Hi, just wondering who charts and if you feels it actually helps. I did weight watchers and charted and was very successful for a while. I would love to hear why people do or don't. Thanks!

I chart my food and exercise daily on dailyplate.com I think it is too easy for me to go over on calories (yes even with the LB) if I don't keep an eye on it. In addition, I like to watch my sodium intake, make sure I'm getting my Protein, etc. I usually log my day in the morning, so I stick to what I haVe entered and there have been times where I've entered something and once I have seen where my sodium would be for the day (or calories) I've gone back and chosen something different.

While I can't eat as much as I used to, I still need that accountability and seeing it listed. It's too easy for me to sweep something "bad" under the rug and forget about it if I don't have to log it.

HTH

p.s. It's also motivating to me to log my exercise/activities, as it amazes me how many calories some activities burn and I love seeing that. It also gives me a site to record my weight and keep track of my weight and BMI.

I chart my food and exercise daily on dailyplate.com I think it is too easy for me to go over on calories (yes even with the LB) if I don't keep an eye on it. In addition, I like to watch my sodium intake, make sure I'm getting my Protein, etc. I usually log my day in the morning, so I stick to what I haVe entered and there have been times where I've entered something and once I have seen where my sodium would be for the day (or calories) I've gone back and chosen something different.

While I can't eat as much as I used to, I still need that accountability and seeing it listed. It's too easy for me to sweep something "bad" under the rug and forget about it if I don't have to log it.

HTH

p.s. It's also motivating to me to log my exercise/activities, as it amazes me how many calories some activities burn and I love seeing that. It also gives me a site to record my weight and keep track of my weight and BMI.

Do you find 900-1200 cals/day sufficient? I've been struggling to find a good number.

Another The Daily Plate on LIVESTRONG.COM - Calorie Counter, Weight Loss, Food Calorie Counter, Nutrition Facts | LIVESTRONG.COM user here. I'm Melody23 there if anyone wants to add me. I'm a gold member there (I find it very worth the cost) but I used it as a free member for a long time before I went gold, and I think sticking to using it has kept me on track and got me to goal.

Karnold-

I was actually taking in about 900 calories a day at one point and was struggling to lose so my nutritionist told me to increase my calories. I really do better right around 1200. Of course some days I'm under that and closer to 1000, but there is also an occasional day when I'm over. If you ever find yourself struggling to lose and are taiking in less calories, try increasing them a bit. I know it sounds odd - was hard for me to wrap my head around this, but it has made a difference for me.

Melody -

I'm still a freebie user on dailyplate, but love the website!

I don't. I know from past diet failures that having to do something like that every day doesn't work for me. I need low maintenance. I work a 50-60 hour week, go to grad school and run a charity. I suck at trying to log everything. I know it doesn't work for me so I don't even bother. All it does is add unneeded stress.

But one thing I do is keep track of my Protein and Iron intake (I have hemolytic anemia). It's just a running tabulation in my head each day though. Nothing formal.

If it works for you, by all means do it!

For me, the thought of measuring and weighing and counting each and every bite of every morsel of food I put into my mouth from now until the day I die gives me horrors. And then to have to write it down or journal it or track it? Good god. And then to review it? ARRRRRRGH. No thank you. Life is too short for me. Give me liberty, or give me death, thank you very much. That's why I love the band. I don't have to do all that if I don't want to. And if others want to, they certainly can. The band is an equal opportunity diet aid.

All dramatic joking aside; for me when I "diet" I food obsess. Can I have this? Can I have that? Do I have enough calories to eat a good dinner? I overate by 25 calories OMG what will I DO??? Or worse "I blew it at lunch might as well keep on eating like a pig at a trough NOW" I thought about food 24/7. Now I don't. I am free free free and I love it.

Food is just fuel for me now; I finally tamed that lion. I'll never go back to that obsessed sad dieter.

Edited August 30, 200917 yr by RestlessMonkey

I have been tracking my food since my surgery on 8/8/09. My dietician wants to see me a month after I'm on solids to see what I've been eating and how it's working for me. It's easier to keep track online (I'm using myfitnesspal.com) and then I can just print it out for her. I don't obsess and some days I don't track everything, but I do try to keep it somewhat accurate. It really helps me be true to myself. It's easier for me to do online because I can do it from home, work, wherever I have access to internet!

I've been doing the daily plate for almost a year now and it's just second nature. So quick and easy. I think I would have been a failure (lost only 20-30 pounds at most and cry about it constantly here) with out it. I'm not saying I never take a day off from doing it, but I do it 97% of the time.

I log my food on The Daily Plate too (they have the BEST database of foods!)

I also bought a Go Wear Fit armband and it helps me track my activities and calories burned. It's not perfect, but it gives me a relative view day after day. So at the end of each day, I take my totals from The Daily Plate and plug them in my GoWearFit Activity Manager. This way, I know my approximate caloric intake and output each day. My goal is a 1000 calorie deficit per day. I don't always make my goal LOL but that's my target.

100% a dailyplate worshiper!! I log everytime I can, sometimes I don't have computer access and I actually under-eat because I don't want to mess up my progress.. Its just as good of a tool as the band is..!!! Suggestion: I make my log public, so newbies can see what I am eating and maybe give them some new ideas...SEE BELOW!!!

Edited September 7, 200917 yr by kpdgal
add

Whatever works I say.

personally I absolutely loathe tracking food and although I'm a keen runner, I dont track my workouts either. I absolutely hate feeling I should or should not do something because some chart or plan says I should. I'm a do what I feel like on the day kinda person.

Also, I grew up counting calories from the age of about 11. I know the calorie content of everything I eat, and I'm a label reader. Now I'm banded and can be reasonably sure I actually do eat about the recommended serving size and not four times that much, I'm very much able to just add up accurately in my head. Not a day goes by that I dont know approximately what I've eaten, but i dont plan it, I just add it up mentally AFTER the fact. But its always been a case of near enough is good enough for me, I lost weight pretty well.

I personally find charting and tracking the kind of food obsessed behaviour that made me fat. I'd prefer not to even think about what I eat and that works for me.

I counted and tracked on myfitnesspal.com until I had good restriction. Now I find myself not tracking every bite because I know there is no possible way that I can be taking in more than 1000 calories a day. I need to get back to it though. I think it is a good thing to do, even with good restriction.

i have been recording my food for almost 2 months now, it makes me feel accountable and also when it was right after surgery it helped me keep track of my protein, to make sure i got in enough, and still today it helps me with that!!!

I don't expect I will do it forever. I always balked at logging my food ("journaling" it) in the past, however the new internet tracking tools make it so easy.

And I find that I learn a lot. As I do this over time, I am really getting a true sense of how much (in terms of calories, fat, carbs, etc.) that I am eating. I was pretty good at carb estimates already, but calories not so much.

Sometimes it's just reassuring. For example, yesterday FELT like a huge pig-out day but it was only 1,250 calories. Some days I feel like I'm not eating too much, but due to the items I've chosen, I end up higher than than I should have been.

So for me, logging right now is a CALLIBRATION tool to keep me in check. I hope and expect that it will become second nature and I won't need to log every bite at some point. But until my internal estimator is properly callibrated, then it's a good way to keep things in check and re-educate myself.

That is my goal too, that by tracking my food now it will just be second nature later on in life. I truly am as well, re-educating myself on eating healthy. If nothing else, counting my calories. It was important for me because i am forced to see how much i am really eating. Because I know before surgery, I definately was not aware of how much i was eating. So this was definately eye opening and very helpful for me. But i probably wont do it forever