Do you accept that you'll have to log for the rest of your life(or atleast the foreseeable future)?
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One of the surprise benefits of logging for me - at least sometimes - is that I'll end up surprised that I have as much room as I do at times. Especially if I have a day where I'm eating more veggies and not around sweets.
It's not that often, but it is nice when that happens.
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Silentpadna wrote: »One of the surprise benefits of logging for me - at least sometimes - is that I'll end up surprised that I have as much room as I do at times. Especially if I have a day where I'm eating more veggies and not around sweets.
It's not that often, but it is nice when that happens.
I often wonder if part of my problem before I started logging was that in an effort to be "good" I was accidentally under-eating one or two days when I experienced that, then it caught up with me, I was suddenly famished, and then I'd eat everything in the house and chalk it up as another "failure". I try to save 150-250 cals for a late night snack, and it's awesome when I realize I actually have over 300 cals and I can eat some top shelf ice cream15 -
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.
So what I hear you saying is, if the police ever ask us to account for our whereabouts on some random day several years earlier, MFP has our back.10 -
There are things I do every day and that is just the way it is. I brush my teeth, take a shower, make meals and log what I eat. I do it for me and my health. I work out the easiest ways, using "meals" for example and if my weight is holding steady, I don't worry about always weighing or counting every bite but I do check in daily. I remember once wondering how I would do it when I am very old and in a nursing home. LOL. I have been logging consistently for at least 20 years.8
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I have been logging for 5 years now Using different systems but all in all it is 5 years. TBH I know that it works for me and I actually like it most of the tie, plus it is such a habit now. I'll continue logging for as long as I want/like Happy to continue to do so4
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lynn_glenmont wrote: »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.
So what I hear you saying is, if the police ever ask us to account for our whereabouts on some random day several years earlier, MFP has our back.
And our phones or fitbits have GPS to tell them where we were or not also? I think there was a murder case a while ago where the gal's fitbit was intrumental in bringing her husband to justice.3 -
scrittrice wrote: »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."
Count me among those who not only accepts but embraces the idea of logging indefinitely. I actually kind of like coming here on MFP not just for the logging but for the forums, which helps keep my head in the game while losing and keep me from getting complacent in maintenance.
Also, I am a short, older, sedentary (outside of purposeful exercise) woman who doesn't get a lot of calories even to maintain. That plus I happen to really like eating fat(ty foods—tastes good, keeps me sated) so my calorie count ticks upward quickly. This means I'm not only at an overeating risk but a malnourishment one too. Like the posters I'm quoting here, I love that I can keep an eye on my vitamin and mineral intake to help me avoid eating in a way where I haven't gotten enough nourishment by the time I hit my calorie limit (which means logging also affects my grocery shopping list).
When I wasn't doing that for a while last year I noticed my hair got weaker. It didn't fall out the way some people report theirs does when they're in an excessive deficit, but it got dull and dry and sad. It used to be so strong and thick, then this past spring I coloured my hair and some of it broke off. Back when I used to eat 3000 calories in a day (at 5'3") I never had to worry about that Started paying attention to micronutrients again and the hair situation has improved somewhat.10 -
[Count me among those who not only accepts but embraces the idea of logging indefinitely. I actually kind of like coming here on MFP not just for the logging but for the forums, which helps keep my head in the game while losing and keep me from getting complacent in maintenance.
Also, I am a short, older, sedentary (outside of purposeful exercise) woman who doesn't get a lot of calories even to maintain. That plus I happen to really like eating fat(ty foods—tastes good, keeps me sated) so my calorie count ticks upward quickly. This means I'm not only at an overeating risk but a malnourishment one too. Like the posters I'm quoting here, I love that I can keep an eye on my vitamin and mineral intake to help me avoid eating in a way where I haven't gotten enough nourishment by the time I hit my calorie limit (which means logging also affects my grocery shopping list).
When I wasn't doing that for a while last year I noticed my hair got weaker. It didn't fall out the way some people report theirs does when they're in an excessive deficit, but it got dull and dry and sad. It used to be so strong and thick, then this past spring I coloured my hair and some of it broke off. Back when I used to eat 3000 calories in a day (at 5'3") I never had to worry about that Started paying attention to micronutrients again and the hair situation has improved somewhat.
Same, if I didn't like logging/using the site I'd have stopped years ago. It's a critical tool in helping me maintain weight but it also contributes to health and performance goals; it doesn't have to be all about the scale.
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Yes, but there are some days when I just don't feel like logging every single item, like when I make a big salad with lots of different ingredients, or when I go out to eat and don't want to try to remember every single item, and I just guesstimate a number and add it to the meal or even the whole day. Sometimes I just need a little break but don't want to interrupt my "streak". Then the next day I go back to logging every single morsel.
If I didn't log, I'd gain every pound I've lost back. My "intuitive" eating is definitely not reliable if I want to maintain.5 -
walktalkdog wrote: »Yes, but there are some days when I just don't feel like logging every single item, like when I make a big salad with lots of different ingredients, or when I go out to eat and don't want to try to remember every single item, and I just guesstimate a number and add it to the meal or even the whole day. Sometimes I just need a little break but don't want to interrupt my "streak". Then the next day I go back to logging every single morsel.
If I didn't log, I'd gain every pound I've lost back. My "intuitive" eating is definitely not reliable if I want to maintain.
The way I lazy log salad is by weighing and logging it as a single ingredient + dressing, for example, 150 grams of tomatoes instead of 10 grams of this, 50 grams of that...etc.7 -
I expect to track for the rest of my life. This means 1) measuring and logging food, & 2) weighing myself daily. Obviously, I can skip 1 for awhile until 2 shows that I am losing ground.
Back in my primal/keto days my ideal was to eat intuitively. I joined MFP to track carbs to make sure they were low enough. But I had much better success counting calories and ramping up protein.
Another aspect of this question: Will non-chain good restaraunts always wreck my diet plan. Answer: yes. Always.
I eat at such places without guilt but I restore the balance starting the next day. I can only imagine not tracking if I ate the same meals every day. That is unrealistic.
Could I maintain by simply self-monitoring and guessing calories? Maybe: if all I cared about was reducing body fat. But I want to maintain and even build muscle and make progress in strength training. I don't see how that could work without logging.
So unless we have a zombie apocalypse that knocks out the internet and smartphones, I expect to weigh and track all my food (except occasional restaurants etc) for the rest of my life.
In my guesswork opinion, a significant reason so many of us struggle with body composition is because we are all much wealthier than anyone was before the last century. We have to adapt our eating behavior to our new environment. Our hunger signals have to be trained by us rather than allowed to wander and lead us. First world problems require first world solutions.8 -
I definitely think I'll have to keep logging but I actually enjoy doing it. It only takes a few minutes but it frees up the mental space which would be otherwise taken up by wondering if I should be eating something or not because I've maybe forgotten about something I had earlier in the day or I wasn't sure if it was high in calories or not. I can log it and forget about it. I was just on holiday for a week and logging everything was an interesting experience. I didn't restrict myself, I ate what I wanted, but seeing the numbers gave me a good idea of what my unrestrained eating habits are like and exactly why I've struggled with my weight for 30 years! I only put on 1.5lbs - as opposed to 5lbs on previous trips - and I think it was because even though I didn't *think* I was denying myself anything, I was obviously more aware of what I was doing and that was enough to curb some of the excess. So for me it helps keep the balance without feeling like a chore.11
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amusedmonkey wrote: »walktalkdog wrote: »Yes, but there are some days when I just don't feel like logging every single item, like when I make a big salad with lots of different ingredients, or when I go out to eat and don't want to try to remember every single item, and I just guesstimate a number and add it to the meal or even the whole day. Sometimes I just need a little break but don't want to interrupt my "streak". Then the next day I go back to logging every single morsel.
If I didn't log, I'd gain every pound I've lost back. My "intuitive" eating is definitely not reliable if I want to maintain.
The way I lazy log salad is by weighing and logging it as a single ingredient + dressing, for example, 150 grams of tomatoes instead of 10 grams of this, 50 grams of that...etc.
Great idea!0 -
I expect to track for the rest of my life. This means 1) measuring and logging food, & 2) weighing myself daily. Obviously, I can skip 1 for awhile until 2 shows that I am losing ground.
Back in my primal/keto days my ideal was to eat intuitively. I joined MFP to track carbs to make sure they were low enough. But I had much better success counting calories and ramping up protein.
Another aspect of this question: Will non-chain good restaraunts always wreck my diet plan. Answer: yes. Always.
I eat at such places without guilt but I restore the balance starting the next day. I can only imagine not tracking if I ate the same meals every day. That is unrealistic.
Could I maintain by simply self-monitoring and guessing calories? Maybe: if all I cared about was reducing body fat. But I want to maintain and even build muscle and make progress in strength training. I don't see how that could work without logging.
So unless we have a zombie apocalypse that knocks out the internet and smartphones, I expect to weigh and track all my food (except occasional restaurants etc) for the rest of my life.
In my guesswork opinion, a significant reason so many of us struggle with body composition is because we are all much wealthier than anyone was before the last century. We have to adapt our eating behavior to our new environment. Our hunger signals have to be trained by us rather than allowed to wander and lead us. First world problems require first world solutions.
In addition, there is food everywhere! And servings are enormous! And fast food is cheap! For people who have no clue about cause and effect, it's a landmine out there.
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lynn_glenmont wrote: »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.
So what I hear you saying is, if the police ever ask us to account for our whereabouts on some random day several years earlier, MFP has our back.
We don't have the fifth here in my country, but if we did, I'd plead it
"Wasn't me officer, I was eating fermented shark in Reykjavík on that day, see"...6 -
Could I maintain by simply self-monitoring and guessing calories? Maybe: if all I cared about was reducing body fat. But I want to maintain and even build muscle and make progress in strength training. I don't see how that could work without logging.
@awnurmarc
But gyms are full of people getter stronger, reducing body fat, maintaining weight without food logging or even having a great diet.
Primarilly because it's your training that drives progress, diet merely supports your training and recovery.
Logging gives you greater precision but it's not like a perfect diet (whatever that means!) is essential to progress physically.
BTW - there's also an assumption that recomp (simultaneous building of muscle and losing body fat) only happens precisely at maintenance calories which is false, a zone around maintenance is the reality and how wide that zone is personal and varied. A young male beginner to strength training and that zone is very wide indeed. In my mid fifties I still recomped successfuly in a small deficit despite decades of gym work.
Log if you want to but don't feel you have to.1 -
yes I'm sure there are many many people throughout history who have maintained weight in a healthy way and built up muscle in gym or sports training or manual labour - and havent ever logged anything.
Of course it can work without logging.
but whether that would you for you individually is a question only you can answer.7 -
I have finally come to that conclusion. The only times I have lost a lot of weight was on WW and it only worked when I was tracking points. I realized it was the tracking that was doing it, not the rest of the program. MFP does a better job at tracking, cheaper. If I track, I lose, if I don't, I gain it back. It's that simple.
But it's like anything that deals with numerical balances. If you don't keep track of the money you spend, you may overspend. If you stop looking at the gas gauge in your car, you will run out of gas. I have tried to see not to see it as some special hardship I have to bear, just a fact of life, at least my life.12 -
No, I don't think it's necessary to log forever, but it's necessary (for me, at least!) to do something. I've tried various methods and generally prefer non-logging methods of calorie control. I think this is just a personal preference. I find MFP has become more and more cumbersome, particularly if you don't tend to eat the same things from day to day.2
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Whether it's necessary for others or not, I do not know. For ME, the only way to lose weight, the only way to maintain weight loss is the accountability that comes with daily logging. How fortunate you are if you can lose and/or maintain without it. But that's not the case for me.4
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