Hello guys,
This might need a TW for people that struggle with obsessive calorie counting, be aware.
Since I've started tracking my calories 3 years ago I've had some less than optimal days where I've not been able to reach my calorie goals (rather surpass it). I think this is a subject that is not often talked about. Many forums and channels tend to focus on what an optimal day looks like and I thought I'd ramble about my day of eating twice my daily calories and why I am okay with it.
You could say that the day started before it had even begun. I always try to plan and look ahead of what I will be doing and eating the coming days to be able to plan out my foods and meals so that I can better be reaching my goals. This is something that I think many could benefit from, but I realize this might trigger some individuals that struggle with obsessive tracking/eds. This could entail simple stuff like not eating a massive lunch if you know you are going to head out for a burger for dinner, as an example. It could come down to trying to time your eating with other aspects of like, such as exercise or other factors that might affect your eating that day. Personally, I try to also plan in when I'll be eating what, so that I can hit my protein goal mainly.
I know today would be less than ideal calorie wise as I had lunch planned at a schnitzel place, which ended up costing me 2000 calories. This is fine, I've planned for it by expecting the hit. The day continued with some meetings and other work related stuff until I got home and accidentally extended my power nap into the evening, which meant I would be up longer than I would've wanted. This, in turn, means I'll be eating more as I'll be up for longer and will get hungry.
After waking up I hit the gym and 3 hours later I got home and, as I'm writing this, I'm eating my final mean consisting of lasagna and apple cake, which puts me well into 4000 calories. This was unplanned, but shit happens. At a goal of 2000 calories per day (1000-ish deficit), I widely went over my goal.
Why am I fine with this? Glad you asked.
I've noticed that, over the years, if you keep beating yourself up over single days, or even weeks, you will not see the bigger picture. Your journey isn't going to come to an end because of a single mistake (or several), it's all about the consistent effort you put in.
Something that I know other people struggle with as well is having the mindset of "this days already went to shit, might as well eat as much as I possible could". This is not something I recommend doing. Even if your day went to shit, embrace it, but don't eat just because the day isn't ideal. KEEP ON TRACKING. Of course it's going to hurt to add that 2000 extra calories or whatever into MFP or similar, but it's important to journal all days, even the bad ones. That way its easier to track how well you are doing over weeks, months or even years. Seeing that one 4000 calorie day doesn't seem so bad if the 2 weeks before and after that unfortunate day your calorie intake has been at a steady 2000 (in my case).
I don't know if this is coherent at all, as this is just me rambling about stuff, but I thought I'd share my thoughts and maybe this could help someone struggling with these kinds of issues.
Obligatory excuse bad grammar, not native english speaker, etc. This mindset worked for me, YMMV!
TL;DR: Don't beat yourself up over small slipups, or even massive ones. Get back on track and try to plan your eating so you keep the bad days to a minimum
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source https://www.reddit.com/r/loseit/comments/11o3e86/what_a_not_so_perfect_day_of_calorie_tracking/
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