Tracking your food for accountability struggles

kabrube2
kabrube2 Posts: 21 Member
edited May 2022 in Motivation and Support
I struggle tracking for an entire day. I start out great in the morning then life gets in my way and I stumble. Any tricks besides pre tracking which I’m sure won’t happen. I’ve been a WW but with limited availability of live meetings I’m going a different route. Why pay 44 bucks to WW when I can use this for free. My closest meeting was a 45
Minute drive. Ugh.

Replies

  • LiveOnceBeHappy
    LiveOnceBeHappy Posts: 448 Member
    edited May 2022
    "I start out great in the morning then life gets in my way and I stumble." For me, it's just not optional. As you get used to doing it, it takes seconds to input. If you have to, write it on paper and log at the end of the day. Prioritize it!

    Edit: I don't know how old you are, but can you imagine not writing down the amount of check you wrote at the store? How would you keep track of your money if you didn't take the time to do that?
  • pamperedlinny
    pamperedlinny Posts: 1,688 Member
    I go through periods where that happens. I'll log my cup of coffee and a small snack then not the rest of the day. Whenever I do that I end up eating almost anything with the "I'll start again tomorrow" thought process. I've found that I need to open the app and log on my phone everything as I do it. I've even been that rude person that does it in the middle of being out with friends. I have just learned to explain that it is imperitive to my health to take those few minutes and promise to put it away in a moment.

    I try to pre-log and end up deleting it every time the plans change so I don't really do that any longer either. Instead I just keep my phone glued to my side whether it's in a pocket, purse or the wrist lanyard connecting it to me at all times. It's hard to disconnect but my physical health does a lot better this way.
  • LilithReigns
    LilithReigns Posts: 225 Member
    I had the same problem, if i prep meals and know what my entire day will be I do pre-log and it helps a lot. Otherwise I take a moment around each meal and log so I don't forget or push it off.

  • kabrube2
    kabrube2 Posts: 21 Member
    Lol. @liveoncebehappy. I’m 64 and a matter of fact I do write checks without entering them into the check book. Drives my husband crazy. Luckily we always have the funds so it’s not a real issue but he likes to see the checks entered. It’s just one of the many things I do that drives him crazy after 42 years of marriage 🤣. Maybe why I do it. Not sure.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    When I was logging, I usually did pre-log in the morning as I pretty much know the plan for the day. I would have to make tweaks here and there if something changed, but for the most part, that was the plan for the day. It would generally take me about 10 minutes in the morning to do it...no biggie. And then everything was just laid out and I knew exactly where I stood calorie wise. I didn't see it as anything much different than having a training plan to follow and knowing what I was supposed to do training wise each day.
  • 88AViva
    88AViva Posts: 499 Member
    When I meal prep I pre log and edit as I go along with my day if plans changed or I added extras to my snacks. If you are busy and don't want to take the time to log your meals a few times a day because you get distracted doing other stuff on your phone like me, keep a notepad. 📒
    Its faster and easier if you tend to wing it or not plan your snacks and coffees. I just weigh whatever I need and note them. I even note my workouts and such on the notepad and then when I have free time in the evening I add everything to the log. I use the mfp reminder only for the last meal so I remember to log at the end of the day.
  • emmamcgarity
    emmamcgarity Posts: 1,594 Member
    Since you start our well in the morning, perhaps that’s a good time to track what you remember on the previous day eating for the missing gaps in yesterdays logs. For instance, if you didn’t track all of your meals yesterday, take a moment now to track what you remember eating. It won’t be as accurate, but I find holding myself accountable for the past helps me get back on track (without judgement, even if over calories)
  • MadRee87
    MadRee87 Posts: 227 Member
    I honestly look forward to logging each day. For me I need to see what I consume right in front of me. Even if its junk lol I was soooo super apprehensive making my diary public. Making it public does give me a level of accountability. I have friends on here that will call me out if I don't log. I am more apt to log now that it is public.
  • JessiBelleW
    JessiBelleW Posts: 836 Member
    I take my lunch to work and never tracked it so o brought a scale to live in the work kitchen- I usually snap a pic on my phone if the weight and then log it when I get a quiet minute mid afternoon.

    I’ve also tried to think about how I eat and plan my lunches around that. Ie I know about 150-200g of meat or fish + veg or salad is about the right calories for me so that’s what I eat 95% of the time. I can pretty much eat as much veg or salad as I can fit on the plate and then just need to be careful of the oil/dressing component

    If I was someone who brought a sandwich I would buy from a place that let me scan the barcode (scan with your phone and logging done!) or subway as it lists the calories online.

    Don’t make this harder than it needs to be!
  • 88olds
    88olds Posts: 4,539 Member
    I learned tracking on WW and my initial run lasted 5 yrs. The only time I didn’t track was vacations. I had other strategies to deal with those. I tracked with pen and paper, didn’t like tracking on the computer because it reminded me of being at work. The computer was for planning and research. I ended up with a couple of boxes filled with those little blue booklets that WW gives out.

    It helped that I eat the same stuff a lot. After a while my tracking became just some crude lists with numbers. If an entry said oatmeal-3. What it really meant was oatmeal for 2 pts and blueberries for 1 pt. It the entry said Subway lunch- 8, it was a half turkey sub on whole wheat, no cheese, light mayo and baked chips. After awhile I was only doing calculations for 3-4 meals per week, everything else was a repeat.

    My journal stayed out on the kitchen counter next to my food scale. Passed it every time I came into the house. But even with that, sometimes I’d forget. Or sometimes be out socializing and involved with food. When stuff like that came up, I just did my best to record everything with a number. Tracking doesn’t have to be perfect to work. It just needs to be good enough.
  • JaysFan82
    JaysFan82 Posts: 853 Member
    I log my entire day the day before except for snacks.

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