I am feeling really overwhelmed. If I could have eaten 6 small meals, tracked all Water, Protein, calories, and carbs, I wouldn't have gotten myself in the position of needing WLS. I am frustrated with myself because I don't know what I thought -- I knew the sleeve was just a tool and wasn't a magic wand. I guess I just thought that it would be easier to keep track of stuff in my head without having to worry about looking up nutritional information and writing it all down every day.

Any thoughts?

You can use MyFitnessPal to help you track...website and there's a smartphone app. I like that when you add a food you've eaten, you can actually scan the bar code on the packaging and it will pull it up. I haven't had anything yet that wasn't in their database. It makes tracking sooooo much easier.

Of course, the scanner function is when using your phone

The first 4 weeks I tracked everything on a blank calendar so I could show my NUT and because it was easy at that point as I was eating so little.

I then went to MFP and do track everything at this point. I'm still in losing phase so want to know if there's a bump in the road if it's due to a change in my intake.

My FitnessPal is great -- it's quick and very easy to use.

If you have a smart phone and you can download my fitness pal, right before you eat a meal type it out on the screen. It takes 30 seconds. It may seem like a hassle in the beginning but you get used to it and you'll see that tracking especially food will be so beneficial to your long term success. The sleeve, as far as I can tell, only prevents binge eating or eating too much at one time. It does nothing to stop you from snacking here and there all day, which won't help you lose any weight! Only you can prevent that!

I don't track my food for the most part. I check to see every once in awhile to see how much I am taking in with carb calorie and protein. I always eat protein veggies/fruit then a carb. I have dieted most my life and ate pretty clean and healthy before surgery. Snacking was my big problem! I was always hungry! Since surgery this is not a problem for me. I didn't get this surgery to be constantly thinking about food. I don't snack or pop in extra food when cooking and stick to portions. Some people need to track. It a sense of control and keeps them accountable. I however don't at this point and I am not going to go crazy and make myself miserable doing it. I am too busy to do that even using the scanner on mfp. I am losing weight and have no problems what so ever. I am a little over month out and have lost 35 lbs from the start of my pre-op diet.

I track every single thing...even on my bad days - I need to know for sure how bad I've been. I track food, water, and exercise using Myfitness Pal. I've even bought a fit bit to track my steps...it syncs right into my Myfitness Pal account for me. The surgery...your sleeve...is only a tool. You still have to work at this. I know it seems overwhelming now...but as it becomes habit, it too will become easier. You will also begin to learn the easy things to choose to eat so that in a pinch you can still make a good decision.

I track everything using MFP as well - mainly because I need to know how much Protein I'm getting in. While tracking can seem like a time suck (although, I find it very easy to do with my smart phone, tablet & computer.

In reading your post, however, I think it's important to remember that I could not have done this without my sleeve. Yeah, I can track without it...but there's no way I'd be eating as little and as balanced as I do without it. I'd be starving. I'd give in and have a huge plate of nachos (and a burrito). I'd have days where I didn't care.

The sleeve forced me to care, and it forces me to make the best food choices I can - I don't have space in my tummy to choose crap, and still get in my daily protein needs!

I seem to have greater success by tracking, SO I track! BUT I also generally eat (mostly) the same every day so I can track it easily, and I stroke tally liquid. Easy Peezie.

Myfitnesspal.com is an awesome tool for accountability. I type the food in and MFP does the math on several values. You can even tell it which values you want to track instead of the default ones. It is a requirement in my program, and for my next Nutrition visit coming up, she wants my password so that she can check on me in-between visits. The catch - you have to be honest with yourself.

The first month or so on solid food I tracked to make sure I was getting enough protein. Once I got my routine down, I stopped. I eat 5 times a day and don't nibble in between so I don't vary much. As long as I am losing and feeling well, I plan to continue this way. I don't want to obsess about food and feel like I am a slave to this process, as this way of eating is forever.. Having said that, if I stop losing or start eating more quantity of food, I will definitely track for awhile to see what is going on. Maybe this would work for you too. Good luck!

I was writing everything down because I'm technically challenged, but I started using MyFitnessPal this week, and even I can figure it out. It's really easy. Tracking really keeps you focused. Just another tool in our tool box.

I too use My Fitness Pal & find it extremely easy. I love that you can change the amount of what you ate too on there, like a default might show up as 1 sandwich but I switch the amount to .50 to show I only had half of a sandwich (I'm not eating sandwiches yet, just using that as an example). It's pretty easy...if I'm home I just walk over to the computer & log in what I've had. If I'm out for the day, I still pretty much remember what I've had & just log it all in at night & I do log every single little thing...even if I had something I wasn't supposed to! It's interesting to see the totals by the end of the day! I know you can do this on your phone too but I'm not that phone savvy to use it on my phone so I just do it on my computer at home. Whatever works or helps is what I'm thinking!

Myfitnesspal is the way to go. If I'm out with the family at the mall for example, I'll use it on

My phone to decide between the things I want at the food court. It really helps me male better decisions.

At first I tracked my protein for the first month and that was it. After the first month I will admit I have tracked nothing. I'm just not good at it.