Lying on Food Diary
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RosetteMak
Posts: 10 Member
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 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!
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Replies
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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.3
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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!4
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Tempted? You bet.
It was the second most important moment in my weight loss journey that’s helped me lose 100 lbs and save my life. #1 moment was when I started. But your post hits right at the heart of point where one unlogged misstep leads to ten.
The process is more important than the numbers. My misstep was a misread menu when I was out with the kids and distracted when we were ordering tacos in a place we had never been to before. Its not possible to count calories for long without making some sort of mistake. Misread menus and NI, lapses brought on by fatigue or old bad habits jumping up, even math mistakes. We all make mistakes.
But the process we’ve chosen is to log our intake into a food diary. We’re either doing the program or we aren’t doing it. I didn’t like keeping track of my mistakes. I might go so far as to say I hated it. But when I found out how much I disliked tracking my missteps and lapses, I worked harder to avoid them.
As a friend pointed out once on a different message board- our bodies are going to track what we eat whether we log it or not.7 -
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.
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It doesn't matter what I enter ... my body can't read. My body isn't going to go by what I've entered. My body is going to go by what I actually eat.7
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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.2 -
This is about the accountability....for me at least. Loggin somethin that put me in the red....makes me double think it next time....
Its why i log my food to begin w.
Accountability to myself...n the friends that support me.
Good luck on your journey!💛6 -
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!0
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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.2 -
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.4
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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!!1
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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.2
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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.4 -
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.5
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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.1 -
I respectfully disagree. If you're looking for weight loss, then the math definitely applies.2
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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.2 -
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.0
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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.7 -
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.0
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