Do you take days off of tracking?
Options
RedheadedPrincess14
Posts: 415 Member
Okay guys so I’m a goal weight and just working on recomp now and I’ve realized that I absolutely never take a day off tracking even though I have a super good idea of portions and food at this point. I think yes just become apart of my routine! Out of curiosity, does anyone take days off of tracking? I’m considering playing around with a tracking break to see how my intuition will do for 30 days. Has anyone tried this before?
1
Replies
-
Not a risk I'm willing to take. I tracked every bit of food that entered my mouth back when I was 16 or something along the lines of that. I was constantly in shape and never had any weight gain or maintenance issues for several years.
One day I decided to leave it up to "intuition" and that led to a lazy slippery slope to gaining well over 40 pounds (some of which, granted, did come from going to the gym, muscle is pretty heavy, but most of it was just me justifying my compulsive eating with "I'm bulking").
I'm 21 now and just started tracking again for the first time in many years and don't plan on laying off this time.11 -
Yes, definitely. There are days I don't care (birthday, Christmas etc), where tracking would be almost impossible (fancy restaurants), or I just need a mental break - this can be a day or two, or longer.5
-
It might be an educational experiment. I'd recommend continuing to weight yourself and maybe use a trending app so you can see how it goes. Let us know who you fare and what you learn from it.0
-
Yes, I have done it. I am back at it because I put on 15 or so pounds last year eating stress. When I get it back off, I will probably continue to log for 4-6 months and then log once a week to keep myself on track.0
-
I take days off. I’m a person prone to obsessing about food and just coming to terms that I’m “allowed” to not track is probably good for me in the long run.3
-
As long as I have access to a computer, I'd rather keep on logging. It doesn't take that much time. When we are on the road, I don't. I find I start slipping up pretty quickly if I'm not logging.5
-
Every time I stop tracking I gain weight back. Not going to do it again except for vacation and special occasions9
-
i have been actively trying to work towards taking days off tracking. Im not quite there yet but for me my issue is i get obsessive i have always loved the weight loss math and now that im pretty close to where i wanna be weight wise i know i need to loosen up. I need to practice middle ground, Im currently still tracking the majority but im loosening up on if i want a little ketchup above my calorie goals, Cool ill have a bit of ketchup. Or if iv hit my goal and want a small snack im practicing reaching for low calorie options. Its okay to go over some days basically is what im trying to teach self, If im really hungry or want something. I think its good practice for maintenance to first be okay with going over my goals, While also training myself to reach for healthy options.
So one day hopefully, Not there yet I figure in maintenance ill still track, Just loosely. And adjust as the scale does. And try to avoid the all or nothing mindset i have, Christmas binge was bad. lol. If i can learn to avoid those, Maintaining without tracking will be easier7 -
Yes. I just watch the scale now.2
-
ladyhusker39 wrote: »It might be an educational experiment. I'd recommend continuing to weight yourself and maybe use a trending app so you can see how it goes. Let us know who you fare and what you learn from it.
3 -
JaydedMiss wrote: »i have been actively trying to work towards taking days off tracking. Im not quite there yet but for me my issue is i get obsessive i have always loved the weight loss math and now that im pretty close to where i wanna be weight wise i know i need to loosen up. I need to practice middle ground, Im currently still tracking the majority but im loosening up on if i want a little ketchup above my calorie goals, Cool ill have a bit of ketchup. Or if iv hit my goal and want a small snack im practicing reaching for low calorie options. Its okay to go over some days basically is what im trying to teach self, If im really hungry or want something. I think its good practice for maintenance to first be okay with going over my goals, While also training myself to reach for healthy options.
So one day hopefully, Not there yet I figure in maintenance ill still track, Just loosely. And adjust as the scale does. And try to avoid the all or nothing mindset i have, Christmas binge was bad. lol. If i can learn to avoid those, Maintaining without tracking will be easier
4 -
WhereIsPJSoles wrote: »I take days off. I’m a person prone to obsessing about food and just coming to terms that I’m “allowed” to not track is probably good for me in the long run.
3 -
I did, but I also was intentionally giving allowing mysekf more crap than nornal, because I was on vacation and ther were lits of nrw food options to taste.0
-
No. If you save your calories and junk for one day you’re not making any progress. Cheat days shouldn’t exist in my opinion. What makes then better than now?5
-
riverscloud3407 wrote: »No. If you save your calories and junk for one day you’re not making any progress. Cheat days shouldn’t exist in my opinion. What makes then better than now?
Cheat day =/= not logging2 -
Since you are maintaining it can be a good time to give it a try. I stopped logging years ago (sometimes I check certain foods or log one day here and there) but mostly I just track my weight and adjust my intake accordingly. I am pretty good with intuitive eating though (in deficit, maintenance or gaining even) .. it can get easier over time with practice, but some people will always need to track.
You can start by not tracking one day a week, then move to a few days, then tracking only one macro (protein for example).. then maybe move to not at all.3 -
riverscloud3407 wrote: »No. If you save your calories and junk for one day you’re not making any progress. Cheat days shouldn’t exist in my opinion. What makes then better than now?
Of course you can still make progress with cheat days. You can also make progress without logging at all. Maybe it doesn't work for you, but it doesn't mean it can't work for others.2 -
RedheadedPrincess14 wrote: »Okay guys so I’m a goal weight and just working on recomp now and I’ve realized that I absolutely never take a day off tracking even though I have a super good idea of portions and food at this point. I think yes just become apart of my routine! Out of curiosity, does anyone take days off of tracking? I’m considering playing around with a tracking break to see how my intuition will do for 30 days. Has anyone tried this before?
I take every day off tracking. Only thing I care about is what the scale says. If it needs to go down, I eat in a smaller eating window which helps me to reduce calories.3 -
Either log or watch the scale. I stopped doing both and ended up 21lb back on.3
-
I have days (normally vacation time) off of weighing my food but on these days I still log, using guesstimate only. I worked hard to get to this weight and want to successfully maintain for well over a year before I begin to loosen up a bit more.1
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 391.9K Introduce Yourself
- 43.5K Getting Started
- 259.8K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.7K Food and Nutrition
- 47.3K Recipes
- 232.3K Fitness and Exercise
- 397 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.4K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 152.8K Motivation and Support
- 7.9K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.3K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.3K MyFitnessPal Information
- 23 News and Announcements
- 975 Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.3K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions