Anyone else tierd of logging?
Kittyy1994
Posts: 108 Member
Hi, not sure if it’s just me or does anyone else get so tierd of logging every single thing they eat? I am starting to find it really mentally exhausting it’s like I am contanstly thinking about food and calories and my weight. I hate seeing my calories in the negative and I honestly feel stress about it if I am over .. anyone stopped counting and been alright with it?
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Replies
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Also - I DEFINATELY don’t want to be doing this in the long run. How have people stopped and what happened after you stopped?4
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I occasionally take a break from logging, but I've been logging more or less for 3 years now, I don't find the act of logging particularly exhausting, it takes only a few mins.
I've managed to lose a little weight without logging but I was still minding what I was eating so still needed to consider calories, food, etc.
If you're constantly thinking about food, that sounds like that is a problem in itself, not necessarily stemming from the app. If your calories are regularly in the negative, is it possible you've been setting yourself to aggressive a rate of loss?
How long have you been logging and what has been the outcome so far?8 -
I’ve been logging for 6 weeks gone from 65kg to around 61kg - don’t see any change in my body yet though2
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Kittyy1994 wrote: »I’ve been logging for 6 weeks gone from 65kg to around 61kg - don’t see any change in my body yet though
What rate of loss are you set to? Depending on your height you're either in a healthy range for your height or slightly overweight, which means you should only be set to 0.5-1lb loss per week, if you've set it any higher, chances are you're feeling mentally exhausted because you're actually hungry.
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I am coming up on a year and 6 mo into maintenance. I stopped logging for a bit ... didn't go well.
I prelog every day. I tend to eat one of two breakfast meals and lunch meals. Those are saved as meals, so super quick to log. My variety comes with dinner. Pre-logging helps me assure that I stay in my allotted caloriecrange without having to continually think about it during the day.
So, logging for me takes about 2 minutes in the morning (or night before). Occasionally, I have to come back to the app and tweak entries, but not often. Not very burdensome.11 -
I’m 5’6” and have it set to 0.2 kg per week but have lost a little faster than this so far3
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Very but I keep going because my health and fitness is too important2
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I got tired of logging but it wasn't until I was over two years into maintenance. Since you've only been at this for six weeks, I'm thinking part of your frustration is that you feel like you haven't seen changes in your body despite losing 4kg. If you had more visual results, I think you'd feel a lot more motivated and it's understandable.
You don't have to log forever but it does teach good habits. I'd say six weeks is a bit too early to give into these feelings though. As I stated before, I did get tired of it from time to time but that's because I got way too focused on numbers over the years and wasn't allowing myself enough flexibility. People have offered good advice like prelogging and actually making sure your rate of loss isn't too much. If you find that you're becoming food focused, not eating enough calories may be a reason why.17 -
Kittyy1994 wrote: »I’m 5’6” and have it set to 0.2 kg per week but have lost a little faster than this so far
You are in the middle of a healthy range for your height then. If you're losing weight at more than your intended rate of loss then you don't really need to be worrying about the negative calories, it's your real world results that matter over time, not one day where you've eaten up to maintenance or a little above.
If you're not happy with your body shape rather than your weight, perhaps focus on doing some strength training instead. You may find this thread helpful: https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10177803/recomposition-maintaining-weight-while-losing-fat/p1
Some people manage just fine without calorie counting but there are others who find portions start to creep up again, nutrition starts to slide and they regain what they've lost. If logging really isn't for you, you could just monitor your trend weight and adjust your eating accordingly.
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Maxematics wrote: »I got tired of logging but it wasn't until I was over two years into maintenance. Since you've only been at this for six weeks, I'm thinking part of your frustration is that you feel like you haven't seen changes in your body despite losing 4kg. If you had more visual results, I think you'd feel a lot more motivated and it's understandable.
You don't have to log forever but it does teach good habits. I'd say six weeks is a bit too early to give into these feelings though. As I stated before, I did get tired of it from time to time but that's because I got way too focused on numbers over the years and wasn't allowing myself enough flexibility. People have offered good advice like prelogging and actually making sure your rate of loss isn't too much. If you find that you're becoming food focused, not eating enough calories may be a reason why.
Agreed with this. I think logging for a long while helps to teach about portion control and such...
People have managed to lose weight for centuries without the help of MFP or logging, so yes, it can be done and is done. I know people personally who have lost 50+ lbs and have kept it off for decades without logging a bite.
I logged initially for about 2 years and eventually stopped. 3 years later and still doing well without it.5 -
I will be the first to say that the first few weeks with logging and using the food scale were a rather "clunky" time for me. It was new and it required some education and some experience.
However, now I love it. It frees me from worry. All I have to do is make sure I am in a deficit each day that I intend and I don't have to think about it much. More importantly when the scale goes up a pound or more I can quickly and safely dismiss it as unrelated to my fat weight loss. I have been doing this for 16 months though and for me it is practically auto-pilot most of the time. I am not immune to making a mistake though which left me with a nice big red number yesterday but that is life and life can be messy.11 -
I have logged for 3+ years and can say it is now a habit and not a burden at all. I lost alot of weight and am not willing to gain it back so for me it is a good thing. It takes maybe 15 minutes a day. As you get used to the calorie counts it isn't such a hassle anymore. It has helped me to understand why I got so fat and how to stay at a normal weight.17
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I have been logging for over three years. Every day. Except when I go on vacation. Yes, sometimes I find it tiresome. But it is working for me - so I just suck it up.
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Lots of people on here have made it a part of their life which is great. I’m only using it until I lose all the weight which I’m aiming to do by summer 2020. After that I plan to stop using MyFitnessPal because I definitely find it quite exhausting. If I make a pot of soup I have to weigh the pot then divide the weight etc. Who has time for that? But I know the importance of counting calories and macros. It’s a love/hate thing for me. Good thing is I’ve been in maintenance for most of this year so I know roughly how much food is 1500 calories, 2000 calories and 2500. I’ve also noticed that by 2600-2700 calories I’m absolutely stuffed and I’ve reached my capacity. I’m trying to listen to hunger cues too so when I am fully in maintenance then I know what to do. Also as typical as it sounds but sticking to 80% whole foods helps to fill me up so even in maintenance I won’t be overeating. I mainly overeat on sugary junk foods which makes me gain weight. Long story short, yes, I do get tired of tracking but I know it’s only temporary and it has helped me a lot. I seriously didn’t know what calories I needed until MyFitnessPal. I only plan on coming back to MyFitnessPal when I want to lose abit of post baby weight because I know I’ll need it then!3
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I've been on a weight loss journey now for about 8 years - and before you say "oh wow, 8 years, what are you doing wrong", let me explain.
I lost 50lbs in 2011 - 2012. It took a long time, lots of ups and downs and mistakes. I'm only human. Since then I tend to go up and down about 10-15lbs, get back on the logging band wagon and it comes off.
EVERY TIME I stop logging, my weight goes up. I gain a few, I say "oh, it's only a few pounds, I'm tall and well within my healthy weight range, it's fine". Then all of a sudden my clothes don't fit.
Yes, it's tiring after awhile. Yes, it's something you think of all the time. But honestly, if you have a goal and have little self control otherwise, logging works. Stay heavy or gain more weight or be annoyed with logging and lose weight. Your choice?18 -
Tracking calories has become second nature to me and does not take much time. Due to my medications increasing my appetite tremendously I don't think I will ever be able to intuitively eat. I plan on tracking as long as I can, the only time is gets a bit bothersome is when cooking from scratch and having to weigh each individual ingredient and the cookware so you can weigh the final product and such.4
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I have one day a week (normally Sunday) when I don't track my intake which helps me chill out a little bit. But I don't feel like I am starving myself throughout the week either so I don't necessarily think about food to often unless I am hungry and I also don't pig out on Sunday either because I make room for moderate amounts of my favorite snacks throughout the week.
The goal is not to count for the rest of my life but that may just be what is in the cards for me. I've tried intuitive eating before and I always end up back on this app. I'm learning to make the best of it.2 -
I know that logging is critical at this point of my journey. I never give a thought as to how I feel about it. 😐6
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I found I was like you and it was exhausting and made me start to border on an unhealthy fixation with food. I eat a lot of different foods and cook from scratch a lot, so it wasn't a matter of just a few minutes. It is a great tool, was fantastic for teaching me portion sizes and the calories in different foods, and I still use it occasionally. I stopped logging 3 years ago and my weight HAS crept up, but most of it has been muscle. I'll occasionally log for a few weeks if I feel I'm a little too far over my maintenance range.7
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It doesn't really bother me. I eat a lot of the same things in rotation, so it's really just a couple of clicks and my food is logged. Every once in a while I'll skip a day because I don't feel like it and it hasn't really hurt me. I figure when I'm done losing, I'm going to probably have to log in some capacity for the rest of my life if I don't want to gain the weight back, so I might as well get use to it. I've come to the realization, after losing and gaining the weight many times, that I am just not the kind of person who can ever just not keep track of what I'm eating.4
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There's only choices and consequences. Whatever you choose to do to get the weight off is what you'll have to do to keep it off.4
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Who is wooing all of these posts? Jeesh.9
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It doesn't take much time to log and for me it's absolutely worth it. I've been a yo-yo dieter my whole life. I'd lose weight then gradually gain it back, then have to start over every few years. I HATE dieting. Since I started with MFP, i lost the weight I intended, and then some. I've kept that weight off for several years. The only time I gain is when I go on vacation and don't log. As soon as I get back and start logging again, I lose whatever weight I gained while on the road, usuall 3-4 lbs. I find it all too easy to indulge in too many treats when I'm not logging. Calorie creep is a real issue for me. Eating just a few hundred calories over what is needed adds several pounds every year. I don't weigh everything I eat, but I do log it because it makes me think twice about what I'm eating. Do I really want it? What are the consequences? When I go out to eat I have to choose between the 800 calorie entree and the 1500 calorie one. Since I know I'll be logging it later, guess which one I'm more likely to pick?4
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I logged for about a year or so, while it was great and I did learn a lot and developed calorie awareness, it did become exhausting for me and I felt I was developing an unhealthy relationship with food as a result.
I no longer log, occasionally I will log a day or meals or just my protein. However when I am trying to lose weight I have to develop other habits or rules in order to remain in a deficit. Whether you decide to log or not, nothing is going to be super easy.8 -
I’m kinda new, been doing this for about 2 months, and I log in after I eat - which helps in not thinking about it negatively. But I’ve learned a lot about my eating habits and portions by logging in, which I find motivating.
I will probably hit my goal in less than 6 months, but I find that I like the community so I might still use the app, but I also don’t want to spend the rest of my life logging in.
I know what you mean though, which is why my husband (who is also using the app) and I take care not to talk about logging in or calories in front of our daughter (7yo) - because we don’t want worry or complexity to be associated with food for her.
What happened sumbliminaly or unconsciously when I started logging in is that my portions became better and my in-between-meal snack almost disappeared. ( Im a 3 square meals kinda gal). Again, i log after I eat.
What im saying is this: i want to encourage you keep logging in, look at it as a learning experience, as a preparation for when after you achieve your goal. You are ultimately preparing for a lifestyle.
Hope that made sense. Hope that helps.8 -
I find that I have less control if I don't plan. I eat small and often and when I miss a meal I usually miss my goals. So while I sit down for breakfast, I just pre-enter the basics of what I plan on eating for the day. As I go through the day, I just click on things and adjust their values. However, doing this I can project where I'm going to be in terms of calories and macros and make adjustments over the course of the day instead of trying to find the magic puzzle piece food at the end of the day.
I find it easier because I have a better structure for my eating. I know what I am going to eat. I know what I need to focus on for changes for the day (push protein, reduce carbs, etc). And it is easy to just go in and click on the foods and change them to what my scale says instead of doing the database searches multiple times a day. Just a strategy I use, no clue if it would help you. Develop a habit instead of enduring a routine, essentially.3 -
I feel you - I get in the restrict/binge cycles and have to be very careful. My mind will take the tracking as "restriction" and I get very mentally exhausted and it causes me to binge. And then the weight comes back on, plus some. I'm back on MFP for about 3 months now and I'm being very careful with this to keep my mental health in check. I've taken a few days off here and there when I could feel myself wanting to eat everything in sight. I find it helpful to track periodically so the "calorie creep" doesn't come in, but I have to take breaks every so often. The weight is coming off a little slower this way but it's worth it. I need something sustainable for a lifetime and tracking every moment of every day isn't for me. It is for a lot of people and I wish I was like that, but my mind doesn't like it. If it helps you to take a few days off every so often, then go for it.3
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I've been logging for years....first on an excel spreadsheet for weight watchers and then moving on to calorie counting websites. I've never gotten tired of it but maybe that's because I tend to eat mostly the same things every day and it doesn't take much to put a bowl or plate on the scale and ply the food on until it says what I want it to say.
I know myself and even tho I've become a bit more lax in my logging, if I stopped, I'd gain. A lot. Because I wouldn't be accountable to myself for eating all the things.
I definitely agree that if you feel this way only 6 weeks in, there's more to it.1 -
WholeFoods4Lyfe wrote: »Who is wooing all of these posts? Jeesh.
I think the community is 50/50 as to whether the "woo" is positive or negative. 😕5 -
If you remember all the info on the foods you eat, you do not need to log. I do it even though I eat the same things every day except dinner. But I know I keep 1000 cals for night time. Dicipline is key2
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