Keep forgetting to track 😩

Other than patience, persistence, and intention? Not that I know of.

Any new habit takes time to establish. (Patience.)

Keep working at it, and performance improves. (Persistence.)

None of that will happen if we don't fully commit to it. (Intention.)

I get that this is hard, especially at first. (I've been calorie counting for 8+ years, though I'm much more relaxed about it in year 7+ of maintaining a healthy weight, realistically. It was hard at first, now it's pretty automatic and habitual.)

If you want to get the results, keep working to establish the habit, and you'll get there. Meanwhile, be patient with yourself - beating yourself up about it burns zero extra calories, and feels icky.

Best wishes for success!

You could set reminders on your phone a few times a day to be sure you’ve remembered.

If it’s important to you, you’ll find a way.

When I sit down at the end of the night with my coffee I am trying to get into the habit of planning out my next day-- what I'll cook, what I'll eat, etc. That might change sometimes, I can always change it up later but I feel like doing it the same time when I'm used to having my coffee reminds me to plan ahead. When I wing it I tend to get my macros all out of whack.

Do you have a food scale?

I do, and I know I have to weigh food as I'm preparing it if I'm going to log it accurately. And I have to record it when I weigh it if I'm going to log it accurately. So either I log it as I weigh it, or I jot it down on a pice of paper to log it later.

Other strategies needed for food you don't fix yourself, but it created a habit for me.

I have a heck of a time sticking to it myself. Mostly because I haven't ever done it long enough to build a proper database on my phone/cloud so I don't have to search and read every single thing I log- I can just type,tap,and go. I'm diabetic, so there are VERY real and immediate consequences if I don't log properly, since if I'm not logging, I rarely even look at the nutrition info for what I eat.
I'm doing really well this week.
It's taken me 6 years to get to this point, because I had no discipline, zero accountability really(even though I would get constantly reminded by my husband).
It wasn't until recently, when my husband brought it home in a big way : logging food means I can get pregnant. No logging, no baby.
Like others have said....find something meaningful to tie it to, write reminders EVERYWHERE(but move them around regularly so you don't get used to them, that's when they blend into the background and stop working), I personally loathe the "no log, no eat" thing, for the simple reason of liking my food to not be cold, and sometimes logging takes a looooong time. I'm not allowed to drink anything but water, and no dessert, until I log though.
Much luck!

I’m just starting and have the same concern. Until I’ve made tracking a habit, I’m taking pictures of what I’m eating and or the label as it happens. When I have some time to track, no later than before bed time, I track it then delete the picture.

Hi there! I have a hard time keeping up with tracking as well. The dietician that I work with suggested tracking the majority of what you are going to eat the night before. I’m not great at meal planning but you said you are so maybe that will help?

Don’t be too hard on yourself. In the beginning, just think “progress, not perfection” until you have the habit down. Be patient with yourself. Also, a couple things that helped me was prepping ready made meals (like sheet pan or slow cooker) and have those somewhat regularly to make it easier (never sacrificing on enjoyment 😉), to have them saved for easy logging; and also telling yourself you can’t eat the meal until you log it first. Try planning what you’re going to eat for the week- breakfast, lunch, dinner & snacks. Weigh them ahead of time, stick in the fridge, maybe even keep separated in the fridge by day (Mondays meals, Tuesdays… etc) sounds like a lot but pick the ideas that work for you and do them until it becomes automatic.

You have a phone? Set a reminder.. ⏰

september192023 wrote: »

This is what works for me: I set phone reminders and calendar reminders. The more "in-my-face" it is, the more I'll build the habit.

Maybe post-it notes with your shoes or vehicle keys? LOG YOUR FOODS!

Don't be too hard on yourself, you know that you want/maybe need to log, keep trying!

I'm amazed at how much phone reminders help. For years, I've struggled off and on the create the habit of weighing daily as this keeps me on track, but it didn't happen until I updated the setting in Happy Scale (iphone weight trending app) to remind me every morning. I pick up my phone, see the reminder, and do it.

I also have a reminder to take my melatonin, etc., at night, and, an hour later, to brush my teeth.

Oddly, I don't have a reminder to log my food. I'm pretty good about that, but could be better.