How to Log in on Bad Days

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tators19
tators19 Posts: 18 Member
in Motivation and Support
I never report my food/exercise on the days where I ate poorly and didn't exercise. I hate watching all my calories go into the red - I know the answer to this problem is to eat better/less and to exercise more. How do you log in on days likes this?
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Replies

  • Eric_DeCastro
    Eric_DeCastro Posts: 767 Member
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    those are the most important days to log in. You need to see what eating like that did your body and how to change from doing so. it's like taking a test and omitting all the wrong answers. you will just get 100% you need to use those days to teach yourself how to make better choices. so I urge you to record especially on those days. when you are doing great those days don't matter it's the days we don't do so great so we can analyze our problem areas and how to change them.
  • snazzyjazzy21
    snazzyjazzy21 Posts: 1,298 Member
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    Log like any other day. There's nothing wrong with going over your calories once in a while, it won't ruin your weight loss. Just log the day and start fresh tomorrow!
  • Tiernan1212
    Tiernan1212 Posts: 797 Member
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    Log it all and move on! Plus, you can always look at your goals by the week instead of by the day. Go a little lower on other days and you can even it out :flowerforyou:
  • thepetiterunner
    thepetiterunner Posts: 1,238 Member
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    Consider reframing those days in the bigger picture or in the context of a week. One bad day in a week is not going to overthrow an entire week's worth of progress. If you went over a little one day, do a little less over the next two days. No need to keep punishing yourself over one over-calorie-goal day.

    You do need to log them though. It's part of the process of accountability. Otherwise how will you see patterns in your eating behavior or be reminded that you need to scale back? These things are the tools that make MFP so successful.

    Good luck.
  • Chief_Rocka
    Chief_Rocka Posts: 4,710 Member
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    I change the contrast settings on my monitor until the red numbers are green.
  • fionauu
    fionauu Posts: 52 Member
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    i feel its important to record bad days so that you can get a good idea of what changes you need to make in the reports/macros. if your only recording some day, your reports would be totally off and would have no use to you. but thats just my opinion.
  • emilyisbonkers
    emilyisbonkers Posts: 373 Member
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    I've set my calorie goal to what I would eat to maintain, and then I decide on my deficit on a day to day basis :) Seems to work for me
  • Eric_DeCastro
    Eric_DeCastro Posts: 767 Member
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    Consider reframing those days in the bigger picture or in the context of a week. One bad day in a week is not going to overthrow an entire week's worth of progress. If you went over a little one day, do a little less over the next two days. No need to keep punishing yourself over one over-calorie-goal day.

    You do need to log them though. It's part of the process of accountability. Otherwise how will you see patterns in your eating behavior or be reminded that you need to scale back? These things are the tools that make MFP so successful.

    Good luck.

    we must be on the same page. ;)
  • allangirl
    allangirl Posts: 56 Member
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    I feel the exact same. However, I found that if I can't be completely honest with myself this site isn't going to work for me. I aim to post everything I eat and some days I have gone over 1,000 calories. Some weeks I have gone over every day. I lost 15lbs last fall just by staying under my calorie target. Then I got sloppy about posting my food and I have gained most of it back. Remember, you joined this site so that you had to be accountable to your online friends. Today ask yourself to log every thing you eat so you can see where your calories are going and what you're not eating (fruit, vegetables, fish, grains...). YOU CAN DO IT!
  • buzzcogs
    buzzcogs Posts: 296 Member
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    those are the most important days to log in. You need to see what eating like that did your body and how to change from doing so. it's like taking a test and omitting all the wrong answers. you will just get 100% you need to use those days to teach yourself how to make better choices. so I urge you to record especially on those days. when you are doing great those days don't matter it's the days we don't do so great so we can analyze our problem areas and how to change them.

    Great answer. I used to not log my "bad" days because I thought of it as punishing myself or "rubbing my nose in it". But guess what? I let too many of those "bad" days go unlogged and I gained my weight back plus more! So I'm slowly learning to record the bad days and analyze where I went over. But I also don't beat myself up if I go over by a couple of hundred because I realize I am working with ~500 cal deficit to begin with. I was over by 1,000 recently (I wasn't feeling well and the day got away from me) but I logged it and learned from my mistake. That was huge for me a bigger deal than actually losing weight is for me to be honest about what I'm eating!

    Good luck on however you decide to handle a "bad" day!
  • peacelovelose
    peacelovelose Posts: 64 Member
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    I've just started logging my bad days, and it's actually helped my mindset a lot and enabled me to have good days without feeling like I am depriving myself. For example, I love beer, but actually LOGGING my beer was something I didn't do. Now that I have, it's started to click in my brain that if I want to have a beer or two, I need to work out, or say no to the extra helpings, etc. Really, when it comes to weight loss, knowledge is power.
    It's also important to recognize that you are GOING to have red days, and that's okay. This isn't about being perfect, it's about making small changes and adaptations that are going to help you in the long run.
  • Desterknee
    Desterknee Posts: 1,056 Member
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    I just face my choices. Not logging it doesn't change what I have chosen nor will it change the consequences. It will not help me change my behavior.

    Denial is useless.
  • meganjcallaghan
    meganjcallaghan Posts: 949 Member
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    I only don't log when I have a potluck style dinner to go to where there are too many different things to even begin to guess what's in them and how to log them. It would take way too much time out of my day trying to figure it out and still wouldn't even be remotely accurate. I don't consider them ''bad'' days though even if I eat way more than I normally would because it's a total graze fest. It's just a day that I'm choosing to eat what I want without bothering to care just because I feel like it. It hasn't hurt me so far.
  • Eric_DeCastro
    Eric_DeCastro Posts: 767 Member
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    This isn't about being perfect, it's about making small changes and adaptations that are going to help you in the long run.

    love this
  • melaniecheeks
    melaniecheeks Posts: 6,349 Member
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    Whether you log it or not, your body has still eaten it. Its up to you what you use your log for.
  • jpolinisse
    jpolinisse Posts: 149 Member
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    Just do it.
  • Kadoober
    Kadoober Posts: 289 Member
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    those are the most important days to log in. You need to see what eating like that did your body and how to change from doing so. it's like taking a test and omitting all the wrong answers. you will just get 100% you need to use those days to teach yourself how to make better choices. so I urge you to record especially on those days. when you are doing great those days don't matter it's the days we don't do so great so we can analyze our problem areas and how to change them.

    This. A hundred times THIS.

    At the end of the day, the only person you have to be accountable to, is yourself, right? You know you ate *insert food of choice here*, whether it's logged here or not.

    You KNOW you did it. So why not log it?

    It's useful for noting trends, for flucuations in weight.

    It's a positive sign that you are committed to your goals, even if you indulge sometimes. Not a darn thing wrong with that!

    Just do it. :)
  • csk0018
    csk0018 Posts: 219 Member
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    Denial is useless.

    I agree with the above. You have to be accountable for all of your choices. You can't just pat yourself on the back when you log your food for the days you are in the green and pretend the days you are in the red didn't happen. What's the point of logging if you're not going to be honest with yourself?
  • palmerdanielle
    palmerdanielle Posts: 341 Member
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    I understand not wanting to log it but when I have days like that I make myself, I tell myself that not logging it doesn't mean it didn't happen. You need to be honest with yourself for this to work, and it will hopefully motivate you seeing that to do better the next day. Remember every day doesn't need to be perfect, and bad days here and there doesn't mean you've failed, just means that tomorrow's a new day and you can try again to make better decisions. My whole weeks been pretty bad but I keep logging it because I know it'll push me to work harder.
  • jacques57
    jacques57 Posts: 2,129 Member
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    This has been just about the best motivational thread I have read on MFP. I am guilty of not recording my bad choices, and continue to make them. I need to log every day. I know why. You know why. Thanks to all of you for not being judgmental.

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