Is tracking necessary?

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  • Wynterbourne
    Wynterbourne Posts: 2,206 Member
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    For some people, like me, it is. For others, it isn't. There isn't a single 'one size fits all' answer to that question.
  • spiffychick85
    spiffychick85 Posts: 311 Member
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    Oddly enough if I'm trying to lose weight (like now trying to lose baby weight) yes, but once I hit my goal I can maintain for years (until another pregnancy happens :D ) without tracking. I'm great at maintenance, but suck at losing it intuitively.
  • MoiAussi93
    MoiAussi93 Posts: 1,948 Member
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    No. It's not necessary. It helps some people. Others don't need it.
  • missmince
    missmince Posts: 76 Member
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    When I went from chubby teenager to normal weight adult 27 years ago, I didn't keep track of food consumed. When I became an anorexic adult (5'4" and 95lbs), I still didn't count calories, just avoided eating. My sister did the same, except she went down to 87 lbs at her skinniest (and turned orange, since she ate a pound of carrots a day), with no food tracking required. Now, at 46, I need to keep track of food to lose weight healthily. The only other way I know is avoiding food, especially carbs. Tracking food is a bit tedious (actually, very tedious), but it lets me eat whatever I want since I can rely on a food diary to keep total calories at my goal. It's not necessarily more effective in terms of weight loss, but it's a good idea to do it at some point, whether or not you're trying to lose weight, for better nutritional awareness.
  • estherdragonbat
    estherdragonbat Posts: 5,283 Member
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    It's helpful for me.

    1) It lets me know what I'm consuming calorie-wise
    2) I have some spatial perception problems that make it hard for me to eyeball a cup or a "portion the size of half a grapefruit"
    3) If I pre-log higher-calorie items ahead of time, I can recognize that they fit within my calories and the unhealthy negative self-talk about how I just blew my diet/went of the rails, etc. Suddenly, it's not about "You had a frosted shortbread cookie! How could you? That's just sugar and fat. You probably put on a half-a-pound right there." It's "I had a cookie. It's 160 calories. I made room for it in my calories. In fact, I still have another 150 I can use before I even exercise." I'm an emotional eater. When I'm upset, I grab for food. If I'm upset about eating too much... I still eat. Logging has really helped me break that cycle.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,325 Member
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    No, I didn't need to track in order to lose.

    I lost 28 pounds in 3 months without tracking.

    Then my weight loss slowed down, perhaps to a full stop. At that point, I joined MFP, started meticulously logging/tracking what I ate, and lost another 35 pounds in about the next 8 months.

    I didn't need to track in order to lose weight. But I did need to track in order to lose all the weight that I wanted and needed to lose.

    And for now, I definitely need to track in order to maintain.
  • Seffell
    Seffell Posts: 2,222 Member
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    Not for everyone (surely you've heard of all the people that​ lost otherwise?).

    But I can't lose without (not that I've tried but I don't care about guessing my way through).
  • Desalinadokaz
    Desalinadokaz Posts: 24 Member
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    I found it very necessary. I love food, I am a comfort eater and if I don't log I find that I'm often over calories. I need to be aware of what I'm eating overwise I will overeat. I realised recently that even when I reach my target weight, I'm probably still going to need to track otherwise I am probably going to start gaining again :-(
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 24,922 Member
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    benotnobodi wrote: »
    From your experience, is tracking necessary for weight loss?

    For me ... yep!
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
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    No its not.. in my house hold I am the food weigher/logger and my husband is not. He lost 70 pounds with out logging one ounce of food and has been maintaining without logging one ounce of food.
  • PrincessMel72
    PrincessMel72 Posts: 1,094 Member
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    It's a personal thing I believe. Some people do just fine eyeballing portions and whatnot, but I'm not one of them. I measure, weigh and log everything. Otherwise I tend to go off course. Just like the poster that compared it to the speedometer in your car - it helps to have a visual guide to keep you on track. :)
  • kr1stadee
    kr1stadee Posts: 1,774 Member
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    I lost nearly 80lbs over a year and a half. Felt like I knew what I was doing, stopped logging. Gained 50lbs over the course of a year. Now I'm busting my *kitten* to get back to where I was.

    For me, logging is necessary.
  • yskaldir
    yskaldir Posts: 202 Member
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    I can maintain 12-15% bodyfat without tracking, but if I need to go lower yes I have to track, and the lower I go the more anal I need to be.
  • YalithKBK
    YalithKBK Posts: 317 Member
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    Yes. Otherwise, I wouldn't have to be here in the first place.
  • CSARdiver
    CSARdiver Posts: 6,252 Member
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    For the vast majority - yes.
  • shutterbug_2
    shutterbug_2 Posts: 4 Member
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    For me yessssss! I have been on this rollor coaster for a long time. When my wifey and would count calories we would do well but when we stoped it would come right back on.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,940 Member
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    AnvilHead wrote: »
    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.

    Ya, when I "drive intuitively" I inevitably go over the speed limit.

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