Is tracking necessary?
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benotnobodi
Posts: 14 Member
From your experience, is tracking necessary for weight loss?
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Replies
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Yes1
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All that's necessary for weight loss is to eat at a consistent caloric deficit. But tracking makes that infinitely easier for me, as I'm terrible at 'instinctive eating'.15
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?
For some people... obviously not.
For me personally? I obviously did not succeed in finding a path to sustainable weight loss till I tracked.
Given you're at a calorie counting web site I would think that most here would...7 -
I used to think I did not eat very much but I could never lose those last twenty pounds. Why? I was eating more than I thought.
Tracking helped me lose my 20+ pounds and now I don't really need to track because I know what real portions look like. I also stopped snacking between meals, that was my biggest downfall.3 -
Yes for the simple fact its 80% food...0
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Yes for me otherwise I eat a lot more than I think I have1
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Yes. I have counted calories (3)x in the past 10 years and consistently lost weight every time. As soon as I reached my "goal" weight, I stopped counting calories, and the weight crept back on. I am now OK with the fact that I will be counting calories for the rest of my (much healthier) life!5
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When I have an active job and/or lifestyle, and am surrounded by lower calories foods, I can lose weight or maintain a healthy weight without tracking.
Now that I have a desk job and am living with someone who likes higher calorie foods, tracking makes losing weight ever so much easier.1 -
No.
It's just a tool to make it easier by giving tangible data to work with.7 -
For me, yes it is very important. When I stop tracking, I stop losing weight.1
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benotnobodi wrote: »From your experience, is tracking necessary for weight loss?
Depends....
There are weight loss plans that minimize the need for tracking. Example: the no "S" diet - no sweets, no seconds, no snacks, except sometimes on days that begin with "S" Saturday, Sunday, Special days. If you put in some restrictions up front (that you can be consistent with) then logging won't be necessary.
However, keep maintenance in mind. This is a lifelong thing. Unless you practice "improved" habits in the future, the weight will creep back up.3 -
In my opinion, almost anyone who is interested in weight loss could benefit from at least initially tracking their intake. It helps identify problem areas, how certain things affect you, what reasonable portions look like, what effect the changes you are introducing have, what contributes to a weight stall if it happens...etc. It helps build a solid plan for the future. Some people can successfully shed the training wheels later, unfortunately I'm not one of them, at least not comfortably.
For me, it's absolutely necessary. I'm very prone to calorie amnesia (I can eat things and forget I ate them) +and portion distortion (the same portion can look smaller or larger to me based on my hunger and satisfaction).2 -
It's necessary for me, but not necessary for everyone.0
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If I want to lose, gain or maintain my weight, then yes it is necessary.1
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If you mean keeping a log, no but it is a useful tool. If you simply mean counting calories to regulate your intake, it depends on the individual and their goals. Of course, if controlling our intake wasn't an issue, we wouldn't be here. For many of us, it is necessary. Personally, I don't keep a log but I count calories to regulate my intake and not only has it worked amazingly well, but it has also taught me a lot. Even those who can control their weight without counting calories would be better off to do so for a while, if for no other reason than they would actually learn to eat in such a way as to get more food and be able to enjoy more treats. There is no downside and it is actually very easy to do.0
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For me- Yes. Otherwise, my portion sizes are too large by 25-50ish percent.0
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No it's not.0
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I look at it this way - you don't need a speedometer to drive a car, but it sure helps you obey the speed limits.15
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For me it is. I've tried and tried to lose weight without counting calories and I just can't seem to stay on track. If I can't see how much and what I'm eating laid out in front of me I just eat way too much. I wanted to just be sensible and lose weight by eating right and reasonable amounts but I just suck at it. I've compromised now and I log my food m-f and not on the weekends (but still eat sensibly)0
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No, but it works very well.1
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