Successful dieters log minor calories?

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jahnlaw
jahnlaw Posts: 95 Member
in Food and Nutrition
For those of you consistently losing weight I'm curious if you find it necessary to log every calorie? I'm thinking about the spray olive oil when cooking veggies or a few celery sticks before dinner. As a short hand do you provide a cushion of a certain amontat they end of the day?

Perhaps you are more meticulous if your weight loss stalls but otherwise are more free?

What do you find works best?
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Replies

  • dls06
    dls06 Posts: 6,774 Member
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    Log everything I eat, everything I cook with and weigh all my food to make sure the portion is correct.
  • jahnlaw
    jahnlaw Posts: 95 Member
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    OK. I can see the need to weigh food to be accurate. I'm also working out 5 days a week. To be successful is a food scale or HRM more important?
  • CMmrsfloyd
    CMmrsfloyd Posts: 2,383 Member
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    I log everything. And I weigh out correct portions. I have both a digital food scale and a HRM, you can get a good digital food scale at Walmart or Target for $20 (Taylor brand). My HRM was $90 however I hear the exact same one is much cheaper on Amazon.com. (Polar brand) I feel they are both important to me personally, since I want to be accurate about my food and also since I eat my earned exercise calories. If you're going to eat your exercise calories, I believe a HRM can be helpful in making sure you're not *over-eating* them, as estimates from MFP/machines/etc can sometimes be quite high.
  • mpbfmom
    mpbfmom Posts: 49 Member
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    I don't have an HRM, yet, but am considering it. The food scale has been invaluable and I use it daily. It has helped tremendously with portion control which was a big deal for me.

    I also don't log really minor things, but really am strict about everything else.
  • richardhayes27
    richardhayes27 Posts: 3
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    Oops, I was logged in as my husband. Going to log in as myself.
  • redefiningmyself
    redefiningmyself Posts: 476 Member
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    I log every single thing I put in my mouth. Otherwise I think its too easy to forget what I've eaten and that leads to miscalculations that snowball.

    I'd say a food scale is more important, because you will get more accuracy with learning portions. Most people overestimate what a portion really is - especially since most dishes and cups are sooo big.

    I just bought a heart rate monitor yesterday, I save toward that and didn't do it right away as I wanted to know I was going to stick with this before investing a lot of money. Besides MFP gives you a ballpark of calories burned with exercise so its not necessary to start with.
  • cpow81
    cpow81 Posts: 114
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    OK. I can see the need to weigh food to be accurate. I'm also working out 5 days a week. To be successful is a food scale or HRM more important?

    I really like having both actually. The food scale I use daily to measure my protein and it's nice to have accurate #'s for both food & calories burned during exercise with the HRM.

    I have the Polar FT7 and it's really great.
  • melrichard
    melrichard Posts: 3
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    I have both and I find these are the best tools ever. I really like my polar, gives me great feedback to monitor my efforts and to make sure I do enough and not kill myself. Really like it.

    For the food scale, it's a nice tool to start learning what a portion actually is!
  • Deev79
    Deev79 Posts: 74 Member
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    I log every little bit. And i find this makes me more accountable. I think "do I really want to eat this? Because if I do, I have to log it...and that will count toward my overall totals." Sometimes that's all I need to realize I really don't need what I was going to eat anyway. But, I think you have to account for every calorie consumed, because even those few calories will work toward your weight gain or weight loss. Every calorie counts...IMO
  • DianeTemplar
    DianeTemplar Posts: 15
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    Realistically - I am 48 and I am going to forget to write down something during the day. My personal method is to aim lower than the NEEDED number for those things I dont remember to count. For instance. I love to cook, and as most cooks know - you taste things along the way to make sure they are correct. Well - being human and all...I don't always remember to count that spoonful here and there. For what ever reason. I aim 200 calories lower than my true goal to account for situations like that.

    You do have to be honest with yourself. Don't justify or rationalize when actually counting. I dont conveniently forget. If I truely forget that is fine.
  • Crystal_Pistol
    Crystal_Pistol Posts: 750 Member
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    I think the food scale and HRM are both equally important. You want to be as accurate as possible with both. I really try to log everything.
  • deja_blu
    deja_blu Posts: 359 Member
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    Some folks don't log their fruits and veggies because of the low calories but they neglect the fact they are putting some kind of natural sugar or sodium into their bodies.

    I don't have a food scale so I use other methods to portion out my food. For example, a serving of protein should be as big as you hand. If your hand is bigger than mine, then you need a bigger portion. All bodies are made different so they need to be fueled differently.

    I have fitness tracker [FitBit] and I love it. For some things, MFP over estimates calories burned. This keeps me from eating back too many calories.

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  • weaverfit
    weaverfit Posts: 124
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    If you think you might be getting extra calories that you're not tracking, why not put in a 'quick add' of 50 calories or so to cover those incidentals right off the bat, first thing in the morning; then it's figured in for the day, no worries.
  • jezlightyear
    jezlightyear Posts: 167 Member
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    pretty much just saying the same as everyone here lol, but weighing my food is a must. it's a bit more difficult when i'm at work and eating lunch but now that i weigh things all the time at home i can guess by looking at the portion size (or if nothing else, just add a bit more than what i initially think.)

    but yeah, i won't log if i have a sip of something or whatever, or a square of dark chocolate i don't generally log if i grab it on the go or something. just make sure the recipes you add are correct and you'll be fine i reckon (:
  • MrsSullivan08
    MrsSullivan08 Posts: 274 Member
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    I log EVERYTHING! And I usually measure out portions but can't do this with meat and stuff like it because I do not have a food scale. :ohwell: I may get one in the future, but for now what I am doing is working for me. :bigsmile:
  • JaimeBrown5
    JaimeBrown5 Posts: 324
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    I don't log the oil I add to cook foods, ketchup (though I log bbq sauce if something is covered in it), or if I'm having a bite of something (i.e. a handful of my boyfriend's popcorn or three chips). I weigh everything else and wear a HRM for exercise.
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
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    I'm aware of everything I eat, but I don't always log it all. Also, the food scale is more important than the HRM.
  • marklegato
    marklegato Posts: 1 Member
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    I log everything that goes into my mouth....even down to the 5 calorie breath mint! I have the MFP app for my phone, so I have no excuses for not logging all my food.
  • klbaierwalter
    klbaierwalter Posts: 309 Member
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    I log everything that I eat. It helps me be very accoutable to what I am actually putting into my body. I also have a digital food scale (Walmart) and I honestly do not know what I would do without that thing. I also have lots of measuring cups and spoons to portion out what I'm eating. I would like to invest in at HRM of some-sort. I am hearing a lot of good things about the FitBit, so I think that will be my next purchase. I think in logging everything that I eat, it helps me remember that I may really want that extra slice of pizza, but looking at my calorie totals, do I really need it? I did WW online and was allowed the extra point stipend per week and I noticed that I was using those up and I wasn't really even thinking about it. I feel like on MFP, it's a little stricter, so it's really forcing me to pay attention.

    You ultimately have to find what is going to be the best fit for you personally. :-)
  • granolagrl85
    granolagrl85 Posts: 135
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    I have my calories set low to cover any little nibbles while cooking. I also quit counting my exercise calories and do not eat them back.

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