Is myfitnesspal healthy longterm?

There is nothing intrinsically unhealthy about counting calories. Is it unhealthy or obsessive to balance your checking account for your entire life?

What is important is how it translates onto your day to day life. If it causes you worry or anxiety, that's obviously not healthy. But that's about what's happening in your head.

I have been logging for 4 years, maintaining for about 2 of them. It takes me maybe a minute a day. I never worry about it, even when I go over. I enjoy the *kitten* out of my food. I eat out and at other people's homes whenever the opportunity arises.

My relationship with food is a million times healthier than it was before logging. Knowing where I stand has removed my anxiety around food. Maybe I'll stop someday, but I see no reason to for now.

I'm sure there are people whose mindsets make focusing on the numbers problematic. If that's you, then counting indefinitely might not be the best decision.

I still have about 22lbs to lose so not in maintenance yet but I fully intend on continuing to use MFP after I reach my goal weight. I know I'm not good at intuitive eating or knowing appropriate portion sizes. MFP helps me make healthier choices and I imagine will make maintaining my weight easier.

I don't see how it's too restrictive. It's the same as it is now. I eat to my calorie goal but instead of being in a deficit, I eat at maintenance. I have to eat the same number of calories whether or not I use MFP so I figure I might as well be aware of the choices I making rather than just guessing and hoping I'm staying on track.

You have to remember losing weight shouldn’t just be about that goal your trying to get to... it should be a life style change. If it isn’t you’ll likely just go back to your old ways. Making sure what your eating is healthy and your not eating too many calories a day is the opposite of being unhealthy in my mind.

This is nothing more than a version of cognitive restraint..... research shows people who use some form of restraint or tracking have far better long term success... I'll take my odds with this tool.

The reason why so many people have trouble keeping off weight long term is in part because once they "hit their goal", they give up doing all the things that helped to get them there, thinking that they completed their journey and they don't need to do anymore. Then they gain the weight back because they think "oh I can eat more, I'll just pay attention to what I'm eating", and they don't realize that their body is still paying attention to calories in vs calories out, even if they aren't.

So MFP can be just as useful a tool to those who are in maintenance as those who are losing. All the same principals still apply, you can just eat more calories in maintenance. How restrictive you want to be with it is up to you. You may find that you don't need to log everyday or you are fine with just using your goal as a general target. Ultimately, you may find that you don't need it. But I still think it's a valuable tool.

I used MFP a number of years ago when I lost weight and successfully got to my goal weight. Then I moved on with my life and thought I didn't need it anymore. I slowly gained until I was higher than I had ever been. Now that I am back again, I plan to keep up with MFP in some form once I hit my goals.

foreverblissful wrote: »

TavistockToad wrote: »

foreverblissful wrote: »

I’m currently still in the process of losing weight(I have 11 more pounds to go), but I’m curious what other members do after they reach their weight goal. Is it (mentally)healthy to continue to use myfitnesspal on a day-to-day basis? I’m sure using myfitnesspal would be easy and pretty accurate but I’m wondering if that’s too restrictive. On the flip side, I’m also worried if I ditch myfitnesspal that I will revert to gaining weight due to not being able to see my calories.

What do you all recommend?

In what way do you find it too restrictive?

Restrictive as in I've always heard health advocates say negative things about calorie counting tools(especially in reference to obsession), so I was wondering if continuing MFP was unheard of in the community. I know ultimately it depends on me, I just wasn't sure if that was something anyone even did.

I can't promise that I'll be using it for the rest of my life, but I'm still logging in year 3 of maintenance here, after the better part of a year of weight loss before that. I don't feel particuarly obsessed, it's just a useful tool that helps me balance my long-term goals (staying at a healthy weight) with my short term desires (eating all the yummy foods).

I agree that it's like balancing one's checkbook or keeping a financial budget . . . neither of which I do, despite being a woman of modest means. For some reason, I seem to be able to manage money intuitively, but not manage eating intuitively. Go figure.

In maintenance, I skip the odd day or few of logging sometimes, and don't feel stressed about it when I do it. That doesn't sound super obsessed, to me.

I suspect some health advocates may have false impressions of calorie counting. I'm betting people come to them for help when they've become obsessed, so they see relatively many obsessed calorie counters, and pretty much zero of those of us who are perking along contentedly, finding it useful, and a minimal time investment for the value it brings us.

foreverblissful wrote: »

TavistockToad wrote: »

foreverblissful wrote: »

I’m currently still in the process of losing weight(I have 11 more pounds to go), but I’m curious what other members do after they reach their weight goal. Is it (mentally)healthy to continue to use myfitnesspal on a day-to-day basis? I’m sure using myfitnesspal would be easy and pretty accurate but I’m wondering if that’s too restrictive. On the flip side, I’m also worried if I ditch myfitnesspal that I will revert to gaining weight due to not being able to see my calories.

What do you all recommend?

In what way do you find it too restrictive?

Restrictive as in I've always heard health advocates say negative things about calorie counting tools(especially in reference to obsession), so I was wondering if continuing MFP was unheard of in the community. I know ultimately it depends on me, I just wasn't sure if that was something anyone even did.

Personally, I think it would only become obsessive if anxiety meant you not eating any food without weighing it first. This would mean either taking scales out with you or not eating out at all. Obsessive would mean thinking about food and what you were going to eat for much of the day. For me, obsessive would be having anxiety because you went over your calories for the day or your macros weren't balanced for your liking. Obsessive would affect every aspect of your life. If calorie counting did all that then mentally you should not be calorie counting.

If you find that calorie counting can be quite freeing as stress is decreased with meal planning and eating, if calorie counting shows you that you do not have to restrict foods you enjoy to meet your calorie goals and nutritional needs, if calorie counting gives you less anxiety about eating out because you have learnt that a treat meal every now and then makes no difference to weight, if calorie counting gives you more freedom to eat out because you learn to portion control better, then calorie counting is great for your mental health and is a tool that is used very effectively.

I have not been sick during my last 308 days in MFP. I eat a balanced diet according to my macro % - and I stick to the MFP calculated daily calories, I have started as much exercise as my body ( initially 170 kg, 375 pounds) can handle and so far I have lost nearly 30 kg - 65 pounds. I don't want to think about my other option without MFP and so many supportive members. I am still battling with portion control, and I know it's still a long way to go.

foreverblissful wrote: »

Restrictive as in I've always heard health advocates say negative things about calorie counting tools(especially in reference to obsession), so I was wondering if continuing MFP was unheard of in the community. I know ultimately it depends on me, I just wasn't sure if that was something anyone even did.

Hmm. But if you view calorie counting as bad or obsessive, why would it only matter after you've reached your goal weight? Wouldn't it be bad or "obsessive" from the very beginning? I mean, you're still using the same program either way. So why do you see that it suddenly becomes bad just because you use it for maintenance rather than loss? The program doesn't just suddenly become "restrictive", it's still the same old thing.

A ton of people continue to use MFP after reaching their goal weight. After all, you need to work to keep your goal weight. It is a lifestyle change. Going back to your old lifestyle would just mean going back to your old weight.

suziecue25 wrote: »

Well one thing I absolutely know for sure......if I don't keep using MFP and keeping a check on my calorie count when I reach goal I'll put back on ALL [+ some} of the weight I worked so hard and long to lose as I have done before....i.e. classic YO YO.

At long last my mindset has changed.....when I was reducing before I have mentally thought...oh well it's not forever then I can eat much more of the things I love. Now I think.....Yay! it is forever and when I reach goal I'll still be able to eat the great food I love....just a little bit more.

Truth! I've blamed other things for my poor health at times in my life when the sad fact was that my own rationalizations were my worst enemy.

Now that I've lost all the weight I needed to and have been in maintenance for a few years, I don't weigh or measure my food 100% of the time. I have the experience to know what an appropriate portion size is now, as well as how much of it I can generally have in any given day.

I have a maintenance weight range, and I weigh myself several times a week. If I see that my weight is consistently trending up over a few weeks, I'll return to logging to get back on track and to make sure my 'portion size sense' hasn't gotten rusty.

I still like to play "Guess the weight," though. My kitchen scale has a permanent home on the counter and I will, occasionally, grab a handful of grapes, for example, guess how much they weigh and then pop them on the food scale to see how close I was.