Tracking question

#1

I was diligent about using cronometer for 3-4 months while I was losing a lot of weight even if it meant I had to guess a lot of stuff (traveling–eating at restaurants–) it was clearly valuable and helpful to me then. I still log my weight in every week or two but gave up on tracking the calories/fat/protein and all the rest.

I have been stable at or just above my goal weight and am sure I am eating 25-50 grams of carbs daily (and still in ketosis or at least fat adapted). I kept it to 20-30 during the heavy duty weight loss period. Walk 5 miles a day at least 6 days a week.

Why should I bother tracking all the food I eat, much less the macronutrients? I am open to suggestions but I think the discipline it introduced is no longer required.

#2

Eating should be intuitive. Cronometer discipline can be helpful in the beginning. I’d ditch it and enjoy doing what you’ve now learned to do naturally and intuitively each day. Tracking and logging can be exhaustingly unnecessary, especially at or near maintenance.

(Robert C) #3

I think you should go back to tracking (as it made you successful) if / when you go above some specific weight (that you pick now).

This avoids the next step - “Oh, I’m not tracking food - why track weight, everyone says throw away the scale - I’m doing fine.”

Keeping a specific weight a trigger to clamp down will avoid trouble in the future when - just a few things here and there - creep into the diet (which would be unnoticed if you both skipped food logging and skipped weigh ins).

If, instead, you see a trend toward the number you’ll clamp down on - maybe naturally you’ll back off of some of the treats or butter coffees or snacks you’ve recently introduced.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #4

I’ve never calculated a macro or counted a calorie, except to ensure that I ate a minimal amount of carbohydrate. Not only did my metabolism return to normal, but I lost sixty pounds without even thinking about it. If you are eating to satiety and not gaining weight, you are pretty much doing it right, in my book.

(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.) #5

@RobC makes a good point. Aside from that if you’re happy with the results don’t mess with the program. I weigh and measure all my food and eat to specific macros, based on Bikman’s protein recommendations, in conjunction with a daily calorie target I’ve determined by trial and error to maintain my weight. I do it because (1) I like to do it, (2) I know exactly what I’m eating, (3) and I like to think I’m adding repeatable data to the body of knowledge about ketogenic eating. After all, someone had to weigh and measure to determine the 20 gram carb limit. Amirite?

Most of all, if I ever get asked to participate in an epidemiological study, I can blow their minds by reporting exactly what I ate for any meal for any day for the past years! :crazy_face:

PS: Importantly, weighing enables me to replicate my good coffee and avoid making the same mistakes more than once. This is actually how I got started weighing ingredients.

(squirrel-kissing paper tamer) #6

If you can mentally tally and have a way to determine if you’re straying from your goals (weight) then live life and enjoy. Go back to tracking if it serves you.

(Allie) #7

It’s not essential, just a tool to use if required. I go through stages of tracking / not tracking.

(mole person) #8

I think I’ve tracked food about 2 months out of 2.5 years that I’ve been keto. I only do it when I’m trying to sort out what’s interfering with my goals. The longer I do this, the more I already know from past tracking and I don’t have to repeat the tracking but rather just fix the laxity.

For me the biggest offender is dairy. It’s very easy for me to be consuming 1/3 of my daily calories in cream and cheeses. If my weight is creeping up even though I’m technically ketoing it’s going to be dairy most of the time. The first couple of times I figured that out tracking helped a lot, but now I know it and can just look at my diet to see if there has been “dairy creep”.

Similarly nuts, seeds, overdependance on oils and butter for my fat, snacking and excessive protein can all cause stalls and weight gain. Tracking has helped me understand it, but now that I do it’s very easy to turn the ship around. I know my levers of control.