I'm no longer logging my calories..

lifeskittles
lifeskittles Posts: 438 Member
edited October 5 in Health and Weight Loss
I've found that the more I log my food the more I obsess over it...I generally eat pretty healthy but once I started logging every calorie I found myself binging more and actually started gaining weight...So I figure that since I'm in Iraq, and we are stuck on MRE's now for the final month of this deployment... Eating clean is unfortunately not an option...The best I can do is eat the main meals, my protein powder, and canned tuna I have remaining and stay away from all the junk in the MRE's! ...and Try to squeeze in as much exercise in my 12+ hour a day working schedule...Ugh...Anyone else struggling with the logging? I find that when I don't log I don't think about food near as much and end up eating much less....But then I feel guilty at the end of the day for not logging....Weird..

Replies

  • littlemili
    littlemili Posts: 625 Member
    Good for you. For me, logging obsessively spiralled into an eating disorder. It sounds as though you have the knowledge and dedication to succeed in a healthy lifestyle without needing to count calories - lucky you, and I really hope it works out for you. Counting calories shouldn't be a lifestyle, but a temporary measure to re-educate ourselves, IMO.
  • chrissi_k
    chrissi_k Posts: 175 Member
    I just wanted to thank you for what you are doing. My husband is currently deployed again too and I know how hard it is to eat healthy when you have to rely on the MRE's.
    He did try to work out as much as he could, but I think the deployments, the long work hours and all the other things you are facing are enough to deal with.

    Don't feel guilty for not logging your food right away. Have you tried just eating like you usually do and writing what you ate down at the end of the week. So this way you will still log your food but not worry about it too much.
  • lifeskittles
    lifeskittles Posts: 438 Member
    Thank you for that response :)...And yes I have found that I just write down what I eat on a pad of notebook paper and do not count the calories...Then at the very end of the day if I really want to I will add up the calories in everything...But I think at this point in my life I'm just going to worry about keeping a good outlook and trying to be healthy and then I'll just really buckle down when I can finally come home! By then, any food, even flavorlessly healthy will taste good...So I should do just fine! lol. Where is your husband deployed at?
  • lifeskittles
    lifeskittles Posts: 438 Member
    Good for you. For me, logging obsessively spiralled into an eating disorder. It sounds as though you have the knowledge and dedication to succeed in a healthy lifestyle without needing to count calories - lucky you, and I really hope it works out for you. Counting calories shouldn't be a lifestyle, but a temporary measure to re-educate ourselves, IMO.

    Yes! It sort of gave me a bit of an eating disorder...One time I ate so much that I actually tried to make myself throw up because my stomach hurt so bad...Luckily I HATE throwing up and I had such bad indigestion and felt crappy afterward that I said screw that, never again! I don't know how bulemics do it.
  • novaboi24
    novaboi24 Posts: 16 Member
    I use the calories counter but I don't follow it 100% because it's fairly inaccurate for me with all these different types of food. I just log in my calories roughly.
  • Crystal817
    Crystal817 Posts: 2,021 Member
    Do whatever works best for you! :smile:
  • luvmydog2
    luvmydog2 Posts: 243 Member
    Dont have problem logging my calories , but do have a problem with the scales ....I only get weighed every 3 weeks at my doctors if i keep getting on the scales ... get discontented , so happy to go along with what i am doing for now , Have lost 9 lbs so far in 35 days ...very happy with that as i am 64 yrs of age and not so easy to exercise with back injury ..( just walking and cleaning for now .)
  • lifeskittles
    lifeskittles Posts: 438 Member
    Dont have problem logging my calories , but do have a problem with the scales ....I only get weighed every 3 weeks at my doctors if i keep getting on the scales ... get discontented , so happy to go along with what i am doing for now , Have lost 9 lbs so far in 35 days ...very happy with that as i am 64 yrs of age and not so easy to exercise with back injury ..( just walking and cleaning for now .)

    Congrats on the weight loss! I don't lose any fat unless I work out :(
  • chrissi_k
    chrissi_k Posts: 175 Member
    Thank you for that response :)...And yes I have found that I just write down what I eat on a pad of notebook paper and do not count the calories...Then at the very end of the day if I really want to I will add up the calories in everything...But I think at this point in my life I'm just going to worry about keeping a good outlook and trying to be healthy and then I'll just really buckle down when I can finally come home! By then, any food, even flavorlessly healthy will taste good...So I should do just fine! lol. Where is your husband deployed at?

    Just make sure that you are safe, that is all that matters right now :) You will do fine :) Don't worry about that too much right now. He is in Afghanistan again, but we reached almost the end.
  • lifeskittles
    lifeskittles Posts: 438 Member
    Thank you for that response :)...And yes I have found that I just write down what I eat on a pad of notebook paper and do not count the calories...Then at the very end of the day if I really want to I will add up the calories in everything...But I think at this point in my life I'm just going to worry about keeping a good outlook and trying to be healthy and then I'll just really buckle down when I can finally come home! By then, any food, even flavorlessly healthy will taste good...So I should do just fine! lol. Where is your husband deployed at?

    Just make sure that you are safe, that is all that matters right now :) You will do fine :) Don't worry about that too much right now. He is in Afghanistan again, but we reached almost the end.

    I will :) Got to come back to my little boy! Well I hope for the best and I'm glad you will see him soon! It's so hard being so far from the ones you love!
  • chrissi_k
    chrissi_k Posts: 175 Member
    Thank you for that response :)...And yes I have found that I just write down what I eat on a pad of notebook paper and do not count the calories...Then at the very end of the day if I really want to I will add up the calories in everything...But I think at this point in my life I'm just going to worry about keeping a good outlook and trying to be healthy and then I'll just really buckle down when I can finally come home! By then, any food, even flavorlessly healthy will taste good...So I should do just fine! lol. Where is your husband deployed at?

    Just make sure that you are safe, that is all that matters right now :) You will do fine :) Don't worry about that too much right now. He is in Afghanistan again, but we reached almost the end.

    I will :) Got to come back to my little boy! Well I hope for the best and I'm glad you will see him soon! It's so hard being so far from the ones you love!

    I bet your little boy misses you like hell. I hope that you don't have much time left over there, time for you guys to come back home.
  • marzahl68
    marzahl68 Posts: 201
    Some days I just feel silly logging my food. If I've eating pretty much the same stuff I ate last week Tuesday, I already know how many calories and I feel like a 3 year old having to log it. So, sometimes I just don't log it.
    I also know that I'm not going to log my food intake for the rest of my life, I mean, come on! My goal and the entire idea of losing weight is to learn how to eat right and stay within reasonable calorie intake - so the weight stays off. That's the idea, right?
    In the beginning, logging was very helpful but the more I lose and the further I am into this journey the less I feel the need to log my food because I already know how many calories I've had.
  • firedragon064
    firedragon064 Posts: 1,082 Member
    I'm the opposite. Since I can go get any food I want. When I log, I realize how much I actually ate.
    Also I start to count calorie in my head before I eat.
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