Do you record when you go over?

delilahthegoddess
delilahthegoddess Posts: 59
edited September 20 in Health and Weight Loss
I went over my calorie/fat allowance last night and recorded it, but the negative numbers in red are hard on the ego!

Replies

  • lotusfromthemud
    lotusfromthemud Posts: 5,335 Member
    IMHO, this is the only way to keep to the program. The red numbers won't last long, but they happen to everybody. This isn't about perfection, it's about good choices a good percentage of the time.

    Part of why MFP is so great is that you can look back over your weeks/months past. You could easily get frustrated and think "I'm doing everything right and still not losing!" if you lie to your food diary. If you lie to the food diary (and yourself) you can't look back and diagnose what went wrong. On the other hand, you could observe your pattern and notice that going over occasionally isn't the end of the world. (it isn't, by the way)

    Part of how to work this plan is honesty.
  • Stephanieb325
    Stephanieb325 Posts: 174 Member
    Don't be discouraged! Keep recording everything! This is a great way to keep you accountable for what you eat. I always ask myself when I eat something, "Do you really want to eat that and then log it into MFP" I hate it when I go over my calories or whenever my sugar or fat goes in the red. MFP keeps me on track so keep logging you are doing great! :flowerforyou:
  • elu123
    elu123 Posts: 2
    Absolutely! The red numbers will just be encouragement for the next day :-)
  • mromnek
    mromnek Posts: 325
    Don't get discouraged. Each red tick is a message that there is an area you could improve. For me it started on the calories. Then it went to the fats. Then it went to the sodium. As I get each aspect of my diet under control, I am getting healthier, and the healthier lifestyle is becoming a habit.

    And that is what this is all about, changing our habits to become more healthy as a lifestyle, not just a phase.
  • janecashin
    janecashin Posts: 4
    I always log my food even when I go over. I have been able to look back and see a pattern. My weakness is Friday night. Being able to see the pattern, has helped me plan ahead so I have something to do in order to keep me away from temptation. Hang in there, even when you go over.
  • cheyannheartsyou
    cheyannheartsyou Posts: 36
    And the red is okay sometimes. My thing gets mad at me when I have one calorie to spare!
  • cheyannheartsyou
    cheyannheartsyou Posts: 36
    And the red is okay sometimes. My thing gets mad at me when I have one calorie to spare!
  • Freda
    Freda Posts: 15
    I make sure I burn the extra calories to make sure I always have some to spare. Plan ahead for your day as much as possible. I plan the day out and try to stick to it. I have lost 126 pounds total, 30 of them using this site. Your goal should be to get rid of that red number. You can do it. :flowerforyou:
  • Tamiash
    Tamiash Posts: 106 Member
    It seems I go over on protein almost every day! I'm not exactly sure how to change that either. Than the other day was both red in Carbs and protein. Go figure! It does make you look over your choices you ate for the day and see how perhaps you could of made a different choice. One day at a time, my new motto for life! Today is the present, tomorrow is a gift. The clock is running. Make the most of today. Time waits for no woman/man. Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery.
  • sonjavon
    sonjavon Posts: 1,019 Member
    Oh yeah - I log it... and I keep in the back of my mind that sometimes I'm going to be "in the red". I'm generally okay on the fat - sometimes the sodium gets me and I'm ALWAYS in the red on protien - I've decided that's ok.
  • gsadamiak
    gsadamiak Posts: 2
    Don't worry about it! the next day burn a few more calories. You won't lose any ground.
  • sandboog1
    sandboog1 Posts: 4 Member
    Who are you tellin' sister! The first time I saw those red numbers my eyes were redder than the numbers; however, it served as a reality check. I knew that in order to stay on track and to make myself accountable I needed to see what I had done. I truly think it helps to just stick with recording even when you go over so that you can see what exactly it was that you may have eaten to cause you to go over and to perhaps work on the portions the next time you decide to eat that way. It may even help you determine what caused you to be in the red in the first place....it has certainly helped me.
  • BrendaLee
    BrendaLee Posts: 4,463 Member
    Even on a 5000 calorie day I log. :cry:
  • sandboog1
    sandboog1 Posts: 4 Member
    Honey, you have lost so much already...don't beat yourself up about it! Just make sure you don't make it a habit and simply get on with your day. As someone else stated, just burn more calories tomorrow, "try" to stick with your calories goals from here on out and should it happen again, just don't let it become a habit. You are always going to have those days when you don't do so well, but don't wallow in it, just say to yourself: "Ok, it happened, can't let this consume me...or I'll want to eat my way of my misery, tomorrow I have to do better and leave it there." You are doing awesome and you are allowed to "show off" every now and again, it keeps you from going over the edge completely. You're doing wonderfully so...no worries...keep recording and stay encouraged!
  • donsch
    donsch Posts: 40
    Absolutly record.. THen you can see where you are going wrong on a bad day/week and what you are doing right in a good week!
  • questionablemethods
    questionablemethods Posts: 2,174 Member
    I'm such a perfectionist that sometimes I am so tempted to just not record when I know that I have gone over. But then I remember that I am only going to be lying to myself and I won't be able to really know what is going on if I don't have an accurate record of what I've been eating. One day in the red is not going to be that bad. Consistency in eating well is key, not perfection.
  • aml0484
    aml0484 Posts: 425
    I also log everything even when I go over. For me when I go over I am able to look back and see what I could have done differently. Like the other day I went to subway for lunch. Ordered my regular sandwich for 280 calories and then decided to splurge with out checking the nutrition facts on a couple of cookies. Lets just say I ate more calories in my two cookies than my whole sandwich. In the end when you can look back on that it does change the choices you make in the long run. You are then able to look back and find out what changed that you you have hit a stop in your losses or see what you did to lose extra that week. Keep up the great work. Log everything and don't let an occasional red get you down.
  • karen366
    karen366 Posts: 141
    Yesterday was the first day I saw those red numbers....and I must admit I wanted to not track, but then I remembered this is a journey and there will be good and bad days along the way. I worked at 14 hour shift yesterday so I don't feel too bad about the 167 extra calories I ate.

    One of the things I am learning, is what has kept me heavy and what has kept me in my unhealthy habits is making excuses and not facing my reality. Those red numbers don't have to be a form of embarrassment or a sense of failure. Those red numbers can be just the motivation you need to stay on track the next day!
  • confuseacat
    confuseacat Posts: 137 Member
    It seems I go over on protein almost every day! I'm not exactly sure how to change that either. Than the other day was both red in Carbs and protein. Go figure!
  • confuseacat
    confuseacat Posts: 137 Member
    Me too! I am almost always in the red on protien and way under on carbs even if my calories are good. Maybe it's just I make high protien choices but it is strange.
  • jbuffan218
    jbuffan218 Posts: 275 Member
    I record everything.
    That being said, I have only gone over my calories one day since I started here.
    BUT, I have red numbers every single day!
    So while I have no problem staying under or near my calorie goal, my red numbers are always there.
    Maybe this is why I am losing sooooo slow?

    How do I even know what my numbers should be? MFP automatically sets them but as I found out with my fiber they had that set ridiculously LOW, so I upped my fiber to the bare minumum of 25.
    I have oftened wondered how I know if those numbers are correct??

    Anyone know of a good source for daily requirements?
  • godblessourhome
    godblessourhome Posts: 3,892 Member
    i have at least one red day a week. it doesn't bother me that much. but i also track things i want to be over in the red and that doesn't happen often enough. :) give yourself permission to make occassional bad choices. life doesn't have to be all or nothing.
  • mromnek
    mromnek Posts: 325
    i have at least one red day a week. it doesn't bother me that much. but i also track things i want to be over in the red and that doesn't happen often enough. :) give yourself permission to make occassional bad choices. life doesn't have to be all or nothing.
    This advice (echoed elsewhere in this thread) is right on the money for a few reasons.

    First off, if you deprive yourself of what you like (or love) you will not be able to stick to your nutritional plan. That leads to binges and ultimately to getting frustrated and quitting.

    Second, I didn't get to 100+ pounds overweight by eating too much every day. There were days that I ate nutritiously. Likewise, over time you will win, even with days that you just say "Aw what the heck... you gotta live!" and give in to pure pleasure.
  • suziblues2000
    suziblues2000 Posts: 515 Member
    Oh yeah, I sure do record every single morsel....and sometimes it goes RED! Matter of fact, my sugar is ALWAYS in the red. My fat is in the red a lot too.
    But, I'm working on it!
    Good luck..tomorrow is a new day.
  • gloriacombs
    gloriacombs Posts: 5 Member
    i do so very good during the week, but these weekends are killing me. It is the eating out. I do track everything and am working at this harder than I have ever in my life. I am 57 years old and need to be healthy enough to dance at my grandchildrens weddings and play with great grandkids.:flowerforyou:
  • jcompton3821
    jcompton3821 Posts: 109
    i do so very good during the week, but these weekends are killing me. It is the eating out. I do track everything and am working at this harder than I have ever in my life. I am 57 years old and need to be healthy enough to dance at my grandchildrens weddings and play with great grandkids.:flowerforyou:



    I'm with you!!! Weekends are SO hard!!! :explode:
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