Daily Logging…more like Slogging
fstrickl
Posts: 883 Member
Hey Pals!
I had a great June 2020 - June 2021 where I logged daily and worked out 5x a week. I lost 40lbs, and am about 10lbs from my goal weight (F; 33; 5’5; CW:150). Since July 2021 I’ve started to feel almost resentful of logging. I’ve let my daily logging slip, and have been in a plateau for about 4-3 months. I’m also finding it hard to be motivated to lose that last 10 lbs. I have some non-scale goals like be able to do a pull up, stay healthy so I can enjoy the things I like for as long as possible. I would like to get stronger as well. I’m still relatively active and enjoy hiking, cycling, and walking very much. But my desire seems to be “meh” - sometimes I think a superficial goal would actually be helpful but I’m worried that’s not psychologically healthy.
I’m wondering if anyone has any tips for the last 10 lbs. both in terms of motivation and sustainable ways to log. I must admit without logging I eat more junk and just more in general, I know this impedes me.
Pals, please tell me your tips, share your experiences. Let’s motivate me ☺️and each other at the same time 😜. Thanks in advance! Let me know how I can motivate you too!
I had a great June 2020 - June 2021 where I logged daily and worked out 5x a week. I lost 40lbs, and am about 10lbs from my goal weight (F; 33; 5’5; CW:150). Since July 2021 I’ve started to feel almost resentful of logging. I’ve let my daily logging slip, and have been in a plateau for about 4-3 months. I’m also finding it hard to be motivated to lose that last 10 lbs. I have some non-scale goals like be able to do a pull up, stay healthy so I can enjoy the things I like for as long as possible. I would like to get stronger as well. I’m still relatively active and enjoy hiking, cycling, and walking very much. But my desire seems to be “meh” - sometimes I think a superficial goal would actually be helpful but I’m worried that’s not psychologically healthy.
I’m wondering if anyone has any tips for the last 10 lbs. both in terms of motivation and sustainable ways to log. I must admit without logging I eat more junk and just more in general, I know this impedes me.
Pals, please tell me your tips, share your experiences. Let’s motivate me ☺️and each other at the same time 😜. Thanks in advance! Let me know how I can motivate you too!
3
Replies
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Pre-logging and meal prepping has been a real game changer for me. I'm not quite in the endgame yet, but being able to sit down on Sunday night and input every meal for the whole week all at once has really freed up a lot of brainspace. I'm prone to falling into the trap of "should I eat this now?" and analysis paralysis, mostly due to a fear of "running out" of calories come dinnertime. I also have this problem where I'm not great at judging how hungry I am, but one sure-fire indicator that I need to get A Food, Any Food, God, Please into my body is when I lose the ability to make decisions, followed swiftly by the ability to string together coherent sentences. So, you know. Not great! Planning ahead at a time when I'm *not* hungry and/or at the mercy of my terrible brain makes things easier for Future Hungry Me.
Pre-pandemic, it wasn't uncommon for last-minute dinner/drinks plans and invitations to materialize around 3 PM - certainly not enough time to change the rest of my food plan for the day to accommodate whatever I actually wanted, leaving me with the choices of blow my deficit, spend just as much money on something I don't want but that will fit better into my budget, hang out with my friends at a cool restaurant or bar without eating/drinking anything, or skip out on quality time with people I love. That's obviously not been as much of a thing over the past year and a half, but as the world does reopen I feel like I'm more prepared for last-minute dinner plans now that I'm in the habit of deciding ahead of time what I'm going to eat for the next five days. Weekends are still a little more loosey-goosey, but I batch-cook and prep breakfast and lunch for the workweek, and at this point I have either solid recipes I always follow for dinner or actual leftovers in my freezer that have already been portioned.3 -
Are you saying you lost 40 pounds in one month?
That could be your problem right there.
I am aiming for 1.5 to 2 pounds a week and that is considered aggressive.
Losing weight too quickly can be extremely hard on your body.
And it explains why you’re feeling demotivated and meh.
Pick a less aggressive calorie deficit. It will be OK. You’ll feel better, too.1 -
If you’ve set a scale goal, maybe it’s time to reassess? If you’re able to maintain this far at that weight — do you feel good? Is 10 more lbs going to make a significant enough change in your overall health and fitness that continuing to mentally struggle for that last 10lbs is worth continued frustration? Another thought could be, if you’re tired of the “slogging” and ultimately feel healthy, to take a break for awhile, work toward your other goals and return to the last 10-lbs later.
From personal experience, when I get frustrated, feel tedium, I adapt in some way before I completely burn out and quit. Been there, done that. Now I have accepted that certain things like logging are a habit I’ll just have to do. I also dropped the idea of having a final numeric goal and just focus on how I feel. I am working towards a “range” currently and when I plateau or feel burnout coming, I return to maintenance calories for a few weeks or a month. Work through whatever the problem is, and return to working on losing. It slows progress but mentally I return stronger and refocused. I figure if I can’t create sustainable habits, I can’t keep any weight off I lose anyway, So, I’m working under the assume there will be a point where fitness, weight, and habits will meet a nexus, and I’ll be satisfied.4 -
MargaretYakoda wrote: »Are you saying you lost 40 pounds in one month?
That could be your problem right there.
I am aiming for 1.5 to 2 pounds a week and that is considered aggressive.
Losing weight too quickly can be extremely hard on your body.
And it explains why you’re feeling demotivated and meh.
Pick a less aggressive calorie deficit. It will be OK. You’ll feel better, too.
no, 40 pounds in 12 months, it looks like LOL
i had to go look at her original post when you said that (its early, you know)
You said your logging has slipped, so, really... thats probably the issue. Until that is under control again, You dont need to look much further.
anyway, OP, the last bit of weight is always the hardest. Having less to lose means you have less room for error in your logging. If you open your diary, we can take a quick look and see if we think that could be an issue, and in this case it's almost a certainty - Also, review this link https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1234699/logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide/p1 if you haven't in awhile. Sometimes we get lazy after logging for a bit and forget some of the basics (it happens to the best of us, trust me!)
to open your diary (on laptop) go here and scroll down, on the left https://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/diary_settings
not sure where it is on a phone, somewhere in the settings, diary sharing, diary setting, should be phrased something like that.
Let's start there, since logging issues are the MOST common reason for weight loss stalls, and you admit you've gotten lazy with your logging recently. I bet that solves the issue.1 -
callsitlikeiseeit wrote: »
no, 40 pounds in 12 months, it looks like LOL
i had to go look at her original post when you said that (its early, you know)
Good catch. Phew. I was actually concerned about OP.2 -
Couple of thoughts.
The law of diminishing returns can come into play. I was a heart attack or stroke waiting to happen at 285 lbs. But by the time I hit 215 I was a gym regular. My back pain, HBP difficulty walking were long gone. I built my upper body. My wife liked it.
But I was still overweight. And the things I had done to lose 65-70 lbs seemed to be useless getting lower. I finally had to reinvent my whole effort to get lower.
Make a plan. And make it a plan you will actually follow. Have you considered an official break from tracking? I don’t mean for the purpose of running amok. I mean for the purpose of finding out how you do without it for a predetermined period of time. You may find renewed appreciation.
Or can you pinpoint your objection to tracking. Is it the mechanics? Can you make it easier? I tracked with pen and paper. I found logging on the computer reminded me of work. I kept my food diary on the kitchen counter next to my food scale. After I learned the numbers for most of the stuff I eat my entries were just crude lists of what I ate with a number. If I put Subway lunch I knew it was a grilled chicken on wheat bread with light Mayo and baked chips. Don’t eat there anymore so I don’t recall the total but it was always the same.
Or are you pushing back against the calorie limit. You can take a break from that by calculating your current maintenance number and aiming for that for awhile. And where do you have your deficit set? 10 lbs to go you probably want to be at .5 lbs per week or maybe even less.
But the thing you likely don’t want to do is what you are currently doing which is breaking the process. Starting the day intending one thing but ending by doing something else is how life goes. But doing it every day undermines your process. Control the process and in the end you will control your weight.
Sometimes our process needs to be defended. If you can’t defend your plan as it now exists find a plan you can defend. Weight loss is just the byproduct of our plan. Keep trying. Weight loss is mostly about problem solving and persistence. Only way to fail is quit. Good luck.
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I am currently in much the same boat. After losing more than 80 lbs, I am (or maybe WAS) only about 15 lbs. away from my goal. But I haven't accurately logged since mid-August and daren't step on the scale right now. I am struggling more now than I did in all of last year. Who'da thunk the need for motivation would happen in the home stretch?
I think what makes those last few pounds so hard to shift is that we look and feel OK as-is. I no longer waddle around under layers of fat or pant at the top of a flight of stairs. I wear 'normal' sized clothing. I can physically manage just fine. So why not ease up just a teensy bit?
Ha! Why, indeed!
I don't know if this will help you... heck, I don't even know if it will help me... but my plan is to take it in 1-2 day bits until I can regain my weight loss mojo. Hopefully, a deficit/deficit/maintenance pattern until the end of the month will keep things from going off the rails.
Another thing I've found super helpful is having a dry erase board on my fridge and jotting down what I eat there in real time. Although not proper logging, it keeps me accountable and away from making a quick cheese sandwich whilst puttering about in the kitchen. And if I do make a cheese sandwich, I won't accidentally on purpose forget about it and not consider the calories when making dinner.
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making a quick cheese sandwich whilst puttering about in the kitchen.
i couldnt tell you the last time i had a cheese sandwich. seriously.
or the last time i bought fake cheese. which is what i call like kraft singles. i dont buy it. like ... ever.
do you have ANY idea how badly i am craving a stupid fake cheese sandwich right now after reading that? i cant even MAKE one! And my husband just came back from the store, and even if he HADNT gone yet, if i told him what i wanted, he would think I had lost my mind! I mean, he would get it, but he would seriously worry about my mental health
If im still wanting one tomorrow i might have to go over to my best friends house and see if SHE buys fake cheese and make one over there LOLOL3 -
Lol. I loves me a grilled fake cheese sammie! Today, I resisted in favour of a BCT (Bacon, Chard,Tomato) on whole wheat. Still 250 calories, but somehow more virtuous. 0
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Lol. I loves me a grilled fake cheese sammie! Today, I resisted in favour of a BCT (Bacon, Chard,Tomato) on whole wheat. Still 250 calories, but somehow more virtuous.
no virtue here. i just want white bread, mayo, and fake cheese. the lunch of 8 year olds everywhere. at least in 1986 LMAO1 -
I have to quit visiting the same threads as @callsitlikeiseeit …I feel my forum relationship with cheese is becoming unhealthy 😂😆🤣🤪2
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Just buy the single serve packs of Tillimook extra sharp. It’s harder to over do it that way.NerdyScienceGrl wrote: »I have to quit visiting the same threads as @callsitlikeiseeit …I feel my forum relationship with cheese is becoming unhealthy 😂😆🤣🤪
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MargaretYakoda wrote: »
Just buy the single serve packs of Tillimook extra sharp. It’s harder to over do it that way.NerdyScienceGrl wrote: »I have to quit visiting the same threads as @callsitlikeiseeit …I feel my forum relationship with cheese is becoming unhealthy 😂😆🤣🤪
i have plenty of REAL cheese. i want FAKE cheese. PLASTIC cheese. LMAO0 -
MargaretYakoda wrote: »
Just buy the single serve packs of Tillimook extra sharp. It’s harder to over do it that way.NerdyScienceGrl wrote: »I have to quit visiting the same threads as @callsitlikeiseeit …I feel my forum relationship with cheese is becoming unhealthy 😂😆🤣🤪
Tillamook is my weakness. I actually prefer the smoked black pepper white cheddar to the sharp but cheese used to have its own layer in my personal food pyramid — not anymore 😭😭
Feels like a fall time “eating our way through the cost” road trip may be in order - cheese, jerky, wine, seafood, jam 🤔. …once the tuna is in so I can get to canning.
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Guess what I made for lunch today.
2 -
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callsitlikeiseeit wrote: »
Just as well. It was good, but the reality didn't quite live up to the hype.
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I have had to reinvent my 'program' about a half dozen times in the year I've gone from 190/Obese to 132/BMI 22.
At various points I have:
Done OMAD
Eaten every 2 hours
Done everything between those 2.
Done almost no exercise
Done a lot of exercise
Had a 1,000 calorie deficit
Allowed my (modest then) additional exercise be my ENTIRE deficit
Eaten mostly protein
Eaten a lot of carbs
Done fat free/low calorie replacements
Done full fat everything + eaten an avocado every single day
Taken diet breaks every 2 weeks.
Been consistent for months at a time.
Used a daily calorie target
Had my calorie target be 'anything between 1200 and maintenance)
I would LIKE to get sub 130. Just barely, and no lower than 125. That means I have 2-7lbs to go (though my goal weight has been constantly evolving. Initial goal was 149 because that's no longer overweight. from there it's just been assessment of how I look/feel and input from unbiased sources).
My plan RIGHT NOW is to do a week in a pretty steep deficit and then a week at maintenance. I'm not a precise logger, it makes me insane, and if I'm aiming for 500 or so calories off per day that gives me some wiggle room for my lack of precision, but also doesn't require me be able to sustain something that isn't sustainable (sharp deficit). Bonus practice at maintenance practice happening frequently.
Just experiment. NOthing you do here is forever. Anything that doesn't work is new data to help you find out what DOES.2 -
callsitlikeiseeit wrote: »
I did that with tomato soup yesterday. Kraft 2% FAKE CHEESE is like 45 calories a slice. Eat two on your sandwich and it's salty, fake, and perfect when grilled into a sandwich.2 -
wunderkindking wrote: »callsitlikeiseeit wrote: »
I did that with tomato soup yesterday. Kraft 2% FAKE CHEESE is like 45 calories a slice. Eat two on your sandwich and it's salty, fake, and perfect when grilled into a sandwich.
ooooooooooooooh maybe i could do grilled cheese and tomato soup for dinner tomorrow....2 -
callsitlikeiseeit wrote: »wunderkindking wrote: »callsitlikeiseeit wrote: »
I did that with tomato soup yesterday. Kraft 2% FAKE CHEESE is like 45 calories a slice. Eat two on your sandwich and it's salty, fake, and perfect when grilled into a sandwich.
ooooooooooooooh maybe i could do grilled cheese and tomato soup for dinner tomorrow....
DO IT. It's the perfect way to welcome it officially being fall.0 -
wunderkindking wrote: »callsitlikeiseeit wrote: »wunderkindking wrote: »callsitlikeiseeit wrote: »
I did that with tomato soup yesterday. Kraft 2% FAKE CHEESE is like 45 calories a slice. Eat two on your sandwich and it's salty, fake, and perfect when grilled into a sandwich.
ooooooooooooooh maybe i could do grilled cheese and tomato soup for dinner tomorrow....
DO IT. It's the perfect way to welcome it officially being fall.
i do it every now and then for dinner. quick and easy (my favorite kind of dinner) lol1 -
callsitlikeiseeit wrote: »MargaretYakoda wrote: »
Just buy the single serve packs of Tillimook extra sharp. It’s harder to over do it that way.NerdyScienceGrl wrote: »I have to quit visiting the same threads as @callsitlikeiseeit …I feel my forum relationship with cheese is becoming unhealthy 😂😆🤣🤪
i have plenty of REAL cheese. i want FAKE cheese. PLASTIC cheese. LMAO
When I want plastic cheese, this is the one I reach for. It takes me back to childhood Christmases, and all the Hickory Farms cheese and salami packages my mom would get from her students as presents.
I don’t think she ever ate the things.
But we were six very hungry kids…. 😇
1 -
MargaretYakoda wrote: »callsitlikeiseeit wrote: »MargaretYakoda wrote: »
Just buy the single serve packs of Tillimook extra sharp. It’s harder to over do it that way.NerdyScienceGrl wrote: »I have to quit visiting the same threads as @callsitlikeiseeit …I feel my forum relationship with cheese is becoming unhealthy 😂😆🤣🤪
i have plenty of REAL cheese. i want FAKE cheese. PLASTIC cheese. LMAO
When I want plastic cheese, this is the one I reach for. It takes me back to childhood Christmases, and all the Hickory Farms cheese and salami packages my mom would get from her students as presents.
I don’t think she ever ate the things.
But we were six very hungry kids…. 😇
i had that (only not port wine flavor, just regular cheese flavor lol) at my best friends house not too long ago on crackers. it was yummy lol1 -
MargaretYakoda wrote: »callsitlikeiseeit wrote: »
no, 40 pounds in 12 months, it looks like LOL
i had to go look at her original post when you said that (its early, you know)
Good catch. Phew. I was actually concerned about OP.
Definitely one year, not one month! Thanks for your concern 😌.
Okay, I was away for the long weekend and now I’m catching up with the comments.1 -
Couple of thoughts.
But I was still overweight. And the things I had done to lose 65-70 lbs seemed to be useless getting lower. I finally had to reinvent my whole effort to get lower.
Make a plan. And make it a plan you will actually follow. Have you considered an official break from tracking? I don’t mean for the purpose of running amok. I mean for the purpose of finding out how you do without it for a predetermined period of time. You may find renewed appreciation.
Or can you pinpoint your objection to tracking. Is it the mechanics? Can you make it easier? I tracked with pen and paper. I found logging on the computer reminded me of work. I kept my food diary on the kitchen counter next to my food scale. After I learned the numbers for most of the stuff I eat my entries were just crude lists of what I ate with a number. If I put Subway lunch I knew it was a grilled chicken on wheat bread with light Mayo and baked chips. Don’t eat there anymore so I don’t recall the total but it was always the same.
Or are you pushing back against the calorie limit. You can take a break from that by calculating your current maintenance number and aiming for that for awhile. And where do you have your deficit set? 10 lbs to go you probably want to be at .5 lbs per week or maybe even less.
But the thing you likely don’t want to do is what you are currently doing which is breaking the process. Starting the day intending one thing but ending by doing something else is how life goes. But doing it every day undermines your process. Control the process and in the end you will control your weight.
Sometimes our process needs to be defended. If you can’t defend your plan as it now exists find a plan you can defend. Weight loss is just the byproduct of our plan. Keep trying. Weight loss is mostly about problem solving and persistence. Only way to fail is quit. Good luck.
This is really insightful, thank you. Your questions are good ones for me to evaluate.
I think my annoyance with tracking is I don't want to weigh every single thing that goes in my mouth. For example I usually eat berries with plain greek yogurt and ~tbsp of chocolate chips for breakfast. I know this meal sustains me adequality and I know it's got a good balance of proteins, carbs, and fats. So why do I have to log it? Likely because LATER in the day I may go over cals on snacks or supper so the math has to add up (lol, I never liked math!).
I don't think I could prelog, because while I do meal plan, I hate the idea of being bound to something. But I definitely agree that right now the final 10lbs will be lost at a slow rate. It's just been a plateau for some time. I am giving lots of thought to your comment about defending a process. I REALLY like the thought of it being a problem to solve instead of calories to track. Maybe if I approach the calorie tracking form the problem solving angle I'll be able to come up with a plan I can defend.
Thanks so much for your insight!
ps: 110% pushing back on my calorie limit - you're telling me I can ONLY eat 1400 cals, but there's SO MUCH GOOD FOOD out in the world. (ps: real cheese is better than fake cheese you weirdos
) 3 -
wunderkindking wrote: »I have had to reinvent my 'program' about a half dozen times in the year I've gone from 190/Obese to 132/BMI 22.
My plan RIGHT NOW is to do a week in a pretty steep deficit and then a week at maintenance. I'm not a precise logger, it makes me insane, and if I'm aiming for 500 or so calories off per day that gives me some wiggle room for my lack of precision, but also doesn't require me be able to sustain something that isn't sustainable (sharp deficit). Bonus practice at maintenance practice happening frequently.
Just experiment. NOthing you do here is forever. Anything that doesn't work is new data to help you find out what DOES.
Love the idea of just aiming for a deficit rather than precise logging. Unsustainable things are a recipe for failure, that's what I learned in my last year of this journey. I think now I need to transition since I am at a lower weight etc etc.
"Anything that doens't work is new data to help you find out what DOES" is JUST the kind of approach I need to this. While I'm no good at math, it's the data that really does help me. I will have to approach these next 10lbs from that. So logging and tracking is for data not for weight loss, weight loss is just a by product of what the data does. I love being a nerd.1 -
(ps: real cheese is better than fake cheese you weirdos )
It is! which is why thats all i buy. BUT I STILL WANT MY FAKE PLASTIC CHEESE SANDWICH
and glory be to best friends who buy way more crap food than I do... what did she have in her fridge but fake plastic cheese!
I think we all know what will be in my diary later.
3
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