Is MFP exhausting??

shelly650 · August 2011

I have been tracking my food and exercise on here since early march and at the beginning it was brilliant! The weight beganto drop off and I was selighted! I also found mfp fun and exciting because i had never calorie counted before or experienced anything like motivating or being motivated my people from all around the globe! But over the past while Im feeling exhausted by the whole thing! I even notice im really grumpy all the time, which is not like me!! My day revolves around food! I plan most of my meals in advance! I choose what im going to have for breakfast the night before, then what im going to have for lunch at breakfast and the cycle continues!!

I have tried everything from calorie cycling to carb cycling to eating all my calories back to eating none! Drinking 8+ glasses of water a day!! I dont know whether I should just stop logging for a while....obviously still eat healthily, but not over think every little detail!!

Is there anyone else in the same boat?? Or does anyone have any tips for me!!

I really would appreciate it! :flowerforyou:

montana_girl · August 2011

If you plan your meals in advance, would it possible to just add your food for the day in the morning (or night before)? Then you would only have to track once a day and could still make changes if necessary.

I generally log everything in the morning and then make changes as necessary, then I don't feel like I'm slave to the food log!

BaileyBoo13524 · August 2011

This is a lifestyle change, counting calories can seem tedious sometimes, but I would never go a day without logging no matter how down/grumpy I felt because I know to have continued success I need to keep going! If you are at a plateau increase your calorie intake by 10% especially if you are working out and burning a lot of calories. When I first started I was eating 1200-1300 per day and hated going over, but ever since I have upped my intake to 1600-1800 I have been steadily losing a pound per week along with exercise of course! Main thing is to listen to your body if you are hungry eat, never starve yourself! I hope this helps and no matter what don't give up!

jrueckert · August 2011

Sometimes I get tired of having to think so much about food too... but then I think about being fat. And I'd rather have to think than be there again.

1derwhy · August 2011

It sounds like you're on a plateau, which is normal for dieters. Go do a web search for tips on how to push through a plateau, and you'll find some great info out there!

RiseWayward · August 2011

oh shelly sorry your feeling this way

you've been on MFP quite a bit longer than me so I'm still enjoying the whole thing and love that its yielding great weight loss results which motivates me further. I do however get where your coming from.
maybe try and not think so far ahead, let yourself be impulsive and not plan ALL meals in advance!? do you ever eat with others? sometimes someone elses diet might make a nice change from your normal routine.
if all else fails maybe quit logging for a little bit and just see what happens, afterall, if its making you miserable its not worth it. you'll be missed by us MFP'-ers though!!!
anyway, good luck, if you ever wanna chat be sure to send me a message xxx

RachelRemkes · August 2011

I know how you feel, but not logging what you eat (for me anyway) gave me permission to have a little bit extra or that extra treat and it somehow creeps up on you (the weight). I've just come back after not logging for over a month and realised with 600 grams in 3 days how much extra i must have been putting in my mouth! Keep at it, as soemone else said, try to log and plan your meals only once a day and spend a short amount of time tweaking if you need. you may find that by logging it, you'll stick to what you've logged if you find it a hassle to re log on. hope that makes sense.

janiecorona · August 2011

I plan my whole day in the morning and I add it all together. If it changes, I alter it at night. Don't exert yourself, it should become automatic once you've been doing it a while. Also, if you need to, take a break for a couple of days...I'm not there yet but when I am, I'm going to try and do it mentally without the aid of a site.

blueliss26 · August 2011

i for one... do not plan to log food for the rest of my life. that thought is extremely overwhelming. And it is not normal/natural/good old days life that we all seem to be striving for. I really hope to get to the point where i don't need to track any more. I have basically taken the last month off and while i haven't lost anything, i haven't gained either. now i'm trying to get the motivation to lose again, so i need to start tracking again. But if you really need a break, i say take a break. Just so you know though... once you stop its hard to get started again!

anelahm · August 2011

i feel exaaaaaaactly the same way. it got tiring cuz id eat the same things and plan everything! i wanted to stop, but i know itd frustrate me more if i did. adding new and tasty foods to my diet helped me get over that feeling. eventually i want to get to the point where i have enough knowledge on food and nutrition where i wont need this site, and itll be like second nature knowing what my body needs without tracking it. so until then, ill keep logging. but maybe try giving it a break for a cpl days and see how you feel?

amymeenieminymo · August 2011

Yes! Sometimes logging my food feels needed, like I feel off if I don't do it, but other times I feel like I am in prison.

Do you ever take any days off? Sometimes I take both weekend days off, sometimes just one, but sometimes I just need a break from logging and then I feel ready to do it again.

When times get really crazy I have taken a week off, but this can be tricky cause it can be hard to get back in the groove. A few months ago I was working 11-12 hours a day, plus I had homewok every night....planning meals and counting calories was just not in the cards for those weeks. You might gain a few pounds when not logging (either due to actual weight gain or just water weight because you'll likely go over at least some when not logging) but if you're ok with that and you're prepared for it, give it a try. Everyone's different and you need to find what works for you.

iplayoutside19 · August 2011

Not as exhuasting as being fat.

But, lets take a step back and look at the overall concept. The point of MFP is to make you aware of what you are putting into your body. Before comming to MFP I assume most of us 1. Didn't know what we were doing. 2. Didn't care what we were doing 3. Combination of both.

You can back away from the maticulis counting if you want. For some people that works. The two or three times I've tried that it hasn't worked well. MFP helps keep me accountable. Being accountable can cause stress. But it's something that has to be done.

lilRicki · August 2011

it will get easier and easier...you'll just "know" what's bad for you without logging it, or what you can eat with the calories you have left. You'll read the same posts and the same topics over and over again so you can skip those...you'll just check in with your friends...MFP changes slightly the more you're on here and you won't feel so obsessed about it. The more you learn, the better it is.

myofibril · August 2011

Take a diet break - essentially 10 to 14 days where you relax your restrictions a bit and eat at maintenance - before getting back on track.

For many people dieting is mentally and physically exhausting. Diet breaks split up what can be a long journey into manageable chunks and has a number of benefits both psychologically and physically.

If you are lean or nearing lean then a break every 6 weeks or so is a good idea. If you are on the bigger side then every 12-16 weeks. If you are well organised you can coincide it with a holiday

BroncoMan · August 2011

I have been tracking my food and exercise on here since early march and at the beginning it was brilliant! The weight beganto drop off and I was selighted! I also found mfp fun and exciting because i had never calorie counted before or experienced anything like motivating or being motivated my people from all around the globe! But over the past while Im feeling exhausted by the whole thing! I even notice im really grumpy all the time, which is not like me!! My day revolves around food! I plan most of my meals in advance! I choose what im going to have for breakfast the night before, then what im going to have for lunch at breakfast and the cycle continues!!

I have tried everything from calorie cycling to carb cycling to eating all my calories back to eating none! Drinking 8+ glasses of water a day!! I dont know whether I should just stop logging for a while....obviously still eat healthily, but not over think every little detail!!

Is there anyone else in the same boat?? Or does anyone have any tips for me!!

I really would appreciate it! :flowerforyou:

I know exactly how you feel because I was there for the past two weeks.

My wife laughs and says I'm OCD about counting calories and exercising, and she's right! I won't eat anything that can't be logged and I can't skip a day of exercising no matter how badly I may want to. Also, if I do add something to my diary for the day, I have to eat it all whether I like it or not, or, I'll know my numbers are off.

That type of personality can cause me to "burn out" and I know that about myself. One thing I did to overcome my emotional plateau was to add two new friends, one as you know was you. Let me just say, you have been a total motivation booster with your relentless pursuit of success in our mutual endeavor. SO, THANK YOU!

Stay Strong Shelly, you'll bust through this barrier and come out smelling like a rose! ;-)

shoppie · August 2011

I think it does get a bit much sometimes. I had a phase of feeling like that recently, it came along with a 3 or 4 week weight plateau, and I upped my calories to mainteanance and swopped to only logging once per day in the evening, not coming into the community at all etc. That felt like a break for me. Honestly, when I joined I certainly didn't see it as a life thing, but nearly 5 months on I am beginning to see that I may always need to at least dip in and out of here to remind myself what I am actually consuming. Put it this way, 2 months ago I went on hols for 10 days and didn't log - and gained 7 lbs!! About 4 of them went very quickly just with going back to eating normally, but still!!!

ETA I've just noticed we started at a v similar time, I'd say its about 2 or 3 weeks since I began to feel better about it all

IndigoFlowers · August 2011

I started MFP back in January, and the first month went great, I loved it, but then by the second month I was sick of it.. I wanted to quit, I was sick of not being able to always eat what the family was eating, etc... but with the support of my family, they motivated me to keep on track...
Now, MFP is easy peasy to keep up with. What really helped me was their iPhone app (that I use on my iTouch), I just got back from a two week vacation and that app was a live saver!
55 pounds later, and I am glad I kept up with this site... I still have more to go, but I'm not planning on quitting any time soon.

So my advice to you, is to stick with it! It gets easier as time goes on, and soon enough you'll be able to make a meal without doing the calories beforehand and it still being healthy and a good caloric amount!

Is MFP exhausting??

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