Not logging when you don't eat well

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  • Stefanie7125
    Stefanie7125 Posts: 462 Member
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    would just rather not try to do the math and figure out exactly what they ate, as that can be damn near impossible if the food/drink isn't anywhere in the database. It's too time consuming, and frankly, not that big of a deal.

    I agree, thank you!

    Everyone keeps saying you need to "own up to your mistakes". When I go over, it is not normally a mistake, it is a choice. Rationally thought out and decided.

    Will it make the others feel better that I logged 1,000,000 calories tonight because I ate at BWW tonight? If I continue to eat like this I will weigh 10,183 lbs in 5 wks. Good thing for me, today was VERY unusual!
  • jenilla1
    jenilla1 Posts: 11,118 Member
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    What's the point of logging if you aren't consistent? Even when you eat crappy stuff, you still need to know the effect it had. It's good to follow your trends over time, but you can't do that if you are dishonest. Sometimes I miss a day (if backpacking or travelling, etc.) but I don't make a habit of it.
  • RetroGlitzDiva
    RetroGlitzDiva Posts: 109 Member
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    You are so right on this point. I also hate seeing people say "oh well I am not sure how much what I ate was because I was at a BBQ and I can't figure it out." Its better to estimate by looking for a like item and serving size and logging then not logging at all. Its all about teaching ourselves a new lifestyle and in the real world we don't always have our measuring cups, scale, or a menu nutrition guide to figure the "real" numbers out.
  • shorty35565
    shorty35565 Posts: 1,425 Member
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    The only time I dont log is when I eat soemwhere where I can't (like chinese buffet or a place tht doesn't have their cals listed), which RARELY ever happens. I normally eat pretty good & don't cheat. When I do, I tell ppl where i ate and what I ate.
  • Dani_wants_to_be_fit
    Dani_wants_to_be_fit Posts: 550 Member
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    Semi guilty. When I have a bad day I will log the calories but with a quick cal entry.
  • Renae_Nae
    Renae_Nae Posts: 935 Member
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    I don't log Saturday's...why? Because 90% of the time we go out as a family which means a ton of sharing off of each others plates. Its the day we usually have pot luck dinners and good luck trying to figure out those calories anyways. Plus, it gives me a day where I can forget about it and just live life without checking my phone or computer before I eat! It's also my cheat day. I'm craving a Birthday Cake milkshake and have been since Sunday...but I'm waiting til Saturday!
  • jjelizalde
    jjelizalde Posts: 377 Member
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    I log everything I eat or drink. No exceptions. Ever. Otherwise what would be the point? I know what I ate, I'm not trying to impress anyone so I'd only be lying to myself.
  • wdwithers
    wdwithers Posts: 36
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    My two reasons are (even if they are not good ones):
    1. Most of the time I just forget or am too tired.
    2. I forget to measure everything. It gets tiring after awhile.
  • graelwyn
    graelwyn Posts: 1,340 Member
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    One does not need to log, to know if they have had a 'bad day'. I, personally, do not log when I am at my mother's for a few days, because for one, I am there to enjoy my family time, not to sit online inputting everything I put in my mouth and most of it is restaurant food, for two, I am fully aware I am going over and know from experience that my weight settles down just fine a week after returning and I workout 6-7 days a week when at home and for three, being far from overweight and never having been overweight, I do not need to log every single day. I have decades of calorie books behind me and pretty much know what is good and not so good calorie wise.

    There is still a life to be lived out there, and I see no problem if people want a day or two off from logging sometimes, to give themselves a rest. If I have a bad day when at home, I usually do log everything, simply out of habit.

    I have no-one to please but myself, and I get a bit fed up of this accountability nonsense, as if we are kids at school playing truant, rather than adults, keeping an eye on what we eat, but still continuing to engage in living lives beyond mfp. Life isn't going to stop because you have a few bad days and do not log, and from personal experience, it does not take the brain of einstein, nor logging, to balance things out after a vacation or a few bad days. I think people can get a wee bit too obsessive about this and forget that most do not wish to be logging calories for the rest of their natural lives.

    To each their own, I say. If some do not wish to log their bad days, that is their business and I am sure they are fully aware of what they have eaten.
  • Cold_Steel
    Cold_Steel Posts: 897 Member
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    lol I log pretty much every thing ... It works for me because I tend to avoid certain foods realizing how damned long it would take to try to find that food and put it in. My wife is a trooper and she builds her recipes in it for me so we know what we are eating for meals but yeah..

    I had a friend on here (now deleted I believe) who just couldnt figure out why she wasnt losing weight.

    Me: Do you log every thing ?
    Her: What do you mean?
    Me: Do you log every thing you eat - like every meal, every snack every thing ?
    Her: Ummm most of the time
    Me: Most of the time/ Define most of the time ?
    Her: Well I dont want my log to look bad so I dont always log all my food if I know I am going over...
  • chocl8girl
    chocl8girl Posts: 1,968 Member
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    I agree. I ALWAYS log everything, but there is the occasional time when I won't click "Complete This Entry," mostly because I know people may say what I'm already thinking about my own bad day...lol. Sometimes they still tell me, though, and I don't mind so much. The log is really only for me to keep myself accountable, after all.
  • Cold_Steel
    Cold_Steel Posts: 897 Member
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    To each their own, I say. If some do not wish to log their bad days, that is their business and I am sure they are fully aware of what they have eaten.

    I agree to each their own - most people that are talking about accountability are talking about self accountability not accounting for others that would be nonsense.

    As in the post I just posted... I realized that the girl was simply binge'ing throughout the day and only logging up until she maxed her calories, not exactly using it for what it is intended for.

    The insane OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE nature of my logging has been accountability for me. You admit that you have never really been over weight all your life so that would lead me to believe as a reasonable person that you probably have never truly had a "problem" with food. You have probably never hid behind a building and shoved 2 double cheeseburgers and a large fry down your throat before you went home because you had a rough day ?

    Yeah, logging is a crutch for me. I use it as a tool, I regret every bad day I have had on it but I learn from it and have the opportunity to have that bad day which then pushes me to correct myself that week. People like me, I use an excuse not to log and all the sudden I am not logging at all...
  • Pebble321
    Pebble321 Posts: 6,554 Member
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    OP, I think you've fallen into the trap of assuming that everyone uses this tool exactly as you do.
    MFP is indeed a great tool for recording what you've eaten and monitoring food and exercise on both "good and bad" days.
    But, everyone here has their own way of approaching weight loss, and their own way if making use of different tools (including MFP).
    Posting judgemental comments about what other people do or don't do doesn't achieve anything.
  • xxnellie146xx
    xxnellie146xx Posts: 996 Member
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    OP, I think you've fallen into the trap of assuming that everyone uses this tool exactly as you do.
    MFP is indeed a great tool for recording what you've eaten and monitoring food and exercise on both "good and bad" days.
    But, everyone here has their own way of approaching weight loss, and their own way if making use of different tools (including MFP).
    Posting judgemental comments about what other people do or don't do doesn't achieve anything.

    I have not fallen into a trap and it wasn't meant to be a judgmental post by any means.
  • Pebble321
    Pebble321 Posts: 6,554 Member
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    OP, I think you've fallen into the trap of assuming that everyone uses this tool exactly as you do.
    MFP is indeed a great tool for recording what you've eaten and monitoring food and exercise on both "good and bad" days.
    But, everyone here has their own way of approaching weight loss, and their own way if making use of different tools (including MFP).
    Posting judgemental comments about what other people do or don't do doesn't achieve anything.

    I have not fallen into a trap and it wasn't meant to be a judgmental post by any means.

    You may not have set out to be judgemental - but when you start a thread which says (in effect): "THIS is the point of logging and I see so many people who aren't doing right (ie. your way)" - it certainly comes across that way.

    As I stated in my previous post, MFP is a handy tool and people use it in many ways. Nothing wrong with that.
  • aimeeinohio
    aimeeinohio Posts: 301 Member
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    I log everything but the weekends and special occasions (example, my BFF's daughter's wedding....I was partying. not trying to log that! LOL).

    I think I am going to start logging the weekends, too, and being more careful. I don't pig out on the weekends, but I do let myself eat what I WANT, and I'm not losing like I want.
  • kabbit42
    kabbit42 Posts: 85
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    Yeah. My diary is open but I log for me, not anyone else. I log everything I eat, sometimes I don't log my exercise just because I'm not sure about my calories burned but that doesn't stop me from eating. Well actually sometimes I don't feel like logging and therefore I don't snack, which I consider a good thing overall. ;)
  • half_moon
    half_moon Posts: 807 Member
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    I think some people just want to go a few days without thinking obsessively about how many calories they've taken in. I don't do this personally, but I guess I can see how some people would want a break from it, or be able to eat what they want once in a while, within reason, without feeling guilty about it. It's a mental thing, maybe.

    I'm sure they know if they don't log it it's still there. XP For me, it works best if I log EVERYthing. It keeps me in check. I probably won't log while I am on vacation though, since I will be out of the country and without my phone ap. Also, I doubt "Kumru" is on the calorie list. XP
  • Sharona1958
    Sharona1958 Posts: 10 Member
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    Sometimes when I think I've done poorly (especially when eating out), when I actually log th food I haven't really done as bad as I thought. It's best to be honest and keep moving forward.
  • half_moon
    half_moon Posts: 807 Member
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    Sometimes when I think I've done poorly (especially when eating out), when I actually log th food I haven't really done as bad as I thought. It's best to be honest and keep moving forward.

    Haha this is how my friend uses MFP. She ONLY logs when she's had a "cheat day", just to see how bad she did. It's usually not as bad as she thought!

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