First fail, Little choices

nxd10

For the first time since I started MFP, I am going to fail to hit my weekly calorie goal. I must admit, I am bummed. And since I'm going to a wedding this weekend, I hope to, but may not, make it next week. I'll only be over by maybe 1000 calories this week, but it is still not good. Onward and upward.

What is interesting to me is that there isn't anything major I did wrong this week, which tells me that if I didn't log I would definitely go wrong. I made lots of good decisions about not eating too much or eating the wrong things. I didn't splurge on anything. I just made a lot of small decisions that cost me.

I didn't walk as much as usual because of the weather, so I didn't have as many extra calories as I usually do.

I baked several times, so had an extra cookie, two extra pieces of bread, and three pieces of pear tart over the course of a week. And anything with a sweet pie crust has more calories than anyone should think about. I ate a second piece of pizza last night at a rehearsal dinner, but still had a small piece of apple cake.

I went out to lunch yesterday and my husband and I each ordered something instead of just splitting one meal like we usually do. I was never over by more than 400 calories, but I was over 3 times. And I'm NEVER over more than once.

That was all it took to put me over for the week. I am sure I'll meet my goal for today, but I expect I'll be over 1000 calories for the week.

Log log log.

quicklabs

You're so right about continuing to log. But I am very impressed by your insight as to what contributed to those extra thousand. I think you'll be fine with that level of great awareness.

cmsmj1

it does not really matter. Really..not going to change the world at all.

You have obviously been doing very well but don't beat yourself up about it - just crack on as this is a long game and 1 week, or even 1 month is going to make no difference in the next few years

PaytraB

You're doing great. Don't worry about one week or even two weeks. What you're looking for is an overall trend. There will be weeks when you overeat by a little bit (like this week) and other weeks where you'll undereat a little bit. That's maintenance for you.
It's really hard to wrap our heads around the fact that we're okay now, that we can do this. There's a mindset of not exceeding X calories. It is important to be aware of what you're eating but in a long-term, balanced way. I found/find it a hard mindset to establish with myself.
I've been maintaining for seven months now and am only just starting to get comfortable with this idea.

Enjoy your achievement of reaching your goal. Don't overdo it excessively but enjoy the occasional splurge and don't worry about it. You'll balance it out somewhere else over the next month or so.

shapefitter

I struggle to find 2000 kcal every day. More often than not, I give up at the 1800 mark.