4 April Sign In
LazyBlondeChef
Posts: 2,809 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
If you're part of this challenge, then you likely already knowing how important tracking is to meeting your desired goals.
Tracking is the cornerstone of success in this group. It requires awareness and acknowledgement.
Even though it's very specifically one of the three rules, it's also inherent in the other two. To stay in your calorie budget, you have to track, and you only know if you intertionally exercised for 20 minutes if you are actively monitoring your movement.
So, my question today to get us thinking about just how important tracking is....
Tell us about a time when you STOPPED tracking and still had success in meeting your goals.
Do you have one? You may! If so, were there elements of your tracking days that you were subconsciously carrying through to get you through this period?
Or, you may be able to share a story of the stall or backslide a break from tracking led to.
Most importantly in all these discussions and through all our days, we need to remember that LIFE HAPPENS! If there's one thing I've found, guilt doesn't help most of us. So, let's learn from each other's experiences and share a bit about the role tracking plays in our day to day life.
Every day is a new opportunity to put your best foot forward!
[copied from @ashleycarole86 prior month posts]2 -
I, very recently, joined a local group that was all about "mindful eating" and tracking was a "no-no". I was very skeptical when I joined and it took we a couple weeks to give in and NOT track. It was very overwhelming for me. Even without success, I have tracked for a very long time. At least when I am not "on program" when I am tracking, I know exactly what I did wrong. The program leader and I banged heads a few times about "doing it her way". Last week, I gave it up and went back to tracking and I feel so much better, not only physically, but mentally too. If it's an addiction - so be it. At least I know where I am what to expect. And I have lost a couple pounds of water weight while getting back into the groove.
Track!
It works!!10 -
I did not track this past weekend (Fri-Sun) in part because we were traveling and ate out almost all of our meals. I didn't have the mental strength to try and estimate all the different things I ate/drank. That being said, I was approximating in my head and thought I was significantly under my calorie goals because I didn't eat all that much. Well, lo and behold, I came home weighing more than when I left. Part of that could be water retention, saltiness of food, no exercise, etc., but in my mind I equate not tracking with not being accountable to myself.3
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Thanks for sharing your experience Jan! @StrongerJan
Honest tracking is key for me and I go back to using my food weigh scale (to the gram) regularly to check on whether my hungry eyes and their estimates are correct. I am consistently underestimating protein (which is, for those of you who know me, the hardest macro for me to succeed with), and my eyes overestimate carbs (who would have guessed? 🤓). For me, weighing or measuring and tracking go hand in hand, and I need to do both for success.5 -
✅ Exercise
✅ Calories
✅ Tracked
3️⃣ Pass days left
Tracking is very important if you want to have data on which to base your way forward.it takes so little effort for a valuable reward. Tracking and measuring are both important. When I first started tracking and measuring I was aghast at how off my portion control was.5 -
Exercised?: ✅ Yes
Calories?: ✅ Yes
Tracked?: ✅ Yes
Pass days used: 1/34 -
Excercise - Yes
Calories - Yes
Tracked - Yes
3 pass days remaining
Tracking keeps me accountable. I find that when I stop tracking it leads to revert back to a unhealthy eating lifestyle.4 -
I think tracking is now such a habit for me I couldn’t imagine not tracking. On occasion out comes the scale and my good friends 1 cup, 1/2,1/4 cup along with table and teaspoon!
As much as I didn’t want to spin this evening I did my thoughts were that maybe some exercise with a little resistance would help my knees they are so sore, I am thinking a flare but hoping not they can last to long!!
Tracked logged exercised5 -
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? Yes3 -
✅✅✅
Tracking … more strict when doing a cut. More lenient when just coasting along. Lenient meaning what 6 years of tracking tells me is not going to be a bust. Like not weighing spinach is an easy trade off but not measuring icecream would be poor judgement.5 -
4/4
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 👍🏻
(Documenting consistency (if there is a P=instead of number its a Pass Day)
UAC: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 - 17 - 18 - 19 - 20 - 21-22 - 23 - 24 - 25 - 26 - 27 - 28 - 29 - 30 - 31
Pass Day - 03 -
I have a pretty good idea of what I can eat in order to maintain. But I really enjoy eating and cooking, and over time my portion sizes tend to increase 😱. However I'm not very good with knowing what constitutes 1400 calories per day (which is what I need to maintain in order to lose weight).
Tracking for me = accountability. It keeps me focused and holds me to a standard.
Apr 4 ✅️ ✅️ ✅️3 -
yes to all 3 - no pass3
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DATE: April 4
EXERCISED: Yes - 5,201 Exercise Steps
CALORIES: Yes
TRACKED: Yes
(0 Pass Days used)4 -
4/4
Exercise yes
Caleries yes
Logged yes3 -
✅️✅️✅️
0/3 pass days used
Strength and walk 1 mile 3mph pace2 -
Did I exercise for at least 20 minutes? Yes 30 kettlebell strength
Did I stay within my calorie budget for the day? Yes
Did I keep track of everything I ate and drank? Yes
2 -
the tracker is not working for me today - and I can not get into other areas of MFP (on my windows pc) - will try to back track tomorrow. however, i am eating meals that are within my ranges and paper tracking instead.
yes x3, 20m intermittent movement
0/3 pass days used
my goal is to understand how much is enough - and use the tracker when I need to understand a new2me food/recipe... when I am stable and on a roll, I do pretty well with it as an approach.3 -
I have been away from the UAC discipline for quite a while, and this month I am focusing on re-establishing the core habits.
Today:
C:✅ E✅: 3.8K steps (30 minute walk outside) T:✅
Month-long Score (3x✅=💖 for that day) vs Pass ( 😕 ) record.
💖-💖-💖-💖-5-6-7-8-9-10
11-12-13-14-15-16-17-18-19-20
21-22-23-24-25-26-27-28-29-30My April goal here is to log in every day, and wind up a champion. Everything that arises from those choices and actions will be a bonus. Two pre-planned passes are on the calendar (Easter Family Dinner, and our 35th anniversary dinner on April 30)2 -
✅ Exercise: 5 minutes stairs, 5 minutes rowing, 20 minutes swimming
✅ Calories
✅ Tracked
Passdays used 0
2 -
Exercise, calories, tracking yes yes yes ✅✅✅2
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✅✅✅2
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Tuesday April 4
✅✅✅2 -
4/4
Exercise: 160 minutes
Tracking: yes
Calories: under
Pass days used: 01 -
DATE: April 4
EXERCISED: Yes (44 min running)
CALORIES: Yes (under)
TRACKED: Yes
Pass Days used: 11 -
Date: 4/5
Exercised?: Y, 48 minutes low impact aerobics
Calories?: Y
Tracked?: Y
Pass Days Used - 1/3
I haven't missed a day of tracking since I started doing it in Jan '22. Each morning I typically pre-plan and record what I am going to consume for the day. However, there have been some days when I did not pre-plan due to special events such as vacations, parties, travel, etc. On those days I logged what I ate at the end of the day and sometimes found that I went over my goal. Because I am more mindful than I used to be about what and how much I eat, I did not exceed goal by as much as I would have before my lifestyle change.
4 -
April 4
Exercise: 20 minutes stretching, 40 minutes walking
Tracking: Planned the day, followed the plan
Calories: Under!
I still have a bit of a headache so going to stretch instead of my usual MommaStrong. I hope to maybe get back to that tomorrow...
Re: tracking. I've posted before that I lost the first chunk of weight by making template meals (by counting calories of various things) and then eating that. I didn't feel like I had time to track. And honestly, that went better than tracking is currently going. Because I am not tracking every day now, but I did eat the right way every day back then. What is more important than tracking is actually eating the right thing!
But I find tracking very helpful and with MFP it really doesn't take much time. I track to make sure I am under calories, eat enough protein, and get the right amount of fiber (between 20-25 grams - I find if it's too little OR too much I will pay for it).1 -
- yes
- yes
- yes
2 -
Yes, yes, and yes
Walking, core and mini stretch2 -
Yesx32
