Heretic Asks - How to stop logging and keep your goal weight

tpbaehr · June 2020

I’m looking for success stories of people who stopped logging and maintained their goal weight.

That could be a heretical question bc so many people do keep logging forever. I mean, obv this community is built around a really great logging app. Now I’m very glad that forever logging works for you if you do that. Seriously, it’s amazing fortitude and dedication.

But I’m a busy dad with a big family. And honestly, I don’t like how logging messes with meal times. I’ve just today finished losing 13kg (29lbs) over 4 months. I did it by logging everything (and exercise). The logging keeps me glued to my phone before, during, and after meals. The fam is half done eating by the time I’ve weighed everything and sat down. If we’re eating a light lunch or supper from a shared pick plate, the whole meal is spent tallying carrots, olives, salami, cheese eaten etc. Any dessert or novel drink and I’m back at the scale.

I don’t want to live like this forever. I gained my weight very slowly over years. I naturally like healthy food, and work/eat from home. My plan is to weigh in daily, guesstimate macros from space on the plate, and only use MFP occasionally if I slide out of my goal range.

But I’m looking for success stories of conscious uncoupling from logging. How did you do it?

fiddletime · June 2020

I find out what my next meal will be and Pre-log it to the best guess I can. It doesn’t take long. Rather than eating 2 carrots and an olive then recording that, I plan to eat 2 carrots and an olive and pre-log it. I’ll toss in the broccoli for free.

I’ve stopped logging and regained 15 pounds 4 times now. This is fast and takes little time. I’m very busy and time constrained as well, and also don’t want to think about it much. It’s close enough for me and the scale tells me if I’m getting lazy. Good luck and I’ll be interested to hear other success stories (I know, mine wasn’t a success story in the way you meant).

sardelsa · June 2020

I haven't logged in about 5 years. Sometimes I do check something in the database for calories, or log one meal, or I've logged just protein in one day. I am able to lose, maintain and gain without logging.
Once you have calorie awareness it becomes easier to get an idea of your intake over time.

I weigh myself 5-7x per week and log my trend weight and adjust my intake accordingly. Keep in mind this method requires quite a bit of trial and error and there is a delay in my intake vs the scale so I have to go slow and steady. But for maintenance it is a lot easier to adjust.

I also use hunger cues (something I would not actually recommend to others but for me I know exactly if I'm in a deficit, maintenance or surplus just based on how hungry I am).

Some people have to log for the rest of their lives, some people can loosen up. Some people have tricks they use to control their intake. Some people don't have to do anything at all and maintain fairly effortlessly. You have to find what works best for you.

Diatonic12 · June 2020

Intuitive Eating is imaginary thinking for me. My intuitive eating skills...that ship sailed a long time ago. I'll tell you what messed it all up, the first diet that I ever conducted. I thought it was fun, it's what all of the girls were doing. It catapulted me on the pathway to being tossed to and fro with every dieting whim. Worthless. Useless. Dieting dogma messed up my relationship with food.

It's taken me years to get back what I've lost. Don't start none. Won't be none.

It's not bragging if it's true. I think long term stability with weight is far more important than any diet the world has to offer. Maintenance is where the rubber meets the road. Whatever you do to find the middle ground is what you will have to continue doing to keep it.

So many become overconfident once all of the weight releasing is done until they realize how strong the mind and neural pathways really are. They will fight against you for all they're worth. They'll actually encourage you to eat it all back while you're in the unconscious mode on remote control by autopilot. The brain doesn't really care if you eat it all back. So much of this stuff is mental.

I've drawn my line in the sand and I refuse to keep starting over and over and over. Yes. I will continue to track my data points until the cows come home and go back out again. I'm accountable for myself taking full responsibility for all of the mistakes I've made. Isn't that the way?

Geneveremfp · June 2020

I maintained my weight loss for a couple of years with loose logging and keeping an eye on the scale. If I started creeping up again I started logging more accurately. My maintenance logging was not as arduous because I had an idea what calories looked like etc but I personally still needed to keep track. It all went to pot when I became pregnant and went "cool here's an excuse to eat what I want and everyone is literally encouraging me". I've been overweight (probably obese) since I was about 9 - maybe even a bit earlier - so I don't have any intuitive skills. I don't have normal hunger signals. I think if you're in a different boat you might be able to not log and just keep an eye on your weight.

sijomial · June 2020

I haven't logged food for years but maintained successfully.

Calorie counting was useful for accuracy and educational for my weight loss but maintaining weight by daily weighing and thoughtful (not intuitive) eating isn't that difficult for me.
I do need to watch my weight trend as my appetite exceeds my actual needs but that only takes a few seconds a day.

Logging my exercise calories I find helpful to give me a good idea of my overall allowance though.
(e.g. taking a break from cycling means my daily allowance is down c. 800cals/day but I've managed to keep my weight stable.)

Caveat would be that I've rarely found weight maintenance hard even when I was fat, I just maintained at too high a weight. My weight gain was sudden and not a long slow increase as many experience.

PS - Don't see any reason why you wouldn't experiment, you can always revert to logging (or even lazy logging) if your weight starts to go up. Do set an upper weight that triggers action though as a safety net.

cupcakesandproteinshakes · June 2020

I didn’t log while in maintenance. I guess I’m very predictable with what I eat. Same or similar stuff day in day out. I don’t eat at restaurants much and know roughly about portion sizes of the things I eat regularly.

My diet is mainly protein fruits and veggies with a few treats.

DancingMoosie · June 2020

I just check my weight every day. If it gets higher than I like, I might log for a few days to see where I need to cut back. Eventually you kind of get a feel for what your meals look like in maintenance. If you go overboard one day, cut back a little the next.

RunsWithBees · June 2020

I don’t log consistently since my initial weight loss over 6 years ago. But back when I was logging, I learned what my portion sizes should actually look like so I’m pretty good at eyeballing how much I should be eating to maintain, the hard part is staying honest with myself about it

but I weigh myself every few weeks to check and if I do gain weight I also feel it immediately in my waistline and my clothes start fitting tighter so that’s when I know I need to reel myself in and start logging again. I do allow myself a buffer zone of about 5 lbs for my weight to fluctuate. With the lockdown I allowed myself to eat more than I usually do and my weight went up to 6 lbs over, putting me out of my comfort zone so I started weighing and logging my food and upping my activity level in mid April. I’m less than a pound away from getting back to my goal weight again so it’s good to know I can always get back into logging if needed and lose just as predicted accounting my calorie count. It doesn’t have to be an all-or-nothing approach, you can have periods when you log and periods when you don’t, whatever works for you and your lifestyle

LivingtheLeanDream · June 2020

I've been at maintenance for 7 years, haven't logged food hardly at all in around 4 years. I do mentally have an rough idea of my intake each day and my activity level never changes - I maintain within a +/-5lb weight range. I still weigh things like pasta/rice/potatoes and meat but eyeball everything else.
Occasionally see a little weight creep, but nip that in the bud by cutting out one snack per day until I'm back in my range again.
Regularly stepping on the scales has been key personally.

MidlifeCrisisFitness · June 2020

sardelsa wrote: »

I haven't logged in about 5 years. Sometimes I do check something in the database for calories, or log one meal, or I've logged just protein in one day. I am able to lose, maintain and gain without logging.
Once you have calorie awareness it becomes easier to get an idea of your intake over time.

I weigh myself 5-7x per week and log my trend weight and adjust my intake accordingly. Keep in mind this method requires quite a bit of trial and error and there is a delay in my intake vs the scale so I have to go slow and steady. But for maintenance it is a lot easier to adjust.

I also use hunger cues (something I would not actually recommend to others but for me I know exactly if I'm in a deficit, maintenance or surplus just based on how hungry I am).

Some people have to log for the rest of their lives, some people can loosen up. Some people have tricks they use to control their intake. Some people don't have to do anything at all and maintain fairly effortlessly. You have to find what works best for you.

Yay! Love this. Common sense wins!

Use MFP to learn which foods you can eat more of and less of. Take note of which ones are protein rich and which are not. Learn to build a balanced plate. Think ahead to plan your day. Breakfast and lunch are lighter for Pizza Friday!

Spot check with MFP. If you're weight is creeping up, log for a week to recalibrate.

I'm a father of 4 and agree 100%.

sheena_shewell · July 2020

When I was tracking consistently I just pre tracked everything at the beginning of the day so I knew what I was going to eat so it didn't interfere with anything...if I ate anything else I would just add it at the end of the day. I've always estimated/eyeballed everything and never had an issue. Life's too short to be weighing food for the rest of your life.

rainbow198 · July 2020

I've maintained my 80+ pound loss for over 7 years without any regain and I've never used a calorie tracking app or device. I also didn't start weighing some food until I was close to reaching my goal.

When I was losing weight I tried my best to do things I could maintain for the rest of my life. I wanted to keep things simple and easy as possible.

A number of things has worked for me:

Planning out my meals - Knowing what I'm going to eat in advance helps not only helps me loosely keep track of calories, but it keeps me in control and allows me to fit in whatever I want to eat.
Using a food journal - I plan and write out what I've eaten for the day and it only takes about 5 minutes each day to maintain. I also keep track of my exercise, water intake, weight, measurements and any notes as well.
I read labels and look up calorie counts online of items I wasn't sure of. This helps me tally up calories in my head.
I cook mostly at home except for one meal per week. Knowing exactly what I'm consuming and cooking a lot from scratch and use fresh, whole foods helps me to stay in control of my calorie count.
I unintentionally intermittent fast by eating 2 or 3 good sized, balanced meals a day and no snacking. There's less chances for me to overeat opposed to when I ate all day. Plus I just feel better eating this way, enjoy feeling full (not stuffed) and not going over in my calories.
Rarely drinking calories is such a great hack for me. I had no idea how many calories I was consuming until I started writing things down and tallying up the calorie count in my head. It was an eye opener. All of those empty calories I drank now go towards food!

It took me a while to figure out what worked for me, but once I put everything above together the weight fell off and stayed off. It wasn't time consuming and they became habits.

Good luck OP! I hope you find what works for you.

PAV8888 · July 2020

@rainbow198 I truly have no beef at all with what you detail, in fact, if anything, I find it quite "insightful" and I have marked it so.

But I would argue that you're presenting a "you can maintain your weight using looser logging" counter argument instead of supporting the "I am not logging my food intake while maintaining" position and your stated contention that you've "never used a calorie tracking app or device".

Most of your post details how you go about tracking calories during your normal day using a notebook and your head... basically more convenient, to you alternatives to a tracking app or device, that are fulfilling the same function.

After saying that you "never used a calorie tracking app or device" you go on to discuss:

"Planning out my meals... helps me keep track of calories... [and it] keeps me in control and allows me to fit in whatever I want to eat."
"Using a food journal - I plan and write out what I've eaten for the day and it only takes about 5 minutes each day to maintain. I also keep track of my exercise, water intake, weight, measurements and any notes as well."
"I read labels and look up calorie counts online of items I wasn't sure of. This helps me tally up calories in my head."
(paraphrasing) (eating and cooking at home)...."helps me to stay in control of my calorie count."

I would argue that there is very little difference between tracking in your head or a notebook and tracking in an app. It is just the format of the tool and what we each find more convenient to use.

paperpudding · July 2020

I havent maintained without logging OP - and if you find a way to, well done to you.

as you read above, some people have successfully done so.

I wonder whether it is worth also considering there is a half way option - as hinted at in last post

Ie it isnt a polarised choice between 1. weighing and logging every carrot and olive or 2. doing no logging at all - you could try lazy or loose logging.

By which I mean estimate, average, call things similar things already in your diary etc.

Maybe once weigh, or even estimate, what you generally eat from shared pick plate and call it "pick plate one serve" - and then every time from then on just log as one serve - or 1.5 if you eat more than usual

According to my diary Ive eaten passionfruit cheesecake hundreds of times - IRL it was all sorts of cakey desserts that were just called that and re logged as that and law of averages.

Of course I also keep an eye on my weight - and weigh weekly - if trend started spiking upward I would have to tighten up again.

Now you may want to dispense with logging altogether and my post isnt helpful to you - but just worth noting that it doesnt have to be an all or nothing approach.

canadjineh · July 2020

I maintained my weight for several years after logging to lose 35 lbs, but find it's a slippery slope - not that I'm eating the wrong foods for me, just too much/too often, so I've had a slow creep up the past year or so. I'm not logging (still) but I am being more mindful of my portion sizes and frequency of eating/'snacking' so I can slowly drop back to my maintenance weight without actually logging again.

Annie42019 · July 2020

I log every day and have been on maintenance for over a year after losing 75 pounds. Once you’ve weighed meat and cheese a few times you really should be able to estimate amounts pretty easily without weighing Also I don’t log veggies other than potatoes ( a kind of weight watchers twist of zero point foods). It takes me just 2 min a day to log this way. If my weight crept up I’d be more meticulous but this is a down and dirty way to easily stay on track and not have it be time consuming at all .

rainbow198 · July 2020

Hey there Pav!

I see your point, but in my journal there is no math such as "2 slices of bread: 190 calories, 1 slice of cheese: 50 calories" etc. I simply plan out my meals by writing down what I'm going to eat.

That is where I was going by not using any calorie trackers.

I don't and never have kept track of my calories in that fashion.

PAV8888 wrote: »

@rainbow198 I truly have no beef at all with what you detail, in fact, if anything, I find it quite "insightful" and I have marked it so.

But I would argue that you're presenting a "you can maintain your weight using looser logging" counter argument instead of supporting the "I am not logging my food intake while maintaining" position and your stated contention that you've "never used a calorie tracking app or device".

Most of your post details how you go about tracking calories during your normal day using a notebook and your head... basically more convenient, to you alternatives to a tracking app or device, that are fulfilling the same function.

After saying that you "never used a calorie tracking app or device" you go on to discuss:

"Planning out my meals... helps me keep track of calories... [and it] keeps me in control and allows me to fit in whatever I want to eat."
"Using a food journal - I plan and write out what I've eaten for the day and it only takes about 5 minutes each day to maintain. I also keep track of my exercise, water intake, weight, measurements and any notes as well."
"I read labels and look up calorie counts online of items I wasn't sure of. This helps me tally up calories in my head."
(paraphrasing) (eating and cooking at home)...."helps me to stay in control of my calorie count."

I would argue that there is very little difference between tracking in your head or a notebook and tracking in an app. It is just the format of the tool and what we each find more convenient to use.

LukesGreenMilk · July 2020

The way I stop logging is I get a sense for what I'm eating anyway. So even though I don't necessarily get on the app all the time, I know the difference between 2,000 and 3,000 calories. I wouldn't have known that difference as well before logging.
Also I keep myself honest by stepping on the scale once a week. If I'm under my limit (170 lbs), I just keep not tracking. But if I ever go over, I bust out MFP and log what I'm eating til I get back below it. Repeat.

Jacq_qui · July 2020

I agree that it does take time, especially with little ones who are served first and finished first, sometimes before I'm sat down ! I've considered maybe next year, when hopefully everything is a bit more normal and I'm hitting the gym regularly, assuming I'm where I want to be that perhaps I could start off logging every other day. It's easy to get complacent. If my weight remains stable then maybe I could reduce logging days, but like you I neither want to regain because I've taken my eye off the ball, nor spend my entire life weighing stuff and logging it. I have long-term issues but I haven't always been overweight, so I'm hoping that I won't be here forever!

sofrances · July 2020

Have you considered logging for a while in maintenance? Just to get a feeling for what your maintenance calories look and "feel" like? After a couple of months (3 to 6 maybe), you could try a month without logging, but be honest with yourself if your weight starts trending up, and be prepared to go back to logging.

Personally, I have abandoned the idea of intuitive eating etc. If I had the right intuition, I wouldn't be here in the first place, and given that my weight loss has been motivated by health concern I'm willing to accept some inconvenience if it works long term. But that's just me. If you can make it work, good for you.

Heretic Asks - How to stop logging and keep your goal weight

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