Do you track your calories when you over-eat?

melindasuefritz

YES U TRACK E VERYTHING.................
IF U OVER EAT

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EXERCISE IT OFF

Terpnista84

I track everything, even ugly days when I'm over by 300+ cals, because I want to know exactly what's going on with my body. If these over days are not logged, I can't tell how well my caloric restriction & exercise work in that time period.

I'm not a goody two shoes by any means lol... but I haven't "accidentally" gone over in quite some time. In fact I'm not eating enough. But back when I would go over, as much as I didn't want to see myself in the red, I appreciated the benefit of it as well. I looked at it this way: if I met my goal most of the time and splurged every now and then, and I'm still meeting my weight loss goals, keeping track of my splurges would help guide me to see what I can get away with eating while not throwing myself off track. It was motivating to see that one meal didn't hurt me.

Terpnista84

If I went all-out at, for example, a potluck, chock-full of casseroles with who-knows-what for ingredients, or if I was nibbling bits of this, and tastes of that - MFP is such a royal PITA to track stuff like that. Sure, I could pick 'potato salad' out of the list, but *whose* potato salad? The one that's basic, or the one with a million calorie-heavy ingredients? And what if I thought the mac and cheese at the potluck was really rich and laden with calories - but it was actually made with cauliflower? Suddenly I've eaten perhaps hundreds of calories *less* than I thought....which could totally affect how I manage my eating for the rest of the day/week/whatever.

I hate his. And that is why I try not to eat foods that I cannot track. If I get a snack from Whole Foods I try to stick with things that have the nutritional information on it. I hate guessing and I hate having to enter things- it is so tedious.

This goes back to what I said about not tracking when I am really under my calories and need to make them up. Usually the foods that are hard to track are what I would be consuming so I just say fuggedaboutit.

dolfn1972

not necessarily....I have my free days ...generally sunday..that I refuse to track..and if I know Im ging to throw caution to the wind...like camping next weekend...NO...I will not track it ...I know i need to get back on track..but I refuse to be a slave to my diet, my body, or a counting system. If I know Im going to screw up..why should i beat myself up over it by realizing I had enough calories for a month (jk) in a day. Just get back on track the next day and move on

MommaChocoLatte

Yes.

mandeenicoleb

I do...ALWAYS...I flaunt my food! lol. I just rather keep a record of what I do. It's very helpful to log when you overeat.

Samstan101

Part of my weight problem has come from the fact that for years I've not been honest with myself about how much I eat and what I eat. I need to make myself accountable for what I eat & drink and the subsequent losses & gains. So yes, I try and log everything (there has been the odd occasion where I've lost track of the number of drinks but I do try ;-)).

Its the bad days I need to log more than the good days!

arains89

Yea. I went out yesterday with my BF. We had some crappy food and I drank. A lot. I logged it all. Somehow was only slighty over my calories for the day. But def still track it.

abikinibyjuly

Of course.

RelativeChaos00

For me continuing to track my calories means I haven't totally thrown caution to the wind, which is good for me as it only seems to take me once or twice to fall off the bandwagon. So yes, even when I screw up badly I track what I did to the best of my ability. It reminds me when I'm considering doing it again that I can, and should, ask more of myself.

MustangUSN

I track it for much the same reasons as everyone else. Also, tracking let's me know how many calories/etc. I have available to "spend." I treat it just like money, if I don't have it, I don't spend it. If I do expect to overindulge, I do the exercise to compensate. I've even come home, logged, and found I was over, so out to the treadmill I went! It helps me keep in balance and not just eat as a social event in and of itself....it is very easy to eat from boredom, for reward or to assauge feelings. Tracking keeps me honest and helps me stay on track.

MightyMouse19

Yes partially out of habit but also to stay honest to my tracking & survey the damage done!

SDkitty

I track lean days and splurge days and everything in between. The only exception to this is the rare occasion that I'm at a buffet (like in vegas last month) and have literally NO clue on content. Other than that I get as close as possible.

leslie_garcia

As much as I dont want to I do it! I look back and it actually gets me back on track because I feel terrible after it. When that happens I look at my weekly goal and I eat super extra healthy and work out harder the next few days. I make my self pay for it!

duckiec

Some days, I just get sick of the tracking itself, and I'll take a guestimate and add it as Quick-add calories, and put a note in the section listing what I ate. I do tend to eat more once I've decided it's going to be an "off charts" day, and things I wouldn't eat ordinarily, but it's nice to have things that I generally don't allow myself. Some times, you just need to put your hand in the bag and not put everything on the scale. Or can't. And that's okay- all part of the balance that is life.


I get in a harder workout that day (and/or the day after), approximate the "damage" and move on. Helps, too, that going "all out" is nothing like it used to be- I'd guess that even an all-out time period (not usually a whole day), I can back off a bit. I don't have to cram everything in NOW because I've gone off- there's always another day. I especially try to pay attention to hunger signals when I'm not tracking, too, as I feel those are all wacky. I rarely eat if I'm hungry or not, I eat because "that's what I get or can have." That break is refreshing.

Trying to stick to closely to it makes me really, really anxious. For example, Saturday I'd eaten more calories than I usually do by 6pm, and found myself getting really snappy. I wasn't hungry at all, but was all paranoid that I would be, and wouldn't have calories, and then what and darn I shouldn't have had the granola bar for breakfast... and wait this is stupid! Why am I freaking out (and yelling at my kids) - this isn't all that! I should enjoy the moment, and if I'm hungry later, make a choice then and deal with it. Turns out, I didn't want any dinner, had a small snack and was right on target.

suzend

Yep, I do. It's not pretty to look at sometimes, but at least I can make them up with exercise or cut back on other days. Sometimes its not possible to do in a week though!

I'm not in a hurry to lose all this weight, and I'm not going to get obsessive about it like I did in the past. It's a life change, and most days, I'm eating very healthy (lots of protein, veggies, fruit).

MrsBozz1

Absolutely. No point in ever tracking if you're not going to honestly track.

This!!!! Absolutely! Every calorie!

Joannesmith2818

i ALWAYS track my food intake. I like the feedback on my diary and I feel it leaves me accountable, which really works for me!!

rocket_ace

ashamed to admit sometimes I dont' - its cheating cuz then you are like throwing in the towel for the hole day, which is bad....

hartland45

Yes, unless I really can't get to computer & it's too difficult for whatever reason to track on mobile phone.

eazy_

I track every single morsel that passes my lips, every single day.

granitendirt

I'm still getting into the rhythm of tracking daily, but I value it for a slightly different reason...

Yes, it's good for me to watch that I don't take in too many calories. That's how I've gotten these extra 15 pounds on my frame (beer was a vast contributor...). However, in the past when I have tried to diet I almost always over-estimated how many calories I was eating. This led to very restricted under-eating and subsequent ill effects.

It's very reassuring for me to be able to end a day having eaten well and to the point of fullness, look back at my log, and see that I stayed within my calorie goals.

LorinaLynn

I don't log on weekends or holidays, and haven't for over two years. I don't consider what I do even when I eat a lot to be "overeating," because it's planned. I'm careful about what I eat during the week, just so I don't have to be as careful on the weekend.

This weekend is my nephew's graduation party combined with his father's annual pig roast. I'm not even going to think the world "calories" at all.

BeautifulByChoice

Not usually. I tend to just lean on the more healthier foods and watch portion sizes when I am away from home, just simply out of habit. Sometimes I attempt to track, but if I over eat way too much I usually just say "heck with it".

eileenm777

I do! It helps me see patterns in my behaviour! :0)

jessready

Yes I log it all!

workaholic_nurse

I track whenever I eat period, not keeping up with what the food I was putting in my mouth was part of how I got to be this way.

Babygi6003

Yes because tracking is a habit now. I log it all, I figure that if I ate it, I should count it.

michellechawner

YES. Even on a bad meal / day / weekend.. I track everything. I'm only cheating myself if I don't log.

lilawolf

I track so that each new item is a new decision. Is this glass of wine worth going over? Is this mozzarella stick worth making it 200 cals over? Etc.

But I don't really judge myself harshly, like some people do. I make the decision and move on without guilt. It just helps me have the info that I need. Besides, sometimes I log everything including hours of dancing etc, and I end up with a lovely deficit! So I would have felt like I went way over when I actually didn't. Helps to know what to expect the scale to do too.

If you are going to freak out, fall off the wagon, cry, etc after looking over what you ate: Don't.