Food Journaling Blows
9 04 2009Since I stopped going to counselling and have felt comfortable calling myself recovered from my eating disorder (a few years now) I haven’t paid much attention to my food. I naturally eat healthy options to take care of myself, but calories haven’t been anything that I’ve given a second thought to, much less tracked, in ages, and fast food has been pretty much a weekly occassion (especially on the way home from the bar- damn you, drunken munchies) with zero guilt.
Now that I am doing my little experiment, I truely appreciate my outlook on food.
Aside from cutting out the crap, I am simply tracking my calories, and its drudging up old feelings. Not old eating disorder feelings where I need to restrict or see how low I can go, but old recovery feelings. I feel like the simple act of tracking my calories, not even changing my eating habits based on those calories, is putting too much emphasis on food. I’m not used to it, and quite frankly, I hate it.
I don’t like the way it feels to have to account for everything I put in my mouth. Food is food. Whatever. Im not trying to lose weight, I’m just trying to eliminate some crap, and make sure I’m eating ENOUGH for the extra training I’m doing. Even though my goal is the different than what it used to be when I food journalled (make sure Im eating enough for my workouts as opposed to making sure I’m eating enough to stay alive) I still think its too much work. Too much emphasis.
Its sucks. I hate food journalling. I hate weighing in (no loss this week- which is a good thing). Even though its for a completely healthy goal, I feel like even just tracking is making my life too hard. Unfortunately, to do this right, I have to track, though, and it is helping to get a full picture. I just can’t wait till the 22nd when I dont have to do it anymore. I don’t know how people do it indefinately. It makes me really examine what is healthy mindfulness, and what is unhealthy emphasis. Im just writing stuff down in a little book, and that’s almost too much for me.
I guess if it shows me anything, it shows how far I’ve come. Its exhausting and annoying thinking about calories and food. I can’t believe I wasted so much time on it for so many years, and it makes me sad some people will never know a life without that constant burden.
I think realizing that it does not make you feel good is big. I know you want to do what is best for you and I am no expert by any means. My personal opinion is that if journalling is bringing up negative feelings toward food or eating or causing some reason to judge your behaviour, it might not be the best thing for you right now.
There are times for me when journalling helps but if it`s making me feel badly then I know I have to stop. Right now I`m just tracking my hunger before and after meals and that`s enough for me. Looking at the actual food gives me something to judge myself on.
Do you think it might be more productive to take this just decision by decision? That way you can be proud of each time you make a choice toward your health and you don`t have to feel negatively about food.
I don`t know if that made sense. We are in different spots in our journey`s obviously. I hope it works out well for you.
I know what you mean. I’ve gone through so many stages with food journaling… it originally helped me get healthy and lose weight, then it sparked disordered eating, and it went back and forth for a while. I’m at a place now where I can track just to make sure I’m eating healthy without it having an affect on my emotional health.
Are you sure its absolutely necessary for you to do this right now? If it has a negative impact on you, is it really worth it?
counting calories really stresses me out too – I don’t get it, its just a number. I think its so much better to rely on intuitive eating.
I knew people were going to react this way when i wrote this.
journalling doesnt give me negative feelings ab out food, or myself, or my health or my body or my relationship with food. It just sucks spending so much energy on food. Its stupid- but I know from everything that Ive gone through, and knowing my body so well, and from doing this every single day for other people to help them hit their goals, that if I dont keep track Ill lose weight which is not what I want to do. Im doing it to ENSURE I stay healthy.
Its just a time suck, and reminds me of when I HAD to do it. I dont HAVE to do it right now, but to reach the goal I set for myself I must. I was just complaining about how much I hate focusing on food- even when its a must for my goals.
I feel like its a time suck, and a waste of energy. Like laundry. But if i dont want to stink, or want to hit my goal, i gotsta do it. i just dont enjoy it.
Food journalling seems like a great idea for some people, but I can’t food journal at all (probably because I’m not completely “recovered” from the super fun binge eating disorder yet). Even when I have tried food journalling without being on any sort of “diet”, I end up bingeing from the stress of completely obsessing and scrutinizing every little number (If the numbers are too low or two high, its a guaranteed binge.). Though I have never thought of just journalling hunger levels before and after meals (interesting idea Susie!). Hmm.. though even with that I feel like my perfectionist tendencies might take over too.
I know they always recommend food journaling, but I am with you it is exhausting. I can’t be bothered. Although I have always wanted to give it a shot, even if it is only for a wekk. Maybe soon. Then we can suffer together lol.
I hear ya Kelly! I am totally in agreement with what Christine said above, and I am also working on recovering from binge eating. For me, when I try and journal it makes me far too focused on food and usually I will do really well during the day and then end up binging at night b/c I feel like I’ve been restricting myself too much. I’m working on intuitive eating and just focusing on eating less crap, like you said. So far it’s been going really well. I’ve been working out at least 3 days a week (may seem small to many people reading this blog, but for me it’s huge! and my way of working up to more) and I’ve been cooking a lot more of my own meals. I have not stepped on the scale in over a month (on purpose) but my clothes are looser and I just feel so much better, so I know it’s working!
Thanks for continuing to be a constant source of inspiration for me and I’m sure many, many others
Anyway, sorry for the super long post.
haha I love your food journaling is like laundry analogy – I see what you mean. It’s like a necessary evil kind of thing. I personally enjoy it – i’m online all the time anyway and it’s all online so it’s like a few keystrokes and i’m done! But I like tracking everything – that’s just how I am. But I COMPLETELY see what you mean! (did that ramble make sense?)
Amen! It just bores me to have to spend that much time thinking about food. I did weigh 10 lbs less when I carefully logged everything I ate. But I decided I’d rather weigh the extra 10 lbs and spend my time doing something other than logging. Which I’m proud of, because our culture likes to send a message that it’s impossible to be happy w/ yourself unless you’re skinny– I’m much happier now when I get to spend my free time NOT obsessing!
Food Journaling pisses me off and I have never ever been able to stick with it longer than a couple of days. The longest I ever went was a week at which time I lost my little notebook and didn’t want to spend money on another one. Pathetic, I know. Luckily I have never had disordered eating but I know enough about myself to see that I would become obessive. Like you I simply don’t want to give food that much power over me because I have seen what it can do. I guess for some it can be a good thing, keeping them on track but I would just rather go my how my pants feel!
I food journaled for awhile when I was trying to lose about 10 pounds. Then it sucked. So I stopped. And I lost 15 pounds. I think focusing SO intensely on my food was stressing me to the max, but I do know it’s effective for some people.
Food journaling is mundane, time-consuming and sucks. On the other hand, for me, it was a useful tool to lose weight. I was just learning how to track calories and get a feel for certain foods and portions. For instance, I learned that 4 oz of wine = 100 calories and I was definitely not limiting my drinks to 4 oz. LOLZ.
But, after several months I stopped tracking. I “got it.” And then some. I became more and more calorie obsessed. For instance, avoided eating a handful of nuts because it put me 120 calories over for that day, despite the fact that they were healthy.
I’ll probably use it again when I go into maintenance mode for a month or so, just to gauge how much I can relax the calorie intake and how many times I can cheat on wine without consequences. *snickers. I’ll also use it if, for instance, I feel that I’m starting to gain weight. I’ll hate it, tho.
Ahhh, the unglamorous, un-sexy side of fitness.
I know what you mean about the time suck. That’s the main reason I can’t stick to food journaling. I’ve never been able to…maybe I’ll go on a tear for a few months, but that’s about it. I forget to do it or can’t be bothered, etc. And then if I have a slurge day (hello, Mexican food!) I wouldn’t log that day, so what the hell is the point of that? I learned that I eat pretty much the same amount if I journal or not, so why waste the time? And, I managed to lose 40 pounds without journaling anything.
I’ve had a lot of negative body-image feelings lately, and last weekend when I was on a run, feeling bad about myself, I decided that if I spent the time and mental energy I use up hating my body on something more productive, I could get a LOT done…you know? I know that’s not exactly what you were talking about, but it reminded me of my little epiphany. Being down on yourself can be a totally annoying time suck, I’m learning.
I used to have to do that all the time for about a month. I finally gave it up because it caused me so much stress and triggering. Counting down the days until the 22nd haha!
i try to journal my food then get fed up because i feel trapped by the number of calories im supposed to be getting..etc.. it sucks, but sometimes to bust thru a plateu or reach a goal it needs to be done. dont give up if it will help you reach your goal.. even if it does SUCK!!!
I tracked both my calories eaten and my calories burned while losing weight over the past year. I measured almost all of my food too. It does get REALLY old. I actually just quit doing all of it about 3 weeks ago. I have yet to blog about quitting, but it feels SO much better to not be tracking every little number all the time. I still eat well, I still eat enough and not too much, I haven’t gained anything and all I’ve lost is the feeling of being controlled by a bunch of numbers!
I say don’t do it. I weigh myself to make sure that I’m eating enough for my workouts too, but I don’t track calories. Tracking calories just gets me too worked up.
I have read countless “diet” websites that tell me the best way to keep myself on track is to write down everything. So I did…for about a month. What I found is that it drives me crazy! I sit at the table thinking I want more to eat, but I shouldn’t because then I’ll have to write it down. I liked myself more on days that I didn’t have a long list of food. it was unhealthy. I rarely calorie count, unless I’m worried about the amount of protein I’m not getting…I’m glad someone else feels the way I do! It’s all too rigid. good luck. and have a happy Thursday!
Congrats on coming so far
Wait – why are you doing this again?? Experiment, ex-shemeriment! If you hate it, stop it! Some of us are working really hard to get where you already are:)
i hate counting calories! im so glad I don’t have that habit or stress in my life. Sure, I always prefer to know the nutritionals….or know the ingredients of a dish I’m eating…..but listening to my body is so much more important. I tend to OVEREAT most of the time, and have too many times found myself uncomfortably stuffed. It’s a part of intuitive eating that I’m working on.
happy weekend Kelly!
I get what you’re saying, and I think if it doesn’t work for you, then it’s not necessary
I think it sounds like you are at a great place and have worked so hard on that healthy mindset that it wouldn’t be necessary.
I actually really like journaling and calorie counting…but I’m a math geek, so balancing the numbers is really fun for me
If anything, once I started counting, I learned that I hadn’t been eating nearly enough for all the exercise I was doing!! So that was really helpful. And having a plan for my meals is helpful too; it keeps me sane and organized, and I don’t find it the least bit burdening. I think, though, that after doing it a while it’s become so easy that I really don’t have to think about it much, and more and more I am pretty much able to tell if I’m eating enough cals by the way I am feeling.
[...] of the reasons given for hating calorie counting in Kelly Turner’s blog is that it is "time consuming and mundane." And it is — if you want to track [...]