I don't understand the "I'm not gonna log it" mentality

tinana_RN

I log everything as well. Pointless to not log things if you want this to actually work-- it's ok to eat what you want, but it's really great to keep it logged so you can see it if you're not seeing the results you want to.

xerotolerance

I try my best, but sometimes if it's my cheat/refuel day, I just want to enjoy it rather than be 100% on my logging game. This is just me, personally, of course.

marieautumn

on the rare occasion i am going to be over 100 calories over i just stop logging out of guilt. but that same guilt allows me not to make the same mistake the next day.
OR if i've been drinking...then all logging bets are off.

SkettiGurl

I log everything regardless of what I've eaten...If I don't, the only person I'm hurting is myself right!

dane11235813

i hardly log anything. once you reach a point where you know what your body needs to eat in a typical day i don't find it necessary.

Jennloella

I don't log anything ever. I use this site for motivation, to find like minded fitness friends, find new recipes, etc. To each their own, I guess! When I first started I used the quick calorie add, but quickly found I never really ate more than I estimated so...it just kind of tapered off. Lost all I wanted and more so something was working.

Carri1

I log it so that if I need to go ride my bike because I went over on something without realizing I can go do it. I am not dieting tho. I am eating healthy and not starving myself. Its actually good to eat more some days...keeps your body guessing. JMO

amanda3588

I typically log everything, the good, the bad and the ugly. The only time I didn't log was over this past weekend because I ate a lot of random foods that I would have no way to account for. I know what I ate, and the sodium weight showed on the scale, so I am staying accountable to myself.

lporter229

I also try to log the good, the bad and the ugly. Most days on my calendar are complete to a tee. However, there are a few "best guesses" and I always try to over-estimate to cover. But this weekend was a disaster. We had a house full of people all day on Sunday, so my eating consisted of picking at the "buffet" of food. In all honesty, I probably drank more calories than I ate, so I really would not even know where to begin to log Sunday.

cindyhoney2

I log everything...I'd rather be able to review my food diary to see why I didn't drop any lbs this week and see accurate readings. It just makes good sense to me if you're going to go through the trouble of monitoring your food/calorie intake why not do it as accurately as possible.

jaxandmaksmom

i just logged the pizza i had for lunch... ( and am now regreting... my tummy sure doesnt love the icky )

Genericwit

Does anybody else overestimate rather than underestimate? If I'm cooking something, I put it in a recipe analyzer (or if I'm lazy, I'll just log all the ingredients separately), but I round the ingredients up rather than down. If I've got, 5.4 oz of something, I log it as 6. It's a neat way to trick yourself the other way. You 'meet' your calorie goal, but you might really have a hundred left over, which isn't harming you, most likely.

Plus, I generally tend to immediately look up anything bad before I eat it. If I eat it, then discover it's 1000 calories, I'm going to feel like crap. If I see that it's 1000 calories before I eat it, it may not look as appetizing anymore. Or I can at least ration it. Which is why I love the app. I don't have to go home to log and in the meantime forget something.

graelwyn

I am not here to lose weight, I have never been overweight, and I do not think therefore, for me, that obsessively logging every single day(especially given I am prone to obsessiveness around food) is good. If I have a very bad day, I know I am having a bad day, and I have that thing in my head called a brain to tell me how many calories I have got up to. Logging it isn't going to change it, anymore than knowing how much I have eaten will change it. I think people get a bit too anal about what everyone else here is doing and logging or not logging. I personally, do not intend on spending the rest of my life sat here logging every bit of food I eat, while life passes me by, no sirree. I can understand those who are overweight feeling a need to do it, and to keep an eye on things, but I honestly think some here get way too obsessed with it, and to me, that sort of obsessiveness will eventually lead to their falling off the wagon totally. 'Normal' people do not sit there all day counting every calorie they put in their mouths, nor sitting wagging their finger at themselves if they have a pig out day once in a while. And nor shall I. Logging for me, simply serves the purpose of giving me a rough idea of what I will maintain my weight on and what sort of food/exercise balance I need, thus for me personally, it is not a longterm thing.

jofjltncb6

Going over one day and not logging it isnt a big deal. One day is VERY small and has nearly no impact on the big picture. Sometimes it is nice to just enjoy a day and not log it. I don't want to feel guilty because I went over my calories and enjoyed myself.

So going over one day and recording it makes you feel guilty, but going over one day and *not* recording it doesn't? I don't understand. I would think going over would make you feel guilty whether you recorded it or not.

Actually, I would expect you to *not* feel guilty either way since going over one day isn't a big deal...and that's true whether you recorded it in MFP or not.

irisheyez718

Yesterday was my birthday, I wasn't concerned about going over calories, and I did. I started off logging, but didn't finish, I had all kinds of things and it wouldn't have been an accurate log anyway. I don't feel guilty, I don't feel bad, its one day and its not going to hurt my weight loss. Next week, I'm going out of town for a few days and don't plan on logging then either. I feel we should be able to enjoy ourselves sometimes and not worry about the logging, if you can do that and not be bothered by it. I don't log on Thanksgiving and Christmas. It doesn't worry me.

susannamarie

Does anybody else overestimate rather than underestimate? If I'm cooking something, I put it in a recipe analyzer (or if I'm lazy, I'll just log all the ingredients separately), but I round the ingredients up rather than down. If I've got, 5.4 oz of something, I log it as 6. It's a neat way to trick yourself the other way. You 'meet' your calorie goal, but you might really have a hundred left over, which isn't harming you, most likely.

Plus, I generally tend to immediately look up anything bad before I eat it. If I eat it, then discover it's 1000 calories, I'm going to feel like crap. If I see that it's 1000 calories before I eat it, it may not look as appetizing anymore. Or I can at least ration it. Which is why I love the app. I don't have to go home to log and in the meantime forget something.

I do the second one -- when I know we're going somewhere, I plan what I'm going to have.

I don't do the first one -- I would rather enter the decimal, and since I have the food scale I might as well be as accurate as possible within the limits of the scale.

mangobadango

I don't get the "I'm not gonna log it" mentality either. I really had to break myself of it though, because I didn't want to think about everything I had eaten that day. Especially when going to the Sushi bar. But now I always log, and figure even if I forget something on a high calorie day, at least I am logging and have somewhat of an idea of what I ate.

I don't understand the mentality of "I'm not going to log because I don't remember enough for it to be accurate".

likeschocolate

You are here to better yourself and be healthy. The support is one way of reaching that goal.

Logging (like other activities) is for your benefit. As an adult, you are responsible for finding out what will help you or not help you.

If you think (based on self-knowledge) that logging does not carry benefit for you -- don't log.

If you want to log it because you feel it will help you (again, based on what you know of yourself), log it.

Best wishes for your journey. :happy:

monkeyriley

I log it all. I figure I am only lying to myself, so why would I want to do that.

Truthfully, I have learned that I generally stay within my allotment for the week and for the most part if I go over one day, I have a tendency to not eat as much the next day, my logging re-affirms this.

I have also learned what foods are more fun to eat because of this. Seriously, Sugar-Free Jello has been my friend. It is a great ice-cream after dinner replacement. A snack cup has 10 calories.

I'm trying to view this as a lifestyle change. I need to be honest about the food I am taking in and how it might impact my overall health. This is merely a fact-finding and fact-facing mission.

Forthe4

I'll log it but put down an explanation of what why I went over so when I look back I'll remember why the day ended up with bad numbers. For example, I go to friends place for dinner and a few beers while we watch a game or movie, I'm not about to refuse what they cooked because it wasn't made the way I would make it. I enjoy myself, drink my worthless beer and enjoy the wonderfully flavorful food, then log it in the next morning and make note why I let it go that day.

I view MFP as a tool to track with, not as a prison to restrict my behavior. I'll not let one day knock me off course, so no need to try to lie to myself and pretend it didn't happen. If anything it proves to be a positive reinforcement that you can still have significant progress without totally giving up every bad food (or drink) craving you have.