Anybody else get tired of counting calories?
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cartersmom06 wrote: »
That phrase really resonated with me when I first saw it here on MFP 90+ lbs ago and I thought it was inspirational. Sorry if you don’t find it such.
As for positive reinforcement, I think you got a lot of good info on how to make weighing & logging easier and people do want to help!14 -
Lmk if you figure something out. I weighed measured and counted calories for years and now I - Just Can’t. I just can’t. I wonder if mindfully paying attention to my hunger cues and watching portion sizes can work instead. Or cooking more. I was working out super intensely and can’t do that right now either. I need to make my life a little easier. I want my pants to fit too but I want easier more at the moment. ❤️6
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tinkerbellang83 wrote: »
I really don't understand how people here take "only a fe minutes to log". Most of my meals are made from scratch and contain many ingredients. So I have to weigh every one of them every time I cook and log it while I'm cooking or preparing my meal to eat later. Which takes quite a lot of time in my opinion. If I include the time I spend on grocery planning to fit my goals, meal planning, weighing separately the ingredients for my every meal (3-5times a day), or looking for the closest estimates when I don't know the exact calories, logging it, making sure it fits my goal etc. it takes much more time than "a few minutes" and much more energy and headspace than I want to spend on t.
I cook a lot of stuff from scratch and it still only takes a couple of mins to log each day - I have almost all my recipes for things I regularly make in My Recipes, if I change the ingredients or the amounts of the ingredients it literally takes about 30 seconds to update it in the app. Sure it takes a couple of mins the first time that I make something but at this point I have probably close to 100 recipes in there.
I agree. I make 90 percent of what I eat from scratch. Things that are recipes are saved as recipes. Things that are just "toss a bunch of ingredients together" have ingredients that I use all the time. I start typing it in, it pops up, and I just make sure I've got the right ingredient weight entered.
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I don't mind counting calories, and I think I know why; I see results! If it wasn't working for me or I was measuring by guessing and not seeing results I'm sure I'd be sick of it, but after all this time I'm still okay with it. In the beginning it bugged me but now with weight loss I'm happy4
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cartersmom06 wrote: »
Positive reinforcement is when people praise you for the good aspects of your behavior, rather than criticizing you for the bad part of your behavior.
It's great that you're thinking about the aspects of this process that you don't like and maybe creating an avenue for people who have also used the process to offer some insight.1 -
cartersmom06 wrote: »Getting tired of logging everything I eat...there has to be an easier way!
Yeah... I feel it makes think food all the time.. and I feel I get obsessed sometimes3 -
I am with @oat_ brand and all the poster that expressed dislike with the logging and in my case also the weighing.
I don’t like doing it because it adds more work and thoughts to the cooking, which is something that I never enjoyed. When almost nine years ago I got to my goal weight, I decided to slow down and take frequent brakes. Some people take diet breaks, I take weighing and logging breaks and so far, is a way to distress and use my wits and what I have learned during the losing stage, to keep the weight under control.
No logging or dissecting meals while eating out or a friend’s house, not logging while on vacation, no logging during the holidays, not logging if I don’t feel like it. The weighing and the logging is mostly to keep an eye on my macros, but for me the way my clothes fit and the number on the scale is my way to go. But I do think that checking my weight almost daily is what keeps things under control, including my eating habits.
Reading some of the comments (and the OP question has been evaluated and discussed in the past) it seems that mostly the people that had 1) a lot to lose, 2 ) have been overweight for a long time, 3) had lost and regained weight several times, 3) have difficulties with portion and food control, 4) suffer from BED, 5) etc. are the ones without a problem planning or prepping meals, weighing the food and logging. Good for them if that keeps them in the right path.
However, my question is, and only based on my own experience and curiosity, if those people that only had few lbs. to lose (less than 15), and never had a weight or food problem, really, really don’t mind doing all the prepping, weighting and logging?
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I never had a weight problem until I slowly gained weight in my late 30s. I lost 15-20 lbs and have been maintaining for a couple of years.
I spend 5 minutes or less logging my food everyday. Prepping food is just making it ahead of time instead of making it at meal time, I don't really think it takes extra time. I just do it when I'm more relaxed and have more time, as opposed to eating out or trying to make good choices when I'm hungry or rushed. I suppose weighing out a portion takes more times that just eyeballing, but I don't think it takes more time than measuring.
I don't mind it. It's taken most of the guessing and worrying out of eating for me. It has given me a measure of control that has changed my relationship with food. It's very little work considering what I've gained.11 -
I never had a weight problem until I slowly gained weight in my late 30s. I lost 15-20 lbs and have been maintaining for a couple of years.
I spend 5 minutes or less logging my food everyday. Prepping food is just making it ahead of time instead of making it at meal time, I don't really think it takes extra time. I just do it when I'm more relaxed and have more time, as opposed to eating out or trying to make good choices when I'm hungry or rushed. I suppose weighing out a portion takes more times that just eyeballing, but I don't think it takes more time than measuring.
I don't mind it. It's taken most of the guessing and worrying out of eating for me. It has given me a measure of control that has changed my relationship with food. It's very little work considering what I've gained.
Thank you for your answer. You nailed it!3 -
Logging and weighing has given me great results. Therefore I shall keep on doing it. And when I think about getting lazy the good voice waps me up the side of the head and says log now. I love to cook, so am using the recipe recorder all of the time. Finding that handy.4
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Lmk if you figure something out. I weighed measured and counted calories for years and now I - Just Can’t. I just can’t. I wonder if mindfully paying attention to my hunger cues and watching portion sizes can work instead. Or cooking more. I was working out super intensely and can’t do that right now either. I need to make my life a little easier. I want my pants to fit too but I want easier more at the moment. ❤️
Thought to ponder:
The capability exists (can versus can’t).
The willingness is a choice (will versus won’t).
That said - logging isn’t for everyone, but CICO rules no matter what route satisfies your personal control methods.
Good luck!!5 -
I suppose weighing out a portion takes more times that just eyeballing, but I don't think it takes more time than measuring.
One reason I started weighing is that I found that for me it took less time than estimating. Weighing is something I do while cooking, and it doesn't add time to the cooking process, as it fits in well within it -- heat up skillet or oven, chop veg, drop things on the scale, put in pan.
Estimating requires spending more time trying to figure out how much it likely was.
I realize this is not the same for everyone, and I've actually started feeling more comfortable just estimating more often, but I still enjoy weighing when cooking (even when not logging).
I never measure anything by volume (but for liquids, when logging), unless baking. I do eyeball oil in the pan, because weighing would be a pain.5 -
I really am quite fine using measuring spoons for oil in the pan. Sometimes I'm sure it's a little more than what I log, sometimes I'm sure it's a little less. Over time, I'm guessing that it evens out.1
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This is going to sound bizarre, but I actually find logging to be freeing rather than restrictive. Before I was logging I knew I had gained weight so every time I ate something I felt guilty, like "Oh, I shouldn't be eating this cookie." Now I know I can eat the cookie because I planned for it. Knowing I can have dessert later (because I pre-logged it) helps me turn away the stale donuts at work. There is no more internal struggle about it. But I know that's not how it works for everyone. I'm only sharing my experience because it's a different mindset, which some people may find helpful.26
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Rayvis1014 wrote: »This is going to sound bizarre, but I actually find logging to be freeing rather than restrictive. Before I was logging I knew I had gained weight so every time I ate something I felt guilty, like "Oh, I shouldn't be eating this cookie." Now I know I can eat the cookie because I planned for it. Knowing I can have dessert later (because I pre-logged it) helps me turn away the stale donuts at work. There is no more internal struggle about it. But I know that's not how it works for everyone. I'm only sharing my experience because it's a different mindset, which some people may find helpful.
Not bizarre at all. I usually describe it as “liberating.”7 -
Do I get get tired of logging sometimes? Sure. But I can’t eyeball accurately, so I need to log, even if it is a little loosely at time.
I liked being fat a lot less than logging. So I log. Which is more important to me? No contest.5 -
Rayvis1014 wrote: »This is going to sound bizarre, but I actually find logging to be freeing rather than restrictive. Before I was logging I knew I had gained weight so every time I ate something I felt guilty, like "Oh, I shouldn't be eating this cookie." Now I know I can eat the cookie because I planned for it. Knowing I can have dessert later (because I pre-logged it) helps me turn away the stale donuts at work. There is no more internal struggle about it. But I know that's not how it works for everyone. I'm only sharing my experience because it's a different mindset, which some people may find helpful.
It's not bizarre at all. That's how i feel about budgeting. I love budgeting and it makes spending money so much less stressful. I don't feel guilty spending money on XYZ because I had saved up money for it. lol.4 -
If logging is something you find helpful to sustain your goals.. log away!
People have lost weight and maintained it long before MFP or the web, etc... came into existence.
If it's a tool you find helpful - use it. Just be cautious in believing someone can not be successful long term by not.3 -
I stopped paying attention to calories. I still put my food I The app but if I focus on 0123 I hit the calorie and macro goals easily and am never hungry. 0- sugar, 1–meal sized salad everyday, 2-cups cooked non starchy veggies everyday, 3 hours before bed stop eating. My macros are 55-60% fat, 20% protein, the rest carbs. I’ve lost 26 lbs in 14 weeks on this.12
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yes, it is unnatural to think about food so much .. to count every bite. It is like thinking every single time you spend money. being meticulous works.. but it is an unhappy state
The goal is to truly not to want to overeat... to have zero desire to overspend. thinking about these things because we can't easily manage them stinks.19
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