Are you honest with your food diary?

Tasha_uk

Are you 100% honest when completing your food diary?

I ask because i always tend to track every single thing i've eaten even if it is like a whole 100g bag of crisps or a whole loaf of bread! I rarely though see my pals on my profile ever have a bad day but they never lose weight. Are they tracking everything?

I must admit I have recently(when i have bothered to track it) not done very well and stuffed my face silly hence why i've only lost a couple of pounds here and there.

Do you track everything?

cgordon86

I track it all. If I go to Sam's Club and sample, I track it. I track the spices I use. If I don't track it, I will cheat. I don't want to cheat. That is why you track it. I have had days that I go over, but I do have an option to go exercise it off and bring it back under....I don't always do that. I am doing this for me not for anyone else, so if I lie to myself that is doing no good. I also like the option of tracking it all and printing off a report that I could take to my doctor to show I have less salt intake and my sugar is down and proteins are up. I am using this for the great tool it is. And remember, some people have a higher calorie intake than others. My sister in law signed up and her calorie count is about 300 less calories a day than I am allowed. It is easy for her to go over, but now that I have some things figured out, it is not so easy for me to be good and go over. I go over when I am bad......(which I allow once in awhile). Good Luck.

ChristineS_51

Yep I track everything. This is about me and my weight loss and learning a new healthy way to live. I admit I haven't had any "bad" days yet, have pretty much been in range. When I first started it was just after Christmas and I love Fruit Mince Pies and we had a cupboard full (well not quite) to eat, so I ate lots of them - wrote them all down, but it was a real eye opener how much fat and sugar were in those tiny mouthfuls.

If you don't track everything, you are not learning about food values of what you put into your mouth and only fooling yourself. Don't worry too much about what other people log - altho it is interesting to see how people use their calories and make great choices; other just use them on processed / fast food, and still come in under their goal.

I've just finished for the day, didn't quite get to my 1200 calories and I am STUFFED. The thought of eating something else makes me feel quite ill!!

meerkat70

I do track everything yes. I don't see the point in lying, you're only lying to yourself really.

I wouldnt worry too much about what other people are doing in *their* diaries. Focus on doing the right thing with your own.

Good luck!

rachaelh84

I am. The only person I'm cheating is myself if I lie. It won't hurt anybody but me, so why do it? Same with exercise. The only one it affects is me if I don't do it.

ETA: I do have a free day once a week that I do not track, often because we go out to eat at non-chain restaurants. Although this past Saturday, I found it hard to cheat because we don't have junk food in the house, so I ate healthy all day until dinner when we went out.

ashnm88

Yes, I track everything. Don't get far lying about it.

Jeneba

Because this is a lifestyle for me, I go through "stages" just as I do with everything else! There are times I can focus on MFP and then I am 100% rigorous and write down every single calorie. But there are other times when other things in my life are more central, so I just use MFP as a vague guideline.

ScatteredThoughts

The only thing I don't track in my food diary is chewing gum; I figure its just not worth the trouble. Everything else is logged. There are days, such as my recent 1000 calorie overage, that I feel bad about, but they give me incentive to do better in the future.

blv0267

I track everything....even if it's a couple sips of a Shamrock shake and 2 french fries. I log what I think I just consumed.

Bourds

Completely or it would be a lie to myself and I did that long enough and that got me to where I am today.

manderson27

I try to be honest, but do occasionally forget things, ketchup or dressings mostly. If I binge I always track it as I like to look at the reports and see what triggers the overeating so I can try and avoid them in the future. As others have said, you are only cheating yourself if you lie to make it look better. :noway:

kryptonitekelly

Of course. Why track and lie? It'll be a waste of time

harriet_tubman

i only log significant things and leave out things like condiments or a handful of nuts etc.

i don't think it's "lying" if i am still aware of it whether it's written down or not...

Ro0kins_Wedding

I log everything, I would be only lying to myself otherwise.

grobbygru

Yep - for sure - no use cheating - that doesn't get you anywhere!!
ATM tho - I am moving house - like a really big move (ie not going to another house so need to cull alot of stuff etc) so because I am so busy I am not logging properly because I am just too busy - and I am burning heaps and not really eating too much (stress does that to me) sooooooooooooo, I will get back to it all properly soon - but yeah - not trying to cheat it by not logging properly - just way too busy to think of everything :smokin:

RockChick1984

if it passes my lips... its calcualted... i'd only be cheating myself otherwise.. least if i have a massive binge and i have gone over.. i know exactly how mnay calories to work off to get back on track

Bridget0927

I am totally guilty of not being honest with MFP, I try not to do it too much. But yes I have selected the lowestt cal option when I search my food and yes i have left things off before. All of these posts are correct its only cheating yourself, but if I am honest yes I have left things off before or I am sure under estimated what i have had. Is that not normal?

LoraF83

Yes, I track every single thing that I eat - well, I track salt, but not the other spices I cook with.

This is a process, and everyone has to do what works for them.

hagamivida

Everything, though the exercise is harder to track accurately. Especially running. I do about 15 minute miles and the slowest it allows you to put in for running is a 12 minute mile.

SassyCalyGirl

100% you only cheat yourself if you don't log EVERYTHING!

Miss_dannii

I log everything, even if it has no calories lol. That's just me. I often notice people add stuff like breakfast cereal, but they won't have logged milk with it. Or bread and I wonder did they forget to add the butter. I'm just weird like that lol x

thelowcarbrecipes

I am about 98% honest, I weight my food to count calories properly but if I use up all the cream cheese and a little bit is left in the tub, I will use my finger and eat it with out counting.

lissadavis

I'm not as honest as I want to be. I'll often have a bite of what my husband's eating, or taste my preschooler's food before I give it to her to make sure it's ok, and I'm way too lazy to log all that. But I try to inflate the portion of something else I do log to make up for it. I haven't binged lately, but when I've eaten out I've just put something like 1500 quick calories. In the past, when I had a bad night and ate one thing after another, I just didn't log anything.

I realize that "I'm only cheating myself,' and I'm trying to get better gradually instead of beating myself up. Making my diary public to my friends has helped a lot.


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Chrissieneave

I track absolutely everything! If i didnt' i would feel like i'm cheating on myself

Sophie983

I track absolutely everything. Even my 3 calorie supplement :bigsmile:

onegoal2

I just started about a week ago. I Track everything, Its been an eye Opening experience just comparing what I ate before to what I am trying to eat now. Keep up with counting everything!
DC

CallmeSbo

I tell like it is, I track EVERYTHING. Yeah i might forget coffee. I usually load before i even eat, when my plate is infront of me. Yesterday, i was over by 400+ all because i was snackin on peanut butter, the whole flippen day.

meerkat70

i only log significant things and leave out things like condiments or a handful of nuts etc.

i don't think it's "lying" if i am still aware of it whether it's written down or not...

A handful of nuts isn't really comparable to condiments.

Nuts are VERY calorie dense. they're great for you, but you're fooling yourself if you think that you can eat a handful and it not count to your calories for the day in a pretty significant way. That handful of nuts will be the calorific equivalent of at least a bag of crisps. Probably more.

saramerrigan

Yes I am totally honest with my diary. I am only cheating myself otherwise!

qkidney

Yup! I track EVERYTHING. No good lying about it - I dont need my diary to look "pretty" for everyone. That isn't the point. If I eat crap all day long, its not good in saying I didn't, or fudging it to look "better" - because at the end of the day, I know what I ate, and I need to be accountable!

laineylynnfit

Yes, I am. I dk why someone would NOT be. It defeats the purpose. It's not like if you don't put it in your food diary, you never ate it. lol. :noway:

Kinda like when I used to eat fast food on a regular basis, I would hide and eat it so that no one would see that way it was like I never ate it. I could hardly believe I ever did that