Do you?

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Do you log your cheat days on MFP? I know days that I eat not so great stuff or eat out more than I intended to? Do you still log your cheat days when you just know they go above your calorie goal?
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  • MTDDS18
    MTDDS18 Posts: 62 Member
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    I do to the best of my ability. A lot of my high calorie eating days are when I'm with my friends or family and eat potluck style, so it's impossible to know the exact ingredients in the dishes or exactly how much I ate.

    I estimate and move on
  • Tabbycat00
    Tabbycat00 Posts: 146 Member
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    Yes. It helps me to figure out how I can make up for it throughout the rest of the week.
  • KorvapuustiPossu
    KorvapuustiPossu Posts: 434 Member
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    The point of logging is to stay accountable and keep track of your eating habits. What is the point of not logging it? The diary is for you and being honest is the only way to go. Not logging it doesn't change the fact that you ate it. And with time it will give you a better insight into you weight loss-maintaining-gaining weight. I log everything, good and bad.
  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
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    I think it's a good idea to log it for most people. It's quite possible for a cheat day to wipe out the deficit created the other 6 days of the week, and so seeing the magnitude of the cheat day may help if you come to a point that you're not making progress you expect.

    Now there could be reasons not to log it -- I've had clients use methods where they just don't log every so often but that's not for purposes of cheating/overeating as much as it's for getting them to step away from the habit of logging. That's largely an individual thing though.
  • ogtmama
    ogtmama Posts: 1,403 Member
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    Yeah, even if you don't log it, your body will so you may as well know what to expect...I also like being able to go back over the diary to figure out what's happening on the scale...though that usually ends up at sodium intake.
  • nowine4me
    nowine4me Posts: 3,985 Member
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    I log everything and when I can't remember every bit, I do a quick add of 500 or 1000 (or whatever) depending on what it was and add an entry in notes as to what I ate so I have a record
  • zoeysasha37
    zoeysasha37 Posts: 7,089 Member
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    kshama2001 wrote: »
    My body logs everything so why wouldn't I?

    This is a great answer.

    When I first started, my cheat days or treat meals would completely wipe out my entire weeks deficit.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,565 Member
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    Not logging a cheat meal if your commitment to weight loss is important, would be obtuse IMO. Just cause you didn't log it, doesn't mean it didn't happen.
    Part of weight loss/gain/maintenance is owning up to how you do it. Whether good or bad.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

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  • dutchandkiwi
    dutchandkiwi Posts: 1,389 Member
    edited July 2016
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    kshama2001 wrote: »
    My body logs everything so why wouldn't I?
    Exactly! Not logging, for me personally,, would be akin to lying to myself. Why would I want to do that?

  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
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    Yes. If I don't log it, I don't know the damage I did. Unlogged cheat days can result in you not only over calorie goal, but so far over that you undo the deficit you had built up the rest of the week. This can result in you maintaining instead of losing.

    Log everyday. Log everything you eat/drink even if it's over your calorie budget. Your body will know, so why wouldn't you want to know. Being as accurate and consistent as possible will get you the best results.

    If you have a 500 calorie deficit:

    Your good for 6 days and then eat 500 over on day 7. You will lose 0.857xxx lbs this week instead of 1 lb.
    Your good for 6 days and then eat 1000 over on day 7. You will lose 0.714xxx lbs this week instead of 1 lb.
    Your good for 6 days and then eat 1500 over on day 7. You will lose 0.571xxx lbs this week instead of 1 lb.
    Your good for 6 days and then eat 2000 over on day 7. You will lose 0.428xxx lbs this week instead of 1 lb.
    Your good for 6 days and then eat 2500 over on day 7. You will lose 0.285xxx lbs this week instead of 1 lb.
    Your good for 6 days and then eat 3000 over on day 7. You will lose 0.142xxx lbs or maintain this week instead of 1 lb.
    Your good for 6 days and then eat 3500 over on day 7. You will maintain this week instead of losing 1 lb.
    And so on...

    If you don't log on that day you decide to overeat, then you don't know if you are still okay for weight loss or if you just ate the deficit you had built up all week. Log, Log, Log.
  • zyxst
    zyxst Posts: 9,134 Member
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    Yes.
  • dhimaan
    dhimaan Posts: 774 Member
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    Yes.
  • CooCooPuff
    CooCooPuff Posts: 4,374 Member
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    If possible, I log daily.
  • SCoil123
    SCoil123 Posts: 2,108 Member
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    I try to log everything and calculate my weekly deficit. I don't care if I'm over or under one day as long as my total numbers at the end of the week are good.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    when I logged, I logged everything regardless...it's kind of the point.
  • Wolfena
    Wolfena Posts: 1,570 Member
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    Yep - lets you see the trend of weight loss or lack of it (or gain) and sometimes it's an eye opener because even though you think you are cheating you are not doing near as bad as you think!
  • Colt1835
    Colt1835 Posts: 447 Member
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    I don't call 'em cheat days, but some days I won't log if I don't feel like it. I'm not married to logging. It's not my life, it's just a tool I use. I'm not the type to get obsessive about things.