QOTD Thursday January 2, 2014: Do you think tracking food is an important part of weight loss?
Yes, definitely!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
80% of weight loss is managing what goes in your mouth. 20% is exercise. (These are my personal "statistics" not scientific)
It's too easy to forget where you stand at the end of the day and if you can "afford" that snack you're eyeing unless you have written things down.
I've been a yo-yo dieter for 10 years. When I fail it's because I wasn't keeping track and fell into my old ways and before I knew it I've been off the diet again for weeks.
This time around was different. I started using my fitness pal and I can honestly say I haven't put a bite in my mouth before I added it to MFP since August.
No more yo-yo.
Almost 30 pounds lost.
Congratulations on a great loss last year!

And the 80/20 rule has basis in science as well as your own personal experience.
QOTD 2nd Jan........yes, tracking food is definitely key.
I keep a 'food diary' as part of my weight loss programme. I simply buy a pretty page-a-day diary and keep it with me (I'm willing to keep it with me and fill it in because it is pretty!!...I'm so shallow!)
I write down everything I have consumed, along with the 'syn' values etc (a bit like WW points I think, but a different plan) then I write about my day, not just food related stuff but other challenges and victories, what made me feel good, what made me feel bad etc. Doing this helps me loads when I am having a bad time - I can look back for food ideas, exercise tips, see what worked and what didn't, and can also track ToM issues!!!! I'd recommend it to anyone.
My Slimming World leader finds it a bit freaky and thinks I'm far too obsessed with it, but I just reply that she should be proud of my 71lb loss under her guidance!!!!
Obviously what you are doing is working great for you,
Helen, you've been so successful.
Yes, definitely! It's the only way I have ever lost weight over the years.
My husband has been wanting/needing to lose 50 pounds for the past 9 years. I always nagged him to kept track of what he was eating and count his calories. He found out in October that he was pre diabetic (no surprise really) but it scared him enough to try to lose weight.
He started writing everything down and counting his calories and guess what? He has lost 30 pounds since October! Now he is my inspiration!
Congrats to your DH on his weight loss! I'm sure that you will be inspiring him soon yourself!
AMEN to this! This is the way I lost 18 lbs. between July and November of last year. Tracked everything and watched my fats/carbs/protein balance.
BTW, I am back after an absence of several weeks. Now that the holidays are past I am determined to lose the final 5 lbs. The good news is that while I was "away" I only went up 1.5 lbs. from my lowest weight in November.

Nice to see you! Congratulation on maintaining your weight loss during the holidays!
Good morning, ladies!
I am so not ready for the winter storm that is about to hit the mid-atlantic/northeast tonight into tomorrow! And on top of that, my little sister is supposed to fly in from Milwaukee for her christmas visit tomorrow morning!

Someone get me to florida ASAP! lol
QOTD:
Another firm "yes" from me! I find that since I started tracking calories, I am pretty decent about what I eat even when I don't do it because I have more of an idea of what most things are. I maintain pretty well when I don't track, but I am another one of you that if I'm not tracking, I'm not losing, and that's been my biggest problem over the last month or so.

I fired up my trusty MFP account the other day and while I haven't been trying to stay under my calorie goal (just getting back in the swing of logging everything), I have already felt so much better about everything
because it really makes you think.
Yep, that little pause can sometimes be the difference in making a good choice or a better one for sure.

for safe travels for your sister.
I think that's an adorable story! How cool!
Yes - definitely! The only time I successfully lost weight was with Weight Watchers. Yes, it started out all about portion control for me - but it ended up being about accountability. Tracking my food on WW was like having a friend that I had to tell what I ate that day. Once I got in the hang of it, I found the days that I slipped were the days that I didn't track!!
There are definitely days where I specifically DIDN'T track (*ahem* New Year's Eve), but I always feel great about it when I do.
Hope everyone's excited about this east cost Nor'easter! Seems like here in NYC, we'll only be getting a few inches
My WW leader is fond of saying track only on the days you want to lose.
Morning, everyone!
QOTD: I absolutely think tracking is critical. It's one of the most black and white things about weight loss for me - if I track, I lose. If I don't track, I don't lose. Even knowing that, though, it's hard for me to track all the time, especially around holidays and travel times when my routine is upended. Just going to work on doing the best I can!
Speaking of travel, I'm heading to a short conference in Philly tomorrow. I'm driving up, as it's not that far for me, and I'm going to go early to try and catch a break on the weather. Should be interesting...I think Philly is south enough that it won't be too bad, but I'll be glad to get to my hotel and just chill out until my work starts!
Stay safe and warm, everyone - I'm looking at you, New England and New York!

for safe travels for you,
Liz!
YES !! I need to track to be successful.. I plan on starting that again..
I assume we already did intro, I don't have time to go back the 4 pages to see .. I just got back after being off from work from 12/20 YAY.. but busy busy..
I am Michelle - Wife to Hubs of 5 yrs, Mom to DD 20 and DS 17 and Hunny our new 3 yr kitty we adopted from the shelter just before Thanksgiving.. I like to read, watch TV and wish I could be a hermit in the Winter.. Today is the prime example of why - we are getting 2-4 inches of snow during the daytime hours and 9 - 14 more inches after dark and into tomorrow morning!
I am using my WI 178.4 lbs for both 1/1 and 1/3 and hope to lose 2.4 by month end. Hope that if I post this I'll be held just a bit more accountable.. and that should be an attainable goal..
Hubs and I are starting at they gym on 1/6 (he needs medical clearance -as he had epilepsy) and I am thinking we can go 4 days a week Mon, Tue, Thur and Fri to start for at least 30 mins and work up to an hour in a few weeks - we are both couch potatoes even though Hubs is a chef and on his feet all day.. the new Zumba Classes start on 1/14 and I might do that as one day of my "gym" while Hubs is on the treadmill or bikes or whatever he is going to do..
I am not sure if I'll just be watching and tracking what I eat or if I'll try to go back to atkins.. I think it'll be a combo of low carb, portion control and exercise.. I have been feeling really out of control and BLEH for weeks know that it's my bad habits so time to fix it!
I'll see you all next week! Happy New Year everyone! Michelle
Nice to see you,
Michelle!
Thanks everyone for loving my name!
As for the QOTD, I've never used a food journal before so I can't speak from personal experience. Everyone that I know that uses one swears by it though. I've decided to try using My Fitness Pal so we will see how I do. I really want to get a FitBit for my birthday next month and I've read that it works well with My Fitness Pal.
Anyone here using a FitBit? If so how do you like it?
There are quite a few people on this thread who use My Fitness Pal. Be sure and share your user names you MFP folks if you want some extra accountability and support.
A lot of people have great success with a FitBit. There are several threads about it on the WISH boards. I currently use an ActiveLink which is a WW tool that is similar, except it goes by WW points. If I ever lose it I will be replacing it with a FitBit. It is fun to keep track. Just this morning my ActiveLink told me that I increased my activity by 51% in 2013!
I think it depends on the person. I'm too busy to sit and read all the packages of food that I eat, or go online and try to figure out if the apple I'm going to eat hast 70 or 80 calories, or whatever. I have a general idea of what I'm eating, and using that as an estimate is all I do to "track" food. I keep pre-packaged snacks (like granola bars or beef jerky) that I know the caloric content of for when I get the munchies (and when I get cravings, I wait at least 15 minutes to see if it will pass before I act on it).
It sounds like you have figured out what works for you. It doesn't matter how great something is, it won't be successful unless is works for you.
on my way, peeps... I don't blame December, or the holidays... but January is gonna be SO much healthier! checking in tomorrow, I'm not stepping on the scale until then...

Thanks for joining us!
"Do you think tracking food is an important part of weight loss? "
Totally! I sometimes have issues with obbessing over numbers, and get burned out, BUT it has served me well over the past 6 months. I go back and forth between MFP, sparkpeople, and loseit. I like have an app that I can scan barcodes. Im lazy, lol.
Saving favorites can also help speed that process. Sometimes you can even save meals you eat often, i.e. breakfast.
I have a fitbit! I LOVE it.
boy did I especially love it in Disney. I'd get back to the room at the end of the day and look and it would say 27,800 steps (for example) and I'd be like- UP AN AT EM! We are SO hitting 30,000 by midnight!
Very motivational for me and I NEVER take it off. Since August 1st.
That is so cool!

Which FitBit do you have?
A word about tomorrow's weigh in:
Our traditional weigh in days are Friday so that is why we have a weigh in already tomorrow. This weigh in is optional. I just did not want to have ten long days between weigh ins and I will take your numbers all through the week-end.