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August 4
Mrs_Hoffer
Posts: 5,193 Member
Did I exercise for at least 20 minutes?
Did I stay within my calorie budget for the day?
Did I keep track of everything I ate and drank?
Did I stay within my calorie budget for the day?
Did I keep track of everything I ate and drank?
0
Replies
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The Importance of Tracking…..
borrowed from Mrs_Hoffer and only slightly edited..
If you don't measure or track something, you can’t improve it. It could be a bear or it could be a wolf!!!
Because, if you don't measure something, and know the results, you can’t possibly get better at it. For example, it’s very difficult to lose weight without stepping on a scale once in a while to measure your results – if you don’t, you have no idea if you are succeeding or not.
Or, if you're only using the scale to measure weight loss, and not taking any body measurements, then you could easily get discouraged when you've only lost a couple of lbs one month. You may not have any idea that you've lost several inches instead!!
One of the best ways to increase your chances for success with weight loss or improving your diet is to TRACK your food. This simply means recording everything you eat and drink throughout the day. Or, as we like to say in the UAC, every BLT (bite, lick, and taste!)
And research agrees. Studies show that participants who track what they eat can lose up to TWICE as much as those who do not track. That's a BIG difference in weight-loss achieved just by simply tracking your food!
3 reasons why you should track your food intake.
It shows you what's really going on. Did you know that on average, most of us UNDERESTIMATE our food intake by 40-60%!? That means we are taking in about 50% more calories than we think we are each day. That's BAD news for weight loss.
Tracking can really open your eyes to the amount of food that you are not only eating but overeating. When you track (especially PRE-LOGGING), you'll be a little less likely to eat that extra dessert or indulge in an additional spoonful of peanut butter. You'll think twice before grabbing that extra snack or treat that you really don't need because you have an instant visual of what that looks like to your day. These once mindless additions to your day that you ate just out of habit, boredom, or stress, add up quick and can easily account for an additional 200-600 (or more!) calories per day. But don't despair….. you can also "plan" to have a snack or treat occasionally. You just have to work those extra calories into your daily plan so that you can still stay UNDER your calorie goal.
Tracking also helps you to increase your consistency. If you want to lose weight, you need to create a consistent calorie deficit. This means we need to burn off more calories than we consume on a very consistent basis. We need to dial our nutrition in for the entire week, not just a day or two. This is one reason why it's so important to not sabotage your results on the weekends after a great week of eating and working out. This consistency is a valuable key for weight loss. If your calories end up where you want them to be one day, only to be too high the next day, it's going to be very hard to lose weight. Tracking will allow you to be consistent throughout the week and allow you to continually work towards your goals.
Tracking is one of the 3 "pillars" of the UAC. And you only cheat yourself when/if you don't track every single thing that goes into your mouth!
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AUG 4
Exercise ✅ [1:25 h walk]
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Thank you @SummerSkier, this is well said.
From my last few weeks of tracking, I have noticed my veggies drop.
I seriously need to jump back on my veggies wagon.
August 4, 2021
Did I exercise for at least 20 minutes? Yes
Did I stay within my calorie budget for the day? Yes
Did I keep track of everything I ate and drank? Yes, and I am increasing my veggies! Do you know that veggies is filling? Of course most of your nutrients are in your veggies!
Kitchen Closed? Yes
Going "nuts" with nuts today? No (3 days-free )
(I go "nuts" with nuts most times, trying to continue a good habit this month. Counting the number of "nuts" free days.) I am still learning a lot about myself in this area!
Okay veggies, here I come...
Pass day 1/3 (this is for accountability to myself and my records).9 -
4 Aug. Hump day!
Did I exercise for at least 20 minutes?
Did I stay within my calorie budget for the day?
Did I keep track of everything I ate and drank?
I have been in maintenance since Oct 2017. I can't stress how important to me tracking is. When I started MFP in Nov 2011 the first thing that shocked me was how LITTLE protein I ate. Since I don't weigh very frequently it is important to me to keep an eye on what goes IN. It's really easy to get weight creep when you are not tracking because a lot of little stuff adds up quickly. And since I am unfortunately a binge type person, it really helps me to limit the damage if I force myself to keep track of it all. Like a bank account. I hate being overdrawn but when it happens I want to know if I am in the red by $5 or $5000. And it's also usually eye opening that it's NOT AS BAD as I thought it actually was. So yeah - I can recover.
Yesterday I was taking a pic of Bandit and I said - hey CLOSE YOUR MOUTH DUDE!!!
13 -
Did I exercise for at least 20 minutes? Yes
Did I stay within my calorie budget for the day? Yes
Did I keep track of everything I ate and drank? Yes 👍 👍10 -
Wednesday 4th August;
Exercise: 30 minutes walk & 15 arm weights ✅
Tracked calories: yes ✅
Stayed under calorie goal: yes ✅
Day 4
1/3 pass days used
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August 4th:
✅ Tracked all my calories
✅ Stayed under calorie goal
✅ Exercised more than 20 mins (walk)
4/4 days
0/3 pass days used
Tracking really does help me to stay on track. Even if I do overindulge or have a binge, I think it's important to track it. It's hard to own up to those sort of things, but the reality is my body is tracking it anyway, so I may as well let my mind in on the information as well! One of the most important things for me is consistency. So if I miss a day of tracking, it's much harder for me to get back into it right away. One of my goals for August is 100% tracking!10 -
August 4
Yes to all questions.
Pass days: 0
Calories to burn: 46,200. Yesterday: 53,130.
Well, as you can see, I seem to have lost some of my water weight 😁. So, I took the stairs today ( around 20 minutes) + walking. I might gain some tomorrow for working my muscles today, but I'm totally fine with it.
About today's topic, a few months ago I wanted to try maintenance for a one or two months, but instead I took a break where I stopped tracking and started eating whatever I wanted. I'm a little worried, will I be able to start my maintenance when the time comes? My brain can only connect tracking with weight loss, if anyone faced this problem when they started maintenaning, please share you wisdom.
Goodnight 💜💛.9 -
Yes, yes, yes10
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04/08/2021
Exercise – yes – bike ride 40 mins, plus cardio workouts. Ribs still sore. Re-joined the planking challenge!
Tracking - yes
Calories – yes
Pass days taken 1.
The importance of tracking/logging is well explained above by Summer. But it needs to go hand in hand with accurate measuring (weighing with good digital scales in grams). I weigh everything when I’m at home (even lettuce, cucumber, mushrooms etc which are very low calorie).
Weighing when you can, helps to train your eye for portion size when you are eating away from home. Tracking all your food helps you to learn which foods are calorie dense and need to be treated with care.
One of the benefits of MFP over a paper and pencil log is the additional “macro” information – I keep an eye on protein, calcium and fibre.
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August 4
The Big Three (I personally want to get these right before worrying about anything else)
✅ - Exercise 20+ Minutes
✅ - Calories within budget
✅ - Tracked every detail I consumed
Pass Days Used: 0/3
Additional Challenges (I feel confident enough with my discipline in the Big Three to further challenge myself with these)
✅ - Net Carbs 30g or less (25g)
✅ - Protein 180g or more (209g)
✅ - 5+ Fruits/Veggies (6)
✅ - 15k Steps or more (19,433 so far)
✅ - Eat back fewer than 30% of exercise calories (29% - 369 of 1257)
Additional Challenges Met: 4/4 days
Today's Exercise- Morning Walk - 69 mins (4.32 miles)
- Afternoon Walk - 69 mins (4.19 miles)
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Yes x3.
Walk for exercise today. Not feeling great so it was only a short one.
Tracking is key for me. I've been on this road a few times now. I even maintained for a while previously. It was when I felt confident and didn't track that it all went wrong. I think I'll be tracking to some extent all my life. I hope it becomes more routine10 -
✅ - Exercise 20+ Minutes - 90 minutes, shopping/walking/circuits
✅ - Calories within budget
✅ - Tracked everything
3️⃣ Pass Days left
Totally agree that tracking is essential6 -
✅✅✅
Walked 4 miles.
Tracking is key. Adding that excel file I’m keeping had really opened my eyes to how one bad day a week can kill all my progress.
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✔️✔️✔️
Learned how to do a handstand push ups today in CrossFit... Tried with out the trainer and hyperextended my elbow. 😡 Ice is in my future and so is ibuprofen and KT tape.11 -
8/4
Exercise yes
Caleries yes
Logged yes4 -
Exercise: 20 min spin + stretch
Tracking:Yes
Calories: Yes
Passes: 3 of 3
Started the day off with my smoothie. Had a cup of frozen cauliflower in it and with the fruit didn't taste it at all. Yay! Daily Dozen 17/24.4 -
Geneveremfp wrote: »Yes x3.
Walk for exercise today. Not feeling great so it was only a short one.
Tracking is key for me. I've been on this road a few times now. I even maintained for a while previously. It was when I felt confident and didn't track that it all went wrong. I think I'll be tracking to some extent all my life. I hope it becomes more routine
Same for me! I've also decided that I'll be tracking all my life. I'm a big eater, and I need the self discipline or it all goes away pretty fast!!
I joke and tell ppl that I'm going to have to be a lifetime member of MFP! Lol. 3 -
Aug 4:
C✔️ T✔️ E✔️
PASSES USED: 0/3
✔️Net carbs <25%? Yes. 22%
✔️Protein >100g? Yes. 111g.
✔️Yoga. Yes.
✔️Kettlebell. Yes.
❌12k steps? Only 10k today.4 -
August 4
Yes to all questions.
Pass days: 0
Calories to burn: 46,200. Yesterday: 53,130.
Well, as you can see, I seem to have lost some of my water weight 😁. So, I took the stairs today ( around 20 minutes) + walking. I might gain some tomorrow for working my muscles today, but I'm totally fine with it.
About today's topic, a few months ago I wanted to try maintenance for a one or two months, but instead I took a break where I stopped tracking and started eating whatever I wanted. I'm a little worried, will I be able to start my maintenance when the time comes? My brain can only connect tracking with weight loss, if anyone faced this problem when they started maintenaning, please share you wisdom.
Goodnight 💜💛.
Hi @thabit11 I thought since I have been in maintenance since Oct 2017 I would take a stab at your questions and worries. First of all I think it is very important to realize that there is no magical all of a sudden you are maintaining and you can do whatever you want. I used that approach myself for a long time and it just means you end up regaining and struggling to lose over and over again. I continue to log my food. I just get MORE calories because I don't want a deficit. Sometimes I get less say if I have an injury that reduces my activity. All maintenance is for me is keeping the sine wave of ups and downs as flat as possible.
And it is different for everyone but the mindset of tracking = weight loss is one you are going to have to work on. I think it is fantastic that you are starting to think about maintaining and how you will do it. It's the very first step in getting off the diet rollercoaster.5 -
@tahm42 I hope your elbow heals quickly! That’s awesome you have the confidence and grit to learn how to do handstand push-ups! I can do handstands and I can do push ups. I’ve NEVER done a handstand push-up or seen one. When I’m fresh again( morning time) I intend to investigate!!2
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@SummerSkier Great post today on consistently tracking! I think it’s the most important element of success!3
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@Bovaryoo Interesting smoothie with the cauliflower! What a great way to sneak in more veggies/freggies!!3
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[ I'm a little worried, will I be able to start my maintenance when the time comes? My brain can only connect tracking with weight loss,
.
Same, and I suppose that is why I have failed with maintenance over and over--I haven't been able to wrap my mind around the permanent "lifestyle" concept. But to be honest, in my entire life I have only known one thin person that continually tracked calories. Anyway, one step at a time I suppose. Good luck!4 -
August 4th
I hope everyone had a good day!!
Exercise: Yup, I took a 35 minute run while my car was being inspected rather than sitting in the waiting area, so yah me for multitasking! As usual the run was miserable from start to finish, but I did it. Pretty sure my resolve and body are going to revolt on this whole running thing soon. Then this evening my son suggested I go for a walk, so even though I hadn't planned to I went 2 miles/32 minutes.
Logging: Yup. I normally will just scoop 2 Tablespoons of shredded mozzarella and call it .5 ounce, but to make sure I weighed it today. Turned out to be pretty accurate, but I am embracing the scale.
Under: Yup, another day down.7 -
Did I exercise for at least 20 minutes? Yes-I walked for probably a total of 1.5 hours throughout the day, in starts and stops
Did I stay within my calorie budget for the day? Yessiree 😅
Did I keep track of everything I ate and drank? Sure did!
Hope you all are hanging in there, we’ve got this!!6 -
Yes yes and yes.
Weights session, under and tracking.
Tracking honestly is a working progess at times a pick while prepping food for bub and hubby but i am really trying to be honest with it! Xox6 -
[ I'm a little worried, will I be able to start my maintenance when the time comes? My brain can only connect tracking with weight loss,
.
Same, and I suppose that is why I have failed with maintenance over and over--I haven't been able to wrap my mind around the permanent "lifestyle" concept. But to be honest, in my entire life I have only known one thin person that continually tracked calories. Anyway, one step at a time I suppose. Good luck!
Actually there is an entire forum for maintenance folks. And now you know TWO or three or more "thin" persons who track calories. (there are quite a few maintainers here
)
The last time I had to lose in 2017 I started focusing on the below place. I read ALL the stickies first and then I lurked until I met my goal in Oct. Then I started participating in the monthly maintainers' threads and working thru my own issues there. There is SO much knowledge and experience and altho not everyone stays I like to think that those who no longer stay on MFP are continuing to keep their weight at a healthy place.
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/categories/goal-maintaining-weight7 -
@SummerSkier Thanks for today’s post on tracking.
Even though today is a Pass day, because I tracked my calories, it’s a minor infraction not a train wreck.
I’ve arrived at our annual family reunion and I am tracking my intake each day except Saturday.
Tracking is the foundation of the UAC because it makes us thoughtful.7 -
@bradkcrew Hooray for multi tasking- walking while your car was being inspected! That’s truly inspiring! I never thought to use that time that way!3
