I use FitDay, and yes, there are times now when I don't list my foods for a few days at a time. But that would NOT have worked for me when I started out. The reason is that I did not have a clue about the calories in many foods, and I also didn't have a clue about what 3 ounces of anything looked like, what a tablespoon of salad dressing looked like, what a 1/4 cup of yogurt was, etc. I really did have to weigh and measure things and look them up!

I found out many horrifying things along the way--those foods I thought "Oh, yeah, this is probably more than I should eat for lunch"--only to look it up and find out it was more than I should eat in the WHOLE DAY! :fr:

So, I would say, unless you are really, really sure of amounts and calories, you may need the discipline of tracking your foods for awhile, and by awhile I mean months, not days or weeks. Yes, it's a pain at first, but after awhile it's just what you do--and it doesn't take any more time than any other task that one has to do in a day.

Worked for me!

Jay

I won't put anything in my mouth that I don't know the calorie amount for. So that's how I know that I am staying within range. I did go in to tdp to calculate my recipe for lunch. Turns out it was even better than I thought it was. I have used it to look things up that I'm not sure of since Saturday. But I just haven't been logging like I was. It's been 7 weeks of logging, so nearly two months. I've kind of got it figured out how much I can and can not eat. But I will go back to it if this mental tracking thing doesn't work. And I have been semi-tracking, just not as faithfully as I was. This doesn't mean I am giving up. Just lightening up on the logging food.

During the work week I am much more faithful than on the weekends, when I am not on the computer as much. This is when I employ the method of keeping track in my head. Last weekend I logged on a really tried to make sure everything got logged, that way I understood where I was, even if it was over. I find that the more I log, the more I am accountable and the better I do. I think that once I am maintaining, I will still log, it helps me to understand what percentages of fat, protein and carbs my diet is and how much fiber, sodium, etc that I am getting. It helps me to better understand why I get the results I get.

Interesting question. I 've been pretty faithful. I started keeping track of my calories in January 2006. Since then, I've kept track of my foods all but about 45 days. Of those 45 days, about 15 of them were in one month, when my daughter was hospitalized for two different surgeries. So they kinda don't count to me.


This past weekend I took a break from fitday, but still trying to mentally keep my calories at their usual level. I didn't do very well. I binged badly Sunday, and I think part of it was that I didn't have to "account" for it. I'm not quite ready to keep up with it in my head yet.

I use Fitday PC, btw.

I've been calorie counting for about three months, and have logged everything I eat in TDP every single day. Even the really terrible days when I've binged at parties, I force myself to go back through and put in Every. Single. Bite. I. Had. It's really disgusting when I see how much I can eat when I'm snacking on hors d'oeuvres! Makes me not want to do it again though, which is great.

I write it all down in a journal at the end of the day. The journal sits on my coffee table. I write calories/food (or estimates) and exercise. I sometimes jot cal counts on sticky notes or something at work so I can remember what it was after I throw the packaging out. I am thinking of trying fitday or something similar again though. Last time it took TOO much effort. I tried one where I had to search and use ONLY the food items they had in their database. It's easier if it's more of a spreadsheet format. But yes, I count and track faithfully. Or have been since I stared doing it almost a week ago. Teehee

I stalled with weight loss for two separate weeks in early January, but the other weeks have gone amazingly well. When looking over my Fitday it was interesting to note that during the two stalls I hadn't logged my calories.

I *thought* I was doing well those two weeks and was discouraged at the time. It's apparent I need to log my calories every day in order to remain accountable to my diet.

Since then I've logged every bite every day and have not had a stall.

I do track, but I keep it in a notebook that is always with me...be it the kitchen or my purse. IT goes everywhere with me, no matter what people think. LOL

Fit Day for me. I log it all. I use the online version so I can log in lunches.

I didn't care about it in May. I went home to spend my mom's last days with her. I didn't have access to a computer, so I was not going to let myself obsess about it.

I had a bought last March with diverticulitis but I still logged my food. I was more upset that I wasn't losing weight. I wasn't eating much because of my illness.

I've missed days because we were out of town. I'll be missing about 11 days starting Friday. We will be going on a cruise for my DDs wedding. I just plan to watch what I eat and get some exercise. We'll see if I do any damage to myself.

I have to log it. Even though I've been stalled for a while (1 1/2 - 2 months), I'm logging it. I really can't go down much more on the cals so I think I'll have to start working out more.

Fitday PC version - every day, without fail since I bought it in July. I can keep track mentally, but I really, really, really like being able to look back and analyze trends and look at the charts and graphs. I am a data junkie and the data is affirming.

I hate to do math in my head, so I log it all. I use an online program that my gym offers, but I don't recommend it. I keep using it because I have about a thousand custom foods set up and I don't want to have to set them up again somewhere else.

I like to be able to run reports (in fact, that's my main complaint about the program I use--I wish it had better reports). For example, if I want to see how many grams of protein I've averaged per day over the week, I can calculate that with the click of a mouse. It would be a lot harder to do if I was writing it all down in a notebook (and impossible to do if I were just keeping it all in my head).

I also find that if I have an off-plan meal, it is critical that I log the rest of the food I am eating that day. Otherwise, the day just becomes an eating free-for-all. This is the one thing I struggle with the most. Day to day, I'm always POP, but if I have one off-plan meal, the whole day can be shot.

I will sometimes just wing it during the weekends, but I know to keep breakfast around 200 calories, lunch around 300 calories, and dinner around 350 calories. And even then, I usually log everything by the time I hit my afternoon snack (so that the program can tell me how many calories I have available for my snack).

I do, on spark people.

I use fit day. I log everything. Well not everything, I don't log things like ketchup or mustard.

I use Fitday PC version. I log in exercise, water and every bit of anything that touches my lips and even the things I inhall to fast for it to touch :lol: I like to be able to look back and see how my food choices are getting better, and when theres a weight stall I can figure out why.. I love the reports, because even though I can't see the changes in myself, I can see it all on paper. It helps me stay focused and on track.

I have used fitday in the past but found that I was not consistent with it. Maybe I can transfer my written data to fitday in order to get those nifty charts again ;)