Do you accept that you'll have to log for the rest of your life(or atleast the foreseeable future)?
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Absolutely. With every year that passes the ground grows colder and your body is less forgiving. I accept that. I will continue to track my data points. I have to balance my checkbook. I'm not on a diet, I'm on a food budget.16
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Yep. I've regained a few times. Right now I'm back up to 17 lbs above my recent goal weight. (12 lbs below my peak non-pregnant weight.) I am tired of yoyoing so I may need to just log forever. Usually weight creep starts when life circumstances change, e.g. I went from SAHM to WOHM, had a harder time fitting in workouts and meal prep on top of having a very sedentary job, and boom, gained the aforementioned weight over about 18 months. Back to logging now!7
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Diatonic12 wrote: »Absolutely. With every year that passes the ground grows colder and your body is less forgiving. I accept that. I will continue to track my data points. I have to balance my checkbook. I'm not on a diet, I'm on a food budget.
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MadisonMolly2017 wrote: »psychod787 wrote: »I haven't posted for a while, but this is something I am interested in. I think tracking for me, is a great cognitive tool. When you have a WOE that is far outside the American norm, it might not be necessary to weigh everything, but humans are horrid at remembering what they put in their mouths. I am NOW a true believer in a lower reward, lower energy density diet is effective. Its actually too effective for me. I am trying to push to a happier weight/bf right now. I can't eat! My stomach is telling me to, but belly won't let me! Lol...I'm reloading this week, so no "extra" for me, but to increase weight, I have to. Nuts i tell ya! Carry on...
@psychod787
Can you tell me more about this, please:
“Lower reward, lower energy density diet”
Sent you some links via message.2 -
Yup. I don't mind because it has become a habit. Also I am a bit of a foodie and like to have a diary of what I have eaten.5
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Yup. I don't mind because it has become a habit. Also I am a bit of a foodie and like to have a diary of what I have eaten.
Recently my husband and I sat together over a glass of wine and read our food diaries from our honeymoon in Europe 2 years ago so we could remember exactly where we were each day! It was a great memory prompt.
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Beats trying to lose 50 lbs again.21
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Awww!smithker75 wrote: »Yup. I don't mind because it has become a habit. Also I am a bit of a foodie and like to have a diary of what I have eaten.
Recently my husband and I sat together over a glass of wine and read our food diaries from our honeymoon in Europe 2 years ago so we could remember exactly where we were each day! It was a great memory prompt.
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I've been in maintenance for a few months, and I'm scared to stop logging! I know I would feel nervous just eating freely. So at least for now, I see myself logging long term.4
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To me, it's so worth it to keep logging. I've worked way too hard to let the weight creep back up, so if that means logging, so be it. I choose to be thin.9
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I have actually never thought about that. Yes, I have stopped logging, but then I stopped doing. Today, I am locked in and really confident in what I do. I can see me not logging but continuing to do and accomplish, such is my groove! But until then...? I have no plans to stop.2
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Yes, I think I plan to, at least for the most part. I weigh myself twice a week (same days in the morning before eating or working out). I am in maintenance and feel a bit more relaxed about logging every scrap I put in my mouth, mostly because I can see in the diary where I am. Like a lot of people I have had success, then went off it and slowly lost focus. It is way too easy to overeat. I do allow myself some uncounted meals, especially around celebrations but then watch the effect on the scales. I have a good food scale right on the counter so measuring and weighing as I cook has become part of the process. Making it the process I use for eating has also caused me to prepare most of my meals rather than using pre-processed food (what I used to rely on). As someone else said, it has become my eating habit and I don't see it as a bother, anymore. Also, I am intentional about lowering my body fat so watching my nutrients is also important.5
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I'll try to make it as much as a habit as brushing my teeth twice a day. Been doing that for a long time every single day and night.6
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I've been here six years. I have learned that if I don't log, I gain. If I want continued success, I have to keep logging.6
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I think I will have to keep logging. Before this year, I'd never really counted what I ate, didn't exercise... didn't think about portion control. I just ate whatever I wanted and didn't think about moving more ... Logging clarifies things for me and keeps me accountable and helps me to figure out if eating something is worth it - can I offset it ... can it wait until tomorrow/the weekend (when I can exercise more). I've worked so hard to get to this point - I think I'll keep logging to minimise my chances of backsliding. It's a very small price to pay.3
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I agree with all the comments I have read about just continuing to log. It's a good habit with great benefits. For those of us who love food and love snacking it's a constant reminder that energy/calories in cannot exceed energy/calories out. It's simple math and does not really take that long to do. Actually the time it takes to log and keep track is far less than it takes to lose the weight if you gain it back. Even if it was 10 minutes a day to do it ,which it's not, you can barely make a dent with a ten minute workout. That's even a HIIT workout. There's a saying I will always remember. "You cannot outrun a bad diet". The exception to that rule is probably professional/olympic athletes who train for a living. Even those types of people are on strict diets. How often do we say professional athletes retire and then they blow up like balloons LOL. If it happens to them, it can happen to us. We've come too far to go back. Also reminds me of a song we sing in Church. I have decided to follow Jesus, no turning back, no turning back. It's the same with MFP and this healthy lifestyle.3
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I have been logging for 7 years, no problems. I'm now in maintenance and still logging, and will continue logging until I no longer want to (which I don't see happening anytime soon).
Maybe a change of perspective will help. I actually prefer logging over not logging because it gives me more freedom. It's less about trying to avoid overeating and more about being able to afford whatever I want. I can lose/maintain without logging, but I don't like it because I have to make safe choices most of the time and say no to foods more often. When I track my calories, a quick look at calories left is enough to see if I can afford something or not, or if I can re-arrange stuff in order to afford what I can't.12 -
Very interesting question and I'm not sure if I'm actually accepting this fact yet, even though I know it's true.
I've been on and off on MFP for 8 years now and everytime I was off, the weight slowly crept back on. I really thought/hoped that eventually the healthy eating would become natural to me and that I wouldn't crave junkfood anymore, but that never really happened to me.
I've never let it go truly bad again though, but the only way for me to keep it down, is by logging. I do take regular breaks though or I'll drive myself mad and become too obsessed.4 -
Gratefully yes - finally I have found the MFP support which fits my needs perfectly well. Their calculations are spot on and keeps me accountable on a daily basis. Not to forget all those supportive members, thank you. If it means that I "have to" log what I eat on a daily basis, I would say: I want to, because I need to!7
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SugaSugaNooo wrote: »Very interesting question and I'm not sure if I'm actually accepting this fact yet, even though I know it's true.
I've been on and off on MFP for 8 years now and everytime I was off, the weight slowly crept back on. I really thought/hoped that eventually the healthy eating would become natural to me and that I wouldn't crave junkfood anymore, but that never really happened to me.
I've never let it go truly bad again though, but the only way for me to keep it down, is by logging. I do take regular breaks though or I'll drive myself mad and become too obsessed.
This is me. I keep thinking I'll be able to give it up, and I'm fine for a while, but then slowly I begin to creep upward. I'm a sloppy logger (and also good at eyeing portion sizes) but I need to do it. Recording the numbers makes it "real."2 -
I log with my morning coffee anyway. But I feel like I'd be able to skip logging once I'm in maintenance and just make sure to keep an eye on my weight. Or at least be a little more lax about certain things. For example, I logged the 5 french fries I stole from my kids last night. Probably wouldn't bother in maintenance.0
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Honestly? Not only do I accept it, but I embrace it. Logging has brought me a freedom I haven't had in the last 20 years. It has brought me awareness regarding food, and it helped me learn a lot about nutrition. And it only "costs" me a few minutes a day.
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I've been in maintenance for a long time now and I've realized that for me personally, I just couldn't keep doing the numbers game-at a certain point in the process I became completely burned out and mentally exhausted. I tracked/counted calories for years and more and more I struggled with the whole process.
So for me personally, I had to adapt and come up with a different maintenance strategy. I'm now very low carb/almost zero carb, and by having very strict parameters with what I can eat, it's taken away the need to track anything, anymore. I'm now maintaining a very lean body-weight without counting/tracking/measuring at all.
Very low carb will not appeal to most people, however its allowed me to maintain without having to stress about the numbers anymore. For me that's worth the trade-off of not being able to eat certain foods anymore.
Op, maintenance is challenging no matter how you go about it. The key is to experiment and find a way that works for you. And then also realize that you can adjust your maintenance plan as you go along and adapt it to fit your current goals etc 10 -
I like logging. It's been six years. It's a nice habit that encourages mindfulness. At this point I don't think it changes my eating but it's good for me.7
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I don't plan to log forever, but I am committing to a daily weighing in and going back to logging when the trend creeps up.5
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Yes, I think I will continue to keep a daily food diary. Every time I don't log my food I gain back a few pounds. My daughter got married 2 weeks ago and we had a lot of out-of-town visitors along with lots of food that I don't usually eat. In just a few days, I added 4 lbs. Just got back on track to using the food diary and I have lost 2 of those pounds. It doesn't just melt off easily any more.
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MadisonMolly2017 wrote: »I log my food for the data! I like looking at monthly trends & comparing.
I used to weigh 228-237 for decades, and for 7 months (Dec-June) my average wt was under 155lbs (top of my maintenance Range). I got sick & it lasted 6 weeks. Scale went up, and I’m now turning it around. Currently 156.
I don’t get clear hunger or not hungry signals, so I will track & weigh unless that happens in the next 6 lbs. I don’t mind it. I know it’s my lifeline, my secret weapon.
If I do develop a reliable approach to food/exercise in the coming months/years, I’ll reassess.
No reason to worry about “doing it for the rest of our lives.” Just today!
I LOVE THIS- where you said it's your "lifeline," your "secret weapon." It's my SECRET WEAPON! Bwahahaha! I love it. thinking of it positively instead of negatively. Not something I have to do, but something I CAN do. What an amazing tool we have! And that it's electronic and convenient. Not lugging around a manual and a giant scale.11 -
cooliocat123 wrote: »MadisonMolly2017 wrote: »I log my food for the data! I like looking at monthly trends & comparing.
I used to weigh 228-237 for decades, and for 7 months (Dec-June) my average wt was under 155lbs (top of my maintenance Range). I got sick & it lasted 6 weeks. Scale went up, and I’m now turning it around. Currently 156.
I don’t get clear hunger or not hungry signals, so I will track & weigh unless that happens in the next 6 lbs. I don’t mind it. I know it’s my lifeline, my secret weapon.
If I do develop a reliable approach to food/exercise in the coming months/years, I’ll reassess.
No reason to worry about “doing it for the rest of our lives.” Just today!
I LOVE THIS- where you said it's your "lifeline," your "secret weapon." It's my SECRET WEAPON! Bwahahaha! I love it. thinking of it positively instead of negatively. Not something I have to do, but something I CAN do. What an amazing tool we have! And that it's electronic and convenient. Not lugging around a manual and a giant scale.
@cooliocat123
Yes! The manual omg . Unsustainable!
The apps & tools these days make it SO EASY!
Thanks!0 -
I've come to realize that those who accept that life is suffering have a better track record than those who don't.
If my suffering amounts to 10 mins/day to maintain a healthy weight, so be it. Easy day.10
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