Anyone else HATE how calories are red when barely over?!

13

Replies

  • MemphisKitten
    MemphisKitten Posts: 878 Member
    And then the graph shows like this HUGE jump as if you really screwed up! Lol :laugh:
  • It bothers me some, but then... Stepping back and looking at the big picture helps reframe things...I could manipulate numbers so that number isn't red (like add in little bursts of exercise I didn't record), but I've decided it really doesn't matter so much when I mentally reframe things and I don't have to mess with the numbers on MFP.

    That's where I'm at too. Trying to just accept reality. I broke even. I went over. Tomorrow's a fresh start! :)
  • alasin1derland
    alasin1derland Posts: 575 Member
    I think the red is perfect. Our minds are conditioned to stop for red. I can't think of a more appropriate color.
  • We need a new thread: "Things that bother me but really shouldnt" ;)

    bahaha!
  • iqnas
    iqnas Posts: 445 Member
    It also turns red when you are at 0 calories left for the day. That really annoys me. It doesn't happen very often that I hit my calorie goal right on the number, but when I do it should not be red! lol

    It should give us a smiley face or something when every single one of our calories are met for the day. LOL.

    That would be encouraging :)
  • Red's my favorite color, so I don't really care.

    I do think "... and was within 100 calories of her goal," would be a healthier message than celebrating "... and was under her calorie goal."

    I think it promotes under-eating and obsessive behavior, ie "I'm over by 50 calories so I'm going to run up and down my steps for five minutes."

    That's exactly what I'm trying to steer clear of--the obsessive behavior. For me, this is just about being HEALTHY and keeping tabs on just how many calories I'm eating/burning (I'd like to either balance out or have leftovers every day, if I can).

    Red is just a color. I like red, too. :) Thanks for the reminder!
  • Yes, I hate that! I feel like I have failed the whole day when I see red! Even if it's 1-2 grams over. It should be like a stop like, green, yellow, red. I can deal with yellow.
  • rebeccap13
    rebeccap13 Posts: 754 Member
    Does everyone seriously need a freakin' atta boy/girl EVERY TIME they are doing things they are supposed to do to stay healthy and are respecting their bodies?

    Why is that not enough satisfaction?
  • BigDnSW
    BigDnSW Posts: 641 Member
    I don't give a shi*...This isn't about the color of the numbers...this is about my journey to a healthier me. Or maybe I have written too many Excel spreadsheets! :noway:
  • 714rah714
    714rah714 Posts: 759 Member
    Working hard to one day get all my numbers in the red
  • SoDamnHungry
    SoDamnHungry Posts: 6,998 Member
    Sometimes it annoys me. Someone suggested on the forums to set your goal higher (like if you're at 1400, make it 1450) so if you go over by a few it stays in the green.
  • Codefox
    Codefox Posts: 308 Member
    Hmm, I'd say most people are here because they spent too much of their lives eating 'in the red' as it were. If you ate too much, eat less tomorrow. It'll be green. Eat too much...even a little too much, its red. Makes sense to me!
  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,934 Member
    Yes, I hate that! I feel like I have failed the whole day when I see red! Even if it's 1-2 grams over. It should be like a stop like, green, yellow, red. I can deal with yellow.

    Seriously? Your emotions can be that influenced by the color of a number on a website?
  • shunggie
    shunggie Posts: 1,036 Member
    just jump rope or run in place and it will be normal again.......

    I do this sort of thing. If I'm over less than 100 say I might go for a walk just to get an extra little burn in. I don't know if that really helps anything but it makes me feel like I'm doing something.
  • tuiccim
    tuiccim Posts: 689 Member
    I would love it if the program was green while under calories, black while in maintenance zone, and red when you go over maintenance. I think that would be very helpful.
  • Becky388
    Becky388 Posts: 157 Member
    I am quite happy when it turns red because it means I reached my goal, and I am fueled for tomorrow's workout.

    Never thought of it like that. Since I'm trying to reach my goal or even a smidge over and not be WAY under like I usually am, I may have to rethink my thinking ;)
  • shunggie
    shunggie Posts: 1,036 Member
    No. It's just a number.....a target.....nothing more nothing less.........If you are upset about being over I hope you are also upset when you are under as it is just as bad.
    [/quote]

    Honestly, I'm not upset at all when I'm under. I almost never eat back all my calories. I'm on 1200, if I work out and burn 650 calories I can eat 1500-1600 fairly easily but 1850? I know it's silly and no doubt a weakness on my part but I tend to think of those extra calories as a reason to be bad. I have 250 extra calories....hello ice cream! So I thought it would be better to land on 1600 healthier calories then 1850 with 250 in crap. I guess I don't know how to successfully balance this. I don't know until the end of the day where I will be calorie/exercise wise. The ice cream right now is a skinny cow Ice cream sandwich but still.
  • I look at it as accurate, if you are over it should be red, even if you are just 1 calorie over...you are still over. If there was to be a Yellow, I would think only the number "0" would be Yellow. I have been to the Grand Canyon and trust me, if you walk farther than you are supposed to on a ledge it does not matter if it is 1 inch or 100 inches.
  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
    Yes, I hate that! I feel like I have failed the whole day when I see red! Even if it's 1-2 grams over. It should be like a stop like, green, yellow, red. I can deal with yellow.

    Seriously? Your emotions can be that influenced by the color of a number on a website?

    Actually there have been psychological studies on how colors effect emotions. Indeed, the color red can cause anger.

    http://www.uvsc.edu/disted/decourses/dgm/2740/IN/steinja/lessons/05/l05_08.html
  • laural007
    laural007 Posts: 251 Member
    That was me yesterday, I was so mad and it bothered me so much that it motivated me to go walk the dog. Out of the red! Victory! :laugh:
  • What makes me crazy is when I get the "your body is going into starvation mode!" red message when I've eaten 1197 calories for the day. Really? 3 calories under and you're warning me that I'm going to starve?
  • heypurdy
    heypurdy Posts: 196 Member
    it's worse when protein is red and shown as negative, same with fiber. that's a GOOD thing. it should show as a positive green damnit!
  • kms1320
    kms1320 Posts: 599 Member
    Maybe when you miss your goal it can say:

    "Soandso has completed his/her food and exercise diary for 12/xx/2012 and was over his/her calorie goal but they tried, so here's a participation trophy to make him/her feel better!"
  • cmcollins001
    cmcollins001 Posts: 3,472 Member
    No.
  • Dave198lbs
    Dave198lbs Posts: 8,810 Member
    I wonder what the success/failure rate is for people who are influenced by a computer generated color.

    Maybe you obsessive/compulsives are doing better than the folks who don't give a rats *kitten* about a silly color

    or maybe you are not.
  • gingerveg
    gingerveg Posts: 748 Member
    Yes I hate it. Part of the reason why I upped my net calories from 1200 to 1400 was I would consistently go under 1200 because I was so afraid of going over and seeing red -believe it or not.

    ETA: ^ to the above poster. I can't speak for the OP but I also have issues with the red and I do happen to be very goal oriented and disciplined. Because of this I usually succeed at whatever I set out to do. Of course there are downsides to that personality trait, such as being overly obsessive about these little things etc. But the way I see it is success happens when we are able to string together a number of little victories so these small things generally do end up being important in the end.
  • falconeer37
    falconeer37 Posts: 12 Member
    it bothers me because the MFP settings encourage you to meet your calorie goal and not to eat too few calories, but when you go even slightly over it feels like your being admonished! I don't know. I feel like there should be an acceptabe range where you should be eating and not a hard number.
  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
    Maybe when you miss your goal it can say:

    "Soandso has completed his/her food and exercise diary for 12/xx/2012 and was over his/her calorie goal but they tried, so here's a participation trophy to make him/her feel better!"

    Yeah I'm not asking for a trophy. I admitted that I know it's not rational, it bothers me that it bothers me because I KNOW how silly it is. It is the same as the work example. My husband laughs at me for it , I laugh but that damn red ! makes me twitchy. It's a quirk, I have a few of them. Just how my brain works.
    It doesn't ruin my day or throw off my tracking. I don't fudge the numbers or do anything to get back in the green. I *know* that it will even out, some days I'm over some days I'm not. I just don't like the red.
    Like someone else said - things that bother you but shouldn't. This is one of them. I'm sure we all have them.
  • phildawson75
    phildawson75 Posts: 205 Member
    I would like to see it change to green near/on target, yellow just off and then red. It should be the same in both directions away from the target as its just as bad being way under as way over.

    The ranges of the color changes should be based off percentages away from your goal. Eg 5%, 10%, 20%
    Eg if you had a goal of 2000 it would be green +/-100 and for yellow +/-200 and for red +/-400
    Eg if you had a goal of 1200 it would be green +/-60 and for yellow +/-120 and for red +/-240

    It should give people the choice in their profile to changes which colouring method is used so it doesn't affect everyone and also allow the %s to be customised if people want to be less/more strict
  • penrbrown
    penrbrown Posts: 2,685 Member
    I also hate it when my bank account goes in the red despite me being only a few dollars over...

    :P

    Nah. I don't mind. I have a goal. I want to meet it, not exceed it.