Hate tracking...hate measuring...so why am I here?

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mistressmaleficent54
mistressmaleficent54 Posts: 4 Member
in Introduce Yourself
Hi, I'm Mal. I have struggled with my weight all my life. I have done most mainstream programs - including the MyFitnessPal. I have to make a change though. I'm 56 and need knee replacement surgery and the surgeon wants me to lose 50 lbs. Being menopausal and trying to lose weight has been really hard! I know I have to track, measure and all that icky stuff! I don't like doing that though. I know, I sound so 'positive' but really that is because I know I have to do something I don't want to do. So...re-starting the journey - again on Saturday! Why not today or tomorrow? Made the decision while on vacation and it is VERY hard to eat better and track while on vacation! I need to be back at home, but I'm here and preparing for Saturday meal prep!

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  • JaysFan82
    JaysFan82 Posts: 851 Member
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    I track all my meals for the next day the night before. I spend 10 minutes before bed. I only log snacks during my day, so it's less of a pain
  • mistressmaleficent54
    mistressmaleficent54 Posts: 4 Member
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    Thanks! I have already planned and logged my weekend meals! I think you are right with tracking early the main meals and snacks on the day of!!
  • DFW_Tom
    DFW_Tom Posts: 218 Member
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    Your surgeon wants you to lose 50lbs, but what do you want? Is your goal overall health improvement or is it to reach an arbitrary number before surgery? You don't need to track or measure for either goal, but all that icky stuff does make reaching those goals much easier. :D

    I agree with what you've said about being on vacation. We are headed to an all-inclusive in Mexico in a few weeks that makes it all but impossible track. I'll still try to eat healthy though. The free flowing drinks are something entirely different that I'm willing to recover from after we get back. I've done it before.

    FWIW, I don't believe in programs or that diets do any good at all in the long term. For me the only thing that has worked is lifestyle change that I can maintain indefinitely while still being satisfied. My personal goal at 65 y.o. was (and still is) improved health and stamina. It was a goal I was willing to make permanent changes to achieve. Tracking and weighing are just tools that have helped me a great deal. They don't need to be a chores I detest.

    Anyway @mistressmaleficent54, welcome and I'm glad you are here. I hope you find what will help you reach your personal goals and that the knee surgery goes well.
  • Xellercin
    Xellercin Posts: 924 Member
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    I personally lost from obese to very lean without tracking my food.

    I incrementally improved my eating with small, sustainable changes. I tracked my weight daily and looked for patterns over 6 week periods.

    Every 6 weeks, I introduced a new improvement to my eating routine.

    Within a year, I had totally overhauled my entire way of eating and had lost from obese to healthy weight.

    I've only ever counted calories when I made a change and worried that I wasn't eating enough, like when I switched to vegetarian and started losing too quickly.

    Otherwise, I know what healthy, nutrient dense, low calorie meals looks like, and I systematically worked towards that.

    I also focused not on restriction but on what I call "flooding," which is where I eat SO MUCH nutrient dense, low calorie foods that there's no room for crap. It's hard to overeat when 70% of your plate is raw vegetables, for example.

    I
  • mistressmaleficent54
    mistressmaleficent54 Posts: 4 Member
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    @DFW_Tom Good question! I do want to lose the weight. I feel better when I weigh less. I just know that tracking is something I don't like, but I know it makes my life considerably better when I do. Maybe at some point, I will get away from the tracking again. You are right, it is a lifestyle change and that has been something that I have struggled with over the years. It is often so much easier to go back to the crap than really stick to what I know is better.

    I give you credit if you can do the unlimited drinking! LOl I can't do that anymore - not that I was ever much of a "drinker". Alcohol makes me hot - temperature hot - and I don't like being hot - or RED! LOL. Have a good trip and thanks for the comment.
  • mistressmaleficent54
    mistressmaleficent54 Posts: 4 Member
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    @Xellercin That is awesome! Honestly, I would like to work towards what you are doing. I feel like the tracking - as much as I hate it - will help keep me accountable. I know I can lose the weight although being menopausal adds a new level for me, but I'm not going to let that stop me. It is do-able. I want to work towards eating like you are doing - mostly vegetables and nutrient dense foods. I love the whole grains, fruit and veggies. I have never been much of a meat eater but I do enjoy it periodically. Not a legume fan as I have a lot of issues with the texture. What it boils down to for me is making sure that I have food prepared and don't have the crap in the house so that I do eat the food. I can easily prepare my meals for the weekend because I have all the stuff at home - veggies, quinoa, oatmeal, etc. Thanks for your comment and I appreciate your input.
  • Xellercin
    Xellercin Posts: 924 Member
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    mistressmaleficent54 wrote: »
    @Xellercin That is awesome! Honestly, I would like to work towards what you are doing. I feel like the tracking - as much as I hate it - will help keep me accountable. I know I can lose the weight although being menopausal adds a new level for me, but I'm not going to let that stop me. It is do-able. I want to work towards eating like you are doing - mostly vegetables and nutrient dense foods. I love the whole grains, fruit and veggies. I have never been much of a meat eater but I do enjoy it periodically. Not a legume fan as I have a lot of issues with the texture. What it boils down to for me is making sure that I have food prepared and don't have the crap in the house so that I do eat the food. I can easily prepare my meals for the weekend because I have all the stuff at home - veggies, quinoa, oatmeal, etc. Thanks for your comment and I appreciate your input.

    This is the thing. For myself, I'm not a fan of the whole "keeping myself accountable" thing. I know when I'm eating well and when I'm not.

    This is why I always commit to a small change for at least 6 weeks, long enough to make it a habit.

    And yes, the key was to engineer my life so that eating nutritious foods in modest quantities was the easiest option. Again, I paid close attention to the things that made me eat off-diet: being too exhausted to cook in the evening, not having a filling enough breakfast, etc, etc.

    Instead of just "holding myself accountable" I actually focused on making better choices easier.

    I've maintained my weight loss and eaten consistently the same way for nearly a decade now, not because I was disciplined and "held myself accountable" but because I engineered it to be the easiest, most sustainable option possible.

    I don't know what that means for you, but you can make it your personal project to figure that out.

    What kind of positive changes can you make that don't require you to track them in order to sustain them?

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