Logging in on everything!

Logging is my reality check! DITTO!

I tend to prelog. I think about what I'm going to eat, and estimate portions. That way I have an idea of areas I need to work on. Such as am I low on protein? Does my breakfast/lunch not leave me enough room for dinner? And then as the day goes on, I edit quantities or make changes as necessary.

It takes less time, the more you log. Why? Well, 2 reasons that I can think of. First you get better at it, more efficient. Second MFP saves your recently used foods. I tend to eat alot of the same things over & over again, so having them in my history means those entries come up when I start typing the name of an item.

I don't think I'd have ever got to goal if I hadn't have logged consistently.... however 4 years on I no longer need to log as its instinctive/habit now to know how much/what to eat (haven't logged food in over a year and still maintaining nicely).

LifeLongFoodLvr wrote: »

MissMetal696 wrote: »

well I have been eating fairly healthy for a week now, exercise soon to come after good eating habits have set in. I find it hard to log what I eat daily, to me I think is there a point if you're watching what you eat and read labels all the time? I would love to take that extra 30 seconds to add to my tracker daily but sometimes it's annoying. Does anyone else feel this way?

Um no. MFP is a calorie counting site.

it can be tedious but I have to do it to keep going and get it right. I just discoved the scanner so I love that lol.

The majority of time I spend on logging is when I'm cooking/prepping (I batch cook/prep into pre-portioned amounts)- after that I just have to select from my recipe list. It's so easy to over eat when not logging.

I have eaten "fairly healthy" my whole life. That didn't stop me from eating more than I needed and getting to almost 200 pounds. Logging may be kind of tedious for the first couple of weeks, but once you start doing it it gets a lot easier. There will always be people who don't need to log, but I am not one of them.

It was annoying at first. It gets less time consuming. I also pre-log either the night before or in the morning. It takes 5 minutes out of time I'd be browsing facebook. If it's too much of a pain for you to log your food, then just do things your way and see how it works out. What's the point of using a calorie counting tool if you're not going to count? A quick browse through success stories will show you that this works. Your way isn't going to teach you portion control. You can still eat too much healthy food. Plenty of people have gained weight eating fairly healthy. So, if eating intuitively fails you, come back and try it our way. It takes a little more time, but it's like a muscle. Things get easier the more you flex it.

You can customize meals if you eat the same thing frequently.

Not logging what you eat is like going on a long road trip without a map. Sooner or later you'll get lost and just give up.

Honestly, I totally get where you are coming from. This is probably my fourth attempt with My Fitness Pal because I would give up after a few days. Logging stuff was irritating and I hated figuring out the portions. I also don't think I was mentally ready to change. Without getting into it, something clicked last week and I've been at it for 7 days now. Doesn't seem like much, but this is the first time I have actually enjoyed logging in my stuff. There's something kind of fun about it. Maybe I have issues, lol. But really, figure out why it's so annoying. Maybe you're not ready. Maybe you don't need it. Maybe calorie counting just isn't for you.

I'm never going to weigh my food or use a scale. That's not practical or anything that I could stick with long-term. I am eating now like I want to eat in the future. No weird diets or fads or extra work. Just legitimately healthy, hearty foods (with the occasional cupcake). I looked up how to eyeball foods and I base my logs on that. Good luck and don't worry about the people giving you crap about it.

I pre-log (a week in advance) and weigh everything. It holds me accountable and then I don't have to think about doing it later on and it super helps with grocery shopping. If I eat a little more/less, I adjust. But I try to stick to exactly what I have on there since it was meticulously scheduled.

I kinda get strange joy out of doing it. Like, hell yeah I'm BA for making it all fit, hitting all or at least most of my macros, and then I'm gonna enjoy the heck out of these tasty meals coming up.

Been doing this for years. It's helped me lose ~121lbs and simply part of my "lifestyle" now. (:
Good luck!