Do you "lie" on your food diary?

carolina822

If I'm logging, I tell the truth but if you see 1000 calories worth of quick add, it's probably because I drank a bunch of beer and would rather not be judged for it even though it may have fit into my calories for the day.

s3girl

I have in the past, but for the latest push, I've been tracking more metrics than just calories and use them in a 7-day running average which does two things for me:

1) It means I can have that cheat day without throwing off my running average too much.
2) It looks at my diet over an entire week and allows me to figure out where and why I cheat.

Pretty cool.

Michealwho

The only time I have not added something is when I have finished logging for the day and it was a late night treat, and I knew I had enough calories left to stay under my limit. If it was going to push me over my 1800 cals, I would either not have it or log it.

TigerBite

If I'm logging, I tell the truth but if you see 1000 calories worth of quick add, it's probably because I drank a bunch of beer and would rather not be judged for it even though it may have fit into my calories for the day.

Ha, ha, I on the other hand am quite proud when I kill a bottle of wine by myself, and log it with pride!

ellskiNZ

I generally am honest, unless I binge, in which case I just leave it blank.

Chris_B62

As others above have said. If you lie on your diary, you're lying to yourself. It has no effect on anybody else. I try to log everything. It gives me a better view of what I need to eliminate or add to. I don't add in sugar free gum, this keeps the munchies at bay and has no effect on calories consumed I do have to estimate portions sometime. For example, today, I was at a meeting where lunch was served. I had to estimate the amount of sliced brisket I at based on practice w/ weighing all my food portions in the kitchen.

michellelandis33

I do not lie on my journal. I am noting everything...if I want to have a bite I have to write. I would only be cheating myself and I want this to work for me...I thought that mine wouldn't be seen...but even if it is..I hope to be an inspiration at some point...I am not perfect....doing this for me and my health.

BekaBooluvsu

I'd rather make my diaries private than lie on them. Accountability is key and for me it's a constant reminder of what I am doing right or wrong. I think some people put quick add calories because they don't want other people to know what they actually consume or they eat under on because they have a perception that less is more.

Karababy51

I'm always honest & try to be as accurate as possible in my food diary. I bought myself a digital food scale & weigh everything, except for things like hamburger buns, cheese slices etc. Those things are already in single servings, so it's not needed. If there's something that's not in the database, but I can find it by online research (ex. my weekly trip to Subway), I'll log it as quick calories and post a food note of what I ate. My recipe ingredients are always weighed, then combined and calculated mathematically for single servings to be accurate as well.

Lying would just defeat the purpose of what MFP was designed to do, help me keep within my calorie deficit goals to lose weight and lead a much healthier lifestyle.

At the moment I'm at a maximum of 1200 calories a day. I try to come as close to that as I can, with a little leeway for database inaccuracies, so most days I hit around 1050-1100. I lead a pretty sedentary lifestyle at the moment with little to no exercise, so I don't need anymore than that.

Once I begin a consistent exercise program, I'll modify my goals. But for now, I'm always satisfied, never hungry, I'm not losing my hair, I don't feel weak, tired or constantly cold etc. I take a daily multi-vitamin and drink water all day long. I actually feel better than I have in decades, my skin is softer and I don't get headaches anymore from being in a constant state of dehydration. I used to drink 6-8 RC colas every day and NO water.

So, my food diary might seem as if I'm starving myself to some people, perhaps not logging everything, etc., but believe me, that's exactly what I eat every day since I started this journey 60 days ago. There's even a few days included at the beginning before I actually began when I logged out of curiosity to see exactly how many calories I was actually consuming. It was shocking and opened my eyes to just how terribly I was treating my body. So glad I found MFP!

*Note - My food diary is open if anyone cares to take a look. There's a few recipes (which I'll gladly give to anyone) and it's not very exciting, I'm a creature of habit. Except last week Hubby was on vacation so it was a little different and I went over for the first time one day because of an intestinal situation... if you get my drift. o.O

carolina822

I will add that I just bought a real food scale and have used it to weigh things like deli meat, cheese, cereal, pasta, apples (because the ones I got from the mountains last week are HUGE!) and so I suspect I've been underestimating some things.

I'm not going to weigh every bowl of lettuce, slice of onion, or red pepper than I eat. If I get fat from eating too many leafy veggies, well, I guess I'm just supposed to be fat.

zorbaru

usually if im having a bad day i just stop logging.

that way i dont get to down on myself and keep it going into the next day.

write it off and move on.

benefiting

If I do lie it's because I don't measure everything. I estimate. Apparently it isn't healthy to be on anything under 1200 (for woman) so no, it's not considered healthy. With that being said I can be under my 1200 at times but I do try and not to be.

Just_Kim_

Why lie? How would that benefit me?

grammagie

NO. there is no reason to lie..not beneficial

padams2359

It seems I have to track more now in Maintanance than I did when I was loosing. In some aspects I am a creature of habit. Breakfast is always the same, coffee w/ sugar, suppliments, and yogurt w/ pumpkin flax seed. 305 calories. Snacks are usually the same. It is the foods I am adding to get to my extra calories that I need to track. So, if you think you get to your goal, you can stop, wrong. It is the same as when you started the plan, unless you want to go back a dig or go shopping for more Fat Pants. JMO

xmysterix

Nah, if anything I try to give myself some wiggle room (overestimation). But now that I have my nifty new digital food scale, that'll happen less.

I want this to work. Not exactly sure what lying/cheating accomplishes.

CassieReannan

I used to! I dont anymore

Debbie_Ferr

If you don't log it, there's no proof that you ate it.
If there's no proof that you ate it, guess you didn't eat it.
If you didn't eat it, then you didn't consume the calories.

isn't that how it works ?
doesn't get any easier than that.

:

Wildgypsie22

I don't lie, and my calories some days are low and reason being is I don't feel like eating. If I have a sandwich I can only eat half, if I have soup I only have a cup full. And some times If I go out and enter my meal and I get many various calorie counts I put in the highest. Why? Because I don't want to go over that way I still stay under, if I see it written down I won't go over. If that makes sense lol. if I cheat, I'm cheating myself so no point I'm cheating

vampirequeen1959

I don't lie. If anything, like a lot of others, I over estimate. The diary is a working tool for me so it would be foolish to lie on it as it would fail in it's purpose.

MrsK20141004

I log everything. No matter what. Even if I have to go back and do it the next day, I will log it. 1000 calories over? Logged. People who lie or underestimate are only hurting themselves and their progress...

kathystrauss1

I don't lie per se but when I pre-logged my foods I often forgot (or was too lazy) ti go back and change them if I veered from the plan. Now I only log after i've eaten.

sarahertzberger

It's a possibility that they just forget to log dinner or something, but I wouldn't knowingly lie on my food diary, after all the only person I'm hurting is myself

Anita_hoar12345

No i don't log my cheat days because there is usually a ridiculous amount of beer involved and I can't remember wtf I eat when I'm drunk. when I log I put everything I eat in there if not i'm only ****ing myself over

rosettafaery

I post honestly and try and record every single thing I have eaten, even if it makes me feel a bit of a fatty for seeing the statistics...

mebepiglet123

Never that's why I'm usually always over...lol

chelstakencharge

If I can't be honest with myself here with my food diary then just why am I here. Lying will not get me to my ultimate goal.

_db_

Nope...not even that day I had 1/3 of my calories from (crappy!) chocolate candies.

RiverMelSong

I used to lie in my diary. I only logged my main meals and the snacks that fit in my meager calorie goal, and ignored the binges that followed later in the day.
I'm trying to be more honest with myself now, I still fall off the wagon sometimes and I often find it too horrifying to log everything I eat when I do, but most of the time I'm honest with myself. I'm doing this for me so what good would lying to myself do?! (I keep telling myself this, like I said I don't always succeed, but this is an ongoing process )

Confuzzled4ever

Probably, because you just can't eat that little for that many days in a row without binging on something. And I doubt they record the binge.

Those people are the ones whose weight never changes, too.

Ignorant statement. I was one of those people.. and I logged everything I ate. and i did it for months without "binging" I did lose weight too. BUT it didn't last and I got really really sick from eating so little. I was so bad, that if I knew i'd be drinking that evening, i'd eat even less during the day. Subconsciously. I had no idea I was doing that, until i'd log. And I wasn't sitting here hungry and not eating either. I was legit not hungry. If I felt hungry i'd eat. But I just didn't. and then I'd go all day and get to dinner and realize I hadn't eaten anything all day. Some people probably do omit foods that put them over their goals or that are not in line with what they tell people they are trying to eat like. but that goes for everyone. Whether their count is low or high. But to say people who do this binge later and don't log it. Unless you've been there, you really don't know what it's like to not be hungry.

I am *still* not hungry. I just eat anyway, because i don't want to ever be sick again. I make it a point to eat. Prepping foods, trying new things, getting excited over new stuff. Everyday I have to think about what I am going to eat and how I am going to reach a healthy goal. It works, but it's not easy and just because someone has a low calorie count doesn't mean they are lying or not recording binges.

Some people really have a problem. I had to ignore a bunch of people on here, who just tore me apart because "why didn't I just eat" well if it was only that simple. It is *entirely* possible to go from over eating to under eating as an adult. It is entirely possible to eat a vlcd without bingeing. It is entirely possible to not be hungry while doing so.

It's ok to not understand, its' not ok to trivialize someone else's struggles. Maybe your (generic you) struggle is to not over eat. I don't have that struggle and I don't understand it. I'm not going to belittle you because you do. But I will try to give you any help I can. If I think I have any to offer.

Today.. I'm struggling with dinner. I don't know what to eat with my planned meat. I'll figure it out because i need to eat more calories. But it's not as easy for me as it is for a lot of others. I ate lunch today even though I wasn't hungry for it. It's working, I'm getting to my goals in a more permanent healthier fashion, but it's a struggle. Just a different one then your's.