Anyone else tierd of logging?

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245

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  • Diatonic12
    Diatonic12 Posts: 32,344 Member
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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.
  • spiriteagle99
    spiriteagle99 Posts: 3,676 Member
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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?
  • gottswald
    gottswald Posts: 122 Member
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    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.
  • amn0619
    amn0619 Posts: 211 Member
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    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.
  • glassyo
    glassyo Posts: 7,598 Member
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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.
  • CharlieCharlie007
    CharlieCharlie007 Posts: 246 Member
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    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 key
  • Steff46
    Steff46 Posts: 516 Member
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    Most of my daily logging is during the week because I'm at work on the computer anyway and also I like to check in and read the message boards. Plus, I am trying to see how many calories I can have for dinner or if I can fit in that afternoon snack. Both times I have stopped tracking my food I have put on weight. So logging is a must for me. I workout a lot on the weekends so I don't really worry about logging those days. Don't think of it as a chore just as a way to stay mindful.
  • Gisel2015
    Gisel2015 Posts: 4,141 Member
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    Yes, I am!! I have been in maintenance for 9 years so the weighing and logging is getting tedious.

    My way to deal with it is to take logging breaks or I just do partial logging some days. I don't log restaurant meals unless I have access to their nutritional information, and I don't log on vacation. My weight has been very steady and I have a good relationship with food, so it makes it easy.
  • staticsplit
    staticsplit Posts: 538 Member
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    mom23mangos wrote: »
    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.

    I cook a lot too so I find it annoying to always be entering new things.

    I will be the first to say I'm very lazy with logging. I do a lot of vague guesstimates and figure if it's in the ballpark, that's fine. Weighing everything I eat, especially things like broccoli or mixed greens, is just exhausting. I eyeball it in cups and call it a day. Things like peanut butter I'm more likely to weigh.

    Loosely logging helps me eat more balanced. I'm more likely to eat vegetables and fruits rather than just graze on snack-y things all day. But sometimes I do find it draining. I never log when I'm on holiday, and sometimes I take breaks where I just quick add around what I reckon my calories to be and move on.

    I'd like to stop logging entirely but every time I do, I end to slooooowly gain and I'm tired of gaining and losing the same 7-14 pounds over and over.
  • Samantharavenclaw84
    Samantharavenclaw84 Posts: 161 Member
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    Yes! I get annoyed having to do it but as soon as I stopped logging for 2.5 weeks I gained 4 pounds. (Have been losing 1.5-2.5 pounds per week).
  • jelleigh
    jelleigh Posts: 743 Member
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    So the most important thing for weight loss is CICO and that whatever approach you take, you can stick to long term. If counting calories closely makes you feel an unhealthy preoccupation with food, some have found that other habits that restrict calorie intake without specific counting have helped them. For example intermittent fasting or 5:2 or a good plan that points you towards satiating foods that end up being lower cal in the long run (like whole 30 maybe? Or LCHF?). Note : none of these approaches will work unless you are in a calorie deficit so if you don't understand your hunger/ full signals or eat very calorie dense foods during these plans, you could still not lose (or even gain!). But some have found that these approaches and maybe a focus on nutritious (lots of veg, lean meats, healthy fats etc) has been enough to keep them in a deficit and they lose without counting.
  • vggb
    vggb Posts: 132 Member
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    Kita1818 wrote: »
    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.

    This is what I was going to say, only this is better :) It sounds like the logging is making you anxious. At 6wks I still hadn't figured out what to do with all the info on MFP and still don't, but I am good with what I know and have learned. The recipe part is great, type it in, then when you make that meal, log it without all the typing, measuring, etc.

    The biggest thing I have learned is portion control, I didn't realize how much I was eating at a sitting.

    Now I use it to track macros due to doctor recommended new diet. That is working out wonderfully!

    Oh, I've only been using MFP since Oct 2018, am at goal and BMI is normal.

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