What a difference logging in food makes

nikii14
nikii14 Posts: 403 Member
edited September 18 in Food and Nutrition
I started this back in Jan. I was exercising and logging in my food religiously. I lost 4 lbs and a few inches, which is great! After a while, I got a bit lazy and stopped logging in my food, but I continued to exercise the same amount and have not lost a pound. What a difference logging in your food makes!!
It stops me from snacking and taking that extra "bite" and thinking its ok to have a devil dog (or 2:embarassed:) It really kept me on track. Hopefully I can get back into the swing of things since its close to shorts/ bathing suit season :tongue:

Replies

  • nikii14
    nikii14 Posts: 403 Member
    I started this back in Jan. I was exercising and logging in my food religiously. I lost 4 lbs and a few inches, which is great! After a while, I got a bit lazy and stopped logging in my food, but I continued to exercise the same amount and have not lost a pound. What a difference logging in your food makes!!
    It stops me from snacking and taking that extra "bite" and thinking its ok to have a devil dog (or 2:embarassed:) It really kept me on track. Hopefully I can get back into the swing of things since its close to shorts/ bathing suit season :tongue:
  • ali106
    ali106 Posts: 3,754 Member
    I totally agree with you!

    I do so much better logging in my day than not!

    I hate when I get lazy at night and forget to log in my dinner....I'm making a personal goal to not do that for a month and see how I do!

    good luck!
    Ali :flowerforyou:
  • maestrachistosa
    maestrachistosa Posts: 202 Member
    I totally agree. Before I found MFP, I would keep track of food by name only, not with all the numbers. I thought that was enough. Now, seeing the numbers there in all their glory, REALLY keeps me honest about what I put in my mouth!
  • andiebabe
    andiebabe Posts: 2
    It's even better to do it online, too! So much easier. I used to log mine in a notebook, looking up everything and marking it down. For some reason, being accountable online makes a HUGE difference.
  • Cledus
    Cledus Posts: 3 Member
    I hardly ever drink a can of Pepsi anymore because I hate the thought of having to put it in MFP and add 150 calories for something with no nutritional value. I used to drink at least one a day and not think twice about it before I was logging everything.

    Also, using MFP forces me to weigh everything so I can log it. My portion sizes used to be way too big.
  • Mlieb
    Mlieb Posts: 121
    I agree...It also helps to plan lunch and dinner menus. When I know how much I have left, I tend to regulate my intake better

    Melissa
  • cinandchris
    cinandchris Posts: 229 Member
    This site makes it so easy to log in my food. I eat so much less now that I have to see the numbers. The crazy thing is that I still almost always over my 1200 calories. I can only imagine how many calories I used to eat a day. :sad:
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,420 Member
    I was wondering today..it is pretty time consuming to keep track of the calories. I wonder if anyone who has been here for a while has stopped, or feels they can "eyeball" it on portion sizes. I have to do that for time's sake on some days.

    So I had to adopt the 80/20 rule for keeping measurements to the gram. Some days there is no time!

    :ohwell:
  • sophialittle
    sophialittle Posts: 344 Member
    cm- i'm starting to eyeball portion sizes now. when i first started logging cals, i seriously got freaked out at the thought of leaving my house and not being able to measure out my food!:noway: but now i'm getting much more comfortable with social estimating. i've gotten comfortable with pretty much knowing the serving sizes for most things. my theory is that when i reach my maintainance weight, i'm going to have to go back out in the "real world" so i might as well start practicing estimating now.:tongue:

    as for the first part of your question, are you asking if anyone's stopped logging cals too? or you just mean stop measuring out portion sizes? i will say i went through a phase a couple weeks ago when i wasn't working out (between work and being sick) and i let some of those little things add up and didn't count, like butter here, or jelly beans there, and what i found was a very long plateau! my body wasn't losing weight anymore because there were too many cals that i was eating and wasn't holding myself accountable for. it's not like i don't know that i should log everything, i just got lazy and therefore, quit losing too! so the past week i've been back on track and lost like 4 lbs this week!

    hope that answer makes sense and answers your question. .. if not, let me know what else i can help you out with :flowerforyou: -ash:smile:
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,420 Member
    Thanks, Sophia.

    Yeah, I was kind of just thinking out loud....and throwing it out there that it is very time consuming.

    I don't want to quit logging food or exercise, but the kitchen gram scale is a bit tedious when I make something with a lot of ingredients, like a tossed salad or veg stir fry. I know they are the best things for me, so I guesstimate - otherwise I'm tied to my computer, and variety goes out the window.

    Six or seven more hours in a day would be good! Can you help me there?? :wink:

    ~Cheryl
  • uwhuskygirl
    uwhuskygirl Posts: 320
    I saw a segment on the Today Show or something like that where the nutritionist said that most foods that you consume (like meats) should never be larger than the palm of your hand. I'm not sure if I remembered it correctly, but I've been sticking to that when I can't measure and it's been working for me.
  • sophialittle
    sophialittle Posts: 344 Member
    cm-
    wow! you are dedicated! i just measure using measuring cups! lol and then i count if it's something like pretzels or something where the serving is 27 or something. but yeah, i'd say you have to estimate because you'd rather estimate than cutting down your logging all together, know what i mean? anyways good lucks!:flowerforyou:
  • abbychelle07
    abbychelle07 Posts: 656 Member
    Logging in my food totally makes a difference. I actually took a piece of cheese OUT OF MY MOUTH yesterday so that I would not have to log it in. It's not like I am not allowing myself to eat, but I was cutting the cheese for a recipe and just thoughtlessly popped it in, even though I wasn't hungry. Normally, I would snack while I was cooking, but I didn't want to log all those small things! :laugh:
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