Does anyone else find it so boring and uninspiring to keep track of all your meals/calories.
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JoeyFitness1718
Posts: 38 Member
I went to do it the other day because I don’t really keep much track of things I just workout and that’s it I never really keep track. I went to write out what I normally have in a day and just got so bored and gave up.
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A little tough love - everyday life is rarely exciting or inspiring. Do you brush your teeth every day because it's such a fun and uplifting thing to do? Do you do the laundry because the spinning of the washing machine is inspiring?
Getting yourself set up with good habits that keep you healthy and fit so you don't need motivation and inspiration to take care of yourself is one of the best things you can do. Having said that, if logging really doesn't agree with you, and you feel like you need more control over your diet, then you need to find some other strategy that is.
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/818701/the-myth-of-motivation-and-what-you-need-instead/p1
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No sympathy from me. I understand people saying it's tedious or that they don't want to do it forever. But get bored part way through logging a single day is not impressive. You have to be at least 18 years old to use this site, which means you are an adult and have to do plenty of boring and uninteresting things on a daily basis. Logging food isn't the only tool to help lose/maintain/gain weight but it is one that many people find useful. You need to find what works for you. For me, working on my weight and health is a higher priority than 3 minutes of boredom each day.26
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You do realise you can copy meals from one day to another by backtracking on your diary? Also you can save your own meals & recipes which are then available at a click. In this age of technology there is always a shortcut for those who are less bothered about putting in the time. It makes me wonder..... Do you spend time on Facebook etc or even commenting on MFP? If it's too much bother perhaps it's not for you...... 😕😒
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I did it...I don't do it anymore. I found it tedious and I got a little head case about some things, but I also ultimately found it to be informative. I haven't logged in almost 7 years, but the brief time I did log has helped me immensely with almost 7 years of maintenance and knowing what I need to meet my nutritional needs, even if I don't know exactly down to the exact calorie or gram of this and that.9
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I make it a game like Tetris. For example, only having 3/4 serving cheese on my baked potato tonight means I can have a homemade chai latte later. Win!
Convince yourself it’s a fun thing to do, and revel in the data, and it will become habit.14 -
It's fascinating to me.
I almost had a McDonalds breakfast sandwich because they were 2 for $4. But I saved it till I got to work to see how many calories it was. 460 calories, a calorie bomb. In olden days I would have just ate it. Logging helps me see more clearly what it is I'm putting in mouth. And no I didn't eat it, not even a little bit. (My taste tolerance for sodium is getting really sensitive, things I use to eat I don't want to cause it's too salty).
Are you here to manage your weight or ???? If you are here for your health then logging is important.10 -
5 minutes, 3 times a day, I don't have time to get bored, and I'm 60 lbs. down in 7 months. WORTH IT!23
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It doesn't take long. Sure it's boring, but just buckle down and do it. Like any other chore. No one likes scrubbng the toilet right? But we all do it.6
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If you don't need to, don't do it.4
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It has been an effective tool to help me dramatically improve my health and quality of life. I can't find it boring or uninspiring for those reasons alone. It did take some time to learn and streamline but nowadays I barely have to put much thought into it unless I am entering a new recipe. I am not even sure I spend 2 full minutes doing it most days.
I say that with zero judgment. If it is not for you I hope whatever your goals happen to be you find a suitable alternative. Logging is not the only way to get from point A to point B. For me it was the easiest way but that was me.8 -
i think most of us who stay here are compelled to because they don't want to slide back into their old ways. that's the reason i'm here. sure i like my friends and the forums obviously. however this is the best way for me to stay on track with my food - even though i still continue to make bad decisions on weekends
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I find it lessens my anxiety.
I don't have to get up tomorrow and wonder if what I'm eating works within my calories, or discover at dinner time I didn't save enough calories to eat properly. A few minutes in the evening, along with setting up the coffee pot for tomorrow morning, getting my to-do list in order, and laying out my clothes, makes tomorrow go smoothly, and I don't have to wonder about what to eat, I know, cause I worked it out already.
I like doing it. However, I'm autistic, so I like reducing it to numbers and knowing what I'm going to do ahead of time.20 -
AlexandraFindsHerself1971 wrote: »I find it lessens my anxiety.
I don't have to get up tomorrow and wonder if what I'm eating works within my calories, or discover at dinner time I didn't save enough calories to eat properly. A few minutes in the evening, along with setting up the coffee pot for tomorrow morning, getting my to-do list in order, and laying out my clothes, makes tomorrow go smoothly, and I don't have to wonder about what to eat, I know, cause I worked it out already.
I like doing it. However, I'm autistic, so I like reducing it to numbers and knowing what I'm going to do ahead of time.
I am not autistic but I also find that it reduces my stress. Whether I am trying to lose weight or maintain my weight as I am now the numbers show me I am on track. When the scale goes up I can see that it is just a weight fluctuation because the math says so.10 -
I do a ton of tedious boring stuff so that I don't die. This is just one of those things like remembering to take all my meds on time and not taking them with other things that will make them ineffective, and doing my PT for all the injured bits of me so that they will heal properly, and other stuff like showering so that people around me won't be offended. Cooking everything from scratch and shopping are also tedious, but they're part of being an adult human. At least I don't have to run down the chicken and skin it before I start cooking. I just have to take 10 seconds to weigh it and log it.9
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I largely use the recipe tool to input my recipes and then I just log those. It's just necessary admin.4
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I don't mind it when it's something that's easily searchable. But I do get impatient and a bit stressed when it's something I can't readily calculate. Example: today I had a tomato and meatball soup for lunch, from a cafe where I normally have my lunch. I know the owner, and I know how she cooks. Her soups are generally very low fat, and she uses good ingredients. Plus, knowing I'm trying to lose weight, she'll suggest food that she knows would help me. But my point is, I have to estimate how many calories a dish would be, and that stresses me out. So partly I do understand the boredom and stress, but at the same time, logging does help me personally avoid that extra snack or the extra helping of something.2
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Why are you writing it out when you can zap barcodes on all packaging, even veg. It takes me about 5mins on a morning to prelog most of what I plan to eat then I usually add any additional stuff as I go.
At the end of the day it's a tool, it's not compulsory, so if you can get to your desired results without out logging then that's fine.6 -
AlexandraFindsHerself1971 wrote: »I find it lessens my anxiety.
I don't have to get up tomorrow and wonder if what I'm eating works within my calories, or discover at dinner time I didn't save enough calories to eat properly. A few minutes in the evening, along with setting up the coffee pot for tomorrow morning, getting my to-do list in order, and laying out my clothes, makes tomorrow go smoothly, and I don't have to wonder about what to eat, I know, cause I worked it out already.
I like doing it. However, I'm autistic, so I like reducing it to numbers and knowing what I'm going to do ahead of time.
I may or may not be autistic, but I thrive on numbers too. I find logging freeing because I don't have to wonder if I can eat something or not. Not logging causes me to restrict more than I'm willing to do. I don't think if it in terms of "boring", it's only a few minutes a day less than one minute at a time, so classifying it as "boring" is kind of odd.8 -
Not at all, I'm a geek for data.3
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I find MFP an exhilarating numbers game - there is always something new to learn, something new to experience. Above all - I am finally doing something entirely for myself; so very selfish, I know - but it does feel good!8
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