have you ecver wanted to just stop?
 

This week has been a tough one.I haven't wanted to write down my calories or keep up with anything...do you get tired of trying to keep up with every little calorie?
But I've been walking everyday.

Yes. I've gotten tired of it plenty of times in the past. And everytime I've stopped, I've gained every pound I lost back. Plus some extra. I won't go down that slippery slope again, even if it means counting everything that goes in my mouth until the day I die. Because, really, how hard is it? It's not hard at all! Getting "tired of it" is, in my opinion, self sabatoge. And it's not being tired of the counting itself, but tired of being accountable for what you eat - and the only way to do this is to hold yourself accountable.

I get tired of it everyday but more importantly I get tired of being uncomfortable being as big as I am. So in the long run its worth it. Also I take a break on the weekends. Its not as structured and so far I have been able to lose weight every week so I know as long as I try eat sensibly it will be ok.

I guess everyone's different. The counting calories way was very annoying for me and I felt like I was always counting and adding and not feeling full enough. Each time I tried to do a diet this way I ended up frustrated and giving up in the end. But anyone who can do this...WOW! I am so amazed with you and you really have my:cp:

I guess you just have to find the right diet for you. For me, the one I am on now seems a lot simplier and easier to follow long term (the 5 factor diet) which basically revolves around eating right and the right amounts and the right time of day. You don't have to count.

I dunno...beliter and eclipse you are both amazing to try and do this long term. :carrot: You go! DisgruntledOne it seems like it's working for you. I guess if you can keep it up I would as it's obviously giving you excellent results. In the end you have to decide if it's something you can keep up with!

There are times I don't feel like counting and I know that is a red flag that I'm about to do something I'll regret. However, if I do get tired and I give it some time and I think about it, I might give myself a day off from counting. More times than not, I regret my choices, but I do bounce back and get back to what works every time: counting calories + working out. It's the best combo for me. I hope you get motivated to continue. It's not easy, but the results are sooooo good.

I guess it's mostly what I'm accountable for that bothers me,like on days like today,I get up at 3 am,do not have structured times at work to take breaks & lunches,by the time I come home and get in bed by 10,I'm dead tired.I don't want to think about the calories I've eaten cuz I know I went over my limit.
I knew I needed to come here to get a good talkin to(it helps)

Yes. I have felt like quitting. And, yes, I have quit. A number of times actually.

And, every time that I do, I regret it.

I'm going to try hard not to quit this time. I once made it 4 months without quitting. This time I'm going to try for 5 and hope that if I do that, that I can do it for life.

Best wishes to us all!

A couple of weeks ago, I gave myself permission to not track calories for 3 days. A couple of important points - I was NOT quitting, this was a temporary break that I needed. And even more importantly, I did not give myself permission to go crazy with food, just not having to weigh, measure and log everything. So I probably ate slightly more than usual but definitely not what I would have eaten without paying any attention to in the past.

It coincided with TOM, and yes, I did put on a couple of pounds, but I may have anyway, so I didn't over think it.

This will not be something I do regularly - it was the first time since I started on 11/2/09. And it did what I wanted it to do - felt like I had a break and I was able to come back with renewed excitement about my journey, including logging my food every day. But it was also very, very important that this was a planned break, and not an excuse to not go back to tracking or to go crazy with eating for those three days.

Have you thought about planning what you are eating for like 2 or 3 days in a row that way you don't have to do it everyday but you still know the calories counts of what you are eating?

I do plan when I go grocery shopping,every night I plan for the next day,it's on those long days or when i don't get lunch or a break when scheduled I tend to over eat.Don't get me wrong,I don't go way overboard it's usually about 200-500 over my limit.I do still walk a mile everyday when I get my lunch break & ride my exercise bike 2-3 miles.
I just wanted to know if anyone else has a hard time or was out there on my own?

I get tired of the amount of TIME it takes to track each item. I keep thinking "I don't want to do this forever!" I know that for this to work, I need good habits that will carry over to when Im maintaining and not counting.

I went to lunch with a co-worker yesterday. She is 5'7 & 120-125? Anyway, she ordered some french fries & a water for lunch. In my mind I was thinking... she gets to eat anything she wants & she stays so tiny! I'm way jealous! Well, I decided to mention that I had to watch my calorie intake and to my surprise she does too! She just keeps a running total in her head instead of writing it down. She said if she doesn't she will put on weight really easy. It was nice to learn that those of us who need to lose weight are not the only ones having to watch their calories. I don't know why but for some reason I felt better knowing some thin people have to count calories too!

Does it REALLY take that much time, though? I spend, maybe, 15 minutes a day putting my food in. Probably not even that much. How long is it taking you?

I agree, if you have a good system in place it really shouldn't take that long. I have an app on my phone that tracks my cals and has a huge database of foods and I can store all my recipes in there, it's called LoseIt! they also have a free online version. So the only extra time comes when I have to put a new recipe in. In the begining it took a little more time because everyday I was having to put in a recipe, but now I literally spend two minutes in the morning planning what I'm going to eat for the day and then I'm done. If I make a substitution then that only take a few minutes to change it there on the spot. I also plan my meals a week ahead so I know exactly what to buy at the store and then the day of the only really items to add in are snacks and whatnot. I have a bunch of recipes that I like that I can mix and match to hit my calorie goals.

If you truely feel like you need a break then take one. Allow yourself a day or two to just practice "portion" control. Don't give up, it really is worth it.

I wanted to add that you'll find that most maintainers keep journaling/tracking. I know I plan to and for as long as it takes. Some suggest that they eyeball until the scale starts creeping up and then they are back to tracking. I don't know if I want that temptation and am ok with the fact that I may be tracking for the rest of my life. Good Luck!

It doesn't bother me at all. Sorry. I do not ever want to quit this. I have not had that feeling this time. When I did South Beach, yes, I wanted to quit...and I did. Calorie counting is the plan for me.

But I have made it dummy proof for myself. I found the ideal thing that worked with who I am. I count six meals and make sure I don't go over 200 calories. All I have to ever add up is up to 200 calories. And most of my food is pretty automated at this point. I know the calorie counts for most of what I eat without even checking. I do not journal. I eat whole foods.

I'm not saying it was easy at the beginning. Heck no! I had to dig in my heels and get through some pretty intense hunger that lasted about 3 weeks. But since then, this has been easy, really. For the most part, I do not get hungry. And if I do get hungry, I make sure I'm eating some really filling meals. This usually means I need to increase the veggies so I get the most bang for my buck.

I think sometimes wa make this harder than it is.

Drop the 'forever' mentality! Thats a plan killer! :hug:


I have to prepackage my meals and snacks (ALL) 3 or 4 days at a time. 2 isn;t enough to exert the effort in my opinion. So I cook, track, baggie, and package. Then (especially TOM) I track my foods into my fit day for a few days. If I have anything outside of planned meals, it will take two seconds to track it.

Set yourself up for success.... because you can do this!:carrot:

I loved the comments here--my experience exactly. It does get monotonous at times, but as Eclipse said whenever I've stopped I've gained it all back, and as luckymommy said, when I stop tracking it is a red flag because it means that I am about to do something I regret.

So you all have said it so well, and I just need to say amen!

Maybe some people don't have to be so careful, but I am not one of those people. I do not have a lot of leeway in how much I can eat. If I start sneaking in just a little unaccounted for here and a little there, before you know it I'm off down a bad path and who knows when I'll come back. The last time I went down the path I came back 4 years and 40 pounds later.

I may give myself permission to give myself a day off when I have a special occasion, but I write down in my journal that I am deliberately giving myself a day off, and I never, ever take two days off in a row because I know how that goes.

o.k.,I feel like the bad one here.I'm not giving up on counting or complaining that it takes too much time,I just wondered if I was the only one who felt that way?Like I said before,it's only my long days (3am-10pm)that wear me down.I love this plan,I've lost about 12 pounds so far & I'm happy.

You shouldn't feel bad at all. I bet you can ask anybody who is on any plan if there is something they get tired of in that plan and more and likely the answer will be yes! I hope instead of feeling like the bad one you get what you came on here for. the knowledge that nope you are not alone in being annoyed at count calories.

Please don't feel bad. I should have added in my earlier comment that I have days that I just want to say heck with it all! It would be so nice to enjoy food, as much food as I want, and not have to worry all the time. We know where that gets us though.

If your plan is making you well and truly miserable, you need a new plan. It's important not to think of this as an either/or--"either I stay like this and am miserable or I go back to eating like I was and be fat." There are so many other choices. A lifetime plan takes some serious open-minded creativity because you have to come up with a whole new way to eat--it's like moving to a new town and having to come up with a new place to live, new places to shop, new places to send your bills. You are truly starting from scratch, and if you make your new choices too quickly, you won't like them and you won't like the new place.

Some questions: do you like--like really, really like-the foods you are eating? Do you look forward to them? If you hate what you are eating, you'll fixate on what you used to eat. Read recipe threads here and see all the different things people eat. Go out of your comfort zone. Most people only look at about 5% of the things in the grocery store as food that they would ever, ever buy, but everything there is eaten by people every day. Quit dismissing things out of habit. (this was hard for me).

What are you eating that is such a pain in the butt to log? I eat very, very simple things and weigh everything. If you click my fitday link (and I recommend clicking everyone's link--great way to find ideas), you'll see that virtually everything I eat is one ingredient: baked chicken, strawberries, carrots, tilapia--and it's recorded by weight. Weight is much easier and neater than volume. Get a kitchen scale (and learn what the z/t button does).

Third question--are you eating enough? Constant, grinding hunger is NOT a requirement and must be avoided. If you are hungry all the time, you need to change your plan, because it's only a matter of time before you give it up: the crankiness, the inability to concentrate, the tiredness of real hunger are not sustainable and would frustrate and depress anyone.

hometowngirl & DisgruntledOne,thanks,I was begining to think I was in the wrong place for support.
I really like this plan & I do plan my meals with stuff I do like.I'm eating veggies that I've never ate before & my coworkers think I'm silly cuz I keep tha Calorie King book in my purse & read it all the time to get familiar with all the different options for my calories.
Thanks again.

I use a nutritional software. I really like it and it takes just a few minutes to prepare it in the morning and then adjust it once at night if I changed something I ate during the day.

Do I ever feel like quitting the counting? No. I have toyed with the idea, but I haven't been able to give up the count or the record keeping that it provides. I count no matter what I eat, some days are more than others, but if I didn't count the bad and the good, I'd wouldn't be able to see why there are fluctuations.

beliter, don't feel bad. I'm sorry you didn't feel supported by what I and others said. I really do feel like chucking it all sometimes. I was just trying to give you some reasons not to chuck it all! You've lost, what, 13 lbs so far? That's awesome. What you're doing is working! Don't give it up!

Yup and I havent tracked cals for about 2 weeks now. Now I am a intuitive eater and loving it.

You're welcome. Congrats on your weight loss so far! You are off to a great start. :yes:

Sometimes I feel like not writing it all down. But - if I am not keeping track, I do not do well in the long run. It doesn't take that much time, really. I do it in a journal that is with me - so it's easy to write it down and keep a running total. I figure if losing weight and eating healthfully is really important to me I should be able to make time for it.

If I had a health concern that required some time - I would need to do it. I think, for me, healthy eating is a health concern.

I also have a secondary food plan. When I go on vacation or out of town - I use food exchanges. That's easy and is a nice break once in a while.

I have tried to stop and always gain the wt back.

I am bad at estimating portion sizes if I don't weigh my food, so I think I am just going to have to do this forever.
(I find it easier to use a food scale than to constantly be using measuring cups).