Lying on Food Diary

RosetteMak
RosetteMak Posts: 10 Member
in Motivation and Support
Does anyone else find themselves being tempted to lie on their food diary entries?

I realized that I overate today, so I decided to not enter the slice of pizza I carelessly ate after dinner. I didn't want to see my calorie amount go in the red. After about a half hour I went back and added it in, since I realize I need to be honest with myself about what I'm eating, whether it was between meals or not. I struggle to hold myself accountable for "careless" meals or snacks, like a couple fistfuls of chips between meals. I need to be more honest and more aware of my eating!

Trying to cut out snacking, wish me luck!

Replies

  • HappyEC
    HappyEC Posts: 53 Member
    I’ve done the same - when a cheat Friday turned into a cheat weekend, I wouldn’t bother to log. You might use this as an opportunity to explore why you’re eating these snacks, rather than why you don’t log them. For example, are you still adjusting to lower calories or eating non-filling foods and it’s making you too hungry? Or not planning well, or relying on food to get you through stress? I’ve gone through all of the above myself. When you get to the root of why you’re doing it, you can plan a solid way to avoid it.
  • goatelope
    goatelope Posts: 178 Member
    I totally understand this. Shame has a huge influence on me in this way. What helps me not to do that, though, is to see the diary as something that’s for me rather than against me. So adding what I had but then adding in the notes what was going on for me and why. I used to struggle with binges a lot - and I’m still wary of them. Especially if I am upset and bored and alone in the kitchen - this is when I am prone to ‘stealing’ (from my own fridge!) stuff. So what I do, if they happen, I just log it, let go of shame. And then write down what I was feeling and how I felt afterwards. Another thing that helps is when you have cheated and had pizza or whatever, log it so that you can feel really pleased the next day!
  • corinasue1143
    corinasue1143 Posts: 7,464 Member
    Nope. No one cares about my diary but me, and I want to lose weight. My diary is just to help me. I need it to be helpful. I need it to show me where and how to adjust so I lose weight. I need to see what I am doing today so I can do better tomorrow.
    I dont need to beat myself up over what I did today. When I know better, I will do better.
  • BasedGawd412
    BasedGawd412 Posts: 346 Member
    I'm very guilty of this.

    I don't log when I eat bad because it totally *kitten* up my mood when I see all those extra calories.
  • kristipmk2048
    kristipmk2048 Posts: 4 Member
    I do this too, and it’s so silly because there is no reason to! I have been starting my days really well and then not logging at all for the second half. Reading this thread will hopefully motivate me to just log!
  • LyndaBSS
    LyndaBSS Posts: 6,964 Member
    The only person you're lying to is yourself.

    If you fill out the food diary truthfully, you can see your weight loss or gain trends.

    Being honest means you're ready to do this.

    I fill out the food diary a few days ahead. That helps keep me accountable and on track.
  • thanos5
    thanos5 Posts: 513 Member
    nah. i can't do it. i'm way too much of a numbers geek, i gotta know them, even if they are bad. like over this past weekend. 4500 over maintenance, yikes! but i logged every calorie.
  • denise0130
    denise0130 Posts: 4 Member
    I love all the responses to this!! I too have been tempted and have also completely disregarded logging in my food on weekends but as many have said... the diary is to help you know where you are succeeding and where you need “adjusting”. Thanks for this thread!!
  • nooboots
    nooboots Posts: 480 Member
    Yes, I am now in my 11th week and twice in 2 days (yesterday and today ) was almost going to ignore something small. Yesterday it was 70 cals and today about 60. Its worried me that I mustnt let that actually happen. I can see that I could get sloppy if I allowed it.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,419 Member
    In the past when I would do that, then the next step would be to stop logging for the rest of the day and in my head I would somehow take that to mean, "Eat all the food."

    That would often become, "Don't log the next day either, because I've messed it up now." Then it's a week, a month, and I've gained three pounds.

    Now I log all the over days. It's the only thing that works for me. They are going to happen. I'm not perfect, I'm just more-often within range when I can see those real numbers.
  • maureenseel1984
    maureenseel1984 Posts: 395 Member
    RosetteMak wrote: »
    Does anyone else find themselves being tempted to lie on their food diary entries?

    I realized that I overate today, so I decided to not enter the slice of pizza I carelessly ate after dinner. I didn't want to see my calorie amount go in the red. After about a half hour I went back and added it in, since I realize I need to be honest with myself about what I'm eating, whether it was between meals or not. I struggle to hold myself accountable for "careless" meals or snacks, like a couple fistfuls of chips between meals. I need to be more honest and more aware of my eating!

    Trying to cut out snacking, wish me luck!

    I mean...does it really matter? It's not lying-who are you lying to? A bunch of strangers on MFP? We're not here to judge you-you certainly don't need to judge yourself. In the end it's food. It's not having an affair with someone. I think sometimes people take it too seriously. MFP and other calorie counters can only be so accurate. And our body, in the end, doesn't come down to a mathematical equation.
  • LyndaBSS
    LyndaBSS Posts: 6,964 Member
    I respectfully disagree. If you're looking for weight loss, then the math definitely applies.
  • maureenseel1984
    maureenseel1984 Posts: 395 Member
    LyndaBSS wrote: »
    I respectfully disagree. If you're looking for weight loss, then the math definitely applies.

    Overall yes-it's a good general rule. The scary thing is that chronic dieting can actually cause your resting metabolic rate to be lower...and gradually you have to eat less and less to maintain the weight loss.
  • Gisel2015
    Gisel2015 Posts: 4,186 Member
    Nope because I am the only one looking at my diary. I don't want to lie to myself, even when I am in maintenance. I am not very strict with the logging now, so if it seems that I don't eat enough is because I left something out of the logging. Either intentionally (I don't' know the calories) or by mistake. No worries.
  • maureenseel1984
    maureenseel1984 Posts: 395 Member
    nooboots wrote: »
    maureenseel1984 wrote: »
    RosetteMak wrote: »
    Does anyone else find themselves being tempted to lie on their food diary entries?

    I realized that I overate today, so I decided to not enter the slice of pizza I carelessly ate after dinner. I didn't want to see my calorie amount go in the red. After about a half hour I went back and added it in, since I realize I need to be honest with myself about what I'm eating, whether it was between meals or not. I struggle to hold myself accountable for "careless" meals or snacks, like a couple fistfuls of chips between meals. I need to be more honest and more aware of my eating!

    Trying to cut out snacking, wish me luck!

    I mean...does it really matter? It's not lying-who are you lying to? A bunch of strangers on MFP? We're not here to judge you-you certainly don't need to judge yourself. In the end it's food. It's not having an affair with someone. I think sometimes people take it too seriously. MFP and other calorie counters can only be so accurate. And our body, in the end, doesn't come down to a mathematical equation.

    I think you probably misunderstand why people do this. Its not about lying to others, its a maladaptive coping strategy, if you dont log it, it didnt happen, therefore you can continue to over eat, you're protecting yourself from the harsh truth of what you eat, but equally therefore causing yourself more harm. Its not logical but its what people do.

    Very insightful.
  • MPDean
    MPDean Posts: 99 Member
    Occasionally
    If I have calories left at the end of the day I sometimes use them up on chocolate or ice cream but don't log it. If I am further tempted I will log what I previously ate to stop me eating more otherwise I will just leave it showing a non-existant deficit.
  • elisa123gal
    elisa123gal Posts: 4,324 Member
    it is your diary for your informaiton.... so you can't really lie to yourself ..you know the truth, but..by logging it., you now know how many exercise calories you can burn to negate the ill effects of eating the slice.

    it is all good
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    When I logged, I just figured nothing would ever be perfect, and even if I was over on a day, it wasn't usually enough to put me over maintenance and I was usually still in a deficit...just a smaller one. Add to that, I would also have days where I was under so for the most part things just evened out. I never saw any point in not logging it...your body is logging it whether you put it on paper or not.
  • missysippy930
    missysippy930 Posts: 2,577 Member
    What’s the point? Your body knows you ate the calories.Not much point in lying or cheating about what you ate., unless it makes you feel better about eating it. The psychology of weight loss is interesting.
  • emmies_123
    emmies_123 Posts: 513 Member
    oh my gosh yes it is tempting to not log an item when you know it is bad for your goals. The way I try to get around my brain's sabotage is two-fold:

    1. Pre-log when I can. This prevents me from allowing myself little snacks throughout the day, because i know how little leeway I have. I'm a creature of habit most of the time, and i'm good at meal-prepping work lunches, so this works for me.
    2. Remind myself when I do stray that if I don't log it i'm going to be confused why my weight went up (I have super small deficit window, so 200 calories over is going to affect me). Or i'll falsely assume i gained weight because of a healthy choice I made. So I better log accurate!
  • emmamcgarity
    emmamcgarity Posts: 1,594 Member
    I used to want a perfect diary with no red numbers. But once I was able to let go and consistently log into the red it was empowering. Looking at the weekly stats helped me see that it was never as bad as I thought it was. And I no longer feel like my diary is judging me.
  • LoKoMi
    LoKoMi Posts: 51 Member
    I totally understand the temptation!

    Over the past 18 mos I’ve lost 70 pounds. I’ve logged every day except for Thanksgiving and a special anniversary dinner. Some days under, some days over. Mostly weighing and measuring portions, sometimes estimating.

    Logging everything shows me that I still make progress after “bad” weeks, and I can have a fluctuation/gain after a “good” week, but overall I’ve averaged just about 1lb/week loss, with 2-3 the first 6-9 mos. Logging mainly helps keep me on track overall.
  • psychod787
    psychod787 Posts: 4,099 Member
    I try not to. What's the point of logging If you are not going to closely watch your intake?
  • MichelleMinn
    MichelleMinn Posts: 90 Member
    Diatonic12 wrote: »
    Nuh huh. That's why I keep my diary private. I might be tempted to start performing or make it perfect. I'm flawed and so is my diary. There's all kinds of ways to hack our food and the system but I don't want to.

    For some people, it works the other way, they do better knowing others can see it.

    I'm not temp
    nooboots wrote: »
    maureenseel1984 wrote: »
    RosetteMak wrote: »
    Does anyone else find themselves being tempted to lie on their food diary entries?

    I realized that I overate today, so I decided to not enter the slice of pizza I carelessly ate after dinner. I didn't want to see my calorie amount go in the red. After about a half hour I went back and added it in, since I realize I need to be honest with myself about what I'm eating, whether it was between meals or not. I struggle to hold myself accountable for "careless" meals or snacks, like a couple fistfuls of chips between meals. I need to be more honest and more aware of my eating!

    Trying to cut out snacking, wish me luck!

    I mean...does it really matter? It's not lying-who are you lying to? A bunch of strangers on MFP? We're not here to judge you-you certainly don't need to judge yourself. In the end it's food. It's not having an affair with someone. I think sometimes people take it too seriously. MFP and other calorie counters can only be so accurate. And our body, in the end, doesn't come down to a mathematical equation.

    I think you probably misunderstand why people do this. Its not about lying to others, its a maladaptive coping strategy, if you dont log it, it didnt happen, therefore you can continue to over eat, you're protecting yourself from the harsh truth of what you eat, but equally therefore causing yourself more harm. Its not logical but its what people do.

    This is similar to why I will die in the zombie apocalypse ... I will close my eyes in the illogical belief that if I can't see them, they can't see me.


  • koalathebear
    koalathebear Posts: 236 Member
    I am sometimes tempted. I know it's private - but it's a shame thing. That I've let myself down blah blah blah.

    Sometimes I enter the food into the diary before I eat it just to test if I still really want to eat it. If I do, then I eat it, if not, then I don't eat it and delete the item...

    There have been times when I've impulsively eaten and then either though:
    1. maybe I won't bother entering it; or
    2. I didn't eat that much, maybe I'll just say I ate a half portion or 3/4 ...

    I always go back and adjust though because I need to be honest with myself given MFP is helping me to keep myself accountable. If I've eaten too much, then I can either do more exercise today or tomorrow ... in any case, it's a salutatory reminder I suppose to try to stay on track.

    That's why even though the "If every day were like today... You'd weigh xxx kg in 5 weeks " is pretty useless, I do keep an eye on it because it lets me know if that day was a blow out day or a good day :)

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