Overestimating calories.

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  • darkangel45422
    darkangel45422 Posts: 234 Member
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    Therapy? I'm serious. Your maintenance calories are probably in the 18-2200 range, so even being a bit over will still leave you losing weight. What is the point of weighing and logging if you aren't going to do it accurately? 8-1200 calories a day is not healthy at all. You should not be terrified to eat. That is very unhealthy.

    Write about it, meditate, get therapy, and try to find ways to get around your fears. Like take measurements and pictures so that you can compare when you are afraid of gaining weight etc.

    Thank you for a serious reply. I do have a history of disordered eating, but I didn't know if this kind of thing was serious enough for me to seek out help again.

    I agree that you probably want to consider getting back into therapy at this point. You should not be afraid of your food. You should feel confident that you are in control of what you are eating and you should understand your body and trust yourself enough to enjoy a healthy amount of food without putting yourself into a mental tailspin about it.

    I agree, especially if you previously found therapy helpful. Personally, as someone who has mental issues as well, I would suggest not waiting to get help until it becomes serious. If you can recognize the signs that you're no longer happy and healthy, then it's better to seek help early on if you can.
  • SmarTam
    SmarTam Posts: 35 Member
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    Hi,
    Over estimating is better than under estimating. I recently confronted myself and admitted that I was underestimating. Now I am trying to over estimate, not too much but tiny little ammount, to make sue I am actually under and dont get over my calorie goal of 1200. I also get nervous as I approach my calorie allowance for the day but I make it up at the dinner and have it generously if I have calories remaining even after over estimating! Don't starve yourself, just be mindful and try to divide your meals through out the day by pre-planning. If you feel hungry, eat food.

    This is very poor advice to someone who is starting to have disordered eating. You are too for that matter. 1200 is too low for anyone, and purposely not hitting even that is bad.

    It has taken me six months to come to that figure of 1200 cals. You cannot judge anyone's calorie goals without even knowing the body type, height, age and underlying medical conditions. And if you have to lose fat or weight you must have a goal and a plan to work towards it. And calorie counting is just a tool. I said earlier that I was Under estimating and it did not work for me. I am over estimating because I want to save my calories for a generous dinner. I like to eat more for dinner. You pick up my food diary, and you will hardly see me under my calorie goal. I dont starve myself, for me it is enough and can sustain for a long time on it. For me it worked, my advise was not to do what I am doing.

    And the final advise was to eat if you are hungry, dont starve. - SIMPLE - Cannot be clearer.
  • Cranquistador
    Cranquistador Posts: 39,744 Member
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    Sometimes I overestimate things and put 1.1 servings instead of 1

    This excites me. :)
    um.
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
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    It has already been mentioned, but I would suggest that you look to working with someone on your relationship with food/calories.
  • Iron_Feline
    Iron_Feline Posts: 10,750 Member
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    I overestimate the calories I eat. I weigh everything, but I'll still enter in my log more food than I actually eat. Sometimes I'll double the calories of something just to be on the safe side.. I get paranoid that I'm eating more than I think, even though I weigh every single thing. Also, I don't think I've ever met my goal of 1,400 calories a day. I get really nervous to go close to it, and like to stay about 200 calories under it. It's not that I'm not hungry sometimes, I just get nervous eating more. Advice? I'm not really sure what to do.

    Please go get help - this is not good. You weigh food but don't believe the calorie count, then don't get close to your goal - 200 away from a low goal is not good.

    Please please talk to someone about this :flowerforyou:
  • mmipanda
    mmipanda Posts: 351 Member
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    I overestimate the calories I eat. I weigh everything, but I'll still enter in my log more food than I actually eat. Sometimes I'll double the calories of something just to be on the safe side.. I get paranoid that I'm eating more than I think, even though I weigh every single thing. Also, I don't think I've ever met my goal of 1,400 calories a day. I get really nervous to go close to it, and like to stay about 200 calories under it. It's not that I'm not hungry sometimes, I just get nervous eating more. Advice? I'm not really sure what to do.

    If you're weighing everything then you KNOW that its right. Why double it in your diary except to make it look to everyone else like you're consuming more than you actually are?
  • Cranquistador
    Cranquistador Posts: 39,744 Member
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    Hi,
    Over estimating is better than under estimating. I recently confronted myself and admitted that I was underestimating. Now I am trying to over estimate, not too much but tiny little ammount, to make sue I am actually under and dont get over my calorie goal of 1200. I also get nervous as I approach my calorie allowance for the day but I make it up at the dinner and have it generously if I have calories remaining even after over estimating! Don't starve yourself, just be mindful and try to divide your meals through out the day by pre-planning. If you feel hungry, eat food.

    This is very poor advice to someone who is starting to have disordered eating. You are too for that matter. 1200 is too low for anyone, and purposely not hitting even that is bad.

    I don't see anything bad about sharing an anecdote about how they corrected their underestimating problem. Their final advice was not to starve yourself and to eat if you're hungry - hardly poor advice. Overestimating by a small amount (as the above poster says they do) is fine so long as a small amount is actually a small amount and not off by hundreds because that'll just skew all the results. I think diagnosing someone as starting to have an eating disorder, unless you're actually an expert in the field, is worse. Your response, while no doubt intended to be helpful, instead sounded judgmental - you're making judgments about their calorie goals when that goal is incredibly common on MFP.

    I think the real issue is the anxiety this person, and the OP, feel about going over their calorie goal. Getting anxiety over calorie counting in general isn't good; maybe the better solution would be to stop focusing on counting calories for a little while in order to give your brain a break from these anxieties. Calories aren't the be all end all of health; maybe focus for a little while on just eating healthily instead of obsessively counting and measuring, so that if you do choose to continue tracking calories you can do so without anxiety.
    except for the OP said sometimes she DOUBLES the calorie amount...hardly a few extra calories.

    also she said herself she has a history of disordered eating.

    your post is a bit judgmental of the person quoted, perhaps do as you say and not as you do?
  • jonnythan
    jonnythan Posts: 10,161 Member
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    I overestimate the calories I eat. I weigh everything, but I'll still enter in my log more food than I actually eat. Sometimes I'll double the calories of something just to be on the safe side.. I get paranoid that I'm eating more than I think, even though I weigh every single thing. Also, I don't think I've ever met my goal of 1,400 calories a day. I get really nervous to go close to it, and like to stay about 200 calories under it. It's not that I'm not hungry sometimes, I just get nervous eating more. Advice? I'm not really sure what to do.

    That's not "overestimating." It's "intentionally lying to make me feel less about about knowingly eating far less than I should be."

    My advice? Quit lying on your diary.
  • jonnythan
    jonnythan Posts: 10,161 Member
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    Therapy? I'm serious. Your maintenance calories are probably in the 18-2200 range, so even being a bit over will still leave you losing weight. What is the point of weighing and logging if you aren't going to do it accurately? 8-1200 calories a day is not healthy at all. You should not be terrified to eat. That is very unhealthy.

    Write about it, meditate, get therapy, and try to find ways to get around your fears. Like take measurements and pictures so that you can compare when you are afraid of gaining weight etc.

    Thank you for a serious reply. I do have a history of disordered eating, but I didn't know if this kind of thing was serious enough for me to seek out help again.

    I should have read the thread more thoroughly.

    Yes, it's serious enough to seek help. No question.
  • MG_Fit
    MG_Fit Posts: 1,143 Member
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    I should have read the thread more thoroughly.

    Yes, it's serious enough to seek help. No question.

    ^Truth.

    There's really no point in logging if you're just going to lie in the diary.
  • lilawolf
    lilawolf Posts: 1,690 Member
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    Therapy? I'm serious. Your maintenance calories are probably in the 18-2200 range, so even being a bit over will still leave you losing weight. What is the point of weighing and logging if you aren't going to do it accurately? 8-1200 calories a day is not healthy at all. You should not be terrified to eat. That is very unhealthy.

    Write about it, meditate, get therapy, and try to find ways to get around your fears. Like take measurements and pictures so that you can compare when you are afraid of gaining weight etc.

    Thank you for a serious reply. I do have a history of disordered eating, but I didn't know if this kind of thing was serious enough for me to seek out help again.

    I'm sorry to hear that. Did your therapist from before give you any advice/exercises to help you overcome it before? Maybe you could try writing those down again and trying to apply them again? Think about how you got better, and why you ended up sliding back in the wrong direction. Are there specific triggers or an especially stressful situation right now?

    I agree with the poster above who said it was better to get help sooner rather than later. If the above advice isn't significantly helping within a week or so, I hope that you can return to counseling.

    You've beat this before and you can beat it again! You are a strong woman who deserves to live, eat, and enjoy life without fear.

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