Do you accept that you'll have to log for the rest of your life(or atleast the foreseeable future)?

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Replies

  • memurph88
    memurph88 Posts: 102 Member
    JenasyJen wrote: »
    Anytime I stop tracking I eat way too much. I figure I do not have a healthy relationship with food. I never have. So if I stop logging I'm gonna gain it all back and fast... It sucks. But it's my reality.

    This is my reality too!
  • RealWorldStrengthLLC
    RealWorldStrengthLLC Posts: 552 Member
    No, I only log when cutting weight. I was 227 when I quit logging and I did a mini-dirty bulk/ some maintenance through the summer where I shot from the hip on protein and calories, drank and partied like a frat boy and basically did what I wanted and when...when I decided to dial it back I was peaking at 243ish and I cut to 236 over 5 weeks without tracking (some was water weight), been back to tracking for 2 weeks and I'm 231ish now. I'm going to get sub 220 (probably around 210) and then go back to shooting from the hip. I've tracked macros/calories/protein enough for close to a decade, my eyeball and mental math aren't too far off.
  • purple4sure05
    purple4sure05 Posts: 287 Member
    I like logging in my day to day life because I have the same schedule and basically the same meals on work days. Its harder on vacation and during holidays. I dont think i can log obsessively every day forever, but i do think the key factor is continuing to weigh in at least once every week or two. Some people hate the idea of yo-yo dieting but you could always get to goal weight, let up on logging for a while, keep weighing yourself, and immediately tighten up when you gain 6, 7, 8 pounds or whatever you decide. As long as you dont go crazy and eat a bunch right away amd try to keep the same habits, itll probably take months before you need to lose again.
  • MikePfirrman
    MikePfirrman Posts: 3,307 Member
    edited October 2019
    Full disclosure, I lost all my weigh using Loseit, but I didn't like all the features dying off. I enjoy the forums to remind me that I'm a binge away from gaining weight. Now, I think this year will be eight years on maintenance. I haven't logged in around four. I logged religiously for years. I don't any longer. I have a red line that I'm honest about and I weigh daily. If I stay at or above that red line (195 for me) for more than a couple of weeks, I'll log again. I haven't hit that. The fear of having to reenter all my recipes is enough of a deterrant for me.

    Right now, I'm sitting at around 190 (and I'd guess less than 20% BF -- I've trained hard to get there and add muscle). I'm fine with that. I have a completely different relationship with food now. I plan snacks only on occasion and I plan every meal carefully. My wife found out she was allergic to cow dairy and I'm allergic to wheat -- eating the same way -- cow dairy and gluten free eliminates like 95% of the processed junk and fast food, so that helps a lot. I don't see that as a pain, I just see it as the way we have to eat. Both are healthier and have had doctor office visits where they have told us both that our numbers and vital signs are ideal for our ages -- mid and late 50s.
  • Diatonic12
    Diatonic12 Posts: 32,344 Member
    My mission, should I decide to accept is, is to face my reality and the music every day. MFP works and so does the connection with others. I accept it.
  • Lolinloggen
    Lolinloggen Posts: 466 Member
    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 so
  • SummerSkier
    SummerSkier Posts: 5,136 Member
    lynn_glenmont wrote: »
    smithker75 wrote: »
    acpgee 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. :smile:

    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.
  • walktalkdog
    walktalkdog Posts: 102 Member
    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!
  • walktalkdog
    walktalkdog Posts: 102 Member
    awnurmarc wrote: »
    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.

  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    awnurmarc wrote: »
    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.
  • Vailara
    Vailara Posts: 2,467 Member
    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.
  • tuckerrj
    tuckerrj Posts: 1,453 Member
    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.

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