Do you log when you're in a bad place, eating-wise?

GottaBurnEmAll

Sometimes I do and sometimes I don't.

My project for the new year involves a spreadsheet. The data nerd in me won't let me not log after that starts. Even if I have to make guesses, I'll log.

1BlueAurora

I log the good days and the bad days. It's a diary I can review every so often to see what works. Maybe I'll see that I eat more when I feel sad. Then I decide to take a different tack. Maybe when I feel upset, I'll put on my walking shoes and take a walk for 30 minutes. That's a half hour of not snacking. Win!

leahkathleen13

It has taken me three years here to log my bad days. I do so now and it helps me. It doesn’t stop me but it gives me the data that I need to understand what is happening. I realized why under eating was leading to the bad days and I can try to fix it now.

It has become a habit.

kiela64

I know I haven’t replied yet but I’ve been reading everyone’s responses! Mostly it is just great to read that you’ve managed to work through these things ❤️ I’ve started logging again, and I’m actually under maintenance for 2 days now. This really helped. Thank you for sharing ❤️❤️ I don’t know if I could log how bad things get for weeks, months at a time. But yes, a day or a weekend here and there, I can log those. But the whole time, it was too much. But I am back now 🙂 🤞

kshama2001

Millicent3015 wrote: »

I log whatever I can. When I don't log is when I know I've gone so over calories that I personally don't see the point in logging because I know what I ate will have caused some weight gain. My eating went out of the window in October when winter set in and my mood went downhill. I bought a light therapy lamp and have been using it all day every day because I need that simulated sunlight. It's helped improve my mood, which in turn has helped me stay more on track with my eating. But as it's holiday season, I don't have any issue with indulging myself a couple times a week. Even so, I've been terrified to weigh myself because I thought I'd put on tons of weight from overeating for three months. But I weighed myself today and I've put on less than 4lbs. Turns out I've been eating optimally more often than I haven't.

Winter overeating is a thing. Our ancestors would've overeaten in order to lay down fat stores that would keep them alive through harsh seasons. We still have that evolutionary hangover because humans evolve very slowly. Most of us no longer need to lay down extra fat, but our brains haven't caught up with that fairly new development, so we still feel that urge to eat more in anticipation of successfully getting through the harsher months.

You're not failing. Your mood is low, perhaps due to circumstances, weather, physical/hormonal changes, and your eating pattern has changed temporarily, perhaps due to that 40,000 years-out-of-touch caveperson brain yelling at you to put on some weight so you don't starve to death before spring or get so weak you can't hunt that woolly mammoth you've had your eye on since summer.

Log whatever you can, so you can look back and pinpoint any patterns where your diet changed, and try and formulate a strategy for coping with those pitfalls in the future. Try not to beat yourself up with thoughts of "bad/junk" foods. No food is good, bad, clean or junk. Food is essentially neutral. How you eat it is what's important. If you can gradually lessen the frequency of eating more fatty, carb loaded things, and increase your intake of lower saturated fats, complex carbs, vegetables, fruits, legumes etc, you can gradually return to the eating pattern that best suits your long term health & wellness goals. Cut yourself some slack. You've identified the issue and can start taking steps to tackle it.

@Millicent3015 I have problems in the winter too. I'm amazed at how much the weather affects my mood. Here are my strategies for dealing with it:
* I taper off my anti-depressant in the spring and go back on it in the fall. (I personally just don't need it half the year.)
* I bundle up and force myself outside during my lunch break every non-rainy day. I'll walk, or hike, or snowshoe (although there's been no opportunity for that yet this year). Lately I've been clearing the trail along a stone wall in the woods behind my house. My brain really likes goal-oriented projects like this, and I'll be sad when it's done.
* On rainy days I lift weights.

CarvedTones

Yes, always log, no exceptions. Otherwise you can't really tell if you are doing it often enough to completely sabotage your efforts or not.

lucerorojo

I just got back to logging. I had logged for over a YEAR every day, but then went on a retreat in August for 4 days when I was not using any electronics. That threw me off. I could never get steady again, and then in September started a full-time job (I had been working part time). I managed to only gain a few pounds from August-November, but in the last four weeks I gained another 4. I am about 10 lbs. up from my lowest weight (since I started logging in July 2017) which was in June 2018. I weighed myself today and that was really a shock. I thought that I had developed better habits, but I went back to eating about 1000 calories more per day than what I should be eating... (which was how I ate in July 2017).

So I've realized (which I knew before, but I was too stressed with my new job, death in the family to focus on my eating ) that I have to log. I am determined to get back on track and that means LOGGING daily. I was only about 1/2 way to my goal weight. I still have about 70 lbs. to go and I'm not giving up! I definitely do not want to go back to what I weighed about 18 months ago! It is scary though how quick it can come back if one is not paying attention.

Danp

I do and don't.

I still log to stay in the habit but I also find myself logging dishonestly. By this I mean I recognise that I'm 'off the rails' be it intentionally or not because my logging won't be accurate. This so far hasn't been a big problem for me as I found that how much I've strayed means very little when compared to how long I've strayed.

By this I mean that inaccurately logging one or two REALLY bad day hasn't really impacted my progress too much as I've been able to get 'back on track' quickly. Saying that dishonest logging does require a little bit of self honesty. You can't have days like that and NOT expect there to be a slight slowing of progress so I take any scale movements in my stride.

I think a key for me with being able to get back on track quickly is the way I view these bad days. I no longer see them as a failure rather as an indulgence. I realised that feeling guilty after the fact was just a waste of energy and just ruins what was at the time an enjoyable experience.

Regret doesn't burn extra calories.

jesspen91

If I'm in my own home or eating food that i have prepared myself I will log everything. The problems come in social situations especially when alcohol is involved. It gets so tricky to estimate all the variables and I end up thinking 'why bother?'.

WJS_jeepster

Like a few others have said, the weather/sunlight really affects me. I realize I've gotten into somewhat of an annual pattern: do really well in the spring and summer and then September comes and something always happens (illness of myself or kids, house disaster, car disaster -whatever). Just as I'm getting back into it comes October and shorter days and worse weather. We had super early cold weather this year and my running just stopped in it's tracks. I have logged a few days here and there but just have been struggling to get back to it regularly.

One thing I did do differently this Fall is I didn't stop daily weigh-ins. I think that's helped in that I'm only 4 lbs up over my September low. As long as I force myself to look at it and record it daily I haven't gone fully off the rails.

Each day I try to convince myself that I will not wait for New Year's to get back to logging. At this point I have 2 weeks. I would like to say that I will use those 2 weeks wisely and log and stay close to my calorie goal. But to be realistic - I have 4 Christmas parties plus Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in those 2 weeks. Maybe my best bet is to just do the best I can those days and hit it hard with the rest of the resolutioners on New Year's. Sigh.

lucerorojo

^ The daily weigh-ins are a good idea if one can't get back to logging. At least you are keeping track of your weight. I only weigh once a week but for three weeks I didn't and that was when I gained the most! Knowledge is POWER.

CSARdiver

I own it. When I'm in a bad place I go into "robot mode" and double down on my routine. This means I'm extra cautious about logging and weigh everything. I push whatever's bugging me into a motivation to run, bike, swim, lift... I've found my best sessions doing this and learning to channel that same energy to turn this into something positive.

garystrickland357

I do now. Someone mentioned on the forum that your body "logs" the calories so we might as well also. I ask myself what intelligent person would lie to themselves about the information needed to make good choices? That said, there are days like yesterday when honesty isn't possible. It was a treat day at work and I indulged. I logged as well as I could - fully aware that I was most likely WAY off.
I have learned the hard way that I can't be successful by ignoring the scale and not logging. I try to see it as data now and not a barometer of my self control/self worth. This way there is nothing to feel bad about.

hesn92

I am currently pregnant, and trying to keep a handle on my calories so I don't gain too much weight. Currently being at the beginning of my pregnancy I'm trying to eat at maintenance (or that's what I have my goal set to) but I've been so freaking hungry that I've been going over my goal by 200-500 calories every day for the last week and a half or so Sometimes I want to just say "F it" to logging but I log anyway, no matter how ugly. I do it because I want to have the data to look back on and do calculations based off of. If I gain too fast or too slow I'll have the data to support whether I need to cut back or add on and by how much.

jjpptt2

garystrickland357 wrote: »

I do now. Someone mentioned on the forum that your body "logs" the calories so we might as well also. I ask myself what intelligent person would lie to themselves about the information needed to make good choices? That said, there are days like yesterday when honesty isn't possible. It was a treat day at work and I indulged. I logged as well as I could - fully aware that I was most likely WAY off.
I have learned the hard way that I can't be successful by ignoring the scale and not logging. I try to see it as data now and not a barometer of my self control/self worth. This way there is nothing to feel bad about.

I like that distinction!

joaniebalonie088

I have been pretty lax on logging my "bad" days. I'll either just bulk add calories which I think are in the ballpark, or painfully add things close from the database. Some days, I won't add anything.

My weight loss had stalled and I know this is why! I am trying to be kind to myself and be proud that I am not gaining, and have increased my fitness and well-being. I just need a bit more discipline on my "bad" days, and decrease the frequency with which they occur!

Blythmag

As soon as i stop logging i go off the rails...theres ya answer