Recording when you go over cal goals

spickard34
spickard34 Posts: 303 Member
in Motivation and Support
I am really wondering how many people record literally everything you eat even when you have a BAD eating day. I record literally eat bite sometimes it's 2500 cals but I'm being honest. How many others make sure they do this or do you just quit and start again the next day???
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Replies

  • CoraGregoryCPA
    CoraGregoryCPA Posts: 1,087 Member
    I try to do it. I do it, so I can look back and say "I could have done without that, and then I would have ended at 2000 calories instead of 2500" and my goal is 1470 a day. I do it so I can make better choices next time.

    For some reason, last week I had 3 "bad" days (meaning I went over my calories by quite a bit). This week I decided to do just two "ooops" days. Next week, I'm hoping to do no more than 1 and improve from there.
  • 30ismyyear
    30ismyyear Posts: 145 Member
    I've done it both ways. I try to be honest but there has been a day or two I didn't finish my journal because of going over. However....no matter what I still measure and count up how many calories I am eating ... I want to know how much I go over by!!! I always know what I put into my body, I just might not admit it on paper.
  • YAYJules
    YAYJules Posts: 282 Member
    Why quit? That's silly. You won't have success if you don't hold yourself accountable. You can always adjust what you eat the next day and the day after to make up for over indulging one day, but not if you don't know what you ate / went over by.
  • greatmom2
    greatmom2 Posts: 95 Member
    You are only lying to yourself and not giving yourself an accurate picture of your eating habits if you don't record everything. I record everything and sometimes it is not too pretty, but I can look back and see what is really bad for me, see if there are certain days where I tend to over eat, and also I like to look at my reports on here so if I don't log everything, I can't rely on those. It's better to be honest with yourself than to not put it down.
    If you are worried what others think, then you should make your food diary private or where friends only can view it. I leave mine open for everyone. Really I would think only my friends would care because they are my main motivators/encouragers but if someone else wants to look at it, I don't want to feel like I am hiding anything. One thing I have decided is if I don't want everyone to see it then I shouldn't eat it. If I eat it though, it goes in my diary for all to see! I have super bad days sometimes, but I just try to learn and move forward. For example, I made a cheese ball on Friday! Bad decision!! No more cheese balls for a while! :) And yesterday, was a super bad day although I have had much worse!
    We all have bad days! Don't be ashamed! Just try to learn from them!
  • EmmaKarney
    EmmaKarney Posts: 690 Member
    I'm completely honest, otherwise what's the point? It's kind of how I got myself here in the first place.

    If I go over, I try and even out the next day or over the course of the week.
  • orangeyellowkayak
    orangeyellowkayak Posts: 97 Member
    You are only lying to yourself and not giving yourself an accurate picture of your eating habits if you don't record everything. I record everything and sometimes it is not too pretty, but I can look back and see what is really bad for me, see if there are certain days where I tend to over eat, and also I like to look at my reports on here so if I don't log everything, I can't rely on those. It's better to be honest with yourself than to not put it down.
    If you are worried what others think, then you should make your food diary private or where friends only can view it. I leave mine open for everyone. Really I would think only my friends would care because they are my main motivators/encouragers but if someone else wants to look at it, I don't want to feel like I am hiding anything. One thing I have decided is if I don't want everyone to see it then I shouldn't eat it. If I eat it though, it goes in my diary for all to see! I have super bad days sometimes, but I just try to learn and move forward.
    This woman is right! That's why we came to this site, to be accountable to ourselves and others. We could just keep on lieing about it and keep gaining.
  • samantha1242
    samantha1242 Posts: 816 Member
    I record everything. What's the point in just recording your good days, record them all.
  • PHF58
    PHF58 Posts: 23 Member
    I have been up against this for the past few days....chocolate took me down!

    i really have tried both ways, putting it down and also leaving the day unfinished.
    i want to be up front but it's not proud moments, that's for sure.
    Am trying to notice why I went off track but not sure at the moment.

    I do also try to even out over the next day and increase exercise. I admire people saying to stick with it and not cheat to yourself though.
  • pattydo
    pattydo Posts: 21 Member
    I had my first day yesterday of just really bad choices and went way over, I was so disappointed in myself. I logged it and even had a passing thought of this is too hard, but today I will make better decisions and I will not let this beat me. From reading other post I realize we are all going to faulter now and again but it doesn't mean we fail.
  • veganstein
    veganstein Posts: 33 Member
    I put the "overage" onto the next day's breakfast. I am starting out with fewer calories to burn for the day, but that way it averages out over 2 days.
  • TurtleRunnerNC
    TurtleRunnerNC Posts: 751 Member
    Record it all
  • RoseMay1122
    RoseMay1122 Posts: 65
    The only time I don't complete a day is when I go to a buffet - it's just too complicated to log every 'try some of that' I eat! I accept that it is definitely a bad day calorie wise and move on.
  • chelledawg14
    chelledawg14 Posts: 509 Member
    No matter how bad I eat, I still record it otherwise why bother doing it at all???
  • KirstenTheFamilyCoach
    KirstenTheFamilyCoach Posts: 327 Member
    I am honest when I have a day where I made choices that put me over my calorie goals. It helps me to look at two things: 1.) my weekly average (as long as my week is close or under I feel good) and 2.) I track how I felt (physically and emotionally) following days that I made choices that put me over. I try to learn from it. Lying to MFP about what I actually ate or how much I actually burned doesn't make a damned bit of difference on my in-real-life body becuase it keeps a VERY accurate record!
  • Yeller_Sensation
    Yeller_Sensation Posts: 373 Member
    I do it but not for serious reasons. I do it because I like seeing all the numbers in the red once a week. Everything I eat is a deliberate choice; no one makes me eat what I eat. And in a weird way, I have good memories of those foods because they were enjoyed with good friends.

    :flowerforyou:
  • a_vettestingray
    a_vettestingray Posts: 654 Member
    I used to be that way :ohwell: (not recording the "bad stuff" or anything over)

    Then I got serious about my goals. I record everything to the best of my ability; even when I make horrible choices and go way over. That way I can see trends over time - a tend to look at calories as an average for the week and then compare it to losses/gains.
  • amandapye78
    amandapye78 Posts: 820 Member
    Well there are days when I have finished the day with like 400 calories left and then I had honey in my tea and didn't record that. Actually that sounds lame lol. I did have a weekend away where I didn't record anything and I'm sure it was very very bad
  • Daniloveshockey94
    Daniloveshockey94 Posts: 348 Member
    I record evrything even if its a good or bad day! Its called being HONEST!!
  • PennySoutar
    PennySoutar Posts: 13
    I record everything. That's the plan. You can't eat unhealthy food and not record it. That is part of the old you. The new you is accountable to yourself. Everything you eat is a learning experience.
  • ldrosophila
    ldrosophila Posts: 7,512 Member
    I record it ALL and my days are always over.
  • horseplaypen
    horseplaypen Posts: 442 Member
    I record it all, unless there was alcohol involved and I forget. :) But I try!
  • MercenaryNoetic26
    MercenaryNoetic26 Posts: 2,747 Member
    I love seeing my overages. It helps me prioritize things like burgers (keep) over coffee creamer (ditch) . FUN! It's not a catastrophe for me when I go over. Better over than under for me because its just a guideline. Here to lose fat not weight.
  • Cr01502
    Cr01502 Posts: 3,614 Member
    I record it all.

    Some days I under eat and some days I over eat.

    I usually tend to just make sure I hit my goal for the week.
  • MissDeAnn
    MissDeAnn Posts: 47 Member
    I have gone over but not by a lot. I just record it because I want to be honest with myself. Lord wiling their is always tomorrow not to go over you calorie intake.I like tracking what I eat because you need to learn not to go over.
  • RhonndaJ
    RhonndaJ Posts: 1,615 Member
    I'll be honest, if I'm having an 'effit' day, I probably don't log everything, though I will often go back to try to remember all I had, but if it's not a completely out of control day, yeah, I log everything.
  • tladkin
    tladkin Posts: 5
    Be honest with yourself at sometime we all have to be held accountable so start right now the purpose of doing a food journal is to visualize where your areas for improvement are and then make the gradual changes. Great Job to all of the above^^^^^^^ Keep It Up!
  • wholelottarosa
    wholelottarosa Posts: 74
    Well, usually when I go over it's on a binge. Sometimes it's hard to remember exactly what I ate, so if that happens I'll put in an estimate. I do try to record it though, otherwise I could tell myself how well I'm doing when really I'm not.
  • MsDover
    MsDover Posts: 395 Member
    I think the best and most important tool that MFP gives us is logging what we are eating. Log every single bite! I was in the hospital for 4 days, but wrote down all I ate so I could fill it in when I got home (my son logged me in so I wouldn't have a "break" in days but I actually did go back and fill it all in). Leaving out anything hurts only one person... yourself! I keep my diary private for a number of reasons, but most importantly because this is MY tool for my own personal use. "Cheating" would be ridiculous!
  • matchbox_girl
    matchbox_girl Posts: 535 Member
    It really depends. When I know I've bombed, it's so hard to see those calories add up, but I know that I need to see it in order to believe it. Some days I just start over the next day, but I have really been trying to count everything....sometimes I'm as much as 1500 cals over.
  • Thyme4change
    Thyme4change Posts: 46 Member
    I am 99% honest with what I eat and track. However, I stopped stressing that I get it all 100% as far as values. I also track my cals by what the machine says, because the cals on MFP are always way to high.

    the 1% I don't track my morning decaf coffee and cream and coconut oiI. since i follow a low carb lifestyle, the cream & coconut oil isn't a big deal to me like the carbs are. That doesn't mean I am not aware of the missing cals from my tracker. I am just a bit lazy and lower the daily cal goals to make allowance for the missing cream I use daily..I hope this makes some kind of sense...

    Keep being honest, it's the best way to get to know yourself :)

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