Do you log when you've been "bad"?
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accidentalpancake wrote: »What's the point in logging if you just want to pat yourself on the back? You don't need MFP for that...
WTF
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I log everything, even if it is a wild estimate, for a number of reasons:
1. I like data and being able to spot trends over time
2a. Often planned splurge days, like Thanksgiving or Christmas are kind of fun to see just how extravagant you can be with the calories
2b. Many times those planned splurge days don't turn out to be nearly as bad as you think they are going to be. Last Thanksgiving I figured I would be upwards of 3000 cals, when my dinner was only about 1800 and total day ended up being about 2400, barely above my maintenance.
3. For unplanned splurges it helps to see how much over you are so you can decide if you want to trim calories in upcoming days to offset the overage.
4. It also helps to have a data bases reality check - a splurge day is almost always accompanied by an increase on the scale, but it is more than likely water weight. Seeing a 3 lb increase after a holiday may be a shock but then I can go back and say, "wait, did I really eat 10,500 cals over my maintenance? (Checks diary) Of course I didn't. Must just be water retention"0 -
I started getting serious in Jan. 2014, went until Apr. 2014 and then nearly died because I was losing too quickly (I have a medical issue and cannot lose as quickly as 99.4% of you... and I'm super jealous and frustrated btw). I logged, but did not restrict myself for about 6 weeks, then went back to actually caring about calories.
I think there was one day since 1/1/14 that I intentionally didn't log food. I went to the state fair and knew I would be eating way over with lots of high calorie foods and beer. Otherwise, I've logged even on "cheat" days. For me, a cheat day is when I allow myself to eat as much of whatever foods I would like. I can't do that very often because I have an insatiable appetite, so those days often end up around 20K-30K calories.0 -
Stay rooted in reality, as painful as reality often is. Denial and playing games with yourself will not improve your life in any way, and this especially applies to your diet. I don't ignore bad eating habits any more than I would ignore bad spending habits - failing to balance your checkbook because you made a few bad buying decisions will not improve your financial standing.0
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I log every day good or bad. I have about 2-3 days a month when I eat 500-800 calories over my limit, the rest of the time I am on track (100 over or under). I don't try to make up for those bad days or really care about them as I've learned over time they really don't matter. I've been doing this for a long time and in the early stages I used to get really down on myself and try to "undo" the damage I had done. But overtime I began to see that those few days had no real impact on my overall weight or health. Sure for a few days I might be 3 lbs heavier on the scale, but then i would just go back to normal. It's impossible to live your life and not have indulgent days, as long as 90% of the time you are "good". (if its every other day, well that's a different story).
The one thing that still makes me feel a bit bad though is if i eat something that wasn't "worth the calories". Like when I was out to dinner last month and ordered a dessert that turned out to not be what I expected at all and really not that good but I ate the whole thing anyway. Even though it was only like 300 calories, just not worth it. On the other hand last week I ate about half of the most amazing mixed berry pie and loved every minute of it, didn't regret one bite
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I agree with what everyone else says. But there are days/times that I am ashamed to log it, but no one sees it but me. lol Sometime I need the jolt to get me back on track. I didn't get fat by over eating one day. It was a pattern of behavior. Tracking allows you to see the pattern and course correct before it gets out of hand.0
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I have been tempted not to log, but I force myself to do it and logging indulgent days has become less charged over time.
Today I have been eating emotionally. I am having some trouble at home so I had to leave home in a hurry and missed breakfast and was unable to pack lunch. I ended up at Macdonalds having a quarter pounder with cheese and a McFlurry for a late lunch, after eating nothing all morning. Not my best moment, but I logged it as soon as I was done.
The world has not ended and I am able to have a small snack for dinner and still stay within calories, now that I know how much that meal cost me. If I had not worked it out and logged it I might be tempted to say "who cares, let me go crazy the rest of the day" and might have blown my deficit for the week.
I feel empowered by the moment - also by recognizing the emotional eating trigger - instead of a victim of it.0 -
absolutely log on days even when i know I've eaten foods that don't fit into my calorie allotment. maybe one day i go over but other days i've been good. It's all about trends. not single data points0
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I log everything....healthy, not as healthy...high calorie...toblerone pies...vodka...whatever.....if it fits with my calories, BONUS. If it doesn't, oh well....I plan to be around for many years, so one day, meal, food item isn't going to be the end all be all. In the end, I've noticed the trend to be many more days of healthy eating inside my calorie allotment, and just a day here and there where I go over. It's all good! 0
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I log everything. After taking a very long hiatus from MFP, I am back for the structure and fat loss. With that said I'm very disciplined simply because I'm not able to maintain my healthy weight without a tracker.
Also, I'm in fat loss results mode so I don't include the exercise deficit in my daily intake. Then again, my exercise is weight training which doesn't register as a caloric deficit. I'm on my feet all day at work (4k - 8k steps) and take my dogs for occasional walks which hasn't done a darned thing for keeping my weight off.
I respond best to limiting intake for fat loss and weight training for body shape improvement.0 -
Sometimes I'll go back and log as best as I can remember/estimate, other times I just move on to the next day. It's good to hold yourself accountable and all that but I don't always find it beneficial to go back and track every beer or nacho I might have consumed. Some days I know I ate or drank way over my daily goal and I don't consider it a screw up, those days happen, I just don't need a precise calculation of the full extent of the caloric damage.
There are ways to be accountable without always tracking. But everyone has different ways to go about things.0 -
I log everything. I want to see my patterns of eating, that are healthy and not. I had pizza the other day. I was shocked when I saw how many calories where in it, but I still logged it. That day I worked out for a hour extra to get the calories from it off.0
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Sometimes I log the "overages" and sometimes I don't. The only reason I log is to keep my calories under control. I have zero ability to judge calories on my own. Like this weekend Saturday I had 2 bottles of wine in addition to food, Sunday I had a beautiful T-bone and baked potato, after a breakfast made by my husband. It was a holiday weekend here in the US. I didn't log any of it because I don't care. I wanted to have a good time with my friends and family, not obsessively worry about every calorie I put in my mouth. Yesterday I started logging again like normal and it will stay that way probably until Thanksgiving.0
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I would like to say I log everything, but I don't. I feel ashamed of letting control go and seeing it "on paper". Logically I know I should log everything.0
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I don't any more - It makes me try to make up for it and was leading to unhealthy habits. Knowing the number doesn't change that I ate it... and I'd like to just move on and do better.0
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When I went on vacation, I didn't log. I work hard and track 95% of the time. This summer, I had big plans to log everything on our 10 day Hawaiian vacation. But, we were so busy, and I didn't want to stop in the middle of our activities and write in food. I didn't go overboard, but I enjoyed everything about our trip, including food.
Most always though, I log my daily intake, for better or worse. Reading posts above confirm that it's a good idea. Plus, I love that OVERALL, I'm doing fine. Everyone is going to have a bad day, or a hungry day, or a splurge day. You wouldn't be human if you didn't. Accept it, start fresh the next day, and look back over a few weeks or a month via a report, and you'll see those days here and there are not the normal.0 -
No, I just make corrections the next day and move on. Others log; this is something that each person decides for themselves.0
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Yes, because I want data. When I don't lose, I can look and see that 4 Saturdays in the month at 3000 calories undid my deficit. I hate that feeling of "I'm doing everything right- why aren't I losing?" I'd rather have the whole picture so I can make choices based on accurate info rather than feelings. If you only log days where you are on target, then if you aren't getting results you will look at your journal and be confused about why. Or, you can look and see that a few high calorie days didn't actually get in your way at all, and they will bother you less. A lot of us have shame all tied up in food- I would suggest trying to avoid using words like "good" and "bad" and see if you can untangle some of that for yourself.0
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Yes, I log when I'm bad, just to stay in the habit. I have no shame.0
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Yeah. Mostly because I've only been maintaining for a month and I don't know where my level is exactly. I did take off holidays when I was losing, but I don't think I'll skip logging now that I'm in maintenance. It's too easy to forget that you were over your calories and later wonder why you gained a pound or two.0
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I log regardless; if I over ate (at a night out, etc., I do my best to log how much I ate. Keeps me accountable to myself. Lost the weight I wanted to so use MFP to make sure I stay on track (and the weight sneak back on).
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I always log. Always. Sometimes I make a decision to eat what I want, but I still log. And almost always - except maybe Christmas week - I'm still under for the week even though I'm over a day or two. Because my body is smart enough to know that when I've stuffed myself one day, I am probably not hungry the next.0
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I typically always log it. But I was at a wedding last weekend where they had a bunch of delicious food - cocktail hour, dinner and desserts - and decided ahead of time that I was going to enjoy the day. I didn't log there because I wasn't going to spend the whole reception on my phone logging one of this, one of that. So I just enjoyed it...knew I would probably be up a little the next few days (from going over my goal and water weight from what I assume is higher sodium than I am typically eating).0
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Sometimes if I'm just eating small amounts of too many different things I won't log it because it's just too complicated. That doesn't happen too often though.0
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christymedarismcfarland wrote: »When I went on vacation, I didn't log. I work hard and track 95% of the time. This summer, I had big plans to log everything on our 10 day Hawaiian vacation. But, we were so busy, and I didn't want to stop in the middle of our activities and write in food. I didn't go overboard, but I enjoyed everything about our trip, including food.
Most always though, I log my daily intake, for better or worse. Reading posts above confirm that it's a good idea. Plus, I love that OVERALL, I'm doing fine. Everyone is going to have a bad day, or a hungry day, or a splurge day. You wouldn't be human if you didn't. Accept it, start fresh the next day, and look back over a few weeks or a month via a report, and you'll see those days here and there are not the normal.
I am just curious - Did you gain weight during that vacation to Hawaii?
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I used to stop logging on days when I ate a bunch of junk. Too embarrassed for all my MFP friends to witness my indiscretions. But that led to binge thinking..."If I'm not going to continue logging today anyway, I should wolf down some x,y and z that I haven't had in forever". I eventually found that I have to keep my diary private to be completely honest. Constant logging, a lower deficit and small treats have helped me immensely. I haven't had a day that I would consider to be truly "bad" since closing my diary.0
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Log it and move on.0
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goldthistime wrote: »I used to stop logging on days when I ate a bunch of junk. Too embarrassed for all my MFP friends to witness my indiscretions. But that led to binge thinking..."If I'm not going to continue logging today anyway, I should wolf down some x,y and z that I haven't had in forever". I eventually found that I have to keep my diary private to be completely honest. Constant logging, a lower deficit and small treats have helped me immensely. I haven't had a day that I would consider to be truly "bad" since closing my diary.
there you go, we all have to find what works for each! congrats on closing your diary I guess 0 -
Stay rooted in reality, as painful as reality often is. Denial and playing games with yourself will not improve your life in any way, and this especially applies to your diet. I don't ignore bad eating habits any more than I would ignore bad spending habits - failing to balance your checkbook because you made a few bad buying decisions will not improve your financial standing.
Well said!
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