Having doubts -- still a food centered life?

[BLERDgirl 6,417]

OMG @@Kindle - that is hysterical! As diligent as I am about logging I never weigh or measure my food. I don't even blink an eye at something I literally take one bite out of.

I think we've presented both sides of the fence here. Hopefully we haven't confused the OP.

[Thinside 155]

BLERDgirl, Kindle, and everyone who has posted -- not confused at all! Totally enjoying this thread. It's fascinating to hear everyone's different approaches.

I am formulating an idea of how I will handle food logging. I know I will log for the first 6 months or longer while I get well into the rhythm of my new eating habits/capacity. (I have been practicing eating slowly and chewing 25 times too.) Then I will probably take the approach some have mentioned of tracking Protein at least, and being very vigilant about staying at my target weight.

[Donmecca357 15]

I eat the same few things every day and you will also find a few things that you enjoy, satisfy your nutrition requirements, and make you feel satisfied. And once you find that balance, food logging will be like second nature only because you will always know exactly what you eat everyday

[BLERDgirl 6,417]

@@Thinside I'm glad. You really do have to find what works best for you. The one important thing this surgery should do is make your life easier.

[Shrinkingmom 218]

I think, as some have said before in this exchange, that it is very personal. For me, I had to obsess more about food after my surgery than before. Don't get me wrong, for the first year to year and a half, the weight came off anyway but I really planned and thought about it. Once I hit my goal, it became VERY hard for me to maintain within the 5-10 pound range I was supposed to because I decided that now that I had reached goal, I could be "normal" and since I couldn't eat as much, it would not be hard to maintain. WRONG - I figured out very quickly that in order to maintain my new weight, I had to plan, plan, and plan what would go in my mouth. I learned that sugar is like crack cocaine to me and as long as I leave it alone totally I am fine but if I take one bite, the hunger, cravings, thoughts about food, and yes, the addiction, hits me like a lion!! It has taken a while for me to figure out how to maintain my weight loss goal because lets face it, we have the mentality of a fat person forever and we have to monitor in some form what we eat, whether that is in your head or on an app. Our bodies are used to carrying around a lot of excess weight so physically, we are usually pretty fit because our muscles and our heart had to maintain that weight. Once you lose to a regular size, it takes a lot more work to maintain or lose. My heart rate went from a 88 resting for the last 25 years to now a 56. That tells you how much less work it is having to do!!

Everyone is different and what works for me might not work for you and you may find it easier to maintain but enjoy the "honeymoon period" when it is going to come off either way and LEARN during that time about how to treat your body! It will pay off in the end.

By the way... to feel as good as I do now, I would log every bite that goes in my mouth or my whole families for that matter. It is a small thing to achieve this level of comfort and ability to live my life!!

Good luck and I wish you the very best!!

[Babbs 14,680]

For me, the unpleasant part of logging was when any non-normal eating came up. Going out to dinner at a place that doesn't have their nutritional info online. Not knowing all the ingredients used in a meal when I went to my in-law's or my sister's or my parents'. Not knowing the exact weight of the things I might eat at a party or cookout.

It's just me and hubby right now (kids are grown. YAY!) and we eat out a lot. This has been the challenge for me, also. How do those of you who log handle that? I usually just "guestimate", but yes, it bothers me to no end. I log off and on, and if I can't do it accurately, then why do it at all? I love the UPC scan thing on MFP, because it's fool proof. A restaurant? Not so much.

[JamieLogical 8,684]

if I can't do it accurately, then why do it at all?

EXACTLY. If I am not going to be able to log accurately and have to guestimate a bunch of stuff if I eat out or I eat food someone else has prepared, then why log at all? The whole point of logging (in my eyes) is to have accurate information on which to base decisions about potential changes in your behavior. If I'm not going to weigh my food or track single bites here and there, then how is there any value in the inaccurate information I'm storing up?

Thus my need to be completely OCD about it when I do track. There's no fudging or grey areas for me. Either I am tracking 100% accurately and driving myself and everyone around me completely insane, or I am not tracking at all. Post-sleeve, beyond the first couple months of solid foods, I have chosen not to track at all. Unless I have any cause for concern. Then I might track for a bit to see what's up. I have also been know to do a couple "spot-checks" will I will enter one day's worth of food on a day when I am eating very "typically" just to make sure my ranges are about where I think they are.

[Shrinkingmom 218]

For me, the unpleasant part of logging was when any non-normal eating came up. Going out to dinner at a place that doesn't have their nutritional info online. Not knowing all the ingredients used in a meal when I went to my in-law's or my sister's or my parents'. Not knowing the exact weight of the things I might eat at a party or cookout.

It's just me and hubby right now (kids are grown. YAY!) and we eat out a lot. This has been the challenge for me, also. How do those of you who log handle that? I usually just "guestimate", but yes, it bothers me to no end. I log off and on, and if I can't do it accurately, then why do it at all? I love the UPC scan thing on MFP, because it's fool proof. A restaurant? Not so much.

When I do track, I use the app "Lose it" which has a lot of the food items from restaurants I go to and I can also put my own recipes in. It also calculates all the nurtition for me. I think there are others that do the same thing, I am just not sure what they are.

There is also an app called "Healthyout" that will find restaurants near you that serve healthy choices.

Good luck!

[VSGAnn2014 12,992]

@@Babbs and @@JamieLogical ,

MFP has so many restaurant foods loaded into the MFP database that I don't have any trouble finding everything I have eaten (while traveling on business or eating out or doing takeout).

The only time I struggled was when I went to NOLA in January and ate at some amazing places where I'm pretty sure that restaurant is the only place in the world where some of its menu offerings are served. Therefore, I just wound up logging "bearnaise sauce" and stuff like that for some amazing (and completely unknown) sauces and other things that the chefs served. After all, you can't put more butter in two tablespoons of sauce than in bearnaise!

But fortunately (or unfortunately) I don't eat like that very often.

[JamieLogical 8,684]

@@Babbs and @@JamieLogical ,

MFP has so many restaurant foods loaded into the MFP database that I don't have any trouble finding everything I have eaten (while traveling on business or eating out or doing takeout).

That's only for chain restaurants, which I don't eat at often. We like to support local businesses. Also, pretty sure my mother-in-law's lasagna... or my father-in-law's Cincinnati chili aren't in there... or the myriad things I might take a bite of at a cookout aren't on MFP. During the times that I have tracked my food on past diets, I would avoid those situations like the plague rather than track inaccurately. I sat through entire parties without taking a single bite of food. I said no to many invitations out to eat. I made my family and my in-laws write down all the ingredients they used in the dinners they made whenever they had us over. I was totally OCD about it and I don't know how to be anything else. It's either track every single bite of everything or don't track. I admit I am not a normal person!

[BLERDgirl 6,417]

For me, the unpleasant part of logging was when any non-normal eating came up. Going out to dinner at a place that doesn't have their nutritional info online. Not knowing all the ingredients used in a meal when I went to my in-law's or my sister's or my parents'. Not knowing the exact weight of the things I might eat at a party or cookout.

It's just me and hubby right now (kids are grown. YAY!) and we eat out a lot. This has been the challenge for me, also. How do those of you who log handle that? I usually just "guestimate", but yes, it bothers me to no end. I log off and on, and if I can't do it accurately, then why do it at all? I love the UPC scan thing on MFP, because it's fool proof. A restaurant? Not so much.

[BLERDgirl 6,417]

It doesn't bother me because I know that unless I am using the very same scales that the manufacturer used my measurements won't be exact. I am a home cook that rarely follows a recipe so exact measurements never bothered me anyway. As for worrying about a single bite, nope not a worry as long as I am honest about when a bite turns into a small serving. Since nothing is perfect in this world anyway, I realize that there is a plus/minus on every single measurement there is.

[Kindle 8,667]

@@Babbs and @@JamieLogical ,

MFP has so many restaurant foods loaded into the MFP database that I don't have any trouble finding everything I have eaten (while traveling on business or eating out or doing takeout).

That's only for chain restaurants, which I don't eat at often. We like to support local businesses. Also, pretty sure my mother-in-law's lasagna... or my father-in-law's Cincinnati chili aren't in there... or the myriad things I might take a bite of at a cookout aren't on MFP. During the times that I have tracked my food on past diets, I would avoid those situations like the plague rather than track inaccurately. I sat through entire parties without taking a single bite of food. I said no to many invitations out to eat. I made my family and my in-laws write down all the ingredients they used in the dinners they made whenever they had us over. I was totally OCD about it and I don't know how to be anything else. It's either track every single bite of everything or don't track. I admit I am not a normal person!

Ditto here. I live in a rural community with exactly 15 restaurants in the entire county (and this includes the delis in both grocery stores) and there is only one chain restaurant....Subway. So logging meals when I go out would be pretty difficult. I am single and don't particularly like cooking so I'm all about takeout and prepared deli food. (But when I do cook, its actually pretty killer ) Not to mention that I'm kind of a semi-grazer. I don't eat "servings" of anything....its more of a couple bites of many things. Almost every meal is a potluck! NO practical way to track. It maybe would have been doable in the first 4-6 months when I was eating a little more structured and not so much variety, but not at this point, given the way I eat.

And here's a toast (Protein shake, of course) to "not normal"

[Ms. Reid 51]

I'm one of the people who logs everything, everyday. For me it is not about being obsessed with food. It is about having a visual reminder that I am sticking with my program. So many times when I lost weight before I did not keep a food log because I wanted to eat in a more 'natural' way. Now I keep my food journal with me and write down my calories and Protein intake and draw a smiling face at the end of the day when I stick with the program. That string of smiling faces tells me I'm going to make it and to keep going.

[blondebomb 580]

haha..I was "weighing food" for several months and logging everything! it was mentally exhausting me! for me I do well to get in 2 to 3 oz a meal and whats left (yes I always have left on my small plate) the dog is patiently waiting to get the rest! she knows its coming ! I eat Protein 1st...always and my Snacks are protein (raw pecans, cheese, cottage cheese, greek yogurt). I do like my chike Protein Powder coffee drink! after months of logging MFP I learned what I was eating and the nutrition and other count info..I have stuck with that. so I have backed off. for me it taught me. but its there a great tool if I need to go back to using it..