Keeping Track of the Bad Days

velix

I go to the gym regularly, and have had a personal trainer for the last year, but nutrition has always been my trouble, stagnating any success. I have been using MFP for the last two weeks and love it.

The first day that I tracked my food I was horrified just to see what I was putting in my mouth (quantity and quality). Since then, I have been very conscious of what I ate - and I really liked seeing the "if every day were like today, in 5 weeks you'd weigh XX" at the bottom of the screen.

Yesterday was a 'cheat day' - I had chips for lunch, and a cheeseburger & poutine (fries, cheese and gravy - a staple here in Quebec) for supper and a few beers while watching the hockey game (and no gym). This morning, I decided to input the food (even though I really didn't want to). ... the poutine alone was 950 calories! More than the 6 dark beers I had! Not to mention the 600 cals in the chips.... I was appalled and disgusted with myself. But I think it is a good wake up call - MFP is a good reality check whenever I think "oh, a few chips won't hurt" or "i'll have this poutine and just work out harder tomorrow". Well hello reality check - I would have to spend 2 hours instead of the 70 minutes I spend now - and that's JUST for one item!!

So - I think inputting the bad days is probably the most important days to enter - to remind ourselves why we are doing it in the first place. I am all for treating ourselves once in a while - but guess MFP has helped me realize to what extent a 'treat' can turn into a disaster.

pell53

That is such a great point. The things I've learned on this site in just over a month have changed how I eat now, and forever.

One other interesting thing I learned was just how small a portion of pasta is....and how normally I probably ate 4-5 portions in one serving (for a total of 800-1000 calories JUST in the pasta itself!).

Lyadeia

I try my best to put in the bad days as well, and the reason I do that is because I look at the week as a whole. When you figure out what your calorie deficit should be, you look at the whole week. So I add up my calories in versus calories out for the whole week and see how I did. It's not worth beating yourself up over 1 day when you did spectacular on the other 6 days, because you never know...you could still be within your calorie deficit anyway! So, here's to not depriving ourselves. :flowerforyou:

islandnutshel

Try adding in deep fried ice cream. Wow. Yes it is so educational, and if you calculate how long your on the treadmill to burn it, then it is easier to skip. Good job on getting focussed.

Loseittoo

I don't do cheat days. It's one thing to have a "bad" meal but another to just go off the deep end. What a waste of hard work.

I had a bbq at my house this past Sunday. Smoked bbq ribs mmmm. I only went over by 200 calories for the day. That was my splurge. After how far I have come I don't cheat myself.

Good luck.

lefrance12

I totally agree with you.. I input my bad days and even add in the alcohol calories just to see how bad i have been for all those years. It is a wake up call and does help you when you even have cheat days. I guess the biggest thing is awareness. MFP gets in your head and you can't help but think about it, even when you are cheating.

lefrance12

By the way, way to go loseittoo!!!

Loseittoo

By the way, way to go loseittoo!!!

Thanks!!!!

Rjperron

You're so right (about the french fries and hockey too...my grandparents are from Quebec and no one understands that in the States)...i feel less like having that extra beer when I know that the counter is going to go up...You'll be --- in 5 weeks...want that to keep going down! :-)

MissMessVaness

I sooo agree with you on that! Treats do turn to disasters so quick! And not only that but for me a treat on a cheat day turns into me craving more of that treat in a couple of hours and the next morning and on and on. Its basically just a tease for me so its better if I just stay away completely! And I know the feeling of not wanting to put it in your diary.. when this happens to me I feel like I'm putting into my computer with my eyes closed cause I don't wanna face reality!! Luckily we were brave enough to start MFP and face it that we need to know what we're putting in our mouths thats making us bigger than what we'd like to be! Good luck to you and yes I will continue too, to log the bad stuff in my diary when I can't say no!

EmpressB

That is such a great point. The things I've learned on this site in just over a month have changed how I eat now, and forever.

One other interesting thing I learned was just how small a portion of pasta is....and how normally I probably ate 4-5 portions in one serving (for a total of 800-1000 calories JUST in the pasta itself!).

This is so true! I had pasta the other night and was quite alarmed (if not a bit disappointed lol) that one serving of whole wheat pasta was rather measly and what I had been eating before, like you, was probably 4-6 times that amount.

I definitely think counting calories and having MFP to be accountable makes you A LOT more conscious about your eating choices which is the best thing. I think because portion sizes in the U.S. are so huge and I've been so used to just eating until stuffed and thinking that was normal, that I would not be very good at guessing how much a real portion is and I certainly would not be good at cutting back my portion size since where I am cutting back from is still a bit much. So reading labels and logging calories really helps to build good habits and to be aware of the reality and not just how my stomach feels or how the size looks to my eyes lol.

End6ame

A good way to avoid bad days is to plan your meals for the entire day in advance, enter it into MFP, adjust as you need to to meet your goals, then make it happen. I am a huge advocate of strategic cheat days and/or cheat meals. It keeps you sane and in some cases can actually speed up fat loss.