Successfully dropping logging

summpear
summpear Posts: 77 Member
in Goal: Maintaining Weight
My first post over here on the maintenance forum!!!

Who has successfully cut back on/ stopped logging? I've been in my maintenance range several months and I'm working hard on eating a really solid whole food diet and cooking a ton... but honestly, it makes logging new recipes etc exhausting and takes a lot of the enjoyment out of eating.

Part of me thinks I can handle quitting. It took me a couple years to get the weight under control, I've learned a lot, I'm far more athletic than I was. The rest of me is nervous because I let the scale slide up 40lbs while I was "eating healthy" and "eating intuitively".

Any tips or advice to help me through this into long term success both with the good food I am eating but also the portion control I've learned?

Replies

  • spiriteagle99
    spiriteagle99 Posts: 3,745 Member
    Like Jenilla, I've continued logging for several years after losing weight. In the past, I saw my weight creep up and up after successful weight loss and I really don't want that to happen again. I also am fairly loose about my logging. I don't weigh or measure anything, I estimate. Logging just keeps me from indulging too much.

    If you really don't want to log, try it for a few months and see what happens. Weigh yourself often so you can catch it if your weight goes up more than 5 lbs. You can always start logging again later.
  • jenilla1
    jenilla1 Posts: 11,118 Member
    I cook dinner 6 out of 7 days of the week. Scanning ingredients using the phone app helps, plus a lot of the basics in recipes are things I use over and over again (like ground turkey, rice, olive oil, etc.) so they are already in my frequent foods column and easy to access with a click. I don't log spices because they don't have enough calories to matter, so that makes it easier. I only cook for myself and my husband, so it's easy to split everything in half for logging purposes. It might be more challenging if I had to divide everything into multiple servings and different serving sizes for a bigger family. I can see where that would be a pain. :s

    You can always try that stopping and starting thing and see how it works out for you. I've seen people do that here all the time. You got this! :)
  • cupcakesandproteinshakes
    cupcakesandproteinshakes Posts: 1,138 Member
    I stopped logging once I hit maintenance. I weigh daily though. My weight has stayed within a 5 pound range for a year. I’m quite predictable with what I eat and as I haven’t gained I guess I must be doing ok. I don’t eat out very much maybe once or twice a month. I would go back to logging if the scale crept up more than 5 pounds. I just found logging boring and stressful and so decided to try and maintain without it. Others find it’s the only way they keep on top of things.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    edited August 2019
    Haven't logged my food in ages - but maintaining was normal for me before I lost weight or started calorie counting (I just maintained at too high a weight).
    Still log my exercise as my calorie expenditure varies between high and very high so I gives me an idea of my calorie allowance.

    I can maintain or slowly cut without logging just by monitoring my weight trend and being aware of my calorie balance without needing to be precise. I'm not an intuitive eater, that just leads to weight gain for me.

    Until you try you won't know, just continue monitoring what your weight trend does and intervene if it goes out of your range. that intervention doesn't have to be "back to dieting" - it can be a small correction to counter a drift.
  • staticsplit
    staticsplit Posts: 538 Member
    I just didn't log for a week on holiday, and sometimes I don't log on the weekends. By this point I've been within like 2 pounds either side of 155 since last October, so I feel reasonably sure I know how to maintain my weight. Logging with new recipes is really annoying sometimes, or if you make a big vat of something but it's hard to know how many grams of carrots are in that particular serving or whatever. I am very loose with my logging and weigh myself now and again to make sure I don't go too far over. You know good habits now, just keep an eye on things and 40 pounds won't magically come back, promise!
  • robertw486
    robertw486 Posts: 2,399 Member
    It seems to be one of those things where there are often a lot of differing feelings and results. Some must log, some just chose to do it, some can live without it.

    For me, I generally log only to watch recovery calories so I don't eat too much or too little when I'm working out hard. Cardio workouts tend to be hit and miss with how it impacts my hunger. But I've never weighed food, even when setting and hitting a loss goal. So I guess I guesstimate food well enough that it balances out, and am close enough on work out calorie burn estimates.

    I tend to not weigh myself either, unless I'm shooting for a specific goal. Then watching the trend helps me quite a bit. But if I do weigh or go to the doctor and get weighed, my off the top of my head prediction is usually within 2-3 pounds tops.


    Try different methods and find what works best for you. If what I do is perfect for me, it doesn't by any means imply that it would be perfect for anyone else.


  • SnifterPug
    SnifterPug Posts: 746 Member
    Maybe try logging what you eat but not necessarily full details. Essentially whatever level of detail is quick and easy to log. That way at least you have some kind of record so if the weight starts coming back you can see if, for example, you've actually started veering towards more carb-heavy or fat-dense food, or whatever. At least you'd have a clue on where you might tend to go wrong.
  • wenrob
    wenrob Posts: 125 Member
    summpear wrote: »
    Stopping and then starting again if I creep up over my top range has crossed my mind.


    Do you cook quite a bit? Part of my problem is that I try new recipes regularly and I don't like having to measure every bit and weigh totals to get serving amounts. It's been my logging bane the whole 2+ years I've logged :neutral: lol.
    I tend to log “like” things I’ve already done recipes for. For me there’s not a whole lot of difference between a taco, taco bowl, taco wrap or Chicken Picatta, Chicken Angelo etc. I’ll log a recipe and then tweak the ingredients to fit what I’m making. I still log but I’m a little looser than when I’m actively losing. I’ve also been in maintenance a long time (9yrs.) The biggest thing for me is to keep an eye on the scale. If it starts to drift upwards I tighten things up.
  • pinuplove
    pinuplove Posts: 12,871 Member
    I stopped logging at Thanksgiving last year. I've slowly drifted down another 10 pounds since then. While I wouldn't mind losing another 5 pounds, I'm not particularly bothered or in a hurry to do it. If I was, I'd start logging again.

    I do weigh daily, and if I start to see an upward trend I make a few adjustments.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    I stopped logging about a month into maintenance...I figured I had learned what I needed to learn. I don't know about "intuitive" eating or anything like that...I basically eat a healthy diet for the most part and exercise on the regular, but nothing crazy. I have some rules, and I make some exceptions to those rules from time to time, but so long as the exceptions don't become the new rule, it's no big deal.

    I haven't logged anything in over 6 years and have more or less maintained my weight. I weigh in regularly 2-3 times per week and just monitor that. If I start to see a trend of weight creeping up, I assess what I've been doing...more often than not, it's not a food issue but rather a dip in activity or exercise as happens for me in the winter in particular. I usually put on 8-10 real Lbs in the winter...10Lbs is my intervention point where I start to cut back a little...fortunately I typically hit that point in January or February after the holidays are over so it's easy to cut back a bit and then my activity increases with the onset of Spring.

    I'm hoping to curb things better this winter as I plan on getting a smart bike trainer for my birthday along with Zwift to make indoor cycling in the winter more bearable...I'm just hoping I can sell my lightly used dumb trainer.
  • brittanystebbins95
    brittanystebbins95 Posts: 567 Member
    I stopped logging altogether for a good 4-5 months and maintained. I only started logging again because I wanna lose 10 lbs before I get married in October.
  • Lynzdee18
    Lynzdee18 Posts: 500 Member
    I screwed up big time. Got very tired of logging for upwards of a year of maintenance. Thought that I was in the clear. It seems not. Without daily logging, even using estimates of serving sizes, I plumped back up.

    So, for me, I need to log everyday to keep old habits at bay.

    Congratulations to those of you who learned how to eat and how to maintain by intuition. I need more practice it seems.....
  • summpear
    summpear Posts: 77 Member
    Thank you everyone for your thoughtful insights and sharing what works for you.

    I'll try dropping off and watching my weight and see.

    I cook dailyfor my family of 7, so weighing big pots, figuring total gms in servings, entering new recipes.. it's a lot and if my brain+body can handle skipping it, I'll ease off. I'll probably start just by skipping dinner bc breakfast and lunches are pretty routine for me and easy single servings.
  • nowine4me
    nowine4me Posts: 3,985 Member
    summpear wrote: »
    Thank you everyone for your thoughtful insights and sharing what works for you.

    I'll try dropping off and watching my weight and see.

    I cook dailyfor my family of 7, so weighing big pots, figuring total gms in servings, entering new recipes.. it's a lot and if my brain+body can handle skipping it, I'll ease off. I'll probably start just by skipping dinner bc breakfast and lunches are pretty routine for me and easy single servings.

    Most recipies include calories counts, maybe just quick add for a while and see how it goes.
  • SummerSkier
    SummerSkier Posts: 5,144 Member
    You never know until you try. As a yo yo type over the years I have to either log consistently or weigh consistently - one or the other or both. But the good news is that if you have trouble you can always join the maintenance folks getting back on track thread. ;)
  • Squish815
    Squish815 Posts: 150 Member
    I've been logging on MFP for 4 years (3 of those years in maintenance) and have thought about stopping as I MIGHT be able to maintain without it but if I did start to gain weight again I realllllly can't be bothered having to lose again. I'd rather keep logging (loosely) and know I can maintain that risk having to start losing again, plus logging is just second nature for me now!
  • Addictead
    Addictead Posts: 66 Member
    I've had phases of not logging and being okay, But I always come back after awhile because I tend to portion creep or snack a little too much and don't recognize it before I sit down and go over everything.
  • Cahgetsfit
    Cahgetsfit Posts: 1,912 Member
    The weight starts to creep up for me so I always end up having to log again before too much damage is done. As soon as I'm up more than 2kg (and not just the fluctuating type - 2 proper fat kilos), I get back on the logging wagon to lose them.

    I'm not good at intuitive eating. As in - I KNOW I am overeating, I am not good at stopping myself from overating - that is the problem.
  • Gamliela
    Gamliela Posts: 2,468 Member
    I still log sporadically. I've been maintaining for a few years. I log if my activity changes, which it can throughout the year, until I get used to the change in hunger, calories and activity. Originally I got to a goal about 10 pounds lighter than my current weight and I give myself a 10 pound range, or rather 5 pounds either up or down.

    I really like how my food diary has so many foods in it and the amounts serve accuracy because I set it up for 100 grams of many foods or in amounts I typically eat, so its easy to quickly log food for the day.

    If it works for you, you will have an easier successful outcome!
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 9,284 Member
    I have been logging in maitenance for nearly 5 years.

    Loosely,not tight weigh and measure exactly each item - but I still do general loose lazy logging.

    Second nature habit for me now and it works for me so I'm not about to change it.
  • JohnnytotheB
    JohnnytotheB Posts: 361 Member
    Everyone is different but I need to log for success. Otherwise I pick up on old bad habits - and they come back slowly. If you were really obese and lost 100+ pounds you probably want to keep logging during maintenance.

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