Posts
I haven't logged my food for a week. I can't decide if it is a problem or not. I stopped logging my food because I wasn't eating any and it seemed pointless. I logged for part of one day after my unfill, but I could only eat a couple of tablespoons of dinner that night and then I PBed so it seemed sort of pointless to log it. Since then I have been able to eat during the day, but I'm still having issues in the evening. It isn't as bad as it was before my unfill, but I still can't get much down.
Take last night, for example. Yesterday was pay-day and it is our custom to go grocery shopping after I get off work on pay-day. When we were bagging the groceries, my daughter asked if we could have McDonald's for dinner. On our budget, even McDonald's has become a luxury, but we did really well with the groceries so I decided we could do it. We took everything home and put the groceries away and then ran to McDonald's. I got a small fries and a cheese sandwich. I had four or five fries and I knew I wouldn't be able to eat much. Over the next hour, I nibbled at my sandwich and fries, but ate less than half the small sandwich and about 1/4 of the small fries.
So my calories count for the day was:
coffee with cream & sugar 165 c
2/3 piece cheese pizza 138 c 6 grams protein
protein drink 160 c 30 grams protein
piece fresh pineapple 28 c .8 grams protein
1/2 MCD ch. sandwich 105 c 5 grams protein
1/4 small fries 57.5 c > 1 gram protein
ketchup 15 c
Total 668.5 calories 41.8 grams protein
I want to say first that I usually try to eat a little bit healthier foods, but I've been pretty disinterested in food lately so I tend to eat what sounds good. Also I had brought the pizza to work the day prior, but didn't want to eat it then. Really the only thing that I was excited about eating was that dang pineapple.
I also recognize that the protein was really low. I usually prepare meals at home and focus more on getting protein. This day was unusual because of the food choices, but not because of the calories. Since my second fill three weeks ago (and subsequent unfill on Monday), I have only topped 1,000 calories per day once.
So I guess what I am saying is that it seems pointless to log my food, but I also don't want to be setting myself up to begin eating foods I shouldn't. Historically in my dieting past, I have done much better when I wrote down what I ate. But this isn't a diet and I'm having a tough time getting enough calories in so do I need to worry about it or should I just go with it and see what happens?
I also know that most (all?) of the super-stars of Bandland do not log their food. Once they had good restriction, they just ate what they wanted and tried to make the best food choices. That is really appealing to me, but I am afraid to give up the log. I know I say this all the time, but I firmly believe that I am an addict and addicts tend to put themselves into situations where they use. I don't want to be setting myself up for that. I don't feel like I am, but what the hell do I know? I didn't feel like I was eating in a way in which I'd end up 280 lbs. (127 Kg.) either, but I did.
So that is me on this Friday. I'd love to hear your thoughts about logging your food. Or anything else you want to say.
8 comments:
I waffle back and forth between tracking my food and not. I don't know the answer, please share when you figure it out.
Great post though.
I don't track, I don't know if I should. It never works for me though. I'll be a good tracker for a few days maybe even a week and then it all goes to shit. LOL
Ok, now this is just me and I'm no superstar of the banding world, but I log DAILY and everything I eat. I recognize completely that this is NOT a diet and is a lifestyle change, but part of my lifestyle change has to be for me to realize the truth about the foods I choose, even healthy ones (ex. pineapple being very high on the glycemic index and I ate pineapple like crazy). Until I began really logging my food, I never realized the hidden sodium, the carbs and the calories I was consuming. Now that I track everything, I am making more informed, healthy decisions and as a result, I am 33 lbs down from my surgery weight 3 months ago and 39 lbs down from my high weight at the end of last year.
Do what is right for you. If not logging works for some women and they can eat whatever they want, more power to them and I'm not criticizing them for it. What I know works for me is the opposite and I am relearning everything I thought I knew about food. Trust in yourself and your own judgement. Don't feel that there is any one true answer. You will know what is right for you.
I am majorly gung-ho on tracking right now but it's partially because of wearing a Gowear Fit and wanting to see expenditures vs. consumption. I am seeing that if I log BEFORE I eat, then I do a lot better i.e. plan and then follow through.
With that said, I know this won't last for me forever. I know that eventually I will look at food (I am also weighing EVERYTHING as well) and I'll see proper portion size as well as calories. Eventually all this tracking will get into my brain and add to that, the band will really start to limit what I can eat anyway. I hope anyway. And I'm talking limit as far as amount, not limit as far as type - although the two are linked.
Like where you are.
If you are comfortable and it feels right and it seems ok, then you are probably a bandster that's ready to move forward with this process. I think eventually we get to the point where it is inherent knowledge and when you slide (as we all do and will always do) then you can log and see where things are going. But I know that I won't always track, just like I won't always wear my GoBe, just like I won't always lift weights like a maniac, sometimes I'll just swim! But someday this will all be natural stuff to me. Right now, I'm still learning and exploring and testing the waters. And for this phase, I want to track everything and see trends and plan.
It's ok to trust yourself. And if it doesn't work, you know what to do. But the only way you'll find out if you can trust yourself is to try...
Glad you are feeling better after the unfill...I may need one too as I am sitting here stuck on tea and yogurt....WTF???
I refuse to track...if you can log and have it not feel like you're dieting, than you're a better person than I. I can't do it without that diet feeling and I didn't go through surgery to carry that feeling the rest of my life.
That's not to say that at the end of the day I couldn't recite everything I ate that day...I mean really...3 meals and maybe a snack...in suck limited portions. I never could have done that pre-op. To each his own.
I tap and track (log everything) and its not working, no weight loss for weeks BUT at least when I see the Dr next week we can look at where I am going wrong so it helps in that respect. But hey whatever works for you x
i found that logging my foods made me gain. which makes no sense, but it did. i'm a daily weigher though. which is how i keep myself honest and accountable for what i eat or don't eat. i know that sometimes weighing every day can be frustrating, but like we've all learned from reading the blogs, this process is so different for everyone.
i agree with what everyone else says. like were you are. know where you are and remain accountable for your actions. that's all we can do.
Post a Comment