Is it really worth...

bfanny

Tracking your cals when you go over? Why?
I mean there’s not much we can do about it except maybe feel discouraged...Opinions?
TÍA

livingleanlivingclean

If you track, you know how much you've gone over. You can use the info to account for potential weight increases, or to know over a week that you're still in your maintenance calorie range.

Tracking may also encourage you to stop eating, or to get moving.

kommodevaran

Everybody can track the "good" days. That is of no help. If you track for weight management, you track everything.

amusedmonkey

It's very valuable.
- You won't feel like you're spinning your wheels if you know exactly how much impact a higher calorie day had. You are less likely to forget these higher days and then think "I've been doing everything right, why am I not losing weight?". Accountability is important and the head in sand approach rarely leads to results.
- It helps with seeing your weekly deficit (or lack thereof).
- It can ease your mind and help overcome guilt when you think you've blown it, but you still ended up with a deficit for the week.
- You get to understand what kinds of food contribute to going over, and think about how you can modify them, regulate them, or rearrange your diet to fit them in better next time.
- You are less likely to slip away from tracking because you're not "off the wagon", you are still dieting and logging, you just happened to have a higher day. This helps combat the "starting over" mentality, which can be harmful to dieting.
- It may help stop the overeating episode in its tracks when you see you're close to eliminating an entire week's deficit. It may also help rethink taking a second free for all day.
- It's the best thing you can do if you're trying to teach yourself to stop overeating as soon as you catch it. All or nothing mentality can be harmful to dieting. You're not either "on" or "off" the diet. Choosing to stop (regardless of your calories) when you are tempted to continue overeating is just as much of a victory as being within calories. Tracking helps you understand how much progress you're making in that department.
- Tracking is just what you do when you choose to lose weight via calorie counting. It's a persistent habit, not a situational one. Keeping this one habit going could maintain the weight management mindset and help with complacency.
- It helps to know how many calories your usual higher days average. It's helpful if you're planning to bank for a higher day, and it's very helpful info for the future if you plan to log more loosely once in maintenance.

TavistockToad

bfanny wrote: »

Tracking your cals when you go over? Why?
I mean there’s not much we can do about it except maybe feel discouraged...Opinions?
TÍA

I work to my weekly goal not daily so am usually over 2 days a week, so of course I log it.

kami3006

I also follow a weekly average so being over sometimes is normal. I will balance it out during the week but only if I know what I'm eating. So, yes, I log it.

h1udd

Log EVERYTHING !!!!!

I go on weekly intake as well so balance eating well under on a monday and way over on a saturday .... but the weekly average should be on point.

Its also useful to workout trends for fitness purposes ... why did I have a bad day in the gym ? .... ah yesterday I didnt eat enough .... why was my run hard work today ? ... ah, I ate too much for the last 3 days and was sluggish

But the most important is logging everything stops the guilt ... you realise that going over your goal every now and again doesnt make any difference in the long run ... it doesnt matter if I go over by 300kcal today because its nullified by the days I was under ... and likewise, going 100kcal over on 1 day makes your weekly average only 14kcal higher ... its a shot of realization that its the long term trend that matters not the slip or the deviation from time to time

opheliakcv9

Then you will see it there tomorrow and you won't do it

LiftHeavyThings27105

bfanny wrote: »

Tracking your cals when you go over? Why?
I mean there’s not much we can do about it except maybe feel discouraged...Opinions?
TÍA

I like to look at things from the perspective of one week. So, if your maintenance caloric intake is 2,000 calories (just to keep the math nice and simple) then you would need to consume 14,000 calories a week.

I weigh myself every morning, at the same time on the same scale (that has not moved).....and each morning weigh-in is simply one data-point on the graph. I am interested in the weekly trend.

So, if I go out and have a few beers with the fellas and exceed my 2,000 calories for that day did I just ruin my week? No.....not even close. If I am 300 calories over for that one day then I can 'make it up' over the next few days (or, whatever works for you.....).

This is a mindset. And, it works well for me. Since everyone is different it may or may not work for you. All good, either way. The important thing - find what works for you. And keep the mindset right. Whatever that means to you.

CarvedTones

The discipline to always log everything might be the single most important thing that helped me lose the weight. Making exceptions is a slippery slope. Dealing with reality is necessary if you want to lose wight and keep it off.

I went over both days over the weekend; it was my eldest's college graduation (and he chose his major well; he starts work this morning). I was low enough in my range that I don't have to freak out and make up for it immediately. I can just hang out mid range for a while if I want. Same with losing; you can have a week where you didn't lose your weekly average as long as you get back on track. Anyway, if you look at my diary, I logged the overage. I broke a long string of days where I didn't go over more than a few calories and often came in a few under. So what?

bfanny

Just saying...I’ve been successfully maintaining for almost 10 years and sometimes I’ll track a splurge sometimes I won’t, I just go back to “normal” (small deficit) the next day and for the rest of my week and at the end my weight stays pretty much the same (+2/-2lbs) minus the guilt/torture of seeing numbers in red...This is to maintain, of course to lose this doesn’t work...Then I guess I’m just “lucky”

emmies_123

amusedmonkey wrote: »

It's very valuable.
- You won't feel like you're spinning your wheels if you know exactly how much impact a higher calorie day had. You are less likely to forget these higher days and then think "I've been doing everything right, why am I not losing weight?". Accountability is important and the head in sand approach rarely leads to results.
- It helps with seeing your weekly deficit (or lack thereof).
- It can ease your mind and help overcome guilt when you think you've blown it, but you still ended up with a deficit for the week.
- You get to understand what kinds of food contribute to going over, and think about how you can modify them, regulate them, or rearrange your diet to fit them in better next time.
- You are less likely to slip away from tracking because you're not "off the wagon", you are still dieting and logging, you just happened to have a higher day. This helps combat the "starting over" mentality, which can be harmful to dieting.
- It may help stop the overeating episode in its tracks when you see you're close to eliminating an entire week's deficit. It may also help rethink taking a second free for all day.
- It's the best thing you can do if you're trying to teach yourself to stop overeating as soon as you catch it. All or nothing mentality can be harmful to dieting. You're not either "on" or "off" the diet. Choosing to stop (regardless of your calories) when you are tempted to continue overeating is just as much of a victory as being within calories. Tracking helps you understand how much progress you're making in that department.
- Tracking is just what you do when you choose to lose weight via calorie counting. It's a persistent habit, not a situational one. Keeping this one habit going could maintain the weight management mindset and help with complacency.
- It helps to know how many calories your usual higher days average. It's helpful if you're planning to bank for a higher day, and it's very helpful info for the future if you plan to log more loosely once in maintenance.

This is a beautiful summary of why it is so important. Seeing the overage some days at the start allowed me to switch out some of my meals, and taught me to realllly watch portion sizes! It also keeps me from unnecessary snacking throughout the day.

fiddletime

Many times the food I ate over wasn’t as many calories as I thought. What a relief, and that helps me to stop eating at 300 calories over, rather than 800 or 1200.

The other reason I log everything is because it’s a real pain to have to log every tiny thing so it helps to stop me from nibbling.

kimny72

1. If you go over, you can eat a little under for the rest of the week and mitigate the damage.
2. If you don't log it, you can forget it happened. If you log it, it's right there in black & white for posterity.
3. If you pay attention to your macros or some other number than calories too, not logging a bad day is counter productive.
4. Part of the upside of logging is a history of accurate data. You can find patterns and suss out cause & effect. You can look at the long term.
5. Most of us got overweight at least in part by allowing a disconnect between what we do and what we ended up with. Logging bad days stops that. Owning your missteps is powerful!

ryenday

bfanny wrote: »

Just saying...I’ve been successfully maintaining for almost 10 years and sometimes I’ll track a splurge sometimes I won’t, I just go back to “normal” (small deficit) the next day and for the rest of my week and at the end my weight stays pretty much the same (+2/-2lbs) minus the guilt/torture of seeing numbers in red...This is to maintain, of course to lose this doesn’t work...Then I guess I’m just “lucky”

Yeah, I’m more like this. I’m actually back to a deficit this month trying to shed a few sanity pounds, but the red numbers are a guilt/shame trigger.

Maintenance for me: I keep vague track weekly on calories (I track my protein intake so it is no extra burden). If my weight is in the proper range and trend is not up then a treat once s week or so is fine, and that splurge probably won’t be protein so I don’t necessarily log. If my weekly weight trend is up or my weight exceeds my target area then no treats or splurging until I’m back on track.

For me it is more a mental game: the red numbers are demotivating and cause a guilt shame reaction that can spiral. With the scale, I have a mental line (cross it and I adjust) and an ‘official line’ a few pounds heavier that I absolutely must not cross. That buffer means I am never ‘in the red’ on the scale so I remain positive.

hesn92

I’m not a very serious logger anymore. Sometimes I log when I go over sometimes I don’t. I’m trying to be a little more accurate during the week. I usually eat to a point and then have a snack after dinner and don’t log it, but then I’ll go back and log it the next day.

Diatonic12

Nope. I don't believe in undereating to pay for overeating or any overage the next day. It only digs a much deeper hole. Every day is a new day if you need to think of it as hitting the reset button. I'm in it for the long haul, no such thing as the finish line with your positive food management plan.

teranga79

My problem is (or can be) that I go over by a perfectly sensible amount (couple of hundred or so) and then think "what the heck" and start hoovering up everything in sight. I can easily turn an extra hundred or so calories into a 4000/5000+ day by just stopping logging. At least if I make an attempt to log it gives me some accountability. I may still eat the huge amounts of food, but I should at least know what sort of numbers I'm dealing with.
The biggest temptation for me isn't so much the food binge itself, as the loss of control. The idea of not logging, not counting, not worrying about it is very seductive to me.

SummerSkier

bfanny wrote: »

Tracking your cals when you go over? Why?
I mean there’s not much we can do about it except maybe feel discouraged...Opinions?
TÍA

I think since you are successfully long term maintaining it is probably not necessary for you. Others still losing or new to maintenance might want to for reasons above.

nowine4me

teranga79 wrote: »

My problem is (or can be) that I go over by a perfectly sensible amount (couple of hundred or so) and then think "what the heck" and start hoovering up everything in sight. I can easily turn an extra hundred or so calories into a 4000/5000+ day by just stopping logging. At least if I make an attempt to log it gives me some accountability. I may still eat the huge amounts of food, but I should at least know what sort of numbers I'm dealing with.
The biggest temptation for me isn't so much the food binge itself, as the loss of control. The idea of not logging, not counting, not worrying about it is very seductive to me.

@teranga79 I’m pretty sure we’re related!!

Francl27

For math and data. Plus no denial possible, and it's way easy to eat way too much if you don't bother logging it.

It's pretty interesting though when you end up every single day in the red for a while and don't gain any weight. So you can actually benefit from logging there.