I am so bad at this!

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thirdseason
thirdseason Posts: 3 Member
in Motivation and Support
I'm a serial starter, I admit it. So, how do I build better habits? For those of you who are bad at logging and then get stuck in the mindset of "oh well, i already went over anyway..." how do you discipline yourself? Notice I'm not saying motivate, this is a war, and I'm down a few battles. Gotta pick it back up! :p

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  • JaydedMiss
    JaydedMiss Posts: 4,286 Member
    edited April 2018
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    practice makes perfect. Really all there is to it, Just keep trying and doing better. Have more good choices/days thn bad ones
  • thirdseason
    thirdseason Posts: 3 Member
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    JaydedMiss wrote: »
    practice makes perfect.

    Wisdom from a veteran right there, thanks
  • 88olds
    88olds Posts: 4,482 Member
    edited April 2018
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    Logging is a thing to do. Only way not to do it is decide not to. Where is it written that you quit logging because you go over your number?

    Keep doing what you did, you’ll keep getting what you got.

    Do it differently starting now. Log everything every day, the good, the bad and the ugly. Anybody can log their good days, starting now, log them all. When keeping your food diary is the heart of your plan you are never off track.

    Oh, you’ll go over your number some day. It’s not possible to stick with something long term without mistakes. Loss of focus, bad plans, math mistakes, fatigue. But you don’t have to be perfect, just good enough.

    Forget to fill in your diary? Go back and do the best you can. Don’t know the calories in that dish. Make a good faith estimate. Keep logging, it works.

    Everybody who succeeds at weight loss it terrible at it right up to the point when they aren’t.
  • jgundz
    jgundz Posts: 2,735 Member
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    Accountability partners keep me more consistent. I found a group challenge that motivates me to keep going when I'm stuck. Take a look at the challenges thread if you'd interested in finding one.
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
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    "Bad at logging" - I wonder what you mean by that. You weigh and log what you eat, and aim to hit your target(s). Technically, you can almost eliminate going over, by prelogging. But practically, you're a person with wants and needs and a real life. I think that if you think about weight loss as a battle, it will be - and you'll lose. Building better habits is not about impressing other people, or feeling virtous, it's about creating functional routines and feeling well from day to day.
  • emmamcgarity
    emmamcgarity Posts: 1,594 Member
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    This battle is not fought one day at a time. It is literally one bite at a time. Think of your calories like a bank account. If you are overdrawn, stop spending.

    For me it also helps to look at the weekly stats and see that on balance one day does not define me. You can earn calories back through exercise and minimize the damage
  • chrome_princess
    chrome_princess Posts: 129 Member
    edited April 2018
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    *raises hand* Serial starter here too.

    I'll be honest... this time *feels* different. Mainly because:
    1. I poked through the forums a bit and have a much clearer understanding of CICO and how it all works, and also how MFP's numbers are derived, and how it all interacts with my FitBit.

    2. I've (so far) fixed my relationship with food. *knock wood* Thanks to my better understanding of CICO, I no longer have to label foods "good" and "bad." Believe me, once you get that out of the way, it goes a long way.

    3. I log a lot of my week in advance. That's not to say I don't change things on the fly, because I do. But generally my goal is to get my meals to fit within the basic calorie allotment MFP gives me, and then snacks will be some of my exercise calories being eaten back. This helps me keep from eating too little, but also makes me watch myself a bit closer on the days I don't exercise. (And since I don't eat all my exercise calories back, I can account for variances in calorie count on things.)

    4. To reiterate what everyone says over and over... weighing food is important. It drives my husband nuts that I do it, but I don't care.

    5. Learn to recognize (and subsequently ignore) the woo and pseudo-science. Sometimes these studies come out and they are so compelling--but I've taken methods classes and I know that they can make data say whatever the hell they want to say. Versus the fact that CICO is basic math. We don't generally question 1 + 1 = 2, right?

    6. I am staying off the scale, for the most part. My goal is fitness-related, and a clothing size. So if I'm not weighing myself constantly, it keeps me from getting discouraged.

    Hope that helps!

    ETA #6
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,182 Member
    edited April 2018
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    Here's an example. I have a daughter who is 21 and using mfp. She got lax in her logging and with a new job and new schedules and new responsibilities and blah, blah, blah gained 10 lb. She decided in the last few days to resume logging accurately and staying within her calorie budget and do what must be done to lose 10 lb. Hooray. So, last night she was up against her calorie limit for the day and frustrated that she couldn't eat more. We had a few remaining fun size packs of plain M&M's in the kitchen and a new 6-pack of Coke Zero. She checked to confirm the calories in the M&M's (60) and in the Coke Zero (0). I went to bed and left her to the kitchen and her own devices. This morning I find that 4 of the Coke Zero bottles have been consumed. The plain M&M's are still there. That's what it takes. It takes knowledge, and choices.

    Myfitnesspal offers the knowledge resources for free. The choices are yours.
  • 88olds
    88olds Posts: 4,482 Member
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    @chrome_princess

    And unless we dig deep enough to find the actual studies, we’re just taking in the media spin of the research. Studies are frequently misrepresented to make provocative clickbait.

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