About a month ago I decided to stop logging my food. This was a hard decision for me because I’ve logged my food every day since we started our weight loss journey. But that was the thing, I logged my food on my weight loss journey and that’s really not the journey I am on anymore. I can proudly say I’ve been maintaining my weight for a year and half. People said it couldn’t be done and there were a lot of haters out there, but I’m still beating the odds every day. That’s not to say I haven’t gained any weight because I have but I couldn’t maintain 1300 calories a day and do everything that I’m doing. It was unhealthy and that last thing I want to do is harm my body.
Logging my food was kind of playing with my mind because I felt like I should be losing weight. I logged food to keep track of my calories in and calories out and I really just felt like I should be losing weight. That was the mindset from the beginning. Plus logging my food every day kind of got in the way of every day life. I’m sure people would get upset about me talking about the calories in my food with the fat and sodium. And there’s nothing wrong with that, I just didn’t feel like I was transitioning well into life since I wasn’t in weight loss mode.
I feel confident in the food choices that I make every day to not have to log my food. I stay very active and pretty much eat the same things every day. I don’t stray too much from the road. Does that mean I’m indulging in fried foods and cupcakes? Nope! When I weighed 338 pounds, I had enough of that stuff and now it’s just not something that I want anymore. In fact, now that I’m not logging I am more mindful of what I’m eating. Sometimes I do wish I had the exact calorie count of what I’ve eaten that day (I’m a big numbers person) but that’s the exact behavior I’m trying to leave behind.
Does this mean I won’t log my food anymore? No, it means I’m just not logging it right now. I think this is the point where I need to be right now for my sanity. Another reason I chose to leave the logging behind is because I’m training for a lot of different things right now. The most important thing to me is that I make it through the next six months healthy and strong. Counting calories might not get me to that point! I have a five more half marathons, a marathon and hopefully a triathlon in the back half of the year and I need to be in the best shape I can possibly be at each event.
This is just the new part of the journey and there are lots of things to get use to. My body is different for the better, but things are different. I have to learn to grow and adapt to the new changes in my life…and sometimes it’s difficult. But I know it’s a blessing at the same time!
FYI: The picture is from when I first hit my first goal. I had to save it on my phone and I’m glad I did because now I get to share it with you. It took me 13 months to lose 158!
Do you log your food? Do you think it helps you? Is it a mind thing or does it really hold you accountable? What do you think is harder: losing the weight or maintaining your weight loss?
