MFP was down and I did this ... Help
coolbluecris
Posts: 228 Member
Hi everyone
Today MFP was down and I let my resolve majorly slip when I ate out.
I ate 1033 calories over my limit.
Okay so how do I deal with this? Both practically and emotionally?. Please help! (There's no time to exercise it's late here).
Very sincere thanks in advance
Today MFP was down and I let my resolve majorly slip when I ate out.
I ate 1033 calories over my limit.
Okay so how do I deal with this? Both practically and emotionally?. Please help! (There's no time to exercise it's late here).
Very sincere thanks in advance
2
Replies
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What weight loss do you have your diary set to?
If 0.5lb a week loss=250 calories
1lb=500 calories
2lb=1000 calories taken from your daily allowance.
You aren't going to be over by much.
I'd forget about it and just get back to eating at your deficit.1 -
I’d devide the 1033 over the next couple days and eat in extra deficit so the week balances out.2
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veggie16mfp wrote: »I’d devide the 1033 over the next couple days and eat in extra deficit so the week balances out.
Hi there
I could exercise for the next 4 days to at least burn 259 calories each session and not eat them back.
I can't bear to eat less than I do so that's possibly a fair solution.
For the record, it wasn't worth it !
Thanks so much 2 -
Tbh I wouldn't worry about exercising it off, that's nothing in the grand scheme of things. You're right that you also need to look at this emotionally though. Why did a website being down affect you this way? Do you think if it hadn't crashed you would have been more reasonable with your meal out? Did you use this as a convenient excuse to do something you think you should be feeling guilty for? (You shouldn't).
This is also concerning. If you're restricting too hard every day, that only makes binge episodes more likely. You should be using this process to learn how to make room for treats and nights out and socialising in your calorie allowance, or how to accept the high calorie days that ARE worth it, not feeling out of control and then guilty as soon as you think nobody (MFP?) is watching. That's a very slippery slope to a lifetime of disordered eating.coolbluecris wrote: »I can't bear to eat less than I do so that's possibly a fair solution.12 -
First, log it.
Second, stick to your plan for the rest of the week. Your current distress is coming from a misconception. Weight loss is a process that results in a downward trend at the scale. The process has some basics: plan, execute, record the results, problem solve when needed. You are always on the lookout for weak points and ways to make them better.
Some days you will eat over your number. There are lots of ways to make mistakes, including math mistakes and misread NI and misunderstood menus. There are also unplanned situations that we just don’t handle well. But try to keep the process in place. Missing your number is not a reason to quit the process.
But that’s the typical path to quitting- I’m over my number- I’ve blown it- throw up your hands and walk away. Don’t do that.
I wouldn’t disrupt my routine with extra gym time trying to make up for this. A better way to spend you time is trying to figure out what happened in your head. What’s the connection between an internet glitch and overeating? How did this happen?
You can learn from this. Keep going.6 -
Don't worry about it! You are not a robot! We all fail at some point but it's not the end.........If you did this because mfp was down, you must be relying too much on it. YOU are in charge of what you do......mfp is a tool to help you. By putting your post on here you are showing you know what's happening & YOU can fix it! So you made a blunder......life is like that.....you pick yourself up, dust yourself off & start again!! That's what being human is all about!!5
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I think basically I was having an emotionally down day. I'm upset at some things in life right now that I can't change. There was extra food available (high fat food that my husband eats) and instead of leaving it I ate it. It fed my emotions. It's the age old trap of why I put on weight in the first place.
I'm not restricting too hard, my diary is set to 1 pound loss per week. But for me, as a former high volume eater, of course it's a challenge. Usually I cope by eating nutritious, low density foods like smoothie bowls and oats with fruit and lots of different veggies. I'm not sure what I'm going to do when that gets boring though. Boredom is another trap.
Yes I rely too much on MFP for planning. My meals are pre-done and I'm always tweaking how much I can fit into my numbers. Is it a slippery slope to disordered eating as </smolmaus> has said? Lol too late, that ship sailed years ago. Disordered eating is what made me fat, and I'm here asking for emotional support so that I don't repeat the past and throw the towel in. I'm finding logging to be immensely healing. Having boundaries is doing me good. However since food addiction or any addiction is said to be at least partly caused by isolation, that's why we stick together 2 -
This is great! You've learned that when MFP is down your resolve wavers. How to deal with it? Stop thinking about it as a single event, but as an opportunity to make weight loss stick.
A single day isn't much, really. It wouldn't affect your weight loss. You have slowed your weight loss by a day or two, big deal considering that weight management will be a lifelong occupation.
Your next course of action should not be focused on this one day, but on your weight management as a whole: next time MFP is down, what can you do to keep your resolve? What other sources can you turn to? Would temporarily using another app help? Would it help to remind yourself of "that time when MFP was down and I overate"? How about an "if/then" strategy, like "if MFP is down, then I have a list of pre-approved meals I can eat and eating anything else is not an option"? Would taking a long walk help because by the time you're back MFP will likely be back? Just brainstorm ideas on how to handle this situation next time it happens (because it will). Once it does happen, you will be ready for it.
P.S: if you're eating too little, I would consider raising your calories. This may solve a whole bunch of issues before they occur. Undereating can drive us to compensatory behaviors that aren't really an issue until you start undereating.4 -
Nobody puts on weight by overeating one day. Brush it off, chalk it up to experience and move on. That's the important thing; move on. Get back on your regular eating regimen and in a week you won't even be able to tell you slipped.2
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coolbluecris wrote: »Hi everyone
Today MFP was down and I let my resolve majorly slip when I ate out.
I ate 1033 calories over my limit.
Okay so how do I deal with this? Both practically and emotionally?. Please help! (There's no time to exercise it's late here).
Very sincere thanks in advance
its only Tuesday, just look at your weekly goal.1 -
I do this all the time. Really. Like once a week. I log it as soon as it's done and then just get back on plan. If you're eating at a deficit already, it will just be a tiny blip on the scale for a couple days, nothing more. All it did was slow down your overall weight loss by two days. Max. If at all. Probably not at all, but that's difficult to measure. All through my weight loss I had one or more "over" day per week (500-1000 over Maintenance cals,) and I still lost all my 70+ pounds pretty much right on schedule. Close enough to right on schedule that it was not measurable.
What I don't do is under eat on the next day to try to manipulate the numbers, unless it's just by 100 calories - no more than that. If I under eat, it will lead to another over eat day and then there is this whole eat/starve cycle that's very hard to break both physically and emotionally.
Truly, one day means nothing. It's going to happen again. Just get back at your plan the next day.7 -
@coolbluecris
Let’s talk boredom. Why assume you’re going to get bored with what you eat? I’ve been maintaining for years. Much of the time I was just adding steamed broccoli to everything I could. Not my oatmeal though.
Now I’ve found green beans where you just put the bag in the microwave. But if you really do get bored, have you discovered roasted Brussels sprouts yet?
But bored is an idea in our heads. I’m always curious about this- for years I ate pizza probably 6X per week counting leftovers. Never seemed to get bored doing that.3 -
coolbluecris wrote: »I think basically I was having an emotionally down day. I'm upset at some things in life right now that I can't change. There was extra food available (high fat food that my husband eats) and instead of leaving it I ate it. It fed my emotions. It's the age old trap of why I put on weight in the first place.
...
Yes I rely too much on MFP for planning. My meals are pre-done and I'm always tweaking how much I can fit into my numbers. Is it a slippery slope to disordered eating as </smolmaus> has said? Lol too late, that ship sailed years ago. Disordered eating is what made me fat, and I'm here asking for emotional support so that I don't repeat the past and throw the towel in. I'm finding logging to be immensely healing. Having boundaries is doing me good. However since food addiction or any addiction is said to be at least partly caused by isolation, that's why we stick together
I don't understand. I mean, I get that MFP was down and you overate. What I don't get is whether not having MFP was something that rendered you incapable of knowing what and how much to eat or not having MFP caused you to go without the 'anchor' and made you feel like you weren't in control?
They're two different issues and are addressed differently.
3 -
We've all been there at some point I'm sure, I definately have, just move on to a new day and put it behind you.
As already suggested you can adjust your intake over the next few days to compensate, or just get back on track and put it down to a blip. 1033 cals wouldn't even be a half pound gain and it was over your set limit so actually you're probably not much over maintenance for the day - absolutely nothing to beat yourself up about.
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I don't want to discourage anything except I sense you are blaming a web site status for missing your goal that day. We can all find excuses, but being personally responsible in any circumstance is part of getting control of the situation and driving toward a goal.7
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@coolbluecris
But bored is an idea in our heads. I’m always curious about this- for years I ate pizza probably 6X per week counting leftovers. Never seemed to get bored doing that.
So true .. why didnt I ever get bored of pizza and wendy's?
This is not the first person I saw who went over "because mfp was down". ...I dont really understand it ... I went super conservative because it was down.1 -
I don’t get it either. Although, I had already filled out my food log earlier in the day so the site being down really didn’t affect me—except I was a bit concerned that I could lose my data.
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0
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You could look at your weekly calorie goal and work at reducing calories a bit each day or burning a bit more over the week. Even if you don't do that 1,033 calories is not going to do much to you. If you had a 500 calorie defict then you ate 533 calories over maintenance. Just go back to eating and exercising normally.
You know your calorie goal. In future if the mfp app does not work there are lots of other places to look up calorie information and log. You are not really at the mercy of one app.1 -
As others have said, you had a blip. Coping with disordered or even just emotional eating can be difficult. If you have it set to lose a pound per week then you only ate 533 calories over maintenance. That is about 15% of a pound or not even 1/6 of a pound that you'll put on if you eat at maintenance the rest of the week. And if that was 1033 over your maintenance calories, that's still less than 1/3 of a pound you'll put on if you eat at maintenance the rest of the week. sometimes it's about perspective because even if you don't try and make up for it the rest of the week, you'll still be down 2467 calories meaning almost 3/4 of a pound.
As others have mentioned, this is not a big set back in the grand scheme of things. You should consider not trying to make up for it because trying to be reactionary can lead to a habit of being reactionary which takes away your control over the situation. I'm not saying that will definitely happen, but in can help to accept what happened and plan for better in the future. You are in charge of how you react to things and people whether it's MFP being down or overeating or anything really. It happened. Forgive yourself and move forward. And in the future, when something like this happens, you'll know how many calories you've eaten up until that point so you'll know how many you have left. You can always do this the old fashioned way of tracking your remaining calories with a pen and paper and logging when the sure comes back up.
And I say all this with the knowledge of I did the same thing yesterday. The difference is, I had been toying with the idea of either a full diet break for a week or two or dropping my rate of loss for a week or two. Yesterday I ate at maintenance. I ate things I really wanted but have been avoiding because they are triggers (read can't that I normally don't have in the house but we didn't get as many trick or treaters as we should have.). I'm glad I did it because that 3 musketeers want worth it but those extra guac chips most certainly were. And it let me know that eating more every once in a while isn't going to kill me but my choices on what I eat definitely determine how I feel. It's all a learning process.1 -
Every morning is a new chance to start over! Stop beating yourself up and move on! Admitting it is half the battle! Just make sure you log everything you ate!2
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How bout join a second fitness app like Fitbit? That way when one goes down you have a back up. Pack in the "friends" on both so you're likely to always have someone supportive around. Emotional baggage is the hardest to loose and even harder to maintain untill you get enough practice.
And instead of beating yourself up when you go overboard try cheering yourself on every time you end your day under your target. You don't have to be your worst enemy if you're dedicated to being your best friend. :-D2 -
cmriverside wrote: »I do this all the time. Really. Like once a week. I log it as soon as it's done and then just get back on plan. If you're eating at a deficit already, it will just be a tiny blip on the scale for a couple days, nothing more. All it did was slow down your overall weight loss by two days. Max. If at all. Probably not at all, but that's difficult to measure. All through my weight loss I had one or more "over" day per week (500-1000 over Maintenance cals,) and I still lost all my 70+ pounds pretty much right on schedule. Close enough to right on schedule that it was not measurable.
What I don't do is under eat on the next day to try to manipulate the numbers, unless it's just by 100 calories - no more than that. If I under eat, it will lead to another over eat day and then there is this whole eat/starve cycle that's very hard to break both physically and emotionally.
Truly, one day means nothing. It's going to happen again. Just get back at your plan the next day.
0 -
coolbluecris wrote: »I think basically I was having an emotionally down day. I'm upset at some things in life right now that I can't change. There was extra food available (high fat food that my husband eats) and instead of leaving it I ate it. It fed my emotions. It's the age old trap of why I put on weight in the first place.
...
Yes I rely too much on MFP for planning. My meals are pre-done and I'm always tweaking how much I can fit into my numbers. Is it a slippery slope to disordered eating as </smolmaus> has said? Lol too late, that ship sailed years ago. Disordered eating is what made me fat, and I'm here asking for emotional support so that I don't repeat the past and throw the towel in. I'm finding logging to be immensely healing. Having boundaries is doing me good. However since food addiction or any addiction is said to be at least partly caused by isolation, that's why we stick together
I don't understand. I mean, I get that MFP was down and you overate. What I don't get is whether not having MFP was something that rendered you incapable of knowing what and how much to eat or not having MFP caused you to go without the 'anchor' and made you feel like you weren't in control?
They're two different issues and are addressed differently.
I can't answer I don't know but do try to answer with a little empathy. I'm 1.5 weeks in and still in a learning curve. Negativity is hurtful and same goes for other posters here who answered in a condemning tone. In the past when I didn't reach out and ask for help with the behaviours that kept me a failure I continued to fail. I'll continue to ask my seemingly stupid questions.0 -
Jackie9003 wrote: »We've all been there at some point I'm sure, I definately have, just move on to a new day and put it behind you.
As already suggested you can adjust your intake over the next few days to compensate, or just get back on track and put it down to a blip. 1033 cals wouldn't even be a half pound gain and it was over your set limit so actually you're probably not much over maintenance for the day - absolutely nothing to beat yourself up about.
Thank you 0 -
As others have said, you had a blip. Coping with disordered or even just emotional eating can be difficult. If you have it set to lose a pound per week then you only ate 533 calories over maintenance. That is about 15% of a pound or not even 1/6 of a pound that you'll put on if you eat at maintenance the rest of the week. And if that was 1033 over your maintenance calories, that's still less than 1/3 of a pound you'll put on if you eat at maintenance the rest of the week. sometimes it's about perspective because even if you don't try and make up for it the rest of the week, you'll still be down 2467 calories meaning almost 3/4 of a pound.
As others have mentioned, this is not a big set back in the grand scheme of things. You should consider not trying to make up for it because trying to be reactionary can lead to a habit of being reactionary which takes away your control over the situation. I'm not saying that will definitely happen, but in can help to accept what happened and plan for better in the future. You are in charge of how you react to things and people whether it's MFP being down or overeating or anything really. It happened. Forgive yourself and move forward. And in the future, when something like this happens, you'll know how many calories you've eaten up until that point so you'll know how many you have left. You can always do this the old fashioned way of tracking your remaining calories with a pen and paper and logging when the sure comes back up.
And I say all this with the knowledge of I did the same thing yesterday. The difference is, I had been toying with the idea of either a full diet break for a week or two or dropping my rate of loss for a week or two. Yesterday I ate at maintenance. I ate things I really wanted but have been avoiding because they are triggers (read can't that I normally don't have in the house but we didn't get as many trick or treaters as we should have.). I'm glad I did it because that 3 musketeers want worth it but those extra guac chips most certainly were. And it let me know that eating more every once in a while isn't going to kill me but my choices on what I eat definitely determine how I feel. It's all a learning process.
Yes indeed it's a learning process and I'm learning after years of food addiction. Thank you for understanding and encouraging me 0 -
Just let it go. You are going to have bad days every once in awhile. But using diet and exercise to punish yourself for those bad days just reinforces an unhealthy relationship with food.
Go back to your regular diet/exercise routine and move on from that day. It’s truly not a big deal.3 -
Consider it one day at maintenance. Log it. Forgive yourself. Continue with your regular plan. IMO thus will help you become dispassionate about your food log and view it as data. It happened. You are human. It’s ok. Today is a new day.
Looking at the weekly calorie stat helps me keep focus and realize that one day doesn’t have as much impact as my emotional side believes2
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