Tracking break

nbuuifx
nbuuifx Posts: 23 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I've tracked everything I've eaten for 12 days. I've kept a keen note of things mentally.

My plan now is to not track everything as I should have a good idea of what is a good amount etc.

I've made a few tweaks to my meals, mainly to try and eat more protein. I'm not sure if it is just in my head but since eating more protein I haven't felt the need to snack, the only day I felt the need to snack was when I was low on protein.

It turns out my portion sizes weren't too bad and in some cases were actually too small.

I'm trying to now eat more for breakfast too.

I'm going to carry on stepping on the smart scales each morning and keep a track of my weight. If it is going up, then I will know that something isn't quite right and I may start tracking my food again. If it is steadily decreasing then great!

I started at 206lbs and set a target of 196lbs in ten weeks, so one pound a week. After 12 days I'm down to 200lbs but it has hovered around there for a good few days after a quick initial drop. So it will be interesting to see if it continues to drop. If prefer slow and steady loss.

My BMI is in the normal range, but the scales say I have too much body fat and visceral fat.

Once I reach 196lbs my body fat will be within the normal range. I expect I'll then look to move to the middle of the healthy range.

So fingers crossed the lack of tracking doesn't set me back!

Has anyone else used tracking for just a short while to get a picture and basis to base future decisions on?

Replies

  • goal06082021
    goal06082021 Posts: 2,130 Member
    All of the data I have available to me suggest that if I don't track, I gain weight. I also have screwed-up hunger signaling, though, so I know my intuition is broken and therefore "intuitive eating" is not something I can do. If that's not the case for you, you might see the results you're looking for doing what you describe.
  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 8,691 Member
    And btw, that quick weight loss you’ve experienced is water weight. It’s exciting, right? But it’s a mind *kitten* to trick you into thinking loss will continue at that rate.

    Believe me, it doesn’t.

  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,098 Member
    I don't see any harm in trying, especially since you recognize that resuming tracking is an option if you stop losing weight.

    For me, the problem would be that tracking helps me understand minor scale fluctuations. I trust the process more than I trust what any two scale readings say about whether I'm losing, gaining, or maintaining.
  • penguinmama87
    penguinmama87 Posts: 1,155 Member
    goal06082021 wrote: »
    All of the data I have available to me suggest that if I don't track, I gain weight. I also have screwed-up hunger signaling, though, so I know my intuition is broken and therefore "intuitive eating" is not something I can do. If that's not the case for you, you might see the results you're looking for doing what you describe.

    I don't know if my hunger signaling is broken, but it's definitely subject to creeping when I'm not paying attention! So paying close attention it is.

    I still feel like I learn things about myself and my eating after tracking fairly carefully for over six months now! I expect to keep it up for the long haul, though perhaps it will scale back some. I think the important thing is being honest about what you need and being willing to do more (and sometimes less) as the situation requires, rather than getting locked into thinking that any particular way is the only right way.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,632 Member
    There are certainly long-term maintainers here who no longer log/track, but use weigh-ins to keep things in check. (I'm not one of them. I know me, and it wouldn't work for me.)

    It would be a bit different to do it during loss, not sure I've seen anyone here do it.

    But you know what? I'm really old, was adult in the era when calorie counting via detailed logging just wasn't at all practical. People knew about calories, of course, and calorie reduction; they had some idea of which foods were higher and lower in calories, relatively.

    I definitely knew people - my dad was one - who decided to lose weight, ate in a way that they knew would be somewhat reduced calories (without counting them), and lost weight that way, using the scale as a gauge, then maintained that loss.

    For the cases I knew of, there was sometimes sort of using the loss rate on the scale (you need some) and things like reduced energy level or fatigue or hunger (because you don't want those) as sort of the bumpers on either side of how much to eat.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    I always knew tracking food would be a temporary thing for me purely because I knew I could maintain by just monitoring my weight and eating thoughtfully. It's what I've done for the majority of my adult life - just not always at the right weight!
    My temporary was much longer than a few days though but during that time I experimented with different eating patterns and wanted to keep the most important thing constant to isolate the impact of the changes.

    To me experimentation is generally a good thing, even when experiments don't work you tend to learn something. But like @springlering62 points out 12 days isn't enough time to confirm a true weight trend. Whether that matters to you though.....

    I can lose weight slowly and erratically without food logging and so do many people "in the real world" - they won't tend to be heavily represented on what is primarily a calorie counting site though.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,458 Member
    It works for some people.

    Only way to know if it works for you is to run the experiment.

    It doesn't work for me. I lost 80ish pounds in 2008 and I've logged food nearly all that time since.

    It takes just a couple minutes.

    When I stop, my portions, food choices and number on the scale slowly move in the wrong direction so it's just better for me to log.
  • MsCzar
    MsCzar Posts: 1,073 Member
    There have been several times when I have logged food with far more whimsy than fact. Last holiday season (6 weeks), and most recently during a long run of location work (4 weeks). During those times, my weight crept back up, so I know that for me, not accurately measuring and logging every single day is a surefire recipe for backsliding.

    Hopefully, your mileage will vary in your favour. The only way to know is to try it and see if it will suit you. But if it doesn't work out, be ready to resume what has worked for you in the past. Rooting for you!
  • nbuuifx
    nbuuifx Posts: 23 Member
    wunderkindking wrote: »
    I only EVER used a scale and close/precise tracking early on in loss (first month maybe less) and the occasional spot to check my eyeballed serving sizes (I do use cups and spoons most of the time).

    I dropped from obese to normal range.

    It actually is doable. A lot depends on where your trouble areas are. Mine were primarily just in condiments. Switching those to low cal versions means that where my obesity was happening was no longer an issue. My serving sizes were never large, my eyeballing of amounts were fine, I never overate other calories enough to really matter, and I'm not super inclined toward emotional eating.

    Ergo there was no problem with lose tracking.

    I continue to track VERY loosely but to be honest since probably May my measurements are more eyeballed than even cups or spoons and that's a good... 10? 12? pounds down.

    People here who stay here tend to do so because they benefit from tracking in loss and maintaining - it is what the apps for - but it really isn't necessary for everyone. Experiment and find out.

    The app was brilliant but confirmed a lot of what I kind of knew before.

    It also reassured me about a few things I want sure about. I was thinking that I was perhaps eating too much and then was still hungry. I've found that I wasn't actually eating too much, the portion sizes were about right for an evening meal and a little small for lunch and breakfast. Increasing those and increasing protein has led to less hunting for food.

    I quickly lost a few pounds (6) over the first few days and then have hovered around the same spot since. I'm under no illusions that it will continue at any quick rate. I was aiming for one pound per week. And ten pounds over ten weeks. It isn't increasing now so hopefully there will just be a gradual downward trend to my target. If that works I will continue with the same to see if it carries on.

    One thing that makes it a bit more pointless is I get a meal at work every day for lunch and I have no idea on the weights etc. I could estimate but when there are a fair few estimations it becomes a bit vague. So I realise I have a bit less control over that meal.
  • vanmep
    vanmep Posts: 410 Member
    Keep an eye and see if it works for you. I figure for me, I did 50 years of not tracking and look where that got me. 😩. Now I’ll try 50 years of tracking and see if that goes better. (So far it has)

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