Not logging when you don't eat well

would just rather not try to do the math and figure out exactly what they ate, as that can be damn near impossible if the food/drink isn't anywhere in the database. It's too time consuming, and frankly, not that big of a deal.

I agree, thank you!

Everyone keeps saying you need to "own up to your mistakes". When I go over, it is not normally a mistake, it is a choice. Rationally thought out and decided.

Will it make the others feel better that I logged 1,000,000 calories tonight because I ate at BWW tonight? If I continue to eat like this I will weigh 10,183 lbs in 5 wks. Good thing for me, today was VERY unusual!

You are so right on this point. I also hate seeing people say "oh well I am not sure how much what I ate was because I was at a BBQ and I can't figure it out." Its better to estimate by looking for a like item and serving size and logging then not logging at all. Its all about teaching ourselves a new lifestyle and in the real world we don't always have our measuring cups, scale, or a menu nutrition guide to figure the "real" numbers out.

Semi guilty. When I have a bad day I will log the calories but with a quick cal entry.

I log everything I eat or drink. No exceptions. Ever. Otherwise what would be the point? I know what I ate, I'm not trying to impress anyone so I'd only be lying to myself.

One does not need to log, to know if they have had a 'bad day'. I, personally, do not log when I am at my mother's for a few days, because for one, I am there to enjoy my family time, not to sit online inputting everything I put in my mouth and most of it is restaurant food, for two, I am fully aware I am going over and know from experience that my weight settles down just fine a week after returning and I workout 6-7 days a week when at home and for three, being far from overweight and never having been overweight, I do not need to log every single day. I have decades of calorie books behind me and pretty much know what is good and not so good calorie wise.

There is still a life to be lived out there, and I see no problem if people want a day or two off from logging sometimes, to give themselves a rest. If I have a bad day when at home, I usually do log everything, simply out of habit.

I have no-one to please but myself, and I get a bit fed up of this accountability nonsense, as if we are kids at school playing truant, rather than adults, keeping an eye on what we eat, but still continuing to engage in living lives beyond mfp. Life isn't going to stop because you have a few bad days and do not log, and from personal experience, it does not take the brain of einstein, nor logging, to balance things out after a vacation or a few bad days. I think people can get a wee bit too obsessive about this and forget that most do not wish to be logging calories for the rest of their natural lives.

To each their own, I say. If some do not wish to log their bad days, that is their business and I am sure they are fully aware of what they have eaten.

I agree. I ALWAYS log everything, but there is the occasional time when I won't click "Complete This Entry," mostly because I know people may say what I'm already thinking about my own bad day...lol. Sometimes they still tell me, though, and I don't mind so much. The log is really only for me to keep myself accountable, after all.

OP, I think you've fallen into the trap of assuming that everyone uses this tool exactly as you do.
MFP is indeed a great tool for recording what you've eaten and monitoring food and exercise on both "good and bad" days.
But, everyone here has their own way of approaching weight loss, and their own way if making use of different tools (including MFP).
Posting judgemental comments about what other people do or don't do doesn't achieve anything.

OP, I think you've fallen into the trap of assuming that everyone uses this tool exactly as you do.
MFP is indeed a great tool for recording what you've eaten and monitoring food and exercise on both "good and bad" days.
But, everyone here has their own way of approaching weight loss, and their own way if making use of different tools (including MFP).
Posting judgemental comments about what other people do or don't do doesn't achieve anything.

I have not fallen into a trap and it wasn't meant to be a judgmental post by any means.

You may not have set out to be judgemental - but when you start a thread which says (in effect): "THIS is the point of logging and I see so many people who aren't doing right (ie. your way)" - it certainly comes across that way.

As I stated in my previous post, MFP is a handy tool and people use it in many ways. Nothing wrong with that.

Yeah. My diary is open but I log for me, not anyone else. I log everything I eat, sometimes I don't log my exercise just because I'm not sure about my calories burned but that doesn't stop me from eating. Well actually sometimes I don't feel like logging and therefore I don't snack, which I consider a good thing overall.

Sometimes when I think I've done poorly (especially when eating out), when I actually log th food I haven't really done as bad as I thought. It's best to be honest and keep moving forward.

I don't log if it's a special occasion, I'm not spending my vacation counting calories just to feel bad about myself.

I do still try to eat healthy, I don't go binging or anything crazy.