How many of you REALLY log in every calorie?

I'm wondering because I've been falling short of putting down every morsel I eat. Is there anyone out there who is no longer logging in every meal in the c.c. food log and is still losing? I just am not making the time for it. Any advice for this lazy girl?

I did log everything in for the first 3 1/2 months.  I am not in maintenace mode and I just log everything up through dinner after that I just mentally figure my evening snacks in with what I already logged.

I never log green tea or coffee: a shame, because it probably adds up!  I usually won't log things like a teaspoon of balsamic vinegar or fresh basil leaves...I figure my count is just an estimate....some things go over, some things go under....

I pretty much do it all in my head............the logging thing always seemed so restrictive if you decided to log all your meals for the day in the morning but decided later in the evening to eat something else you either had to change it on the log or keep the cals exactly the same.
Once your on this for a while it doesnt take long to mentally figure out every meal your eating and how much you have at the end of the day. Im sure somedays I slip up a little but not enough that it will really matter.

Lots of ppl say if they bite it they write it I just cant live by that philosphy.

Maybe im just lazy when it comes to logging the food down im not sure lol

I logged everything for a month.  It was easy for me, because I go to work early in the morning, and I could restrict myself by only taking what I wanted to eat for the day; this included snacks and everything.  When I knew how many calories were in the food that I took to work for the day, I didn't feel restrainted, and felt comfortable letting my body tell me when I was hungry again, and eating then, rather than being concerned I was going to go over my calorie budget for the day.

This meant that, when I got home, I already knew how many calories I had left for dinner.  I never really plan dinner until after work.  Anyway, after my first month, I reached a point where I felt I was able to know without writing down EVERYTHING.  Days that are different (I plan on going to dinner with friends, or know the boss is bringing in a lunch I want to share) I still moniter my eating. I am still restricting my calories to 1200-1600, depending on the day.  I've lost about 12 lbs, and am still losing.

I think it was the point where I was selecting healthier food instinctively that I felt comfortable straying from my food log.  If I feel myself slipping, I just keep track again for a couple of days to remind myself.  :-)  Really works for me.

Hope that helps!

I log just about everything...sometimes I don't log a bite of something here and there but everything else I log is an overestimate or underestimate so it seems to be ok.  I never log my coffee I just figure around 30 cals for it (I use cream and only drink about a cup)

Thanks for the advice guys. I've been writing down almost all of my meals for about 2 weeks and I just don't think I can do it anymore. Still, I am focusing on eating mostly salads w/ lo cal dressing, lots of veggies and fruit and whole grains.

But yesterday I allowed myself to indulge in a "healthy" banana bread and I made the 35 cal a slice cheesecake recipe (both were AWESOME) and I guess I was starting to panic. I had a little more than I should have, but when I got on the scale this morning, I was down a pound. Of course that should not let me think I can always eat more than usual.

I think it is good to keep a log for a while, to see how much cals are in a meal so it adjust your thinking. I'm so glad I have you all to talk to about this. I may even be able to lose the weight once and for all!

I log everything, only because as xenophilia wrote, I like to add up my cals in the morning so that I have a set plan for the day, I also take all my food with me to work as well, so that I know waht I can and cannot eat.

I have been doing this for 3 months now and I instinctivly pick up the good stuff too, I also do it though because I take part in teh challenges and its a great way to add all that stuff up.

another thing as well, is that by using not only the food log but the activity log as well, I am able to see where i am going right and wrong and track my good and bad days.

I logged everything for like the first week to get a feel for what I take in, but I also eat the same thing aside from dinner every day of the week.

Dinner is usually just an estimation anyway. The stuff I eat during the week consist mostly of fruits, veggies, and stuff like oatmeal that I can measure exactly how many calories it has.

I just made sure I was getting a diet that had a lot of protein, fiber, and low in sodium.

I log everyday and everything.  (for almost a month now)  However, my calories logged is not accurate.  I consume 80% Asian food (homemade or restaurants) and I can't find these food in CC database.  I've been trying to list the ingredients individually (sometime save as recipe for later use) but it's such a pain in the belly! :(  So, I usually just list the main ingredients to get estimated calories :)

I log everything - unless I go out of town and can't get online or if I'm having a 'meh' day, where I just don't care, which happens maybe once a month.  I've lost almost 30 lbs doing this so I don't want to stop now!  Once I'm at maintenance, I'll probably stop, but I've gotten a littel OCD about it, so maybe I'll just log calories all my life!

I am trying to log stuff now. I try to log every calorie but of course it's difficult if you go out to dinner and sometimes things are forgotten.

In the first few months, I logged everything.  Once I was able to see what serving sizes really looked like, I kind of stopped logging.  I figured that I can't rely on this site forever, and I'll eventually have to be able to make food choices on my own.  There will be times I won't know the nutritional value of something I eat.  But, now that I'm wiser as to what I consume, I don't feel that I have to log everything.  And the best part is I'm still losing weight!  :)

I've been logging since March (when I found this site).  I don't log spices and if I taste of something I'm cooking to make sure it's got enough whatever I don't try to log that half a teaspoon of food either.  Everything else I do log, even though I can figure up in my head how many calories I'm eating at any given time.  Logging in my food for the day seems to help keep me honest.  I personally am alot less likely to sneak in something I normally wouldn't have if I see it in black and white with the incriminating numbers right beside it. 

I don't log some veggies, like mushrooms or bell peppers and lettuce, just because it geto too tedious and they never amount to much, but I log 90% of what I eat.  However, I don't aim for an exact number everyday, as long as I am within 200 either way (1000-1500.day), I consider it a success.  And 20lbs gone in 4 months agree with me! :)

for me, it's all or nothing.  when i'm logging--yes--it's every morsel.  but sometimes i just go off and log nothing.

i do the same thing for my weight.  last week i logged nothing for ~4 days, because i knew i was in my pre-menstrual peak and it would have depressing to see the graph shoot up three pounds.  i waited, and between day 1 and day 2 of my period, i dropped five pounds. that number i couldn't wait to log! 

i just don't see the point in emphasizing the bad stuff.  if i drink a bottle of wine and know i'm going to get an F, isn't it enough to know it?

My response is exactly what motivateme said, so I won't repeat it all.

I'm logging everything that makes sense to...so not gum, not a spray of salad dressing that has 3 calories or a spray of PAM.

It keeps me honest, especially if I'm getting empty calories from sweets or alcohol. I'm hoping to be able to correlate some of it with my weight loss and see which things are most effective. I still eat the occasional sweet or drink, but then I can actually see it.  I'm just too sporadic in my eating habits to not log it.

I'm also logging my exercise, but I'm trying to underestimate that rather than log too much.

i log pretty much everything, including coffee (which i drink black most of the time), water, veggies ( i LOVE logging veggies).

that half slice of french bread and fresh salsa that i sampled yesterday at whole foods?  or the sip of my brother's belgium beer when we went out last week?  i don't bother logging the "tasters" as they are fairly infrequent.

I DO! The only thing I dont log is my diet coke. Heh.

And if I dont have time to log my entire day, I write down the calories of my food on paper. But yes, everything is "logged"

I'm quite religious about logging everything. I don't log stuff like diet coke because it doesn't have calories. If I'm at the grocery store and I eat a sample, I log it. I've actually found that logging everything actually stops me from eating a lot of times, because I'm like, I could eat it, but then I'd have to log it... However, there are times when I want to taste something and so I eat a very small amount of it but I don't log it... but even that is quite infrequent.