My Fitness Pal.....Sabatoging me?

[webbRN78 72]

I religiously track my calories and exercise, Entering everything into MFP. But lately I notice that at the end of the day if I have any extra calories I feel I "must" eat them. I have reached my goal weight and am entering maintenance so MFP has obviously worked for me. But I don't like feeling out of control and that is what is happening lately when I track using MFP. Am I crazy? Making sense to anyone? Thoughts.....Suggestions? I was thinking about not tracking over the next week to see how it goes. I'm terrified of going back to where I was. Maybe I'm just overthinking and overreacting. Thanks for listening to my ramblings. I'm open to thoughts and suggestions.

[LipstickLady 25,682]

So, MFP is not sabotaging you, YOU are. Why not simply lower your calories a bit?

[webbRN78 72]

Your right I am sabotaging myself and I guess what I was trying to say is that My Fitness Pal is helping me do that. When I see the "leftover" calories at the end of the day I'm giving myself permission to eat them. Even if not hungry. Make sense? I'm thinking about not using MFP over the next week and just focusing on eating on plan, Water and exercise. I was just curious if anyone else ran into this issue using MFP?

[Terribj 208]

I completely understand - I did the same thing for a long time. I have been trying to look at food for what it is - fuel. That's it - it is there to fuel your body, nothing else.

If at the end of the day the tank is full - look at what you didn't need. You feel good, you aren't hungry, you are better than the couple calories at the end of the day

[Teachamy 1,042]

I am still at the point where at the end of the day, MFP tells me I am not eating enough calories, but I can understand what you're going through. As an MFP addict, I have a hard time going without it, but I bet it is worth a try for you. On the days my computer is unavailable, I jot down my calories and Protein on paper and enter them on MFP later. Maybe just for the heck of it, you could see how that goes. (Paper doesn't tell you what you should be eating! )

[BKLYNgal87 503]

I think you also need to understand that MFP calorie "goals" are meant for normal people, not bariatric patients. They don't take the nutritional needs of WLS patients into account. I use it to keep me accountable by reminding me of what I've eaten during the day and my exercise but I let my nutritionist give me caloric goal advice, not a phone app.

[Nicolanz 1,484]

If you're in maintenance and it's working. .... maybe you need those calories. Maybe plan those calories in each meal throughout the day so you don't feel out of control.

[StratusPhr 127]

Tracking is very important for us to do forever, for numerous reasons, but what you are saying is why I do not keep track of ANY exercise. I never have. I do not want "additional" calories. I have my activity level set at sedentary!!! Don't get me wrong, I am not an exercise guru by any stretch of the imagination, I'm a housewife, I purposely make additional trips up and down the stairs. I park WAY OUT in the parking lots when I'm out. I "move" but I do not go to a gym or do any of the things many WLS patients do. I wanted to lose weight by making lifestyle changes, making wise choices etc, and that's what I do. It works for me.

I know how many calories I need to maintain, I MANUALLY entered 1300 and that is the number, I don't add calories for anything I might do. It's worked for me for over 3.5 years. Of course, 1300 is maintaining, the number was much less when I was losing. My suggestion is, manually enter a number and set your activity level to sitting around twiddling your thumbs!!! See if that works for you too. Good luck, you'll get it figured out, you'll figure out what works for you!!!

[webbRN78 72]

Good idea Stratus! Thanks to everyone for the feedback. I appreciate it.

[LipstickLady 25,682]

Your right I am sabotaging myself and I guess what I was trying to say is that My Fitness Pal is helping me do that. When I see the "leftover" calories at the end of the day I'm giving myself permission to eat them. Even if not hungry. Make sense? I'm thinking about not using MFP over the next week and just focusing on eating on plan, Water and exercise. I was just curious if anyone else ran into this issue using MFP?

It totally makes sense. I did it with WWs alllllllll the time.

I also weighed out my one ounce of (insert chips, Cookies, candy, etc. here) and added more to the scale one at a time until I hit 1.1 ounce just to make sure I used the ENTIRE point allowance.

No wonder I weighed 264 pounds. HA!

[NMJG 1,266]

I have a love hate with mfp too. I log everything. The added calories from exercise and "you aren't eating enough" bits annoy me no end.

I think WebbRN78 has a good idea there.

As far as filling up any leftover calories, maybe just don't worry about it? If you have your level set appropriately, does it really matter if you eat up to your daily limit? Just asking. Perhaps if you give yourself permission to eat to your limit it won't seem so important and maybe sometimes you won't....I don't know, just thinking aloud...

[Bufflehead 6,358]

I track my exercise on MFP just so I can go back and see what I've been doing. I also have to show my exercise logs to my dietician and exercise physiologist. But I manually change the calories burned for each exercise to "1" - that way I don't get any significant changes in how many calories I have allotted etc.

[webbRN78 72]

I like that idea.....