You folks scare me...
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I am a bit of an odd duck - I like weighing my food and going to a restaurant when trying to maintain a calorie deficit, and I have to "wing it" and guess (like in today's diary) gives me all sorts of angst.
I suppose that once I am at goal and in maintenance, I won't feel so angsty - but right now, I am so focused on staying the course (in the past, neglecting to weigh/track/log my food for several months was what contributed to my gaining back everything I had lost...because I was not keeping track, even in my head, of what I was eating. I would often forget what I had eaten during the day or how much.)
I can imagine I may back off on the weighing everything part, eventually - maybe - but I like it - and in all honesty, it takes me all of a couple extra minutes to do it. If it's important to you, you find the time for it.0 -
on the flip side, Whats wrong with being obsessed about my health/fitness/nutrition. Also, Tracking has helped me ensure im eating enough, Which i 100% wouldnt be if i didnt track most stuff. MY mind would be like well if i want to lose weight not tracking i have to eat less, Then id eat way less. Either way id be obsessive, Atleast tracking ensures im nourished.8
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Food scale is a lot less dishes to wash for me. Place plate on scale; reset to zero, add food. No washing measuring cups or spoons. I made a boxed meal one time. The serving was one cup. Let me tell you what. I can press a lot in in a cup. Scale was more accurate. It's all in what you're looking for. I'm same as others. I didn't own a scale in beginning. I do better with a scale now.4
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I AGREE!, some are so OBSESSED , ITS NUTS!, I do not even own a scale, do not weigh myself or food, ever., and I love to drink and have fun and live! here today, gone tomorrow, I am going to have fun!7
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I think you may have been exposed to bubble within this website. The vast majority of users, especially successful ones, moved through this process slowly and patiently.
Drastic changes don't work in the long term - this is why you see so much diet failure and yo-yoing.
I adjust my diet based upon my current goals. I just came out of a muscle building phase and currently in a fat loss phase, so tracking my intake with greater precision and accuracy.
Just prioritize what matters - calories in for the most part. Weigh your food in the beginning, but this is more for you to build the skills to understand what a portion looks like. Be consistent. Don't do anything crazy or drastic.6 -
JaydedMiss wrote: »on the flip side, Whats wrong with being obsessed about my health/fitness/nutrition. Also, Tracking has helped me ensure im eating enough, Which i 100% wouldnt be if i didnt track most stuff. MY mind would be like well if i want to lose weight not tracking i have to eat less, Then id eat way less. Either way id be obsessive, Atleast tracking ensures im nourished.
Tracking everything has helped me lose weight, 12kg (26lbs) in 6 months, without tracking it all I would have overeaten often. Now when I'm trying to maintain I'm a little less obsessive over the tracking as I now have a better understanding of how much certain foods contain, I can go out without freaking out so much.
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I don't typically weigh my food but I do overestimate amounts/underfill cups. For example I eat 2 cups of Cheerios every morning but while I was losing weight I would intentionally underfill the measuring cup. Alternatively, I would buy a packet of chicken at the store that was sold by weight with 2 chicken breasts measuring at 1.5 pounds/24oz. So I would eat one chicken breast one day and one the next day, and log 12 oz each day. Now obviously the two pieces were probably not the same weight but it evened out over 2 days. While I was losing I also underestimated my workout calories burned.
I lost 25 pounds this way so it is possible. Now that I am maintaining I am no longer underfilling the measuring cups, but if I see my weight creep up a few pounds I will go back to underfilling.
It's worth noting that I've been very active the whole time I was losing, so my "recommended" caloric deficit was over 500 cals/day. That gave me a lot of margin for error. If you are sedentary and going for the 1200/1400 cals/day option your margin for error will be much smaller and you may need to be more accurate in your logging than me.
EDIT: Also, having a written-out meal plan for each day is immensely helpful. For example, I usually eat an almond snack around 9:30 PM. I know that it's about 170 calories. If I start to gain weight unintentionally I know I can just cut that out and lower my total calories per day. If that doesn't work I'll cut out my daily granola bar at 3 PM. If that still doesn't work I'll cut my morning Cheerios in half. And so forth and so on.1 -
JaydedMiss wrote: »on the flip side, Whats wrong with being obsessed about my health/fitness/nutrition. Also, Tracking has helped me ensure im eating enough, Which i 100% wouldnt be if i didnt track most stuff. MY mind would be like well if i want to lose weight not tracking i have to eat less, Then id eat way less. Either way id be obsessive, Atleast tracking ensures im nourished.
Tracking everything has helped me lose weight, 12kg (26lbs) in 6 months, without tracking it all I would have overeaten often. Now when I'm trying to maintain I'm a little less obsessive over the tracking as I now have a better understanding of how much certain foods contain, I can go out without freaking out so much.
ya no i fully agree i have made 2 different points on this thread for a reason, Simply arguing for both sides
While losing weight i have reached for significantly lower calorie foods while being almost comically active. If i didnt weigh and track and i ate how i eat while on an active day id be significantly under eating. 0 -
Yes, I use a food scale to weigh food. Otherwise, I tend to underestimate the calories I eat. If you have a lot of weight to lose, you may well get by with guessing. The only caveat to that is that if you have been struggling with "disordered eating" you might trigger cycles of severely under-eating followed by binges (not talking here about over-eating a little, but actual binge eating). I'm eating at a small deficit to lose a couple of pounds a month - it would be pretty easy to wipe that out with under-estimating calories.0
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JaydedMiss wrote: »on the flip side, Whats wrong with being obsessed about my health/fitness/nutrition. Also, Tracking has helped me ensure im eating enough, Which i 100% wouldnt be if i didnt track most stuff. MY mind would be like well if i want to lose weight not tracking i have to eat less, Then id eat way less. Either way id be obsessive, Atleast tracking ensures im nourished.
This is it in a nutshell for me.
I either eat too much or not enough if I don't keep track, and then it gets into an unhealthy see-saw of binge/restrict. My moods suffer, my sleep and fatigue are all over the place, I'm irritable.
If I keep track I eat up to but not more than I need. My energy, sleep, anxiety, and overall health is better than it's ever been now that I watch closely - and not just calories, but macros.
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My story is a long a complex one. I have been dedicating to losing weight and improving my health and so far I've been successful. I can't and won't tell anyone else what will work for them. The only thing I can do is relate what I've done that has worked and try to help in any way I can. I started 2 years ago on this site and I've lost 219 Lbs. I am now within about 40 Lbs of my goal weight. I find that I need to be flexible in everything I do. Things that worked for me at the beginning of my weight loss don't necessarily work for me now so I have to be adaptable. What has worked for me will not necessarily work for anyone else. I am pretty boring with what I eat and I find that is a good thing because I know exactly what I will eat everyday and not thinking about food allows me not to obsess about food. I call what works for me "my program" and you need to find what works for you and work that program.
I take my weight loss seriously and try to stay dedicated but I try not to obsess about it. I have a lot of fun and take every day as it arrives and I roll with the changes a necessary. I've added exercise as I could and I've continued to enjoy the exercise as I've improved.
Feel free to friend me if you think I can be of any help.
Thanks
Tina Marie10 -
I’m the same.... kind of. We had a kitchen scale I brought it out one day to play with and it’s so much easier than measuring for me. I’m not precise with it but it’s better than eyeballing or measuring on things like rice which if I want I can get way more than 30g into a 1/4 cup2
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Everyone here seems so gung-ho about everything. Weighing and measuring down to the last crumb of food, working out for hours - it's all too much!
Yes, I want to make changes. Yes, I want to lose weight. Yes, I (eventually) want to start exercising. But I don't want to lose my mind over it all!
I'm prone to obsession, and a few times have found myself on the edge of an eating disorder. I really have concerns that if I start weighing every single drop of everything, I am going to tip over into something really unhealthy. I'm happy to work with my measuring cups and spoons, but taking everything to the gram is just a bit much to me.
Is there any hope for me? I'm keeping the food diary, and I am measuring ingredients and portions. Some days succeeding better than others, but holding a decent average. I'm more interested in healthy balanced eating than in micromanaging down to the last calorie. Any improvement is a big change.
But seriously - is anyone here NOT viciously rigid, but still having success? I've just been lurking, but I don't see a lot of people who take a more relaxed view - there's a lot of pressure to be all in.
I know that community can be helpful when making huge lifestyle changes... I just can't decide if I should try to fit in here.
Any advice, suggestions, similar experiences?
Thank you.
I have a digital food scale but I don't weight EVERYTHING. I did not even have the scale when I lost the first 25 lbs. but I had 100 lbs. to lose (have 65 to go, CW is 203). I had a large deficit of 1000 calories but I could still lose even if I wasn't that accurate--I also exercised a lot so had anywhere from 1000-1500 calories burned and 500 calories of inaccuracies, I could still lose. I'm now only set to lose 1 lb. per week, so just a 500 calorie deficit so I do need to be more precise if I want to lose at that rate. I do try to log everything even if I don't weight it, or I eat out and it's an estimate.
The reason why is because I am still FAT and I want to get the weight off, so of course I'm going to do the best I can do. I haven't ever had an eating disorder or OCD, so I can't relate to how this could be a problem. I believe if you are afraid it's going to be a problem, then perhaps you would be better off with a different approach--one that creates a deficit to lose weight, but you don't have to do so much tracking. (I don't have much faith in those ways since I've tried them and they can work if by chance you are in a deficit, but if the BED is looming then one has to make choices).0 -
Thanks everyone. Logging my food and getting the calories counts has really helped. I know that some of my estimates are off, but I also know that the margin of error is still WAY beyond the way I used to eat.
I'm sure as I go along, I'll get more comfortable with a lot of the ideas. This is a HUGE change that I need to stick with, on some level, for the rest of my life, and it scares me. I'm feeling better and I've already lost 8 pounds. I suppose, like any big change, the change starts small until I get used to it, then I ramp up as I hit plateaus.
This is honestly, more daunting than the day I quit drinking. I mean, alcohol was a daily part of my life...but it's a lot easier to quit something that your body doesn't need to survive. I can't just not eat! Moderation is not one of my natural gifts...but I'm game to try!
Thank you all so much!9 -
All these tools are effective--but if you try to do everything perfectly you will likely burn out. Do what works for you-- down the road if you need to tighten things up you will have lots of options!3
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Count calories to the best that you are able and then see your results.
I've been mostly weighing and mostly recording most things most days and have lost 22 lbs. It will get harder though to do this sloppily and still succeed (I started with 80 lbs to lose)
I find weighing food much easier than measuring for what it's worth.
I use the tare function on the scale. Put bowl on scale. Press tare button. But first food in bowl. Write down number. Press tare. Put second food in. Press tare. And so on...
Do what works best for you. Work the plan how you want to work it, and if you aren't getting results, adjust accordingly.
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When i first joined MFP, i swore i would never be one of those obsessive types who weigh everything they eat. But alas, after a couple of months of no weight loss I relented and bought a food scale, and over 3 years later i still use it for everything, every single day. It's become second nature and something i don't even think about, like brushing my teeth.
Going back and looking over my log before i started weighing my food is eye opening, it is ridiculously inaccurate! I was eating a lot more than i thought i was, no wonder the weight wasn't budging
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I weight and measure everything because if I am eating some I really like; I want to make sure I got as much as I logged. (Hello ice cream!) But also I have health issues. I have to be very careful it effects my health. But I think everyone here will tell you to take a day at a time.0
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I wouldn't say weighing everything is "gung-ho". Many people underestimate how much they're eating, and using a food scale helps them keep that in check. If you're one who can lose without weighing/measuring, more power to you.1
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Using a food scale isn't different from using measuring cups. My main uses:
1. I'll prelog a food and then weigh out that amount. If it's a bit off, I don't sweat it, but it gives me an accurate portion to aim for. Particularly with high calorie foods like ice cream, it's a lot more accurate to weigh it out versus try to guess at a volume.
2. It helps divide up food I cook for several meals into even portions, rather than being really hungry one day when I get the small portion.
3. It means I don't have to wash the measuring cups
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After you weigh your food for a while, you'll have a good idea of reasonable portion sizes. So, no, you don't necessarily have to continue it forever. But, without it, you may be drastically over or underestimating/measuring.
I think some of us find it freeing, really, to be careful with the weighing. We can enjoy every bit knowing we're maintaining the weight we want. It's less stressful for me.
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It depends on how big your calorie deficit is. Many people who have a lot of weight they'd like to lose find that they can do perfectly well without weighing and measuring everything, at least at first. But as weight loss continues, they often plateau. This happens because as your body gets smaller, it needs fewer calories, and you therefore have to reduce your calorie goal accordingly. Eventually, the difference between your calorie intake and your body's calorie burn gets smaller and smaller, and there's less room for measurement error. This is when weighing and measuring food more precisely is helpful.
For instance, I started at 215 pounds, and I'm under 5 feet tall. My BMR (basal metabolic rate, the number of calories your body burns doing only the basic functions required for life) was about 1600 calories. So every day, I was using 1600 calories plus whatever I used in exercise and in the other movements people do (sitting, standing, etc.) I exercise regularly but otherwise have a sedentary job. I ate 1200 calories per day, the minimum recommended for women, plus my exercise calories. I lost weight quickly for a while, and then my weight loss slowed down. By the time I got within a few pounds of my goal, my BMR was about 1200 calories. My deficit had shrunk dramatically (but so had the rest of me).
If you have a large calorie deficit and you make 100 or 200 calories worth of logging errors every day, you might still lose weight. If you have a very small deficit and you make 100 or 200 calories worth of logging errors each day, you might maintain or even gain weight.
That's why so many of us are as careful as we can be about weighing and logging accurately. We aren't necessarily obsessive. We're just doing what we need to do in order to reach our goals. Some people don't need that level of accuracy in order to reach their goals, and some do.5 -
Everyone here seems so gung-ho about everything. Weighing and measuring down to the last crumb of food, working out for hours - it's all too much!
Yes, I want to make changes. Yes, I want to lose weight. Yes, I (eventually) want to start exercising. But I don't want to lose my mind over it all!
I'm prone to obsession, and a few times have found myself on the edge of an eating disorder. I really have concerns that if I start weighing every single drop of everything, I am going to tip over into something really unhealthy. I'm happy to work with my measuring cups and spoons, but taking everything to the gram is just a bit much to me.
Is there any hope for me? I'm keeping the food diary, and I am measuring ingredients and portions. Some days succeeding better than others, but holding a decent average. I'm more interested in healthy balanced eating than in micromanaging down to the last calorie. Any improvement is a big change.
But seriously - is anyone here NOT viciously rigid, but still having success? I've just been lurking, but I don't see a lot of people who take a more relaxed view - there's a lot of pressure to be all in.
I know that community can be helpful when making huge lifestyle changes... I just can't decide if I should try to fit in here.
Any advice, suggestions, similar experiences?
Thank you.
Idk where you've been looking but most people here are pretty lax. They usually recommend measuring every food to the gram if the person is complaining they're not losing any weight even tho they're doing bla bla and bla. Don't take the advice if you don't want it. Not a lot of people here recommend exercising for hours on end. Take me. I've lost 82lbs doing no exercise whatsoever but just sticking to a calorie deficit. Your thread is proof that you really haven't looked around enough.6 -
Accurate weighing iand logging is very helpful if you want to be able to track and record results, and tweak if it isn't working.
Mostly accurate weighing makes sure you know where you are, and keeps reminding you to pay attention to what you are eating and doing. And helps keep you on track and mindful.
Sporadic weighing and logging generally does notning but nake you feel guilty, and is generally a waste of time, but it is where most people start for a bit, until they decide to either quit or get serious.
Generally speaking, or is not neccesary to be particularly gung ho, but for many people this is a tool for changing awhole lifestyle and years worth of poor habits. So going in whole hog is the easiest way for them to keep mindfulness in the front of thier minds. And for others, they may not get too excited unteil they start seeing results, but that will kick them into making bigger changes overall, and tnat can also be exciting as well as intimidating. And tbey become much more active on the forums for a while until they settle in again. I belong to tbe last group, lol.2 -
As someone who ate whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted and put on a ton of weight over the years. I had to completely change my eating habits and the way I thought about food.
What worked for me was planning out what I was going to eat in advance and writing down what I ate in my food journal.
I lost about half of my weight (40 pounds) before discovering the MFP forums. I was very successful food journaling so I figured if it wasn't broke don't fix it.
I loosely calorie count and aware of my macros....basically I just try to eat balanced meals and make sure I'm getting enough fruits, veggies, fiber etc. everyday. Also I'm very mindful of what I consume and I'm a label reader.
It wasn't until I was in the final stretch of my weight loss when I introduced using a food scale.
Some have said I'm a bit obsessive with the planning and tracking my foods. Others have said it's not enough since I'm not truly counting calories, but what I'm doing works for me. 80+ pounds down and in my 5 year of maintaining.
Planning and tracking my meals keep me on track and in control of my eating, which is keeping the weight off so I'm going to keep going.
I think the key is to try different things and see what will work for you and is sustainable and switch things up if something is not working.
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When I started mfp I began logging food, but never made myself crazy about it. I just tried to be honest about what I ate. I lost over 35lbs and have kept it off for over a year now0
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Everyone here seems so gung-ho about everything. Weighing and measuring down to the last crumb of food, working out for hours - it's all too much!
Yes, I want to make changes. Yes, I want to lose weight. Yes, I (eventually) want to start exercising. But I don't want to lose my mind over it all!
I'm prone to obsession, and a few times have found myself on the edge of an eating disorder. I really have concerns that if I start weighing every single drop of everything, I am going to tip over into something really unhealthy. I'm happy to work with my measuring cups and spoons, but taking everything to the gram is just a bit much to me.
Is there any hope for me? I'm keeping the food diary, and I am measuring ingredients and portions. Some days succeeding better than others, but holding a decent average. I'm more interested in healthy balanced eating than in micromanaging down to the last calorie. Any improvement is a big change.
But seriously - is anyone here NOT viciously rigid, but still having success? I've just been lurking, but I don't see a lot of people who take a more relaxed view - there's a lot of pressure to be all in.
I know that community can be helpful when making huge lifestyle changes... I just can't decide if I should try to fit in here.
Any advice, suggestions, similar experiences?
Thank you.
Me. Because I am a recovered bulimic I have always done measuring cups or even eyeballing and I lost from 225 to 160. Did some stress eating over the last 18 months because of a sick kid and my MIL's sudden death and gained about 20 pounds which I am now taking back off.
Will it work faster if you measure everything? Yes. However, if you feel it's mentally bad for you, then don't. Just know it's going to be slower.
Oh, and probably don't eyeball. My grandparents had a dairy farm and my aunt a restaurant. I am good at eyeballing because I was good a measuring to the ounce first. After a long while selling precise portions, my eyeballing was pretty darned close to that food scale.0 -
I log but I don't have a food scale, still losing weight. I've lost 7 pounds since the end of November when I started. 5 more before I started MFP. I also started exercising but I'm taking the winter off because it's too hard to get there by bus and still losing.
Edit: I'm down another 2 pounds this morning.0 -
Everyone here seems so gung-ho about everything. Weighing and measuring down to the last crumb of food, working out for hours - it's all too much!
Edit
Any advice, suggestions, similar experiences?
Thank you.
Gung -ho? Nope I have a life and fitness is part of it. I still go out for dinner and occasionally have a meal that just does not fit the gung ho type at all.
Working out for hours Yes I do................now. I started with simply walking more Nothing like what I do now. I actually have it charted. Went from 2 hours a week to on average 12 Took me 4 years though
Weiging and meassuring everything: At times yes, but this suually aimed at those that do not loose as portion control is a big part of learning how to deal with food. I weigh high desity food but for instance can't be bothered about things like lettuce. My guestimation skills are honed for many things now but that too toook trainign and time and the scale was a good way to learn.
So my advice is - start small steps going forward. Learn portion control (and yes that is scale work) when you have an option to move do it. No need to immediately adopt a lifestyle that took many of years to get too. Enjoy the learning process and read the boards carefully There is a wealth of information there and we really are just normal people with lives to lead and our ups and downs in MFP logging0 -
I completely understand what you are saying. This website is highly focused on CICO and being very meticulous with calorie counting and weighing. But the site is also really flexible for those who want to use it differently. You have people on here who fast, or who don't count calories at all. If you want to get support for a more "laid back" approach to weight loss, there are plenty of groups here who can support you. The reason the site is so popular is because many people have found that the only way to be successful is to be very rigid around what they are eating. MFP is almost flawless for helping to do that. So YES, MFP can be for you. Try it on for size, find a good support group and go for it. Remember that you can use this site as freely as you like. It can be tailored for you. WELCOME and good luck.1
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