Anyone else stopped counting calories on the app?
Replies
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Guess what, I only ever used the app for a month maybe. My experience with it is that I dont like it.
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Weight loss is easy and hard, the easy part : eat less and work out more. The hard part is the mental aspect.
OK, so then you have your answer. You don't like the app, lots of us do...4 -
I only use MFP to look up food entries now. I list my cal counts in my email app.0
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kristikitter wrote: »
Guess what, I only ever used the app for a month maybe. My experience with it is that I dont like it.
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Weight loss is easy and hard, the easy part : eat less and work out more. The hard part is the mental aspect.
OK, so then you have your answer. You don't like the app, lots of us do...
And since the whole premise of MFP is to log your calories here, @Chessbear , you'll likely find that the vast majority of people here *do* like accurately recording them.
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I'm really confused about how you would know you are overeating when not counting calories. I don't think MFP is the tool for *everyone* trying to lose weight, but it's the tool for *most* people trying to lose weight. I know it can be a drag or a chore sometimes but MFP is probably the best *free* calorie tracker you're going to find. In order to reach your goal you may want to consider taking up logging again. Best of luck!5
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Me - but only because I use the website, not the app
The only things I calculate myself are home-cooked meals as I find using MFP to work out how many calories are in something complicated I made myself to be too cumbersome. But I still use the database to work out calories/100g for every ingredient (unless it's on the packaging) and I weigh everything pre- and post-cooked, so it doesn't really count as not using it...1 -
kdavid1987 wrote: »I'm really confused about how you would know you are overeating when not counting calories. I don't think MFP is the tool for *everyone* trying to lose weight, but it's the tool for *most* people trying to lose weight. I know it can be a drag or a chore sometimes but MFP is probably the best *free* calorie tracker you're going to find. In order to reach your goal you may want to consider taking up logging again. Best of luck!
Unless I'm misunderstanding the OP, she does count calories, but logs them in her head instead of on this app.5 -
There are times when I stop but I do keep track in my head of the ballpark figures of how many calories I've eaten and have continued to lose weight. For the most part though, if I'm not adding it up here, I'm noting it down somewhere or I'm making a conscious effort to eat a smaller portion/eat 80-90% of what is on my plate if that is a no count day.0
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I *wish* I could not log food/count calories and lose weight! This isn't my first time at the weight-loss rodeo but I want it to be my last. So I continue to count, log, lose and (hopefully) this time, maintain.
Good luck to you, OP...do try to learn from my mistakes!
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I think once you establish a regular eating pattern (a combination of eating certain foods/recipes you like often with just knowing the difference between what is and is not really a healthy choice) you need to rely on the logging food less. Just my experience...2
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OliveGirl128 wrote: »And a year of maintenance is nothing
Agree with what you said, except this part. Only 20% of people who lose 10% of their weight or more actually maintain that loss for a year. http://m.ajcn.nutrition.org/content/82/1/222S.long1 -
OliveGirl128 wrote: »And a year of maintenance is nothing
Agree with what you said, except this part. Only 20% of people who lose 10% of their weight or more actually maintain that loss for a year. http://m.ajcn.nutrition.org/content/82/1/222S.long
Thank you for posting this- I found it very encouraging! I have been losing and/or maintaining over the last 5 years and that seems to put me in a good position, according to the study
I log. Anytime I've tried to do it on my phone, it's been incredibly annoying, but very simple & easy on the computer. Doesn't even take 2 minutes for most meals, as my most commonly eaten foods are in my recent foods database. I think when a person has a large amount to lose it wouldn't be terribly difficult to maintain a deficit by tracking roughly in your head, but as a person's weight goes down, the numbers get tighter, with less room for error. Time will tell. I know it's not for me though. Too easy to become lax and sneak things in there when you don't have to see it on paper, so to speak. My adherence gets sloppy over time.3 -
I think once you establish a regular eating pattern (a combination of eating certain foods/recipes you like often with just knowing the difference between what is and is not really a healthy choice) you need to rely on the logging food less. Just my experience...
But 'healthy'/not 'healthy' has nothing to do with weight loss. You can definitely gain weight while eating a healthy diet if you go over on calories.2 -
OliveGirl128 wrote: »And a year of maintenance is nothing
Agree with what you said, except this part. Only 20% of people who lose 10% of their weight or more actually maintain that loss for a year. http://m.ajcn.nutrition.org/content/82/1/222S.long
Thank you for posting this- I found it very encouraging! I have been losing and/or maintaining over the last 5 years and that seems to put me in a good position, according to the study
I log. Anytime I've tried to do it on my phone, it's been incredibly annoying, but very simple & easy on the computer. Doesn't even take 2 minutes for most meals, as my most commonly eaten foods are in my recent foods database. I think when a person has a large amount to lose it wouldn't be terribly difficult to maintain a deficit by tracking roughly in your head, but as a person's weight goes down, the numbers get tighter, with less room for error. Time will tell. I know it's not for me though. Too easy to become lax and sneak things in there when you don't have to see it on paper, so to speak. My adherence gets sloppy over time.
Off topic but are you a participant of the NWCR (National Weight Control Registry), that the link references? If not you really should consider joining-there's so few of us who are successfully maintaining and your data could help others down the road 1 -
dp0
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dp0
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ugh another repetitive post0
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I don't count calories in this app but I used to. I count them in my head....I'm doing intuitive eating and eat when I'm hungry and in small portions. And losing weight ....
I'm on my feet all that though average step count is 13k plus I do Insanity and go for walks with my baby with a stroller so I'm quite active.4 -
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Have you stopped using the useful and proven app only to continue to lurk in the forums where dubious and outright false information is shared every day?5
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Post is a little troll-y, but I'll endulge. Is it bothersome? Sure. So is diabetes. So is morbid obesity. So is shopping at special big and tall store. So is being afraid I won't see my kids grow up. But can I take 5 minutes to log my food to make sure I can do my best to get this weight off and maybe live another day, sure. Not so bad.
Once you build a good list of foods you usually eat logging is not a hassle. In the time you post about not logging, on a site all about logging, you could have logged. Or not, good luck.15 -
Interesting discussion.
After several years using MFP I still find it to be the best, fastest and simplest method for keeping track of how much and what I'm eating. Simply eyeballing my food doesn't work at all for me, since I'm really inaccurate with guessing quantities even now, several years in. And even with food scale, just trying to remember or calculate stuff is way too overwhelming and bothersome for me, if I can simply log it with couple taps/clicks in app or on web.
But this discussion had me wondering something else, out of pure interest...
Don't get me wrong, it's a honest question, which really interested me ( though perhaps should have it's own topic):
OP and others who don't log their food - why are you here?
I mean I used MFP for years without ever clicking on "community" tab. Now I do read stuff and sometimes reply if I find discussion interesting or thing I have something to contribute. But i'm quite certain that if I would stop logging food in MFP I wouldn't open app or site, and hence would never wonder into community section either
So I wonder does the community really give more value to you than main purpose vb of the service itself?
Wow - long post
Hopefully I didn't offend anyone and pls. excuse my poor English.4 -
I lost around 40lbs 2 years ago not counting calories it can be done but I find it SO much easier logging in here then I know exactly what I am eating1
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I haven't logged anything in 4 years + and haven't had any issues maintaining my weight really. I do usually put on about 10 Lbs over winter, but it comes right back off in the spring when my activity goes back up and I go on a small cut.
Calorie counting was just a tool...I never considered it to be the "lifestyle"...I changed a lot of things in regards to the way I live my life and I always just considered this to be a teaching tool. I did log for about 9 months while losing the bulk of my weight.
Also, yeah...it's not really for everyone. My wife tried it and hated it so she just followed South Beach...phase III is pretty similar to how we both eat most of the time now anyway. Whenever I cut my winter weight, I'm more or less doing phase II really, with a few more indulgences.0 -
I take breaks. I also gain weight. Hell, I gain weight when I AM counting. I should probably do cardio or something so I can actually eat.1
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I find that it keeps me aware of what I put in my mouth. I used to eat because I was sitting, watching T.V., reading, or breathing. What I found out is the app helped to make me accountable and think about why I was eating. I was full but not paying attention to my body saying stop! I still enjoy having everything layed out for me on the graph.3
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Interesting discussion.
After several years using MFP I still find it to be the best, fastest and simplest method for keeping track of how much and what I'm eating. Simply eyeballing my food doesn't work at all for me, since I'm really inaccurate with guessing quantities even now, several years in. And even with food scale, just trying to remember or calculate stuff is way too overwhelming and bothersome for me, if I can simply log it with couple taps/clicks in app or on web.
But this discussion had me wondering something else, out of pure interest...
Don't get me wrong, it's a honest question, which really interested me ( though perhaps should have it's own topic):
OP and others who don't log their food - why are you here?
I mean I used MFP for years without ever clicking on "community" tab. Now I do read stuff and sometimes reply if I find discussion interesting or thing I have something to contribute. But i'm quite certain that if I would stop logging food in MFP I wouldn't open app or site, and hence would never wonder into community section either
So I wonder does the community really give more value to you than main purpose vb of the service itself?
Wow - long post
Hopefully I didn't offend anyone and pls. excuse my poor English.
I didn't know about MFP during my weight loss phase, (hung out on a plan specific forum), and after I transitioned into maintenance I left the other forum I was on because there was no emphasis on maintenance. And since that's where most people fail, I wanted to find a forum where I could interact with other successful maintainers-for the community aspect of it (there's so few of us and I feel like a weird outlier in real life), and then also to keep expanding my knowledge on food/nutrition etc.
Stumbled onto MFP and I've been here on and off ever since, (3 or 4 years now). I get frustrated with some of the posts/members, (I swear every single time I come back I won't get sucked into the diet soda threads
), but I keep coming back because MFP has the most active and diverse forum I've been able to find, and most importantly for me-it has a large group of maintainers that engage on the forum
I don't actively track in maintenance, besides some spot checking like I did today, but I have other checks n' balances in place. This is working well for me now, but I needed the foundation of actively tracking my calorie intake during my weight loss phase to get me to that point. I shared that with the op in a post further up, but don't think it made much of an impact. To each their own!0 -
Interesting discussion.
After several years using MFP I still find it to be the best, fastest and simplest method for keeping track of how much and what I'm eating. Simply eyeballing my food doesn't work at all for me, since I'm really inaccurate with guessing quantities even now, several years in. And even with food scale, just trying to remember or calculate stuff is way too overwhelming and bothersome for me, if I can simply log it with couple taps/clicks in app or on web.
But this discussion had me wondering something else, out of pure interest...
Don't get me wrong, it's a honest question, which really interested me ( though perhaps should have it's own topic):
OP and others who don't log their food - why are you here?
I mean I used MFP for years without ever clicking on "community" tab. Now I do read stuff and sometimes reply if I find discussion interesting or thing I have something to contribute. But i'm quite certain that if I would stop logging food in MFP I wouldn't open app or site, and hence would never wonder into community section either
So I wonder does the community really give more value to you than main purpose vb of the service itself?
Wow - long post
Hopefully I didn't offend anyone and pls. excuse my poor English.
I'm a nutrition and fitness junky...I like talking about it...I like learning new things...I've had a lot of success in all aspects of this and I like to help people get headed in the right direction.1 -
cwolfman13 wrote: »Interesting discussion.
After several years using MFP I still find it to be the best, fastest and simplest method for keeping track of how much and what I'm eating. Simply eyeballing my food doesn't work at all for me, since I'm really inaccurate with guessing quantities even now, several years in. And even with food scale, just trying to remember or calculate stuff is way too overwhelming and bothersome for me, if I can simply log it with couple taps/clicks in app or on web.
But this discussion had me wondering something else, out of pure interest...
Don't get me wrong, it's a honest question, which really interested me ( though perhaps should have it's own topic):
OP and others who don't log their food - why are you here?
I mean I used MFP for years without ever clicking on "community" tab. Now I do read stuff and sometimes reply if I find discussion interesting or thing I have something to contribute. But i'm quite certain that if I would stop logging food in MFP I wouldn't open app or site, and hence would never wonder into community section either
So I wonder does the community really give more value to you than main purpose vb of the service itself?
Wow - long post
Hopefully I didn't offend anyone and pls. excuse my poor English.
I'm a nutrition and fitness junky...I like talking about it...I like learning new things...I've had a lot of success in all aspects of this and I like to help people get headed in the right direction.
Yeah, if i ever stop logging i'll still come to the forums. I spend a few minutes a day logging my food, but spend hours on the forums!
OP what exactly annoys you about logging your food? You do know there is a website version, not just the app that you keep repeating.
Does it bother you when you have gone over your calories, so you would rather not log so you dont have to see it?
You have a lot of weight to lose, i would take full advantage of this wonderful tool which makes losing weight so much easier and insightful.
ETA: I haven't missed a day of logging in 3 years, it's just become a quick and easy part of my daily routine. I pre-log my day every morning, which takes me a few minutes.4 -
It was too bothersome. Its probably a week, maybr longer, that i havnt counted calories in the app.
I just count calories in my head. Much easier. Probably easier to overeat, but you can get better at counting caloroes.
Ok, one minute you tell mfp that you used to be fit and can bless us all with stories about how all the ladies love you.
The next post you say you want to know if eating 1000 cals a day is a good plan so you can lose 40lbs in 2 months.
Then you say your 210 and need to lose 90lbs to get a 6pack, when in a previous post you said you had a 6 pack only 50lbs ago. So which is it 120 or 160lbs?
Then a few days later you go on to ask if you could maintain your weightloss and eat 3000 calories a day.
Then you go on to say that tracking calories is "bothersome". And don't want to do it anymore.
I think it's not that tracking calories in the app is bothersome, it's that your in denial. You wanted to lose too fast and tried to go to hard, you restricted too much.You failed. Then you thought in a fantasy land if you exercised alot you could eat all you wanted(3000). Now you want people to stroke your ego because you aren't getting it right.
My advice is to find some sustainable middle ground. Eat around 1800-2000 cals.Expect to lose only 1 lb or so a week. And stick to it for more than month.6 -
I don't log a thing. Never have. I've lost 35 lbs since starting losing weight and am now BMI 22.9. Hoping to lose another 8 lbs to get to BMI 21.6. So for me counting in my head works just fine. But for others it could be a problem staying on goal without logging things. It's all about what works for the individual. If you find not logging causes problems for losing weight then go back to logging but if you're happier without logging then no reason to not give it a shot.2
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