Do you log cheat meals/days?

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2

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  • pinuplove
    pinuplove Posts: 12,874 Member
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    So many cheat threads lately!

    I'm of the 'my body counts it so I should too.' Even if it's a rough estimate because I had a *kitten* it moment and didn't weigh or properly portion anything. I like being able to compare my intake to my rate of loss over time and you can't do that with incomplete data.
  • JennJ323
    JennJ323 Posts: 646 Member
    edited November 2018
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    Nope. I know going in to it I'll be over and usually it's for a special occasion, so I'm not going to really limit myself anyway. So I just log the rest of the day what I eat and then when it comes to that meal I don't log it - usually it's too difficult to log anyway, if we're out to eat or at a party. I'm down 30lbs and in maintenance and have done it this way all along, so it worked for me.
  • krich0502
    krich0502 Posts: 63 Member
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    collectingblues wrote: »
    If you eat it, log it. You’re only cheating yourself.
    How true
  • krich0502
    krich0502 Posts: 63 Member
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    Rocknut53 wrote: »
    Log it, then when your results aren't quite what you hoped for, you can look back and see if you really did eat too much and cancel out any losses you may have had.

    Makes sense, Hindsight is 20/20. That’s what I thought.
  • krich0502
    krich0502 Posts: 63 Member
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    JennJ323 wrote: »
    Nope. I know going in to it I'll be over and usually it's for a special occasion, so I'm not going to really limit myself anyway. So I just log the rest of the day what I eat and then when it comes to that meal I don't log it - usually it's too difficult to log anyway, if we're out to eat or at a party. I'm down 30lbs and in maintenance and have done it this way all along, so it worked for me.

    I did find that it was impossible to log while iI was on vacation ( all inclusive). I gave up, just knew it had to be bad. And it was, I gained 😞
  • bikecheryl
    bikecheryl Posts: 1,432 Member
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    I try to stay away from negative words like "cheat".

    I log everything cause that's just what works for me.

    It's not so much about how many calories over my goal I am that day but more about being able to look back and see if those "over" days are becoming a trend.

    I know I will always have to be "mindful" when it comes to what and how much I eat............ seeing it in black and white helps me with that.
  • amy19355
    amy19355 Posts: 805 Member
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    krich0502 wrote: »
    JennJ323 wrote: »
    Nope. I know going in to it I'll be over and usually it's for a special occasion, so I'm not going to really limit myself anyway. So I just log the rest of the day what I eat and then when it comes to that meal I don't log it - usually it's too difficult to log anyway, if we're out to eat or at a party. I'm down 30lbs and in maintenance and have done it this way all along, so it worked for me.

    I did find that it was impossible to log while iI was on vacation ( all inclusive). I gave up, just knew it had to be bad. And it was, I gained 😞

    The all inclusive eat all you want buffet model is a potential danger zone for those of us watching our calories and/or macros.

    My friends laugh at me, and i laugh along with them as i visually break down the food on my restaurant plate and estimate the quantities of individual ingredients i've just been served.

    It may not be a perfect estimate, but, for me it's better than no estimate at all, and I like keeping up with the habit of food logging because I know that the more I log, the more informed I am about what has taken place to achieve my current state of being.

    I use the MFP Food Notes section to add comments about days where I'm estimating because of eating out. This is a handy reference for when I'm doing a 2 month analysis and am curious about the cause of a spike (up or down) in the progress chart.

    good luck!
  • DaisyHamilton
    DaisyHamilton Posts: 575 Member
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    I log it as accurately as possible. Which means nearly nothing is weighed, but I do log it per item (3 pieces of candy, 2 tacos, 1-16oz milkshake) etc.
  • amy19355
    amy19355 Posts: 805 Member
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    DaisyHamilton wrote: »
    I log it as accurately as possible. Which means nearly nothing is weighed, but I do log it per item (3 pieces of candy, 2 tacos, 1-16oz milkshake) etc.

    There was a great thread that got bumped the other day that went into deep detail about the 'why to weigh' stuff.

    the most valuable thing I got from it was about how to select verified items from the food database, to avoid logging incorrect information from a manually entered food from one of the zillions of MFP users.

    the second value-added tip was "don't eyeball quantities, use the scale for solids and a measuring cup/spoon for liquids".

    my personal example of horrified discovery about the eyeball vs measuring spoon is OLIVE OIL.

    The bottle says a serving is 1 tablespoon. (119 calories)
    It used to be, I'd open the bottle and dump a liberal quantity into the pan. (approx 3 TBS for 398 calories).
    I have since learned to cook many things with just 1 measured teaspoon (1/3 of a tablespoon = 40 calories).

    good luck!
  • greatatboats
    greatatboats Posts: 28 Member
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    I get takeout with my boyfriend typically twice a week. If it is something I can easily add and doesn't make me go crazy over, I will log it correctly. Otherwise at the end of the day I will just quick add to get my balance after excercise to zero. I do tend to leave a decent amount of calories behind each day (due to exercise), so I am accidentally creating a buffer.

    This might not be a great long term strategy, but emotionally it's working for me pretty well.
  • kami3006
    kami3006 Posts: 4,978 Member
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    I log everything and eat what I want within my goals. I do follow a weekly calorie goal though so some days are over and some under. It balances out in the end and I can fit larger calorie meals into my life easily.
  • Lolinloggen
    Lolinloggen Posts: 463 Member
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    Totally try to log them accurately Mostly guesstimates then but logging always
  • neugebauer52
    neugebauer52 Posts: 1,120 Member
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    I don't do cheat days but try to accommodate food which I haven't pre - planned on my daily meal plan. I also try to do some extra exercise or go for a walk. On rare occasions I have eaten something after I have closed my meals day on MFP - which will be added / recorded first thing the next morning making sure, that those extra calories will fit into my day's allotment.
  • sophia162
    sophia162 Posts: 115 Member
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    I did at first and I'm really glad I did... it was a reeeeeeal eye opener.

    In two senses:

    1. When you shyly eat a few unexpected goodies, logging helps you see that the damage is not that bad! You can totally keep that day at a deficit or at maintenance and feel pretty good about that.
    2. When you go all out (very little shyness), you can see the real, hard truth. See how easy it is to put yourself in a huge surpluss, how easy it is to sweep a week's deficit, etc.

    So yeah, I found logging those days to be very educational.

    However, nowadays, when I have the occaaaasional loosey-goosey day, I don't log, because I'm not really in the logging mind zone, you know?
  • erjones11
    erjones11 Posts: 422 Member
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    I also don't cheat, but I do log and whenever possible weigh or measure everything I eat.
  • krich0502
    krich0502 Posts: 63 Member
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    erjones11 wrote: »
    I also don't cheat, but I do log and whenever possible weigh or measure everything I eat.

    I wish I was that disciplined.
  • krich0502
    krich0502 Posts: 63 Member
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    sophia162 wrote: »
    I did at first and I'm really glad I did... it was a reeeeeeal eye opener.

    In two senses:

    1. When you shyly eat a few unexpected goodies, logging helps you see that the damage is not that bad! You can totally keep that day at a deficit or at maintenance and feel pretty good about that.
    2. When you go all out (very little shyness), you can see the real, hard truth. See how easy it is to put yourself in a huge surpluss, how easy it is to sweep a week's deficit, etc.

    So yeah, I found logging those days to be very educational.

    However, nowadays, when I have the occaaaasional loosey-goosey day, I don't log, because I'm not really in the logging mind zone, you know?

    Maybe that will deter me from future falls off the wagon.
  • Bry_Fitness70
    Bry_Fitness70 Posts: 2,480 Member
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    Selectively logging your diet seems to defeat the purpose- hopefully you don't manage your finances according to the same philosophy :wink:
  • krich0502
    krich0502 Posts: 63 Member
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    Bry_Fitness70 wrote: »
    Selectively logging your diet seems to defeat the purpose- hopefully you don't manage your finances according to the same philosophy :wink:

    I log everything, even the bad stuff. It was just hard to track on vacation. I really wanted a consensus on if it’s helpful/necessary.
  • RetiredAndLovingIt
    RetiredAndLovingIt Posts: 1,394 Member
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    I also don't consider it cheating if I decide to go over my calorie goal, so I log it all no matter how bad it looks. I weigh & measure when possible (not when g'kids are here or when eating out) but it is logged. (except on cruise last summer--no internet!) I must be doing OK because I have been maintaining for years (or v-e-r-y slowly losing) even though I would like to lose another 10-15 pounds. :)

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