNZ Posts: 6 Member
    I don't weigh my food but I log it and estimate my portion sizes on the number of calories.. seems to be going OK and its not difficult at all. The bar code scanner is champion! Use that and go from there.
  • trigden1991
    trigden1991 Posts: 4,658 Member
    It depends if losing weight is important to you. Only you can make that decision!
  • beaglebrandon
    beaglebrandon Posts: 97 Member
    Shana67 wrote: »
    It is pretty simple to weigh food. And to use the app as a good estimate when you're out. I mean.... if that's what you want (to drop weight), it's not so tough.

    How do you weigh food? Do you have to take things apart?

    For example, I have a Jimmy Dean breakfast sandwich in the morning.

    Do I need to (1) take apart the sandwich into the croissant, cheese and meat parts, weigh the croissant separately, the cheese separately, and the meat separately, then put them back together?

    Or (2) just measure it's weight in totality, compare with what the box says and adjust the calories accordingly? Because in #2, I might be off if the meat is smaller, but the croissant is larger, or vice versa.
  • victoria_1024
    victoria_1024 Posts: 915 Member
    Sounds like you're just making excuses at this point. Don't worry, we've all been there. You can do whatever you want to lose weight. Weighing food is a tool that works for many many people. I lost 90 lbs doing it and still have had a social life. I eat out regularly and just estimate. I have 4 young children and weighing my food barely disrupted my life. I am now at a healthy weight and I feel amazing so I would consider it totally worth it.
  • cavia
    cavia Posts: 457 Member
    Until you try it, how do you know? Commit to 30 days and see if it makes a difference for you. That's how I approached it cause I thought it was crazy to weigh one's food. That was 3.5years and 49lbs ago. It literally takes me seconds per meal. (I still eat out at restaurants)
  • Arapacana1
    Arapacana1 Posts: 117 Member
    If you are eating something that comes from a package with calories printed on it, just use those calories. If you are eating something that doesn't have calories on it, such as a steak or an apple, then weigh that. If you are eating out, check out the calories on the restaurant website or just give it your best guess.
  • babypunkprincess
    babypunkprincess Posts: 109 Member
    I measured my food for a week or so then when I knew how much put in a bowl of cereal or pb on my toast I just eye balled it. I eat out once or twice a week and sometimes eat whatever i want as a cheat day or get something healthier and always get a garden salad and veggies with it rather than fries or something.

    I also eat whatever I want as long as it works in my calories. If u want to lose weight then do it if not then don't.
  • ummijaaz560
    ummijaaz560 Posts: 228 Member
    beaglebrandon wrote: »
    Shana67 wrote: »
    It is pretty simple to weigh food. And to use the app as a good estimate when you're out. I mean.... if that's what you want (to drop weight), it's not so tough.

    How do you weigh food? Do you have to take things apart?

    For example, I have a Jimmy Dean breakfast sandwich in the morning.

    Do I need to (1) take apart the sandwich into the croissant, cheese and meat parts, weigh the croissant separately, the cheese separately, and the meat separately, then put them back together?

    Or (2) just measure it's weight in totality, compare with what the box says and adjust the calories accordingly? Because in #2, I might be off if the meat is smaller, but the croissant is larger, or vice versa.

    Weigh the entire sandwich in grams on the scale. Adjust the scale amounts with what the package says.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,562 Member
    beaglebrandon wrote: »
    Shana67 wrote: »
    It is pretty simple to weigh food. And to use the app as a good estimate when you're out. I mean.... if that's what you want (to drop weight), it's not so tough.

    How do you weigh food? Do you have to take things apart?

    For example, I have a Jimmy Dean breakfast sandwich in the morning.

    Do I need to (1) take apart the sandwich into the croissant, cheese and meat parts, weigh the croissant separately, the cheese separately, and the meat separately, then put them back together?

    Or (2) just measure it's weight in totality, compare with what the box says and adjust the calories accordingly? Because in #2, I might be off if the meat is smaller, but the croissant is larger, or vice versa.

    2. And remember that even weighing, this is still an estimate and calories can still be off.
  • faidwen
    faidwen Posts: 131 Member
    Weigh your food...

    Don't weigh your food...

    Lose weight...

    Don't lose weight...

    They are all choices YOU can make. Folks will help you, folks will hinder you. But it all boils down to YOUR desire to do what YOU want. Only YOU can make the decisions that will effect you. If one of those happens to be the choice to weigh your food and lose weight through this proven methodology, then that is your choice. If not, then that is ALSO your choice.

    It is all about choices. Weigh, don't weigh, no one is going to FORCE you to do it. There is no WRONG way to do it, if it works for you.

    Enjoy life..... don't stress so much!
  • fanceegirl75
    fanceegirl75 Posts: 620 Member
    It doesn't mean you can only eat at home. It means you take control over food instead of the food taking control over you. You plan and prep your meals at home. For those instances where you can't you make better choices with your food. You only fail if you don't try.

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