Do you log when you're in a bad place, eating-wise?

kiela64
kiela64 Posts: 1,447 Member
edited December 18 in Health and Weight Loss
Feel free to ignore my little story and just talk about your experience!

It's been like over a month since I've been consistently 'on track'. Maybe 2. I thought it was a minor setback, I got a concussion in September and wasn't able to move as much, was at home a lot. My eating wasn't too bad initially though! I ended up eating more increasingly, and it got worse through November where I ran into a bit of a depressive episode (officially - am in therapy, and it was fairly mild don't worry) and the 'why' of many things stopped being enough to make me Actually Do Them. Now I'm for the most part completely back at work. The routine of things is getting a little easier. I'm getting there. I've got a cold, which sucks, but it's alright. But MY GOODNESS is my eating Bad! A friend gave us a 4lb bag of pistachios which I would mindlessly chow down on running back for more bowls (it's finally gone). I've started buying fast food breakfasts again - I haven't done this since I started losing weight! I've even gone on some convenience store trips for junk foods that I know make me feel sick.

My plans to get back under control are to pre-plan my meals again. I was in an extremely good routine back in the summer. I've made and frozen a few sandwiches, and I bought yogurt again for my breakfasts. I have protein bars and peanuts and fruit for my snacks. But I'll just ignore all my good efforts and eat stupidly. :neutral:

I honestly don't know if logging these failures will help. I keep going back and forth on this. I know when I was logging, over days could make me feel extremely upset and 'spiral' to the point of overeating more, or getting more angry with myself than I already was, because I could see the projected 'gain' at the end. I keep logging half days, where I'm going to be on track and then I lose it so I don't finish the day because I know it would probably make me feel worse, and because I'd be guessing, so 'what's the point?' But maybe I need to feel worse? idk.

I really haven't gained terribly much since all of this. I'm up 4-5lbs from my lowest weight. My eating is still not as bad as it consistently was before I started losing, while I'm doing these behaviours a few times a week it used to be every day. It's just really disheartening to feel like my progress with my habits is completely gone.

Other MFP-ers, do you go through these bouts of failure? Do you log them?
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Replies

  • Fflpnari
    Fflpnari Posts: 975 Member
    I go through these a lot. I eat too much to actually log it. Sometimes I guess, sometimes I log nothing. Most successful people will say they log everything the good the bad and the ugly.
  • allmannerofthings
    allmannerofthings Posts: 829 Member
    I log it. If I can't log as I go I do my best estimate later. I find it helps control the slide and sometimes its not as bad as i expect.
  • vggb
    vggb Posts: 132 Member
    I have to log it to keep myself honest as well as visually see it after the fact. The calorie count is a real eye opener for me and actually helps me. I am pretty new here and my over the top calorie days are fewer and fewer, so I think logging it no matter what is actually helping.
  • teranga79
    teranga79 Posts: 202 Member
    Your post sounded so familiar to me. I too had a great summer, then slipped a bit (and then some, in my case lol). I starting having a few binges and initially was logging them. Then that got depressing so I stopped, the binges became an everyday event and I had no idea what I was actually consuming, calorie-wise. Over the last week I've really made an effort to log everything again and honestly, after the break I'm really enjoying it again. I'm a stone up on where I was, which is annoying but in the grand scheme of things is not the end of the world I guess.

    Maybe try logging everything for a few days and just keep an eye on what emotions and thoughts that raises in you. Good luck with it all x.
  • somethingsoright
    somethingsoright Posts: 99 Member
    Accountability means everything to me, so yes. If I stop logging because of an unfortunate calorie count, then I'd only be working my way back up to my high weight. (It's happened in the past.) It's actually less worrisome to log everything; my mind assumes the worst most highest calorie intake, so it's a relief to find out it's not that horrible.
  • Phoebe5164
    Phoebe5164 Posts: 79 Member
    I log my “ bad days “ because it stops me by seeing the calories I’ve consumed.

    Yesterday I made buns and ate 3.... by logging them I skipped a meal and stayed on track even though my carbs were higher then usual .

    Honesty is important even with yourself , and starting over again after a day like that takes discipline. Good luck you’re not alone
  • jjpptt2
    jjpptt2 Posts: 5,650 Member
    I don't usually, no. It would be nearly impossible (though, if I slowed myself down enough to measure/log what I was eating, maybe I'd have a better chance of correcting things), and I'm very well aware of what I'm doing and why... I don't need to log it for some additional degree of honesty or accountability.

    The only time I've ever tried to log it was when I was trying to keep my data as complete and as accurate as possible for identifying long term trends.
  • hroderick
    hroderick Posts: 756 Member
    I try to log at least a calorie estimate. What I eat is one important part of my behavior. A perhaps bigger part is what triggered the over-eating. I ponder these and am going to begin writing a personal blog about them. If I can make myself write some rational statements before I binge, I believe it will become a better response to the trigger than binging. If I can't make myself do it before, then I can do it shortly after while the memories are still fresh and maybe work toward a better response. MFP has the personal blog spot and I may use that.

    I've learned that before I can fix a behavior problem, I must understand it. I believe journalling will help me understand it better. I've been studying habit change and it is all about triggers and responses. Strategies are finding ways to avoid triggers and improving responses.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,449 Member
    I log it.

    I try to be honest with my FOOD page. My body is logging the calories regardless, so why would I benefit from fudging my food diary?

    There are days when I'm 500-1500 calories over. It happens about once a week. I still log it. In the beginning of weight loss those days were frequent and I would not log them. That tends to give me a mental thumbs up to keep doing it, "I already messed up today/this week/this month/this year." That is counter-productive and just doesn't help me.

    My number of days of being 2000+ calories over my plan are now manageable. They are: Christmas. My birthday. The Fair. A couple other Special Events.

    Log it, think about it. Don't log it, live in denial.
  • pinuplove
    pinuplove Posts: 12,871 Member
    Sometimes I need a mental health break from logging. This won't be a popular opinion, but we all have to find our own way. I'm to the point where I can stay in a deficit and still lose slowly without logging for a few weeks at a time (but I know my nutrition suffers, so I try not to do it for too long at a stretch). I'm in a 'no log it' mood at the moment. However, this is 2 years in and lots of practice recognizing appropriate portions.
  • Millicent3015
    Millicent3015 Posts: 374 Member
    I log whatever I can. When I don't log is when I know I've gone so over calories that I personally don't see the point in logging because I know what I ate will have caused some weight gain. My eating went out of the window in October when winter set in and my mood went downhill. I bought a light therapy lamp and have been using it all day every day because I need that simulated sunlight. It's helped improve my mood, which in turn has helped me stay more on track with my eating. But as it's holiday season, I don't have any issue with indulging myself a couple times a week. Even so, I've been terrified to weigh myself because I thought I'd put on tons of weight from overeating for three months. But I weighed myself today and I've put on less than 4lbs. Turns out I've been eating optimally more often than I haven't.

    Winter overeating is a thing. Our ancestors would've overeaten in order to lay down fat stores that would keep them alive through harsh seasons. We still have that evolutionary hangover because humans evolve very slowly. Most of us no longer need to lay down extra fat, but our brains haven't caught up with that fairly new development, so we still feel that urge to eat more in anticipation of successfully getting through the harsher months.

    You're not failing. Your mood is low, perhaps due to circumstances, weather, physical/hormonal changes, and your eating pattern has changed temporarily, perhaps due to that 40,000 years-out-of-touch caveperson brain yelling at you to put on some weight so you don't starve to death before spring or get so weak you can't hunt that woolly mammoth you've had your eye on since summer.

    Log whatever you can, so you can look back and pinpoint any patterns where your diet changed, and try and formulate a strategy for coping with those pitfalls in the future. Try not to beat yourself up with thoughts of "bad/junk" foods. No food is good, bad, clean or junk. Food is essentially neutral. How you eat it is what's important. If you can gradually lessen the frequency of eating more fatty, carb loaded things, and increase your intake of lower saturated fats, complex carbs, vegetables, fruits, legumes etc, you can gradually return to the eating pattern that best suits your long term health & wellness goals. Cut yourself some slack. You've identified the issue and can start taking steps to tackle it.
  • cheryldumais
    cheryldumais Posts: 1,907 Member
    I try to log everything and the reason is that I have found that when I figure I've blown it I tend to overeat even more. Since I've been with MFP I've learned that often it isn't as bad as I thought and logging it makes me stop. If I don't log it becomes a free for all and I will consume unlimited calories. One other thing I would like to mention is that when I started I was at 1200 calories attempting to lose 2 lbs. a week (I averaged 1.7). I had 85+ pounds left to lose and I wanted it off fast like everyone else. After the first year I got stuck. I went on a diet break and when I went off I never could get back to the 1200. I reduced my rate of loss and was able to lose another 20 pounds. Sometimes we sabotage ourselves by trying to cut back too drastically. If you are doing that maybe slow down a bit and you might have more success. Good luck and don't give up!
  • shaf238
    shaf238 Posts: 4,022 Member
    I always log. How else am I mean to keep track? To me it's even more important when having a 'bad' diet day.
  • RelCanonical
    RelCanonical Posts: 3,882 Member
    Logging helps reduce my anxiety about how much I'm actually eating, even on the bad days. Generally, I have not eaten as much as I think, and what feels like 3,000 calories over maintenance is actually only like 1,000 calories over. My goal when I struggle is to just log, as keeping up the habit makes it much, much easier to get back on track, because I only have one habit to get back into (deficit eating) and not two (deficit eating and logging).
  • Running2Fit
    Running2Fit Posts: 702 Member
    Yes, when I stop logging I tend to really spiral out of control. For me, logging makes it so I don’t have days or weeks of over-eating. Having to log one bad day is enough to get me back on track. If I stop logging though it’s easier for me to lie to myself that it’s not that bad.
  • watson_2020
    watson_2020 Posts: 2 Member
    My husband logs religiously. Me not so much but my lack of logging bad days didn’t hold me back from achieving my goal weight in an acceptable time frame (roughly a year and a bit over 100 lbs) so I think it depends on the person.
  • puffbrat
    puffbrat Posts: 2,806 Member
    I go through these phases. I find what helps me the most with getting back on track is to just start logging regardless of calories. I put myself in the mindset that I'm not trying to stay within a goal because my only goal is logging. Restricting back to within my calorie goal comes naturally from consistent logging for me.
  • emmamcgarity
    emmamcgarity Posts: 1,594 Member
    I almost always log, but sometimes I get off track and it’s just too stressful to deal with it. Instead of waiting to the next day to get back on track, I worry about my next meal. For example, if I get off track during the day at work, I eat exactly as I would have planned at dinner time. My meal times are fairly consistent calories from day to day. So I find it encouraging to be in track one meal at a time from an emotional standpoint instead of stressing about what is already in the past.
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,423 Member
    I've been logging daily for about 4 years pretty honestly. Generally I plan my eating and eat food prepared from home so choices are limited. I don't follow a very restrictive diet just watch calorie intake so it is not really bad.
    If I eat over my goal consistantly I'm not going to lose weight whether I log it or not. Logging can help me see what I am really doing and if there is a pattern.
    I'm not fooling myself if I don't log. I have a pretty fair idea of calorie counts in my head by now. I know what I am doing if I eat over my goal.
    I am not an emotional eater. I don't look at one high calorie day or week, feel doomed and just give up. Every day I get up and start over again with new choices.
  • dhiammarath
    dhiammarath Posts: 834 Member
    Right now, I log it, and don't stress it. I want accountability right now, so I log everything. There have been years when I only wanted to maintain and I needed a logging break, so then? I might not log it. For now, though, I am logging everything so that I know what and when to make adjustments.

    I don't stress (too much) when I go over, however. I can adjust the next day... it's like sound on a TV. Some shows are really loud and you have to adjust the volume down. Other shows are really soft and so the volume goes up. Food is a constant adjustment -- for life, for choices, for the unexpected.

    Whatever happens today, I know that tomorrow can (and most likely will) be different somehow depending on what i choose!

    Good luck!!
  • DaisyHamilton
    DaisyHamilton Posts: 575 Member
    I know I "should" but I don't. Like you, it makes me feel bad and not want to keep logging. I know that if I did log though it would probably shame me into keeping on track. But instead I just skip it, get it out of my system, and continue later when I'm "back." It overwhelms me.

  • BecomingMoreAwesome
    BecomingMoreAwesome Posts: 151 Member
    I do when I can. When I stop logging, I know I’m really down in the dumps.
  • acogg
    acogg Posts: 1,870 Member
    Log everything, learn from it and adjust your choices. When I first started logging I was amazed at what I assumed were bad choices and what I assumed were good choices in food. I think I was four months into logging when found out bacon was only 45 calories a slice! To me, it tasted like it was 500 calories a slice so I ignorantly didn't eat bacon for several months. There are many food and recipes that are advertised or reputed to be low calorie, high calorie, or healthy or unhealthy that are exaggerations. There are many lower calorie/ diet foods that are much lower in taste and texture but just ever so slightly lower in calories than their full calorie cousin. You have to log all this to discover and really learn what works best for you. You don't have to share your food log with anyone, but you need to be honest with yourself and learn what you like and what you don't like.
  • kabrina30
    kabrina30 Posts: 94 Member
    I log 95% of the time. But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have those days when I just said screw it. But they’re rare!
  • Orphia
    Orphia Posts: 7,097 Member
    Logging everything keeps me from going over the limit for the week.

    A day here and there is fine. I just make sure the weekly net calories balance.

    (Been logging 1345 days. In maintenance nearly 1000 days.)
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,179 Member
    I'm not confident that I've ever been OUT of a bad place, eating-wise. So, sure. I log.
  • Psychgrrl
    Psychgrrl Posts: 3,177 Member
    Yup. Helps me with accountability as well as seeing where any fat gain came from. Nobody’s perfect 100% of the time. Log and keep moving forward.
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