Anyone Perfect on MFP Plan

MB_Positif

I have been here over 900 days. I go over my goal occasionally. I think that is perfect because I live in real life.

My goal is to meet it as closely as possible.

glenverrier

Remember that consistency is more important than perfection. I constantly remind myself of that. I think you'll find most of the people who have long-term success on here realise that it's okay to go over every now and then but the key is to get right back on track the next day and not let one bad day spiral into a bad week.

The best meal plan is the one that you can stick to long-term. For most people this will generally involve a degree of flexibility and the ability to occassionally splurge on special occassions.

I agree with this 100%!!

thebowhunter

320 days of tracking in row and only rarely over my goal.

clepant

Tracking your food and exercise is keeping it real. If you see it you are more likely to stick to it or try to improve what you have been eating. It is only as helpful if you are actually tracking everything you eat. Going over or going under is life. Its not a sin or crime. It is just here to help you. I have gone over...and I get back on make sure I keep in back in range. I am on target, under and over. It is meant to be a tool.

trackmyday1973

Hello,

I was wondering if there are any of you out there who have been tracking for 100, 200, 300, 400, 500 etc etc....and not gone over calories once.

I know slip ups happen.... I am not questioning that.

I am just wondering if there are any people out there that have been on track every single day since joining MFP.

If so, what's the secret to your determination / focus?

How am I missing the point? When I said perfect I didn't meat to a teeeee I mean stuck to plan without binging since on MFP not going under of over 200 calories.



I think you're missing the point. The purpose is not to always be under the calorie goal. It's to be in the ballpark of the calorie goal. That means if 50% of the time you're over by 200 calories and 50% of the time you're under by 200 calories, you've accomplished the same thing as you would have if you were exactly at goal every single day.

trogalicious

Hello,

I was wondering if there are any of you out there who have been tracking for 100, 200, 300, 400, 500 etc etc....and not gone over calories once.

I know slip ups happen.... I am not questioning that.

I am just wondering if there are any people out there that have been on track every single day since joining MFP.

If so, what's the secret to your determination / focus?

How am I missing the point? When I said perfect I didn't meat to a teeeee I mean stuck to plan without binging since on MFP not going under of over 200 calories.



I think you're missing the point. The purpose is not to always be under the calorie goal. It's to be in the ballpark of the calorie goal. That means if 50% of the time you're over by 200 calories and 50% of the time you're under by 200 calories, you've accomplished the same thing as you would have if you were exactly at goal every single day.

That's just OCD. The point is to keep at it on a regular basis. Even if you do go over. If you're chained to an exact number on a phone/webpage, and DO have a day where you go over.. you'll feel like you've let yourself down. I've seen it happen far too much on these forums.
"OH MY GOD! I ATE 1300 calories instead of 1200.. I GIVE UP!" and they literally deactivate their account. They may come back, they may not. The problem is, if you obsess over that number for so long, it's going to eat you alive in the long run. So yeah, it's a BALLPARK number that they give you. Not an exact science. If you have a day where you go over by 200 calories, and you're under 200 on the next.. so what.

...what if I blew your mind and told you that you could track weekly. What then? Would that lessen the mental shackles to the day by day?

trackmyday1973

Hello,

I was wondering if there are any of you out there who have been tracking for 100, 200, 300, 400, 500 etc etc....and not gone over calories once.

I know slip ups happen.... I am not questioning that.

I am just wondering if there are any people out there that have been on track every single day since joining MFP.

If so, what's the secret to your determination / focus?

How am I missing the point? When I said perfect I didn't meat to a teeeee I mean stuck to plan without binging since on MFP not going under of over 200 calories.



I think you're missing the point. The purpose is not to always be under the calorie goal. It's to be in the ballpark of the calorie goal. That means if 50% of the time you're over by 200 calories and 50% of the time you're under by 200 calories, you've accomplished the same thing as you would have if you were exactly at goal every single day.

That's just OCD. The point is to keep at it on a regular basis. Even if you do go over. If you're chained to an exact number on a phone/webpage, and DO have a day where you go over.. you'll feel like you've let yourself down. I've seen it happen far too much on these forums.
"OH MY GOD! I ATE 1300 calories instead of 1200.. I GIVE UP!" and they literally deactivate their account. They may come back, they may not. The problem is, if you obsess over that number for so long, it's going to eat you alive in the long run. So yeah, it's a BALLPARK number that they give you. Not an exact science. If you have a day where you go over by 200 calories, and you're under 200 on the next.. so what.

...what if I blew your mind and told you that you could track weekly. What then? Would that lessen the mental shackles to the day by day?

I actually have OCD. But no that's not what I meant. 200 or 300 calories over does not qualify as not sticking to plan.

trackmyday1973

Hello,

I was wondering if there are any of you out there who have been tracking for 100, 200, 300, 400, 500 etc etc....and not gone over calories once.

I know slip ups happen.... I am not questioning that.

I am just wondering if there are any people out there that have been on track every single day since joining MFP.

If so, what's the secret to your determination / focus?

How am I missing the point? When I said perfect I didn't meat to a teeeee I mean stuck to plan without binging since on MFP not going under of over 200 calories.



I think you're missing the point. The purpose is not to always be under the calorie goal. It's to be in the ballpark of the calorie goal. That means if 50% of the time you're over by 200 calories and 50% of the time you're under by 200 calories, you've accomplished the same thing as you would have if you were exactly at goal every single day.

That's just OCD. The point is to keep at it on a regular basis. Even if you do go over. If you're chained to an exact number on a phone/webpage, and DO have a day where you go over.. you'll feel like you've let yourself down. I've seen it happen far too much on these forums.
"OH MY GOD! I ATE 1300 calories instead of 1200.. I GIVE UP!" and they literally deactivate their account. They may come back, they may not. The problem is, if you obsess over that number for so long, it's going to eat you alive in the long run. So yeah, it's a BALLPARK number that they give you. Not an exact science. If you have a day where you go over by 200 calories, and you're under 200 on the next.. so what.

...what if I blew your mind and told you that you could track weekly. What then? Would that lessen the mental shackles to the day by day?

I actually have OCD. But no that's not what I meant. 200 or 300 calories over does not qualify as not sticking to plan.

What I meant was how many on MFP stayed true without binging (having a free for all) that's what I meant. I am not saying it's a bad thing. I was just wondering who actually stuck to plan without binging.

trogalicious

Hello,

I was wondering if there are any of you out there who have been tracking for 100, 200, 300, 400, 500 etc etc....and not gone over calories once.

I know slip ups happen.... I am not questioning that.

I am just wondering if there are any people out there that have been on track every single day since joining MFP.

If so, what's the secret to your determination / focus?

How am I missing the point? When I said perfect I didn't meat to a teeeee I mean stuck to plan without binging since on MFP not going under of over 200 calories.



I think you're missing the point. The purpose is not to always be under the calorie goal. It's to be in the ballpark of the calorie goal. That means if 50% of the time you're over by 200 calories and 50% of the time you're under by 200 calories, you've accomplished the same thing as you would have if you were exactly at goal every single day.

That's just OCD. The point is to keep at it on a regular basis. Even if you do go over. If you're chained to an exact number on a phone/webpage, and DO have a day where you go over.. you'll feel like you've let yourself down. I've seen it happen far too much on these forums.
"OH MY GOD! I ATE 1300 calories instead of 1200.. I GIVE UP!" and they literally deactivate their account. They may come back, they may not. The problem is, if you obsess over that number for so long, it's going to eat you alive in the long run. So yeah, it's a BALLPARK number that they give you. Not an exact science. If you have a day where you go over by 200 calories, and you're under 200 on the next.. so what.

...what if I blew your mind and told you that you could track weekly. What then? Would that lessen the mental shackles to the day by day?

I actually have OCD. But no that's not what I meant. 200 or 300 calories over does not qualify as not sticking to plan.

Odd, since your original post said

I was wondering if there are any of you out there who have been tracking for 100, 200, 300, 400, 500 etc etc....and not gone over calories once.

that doesn't leave a lot of room for interpretation. The whole "not going over once" part was the dead giveaway.

aalicia88

I try to stay a few calories under my target in case I over estimated my exercise calories. Plus it tells my friends when I've completed my diary and when I've completed my diary and was under my goal. It makes me feel guilty if I'm over my goal
On the weekends I'm usually over my goal because I usually eat at someone else's house and they tend to make high calorie stuff. I've got to get that under control.

trackmyday1973

I try to stay a few calories under my target in case I over estimated my exercise calories. Plus it tells my friends when I've completed my diary and when I've completed my diary and was under my goal. It makes me feel guilty if I'm over my goal
On the weekends I'm usually over my goal because I usually eat at someone else's house and they tend to make high calorie stuff. I've got to get that under control.

I understand

nxd10

I've never gone over a week and I have logged every single meal (almost every single mouthful - I've tried). On average, I'm under my goal by more than 800 calories/week. Less in winter, more in summer. The most I've ever been over for a day is 350 calories.

You have to go over some days if you are way under others. So if I hike and have a net of -400 for one day I definitely feel no guilt the next day eating a bit more.

LiftAllThePizzas

Hello,

I was wondering if there are any of you out there who have been tracking for 100, 200, 300, 400, 500 etc etc....and not gone over calories once.

I know slip ups happen.... I am not questioning that.

I am just wondering if there are any people out there that have been on track every single day since joining MFP.

If so, what's the secret to your determination / focus?

How am I missing the point? When I said perfect I didn't meat to a teeeee I mean stuck to plan without binging since on MFP not going under of over 200 calories.



I think you're missing the point. The purpose is not to always be under the calorie goal. It's to be in the ballpark of the calorie goal. That means if 50% of the time you're over by 200 calories and 50% of the time you're under by 200 calories, you've accomplished the same thing as you would have if you were exactly at goal every single day.

That's just OCD. The point is to keep at it on a regular basis. Even if you do go over. If you're chained to an exact number on a phone/webpage, and DO have a day where you go over.. you'll feel like you've let yourself down. I've seen it happen far too much on these forums.
"OH MY GOD! I ATE 1300 calories instead of 1200.. I GIVE UP!" and they literally deactivate their account. They may come back, they may not. The problem is, if you obsess over that number for so long, it's going to eat you alive in the long run. So yeah, it's a BALLPARK number that they give you. Not an exact science. If you have a day where you go over by 200 calories, and you're under 200 on the next.. so what.

...what if I blew your mind and told you that you could track weekly. What then? Would that lessen the mental shackles to the day by day?

I actually have OCD. But no that's not what I meant. 200 or 300 calories over does not qualify as not sticking to plan.

What I meant was how many on MFP stayed true without binging (having a free for all) that's what I meant. I am not saying it's a bad thing. I was just wondering who actually stuck to plan without binging.

That depends on how you choose to define a binge. But IMO having lost about 30 lbs of fat and added several pounds of muscle while going from 'overweight and insulin resistant' to 'neither of those, and healthy and strong' is the only thing that has any real meaning or value. Whether or not I ate a lot more than usual on occasion really has nothing to do with anything and definitely doesn't make me more or less disciplined or on track or determined or focused.

That's the secret: don't sweat the small meaningless stuff. Focus on what actually matters and will actually make a difference.

S0nsh1ne

I've been on for about 220 days and go over all the time. Slow and steady and realistic is going to keep me going.