Why food diaries are a bad idea.

On a whim, I decided to join an online food and exercise diary last night. I'm not sure if it'll work, but I'm thinking if I have to post on the internet the fact that I had two pints of Haagen Daaz chocolate ice cream (in one sitting and, yes, I've done it), I may at least pause the next time I have an urge to do so.

The web site is www.myfooddiary.com, and it is chock full of statistics, reports, and polite reprimands. The overall goal is to raise awareness of what you're putting in your body and, hopefully, eventually stop putting so much bad stuff in it. Today, I got a happy face because I exercised, but because I exercised I got a sad face because my total caloric intake was too low.

Yes, I agree, I'm already getting some mixed signals.

I'm willing to deal with some inconsistencies here and there. However, I've found a fatal flaw: in the report section, it gives you three quick bullet-point pieces of information based on what you've reported thus far in the day:

1. How many calories you have left in the day to consume yet maintain your weight.
2. How many calories you have left in the day to consume yet lose .5 lbs per week.
3. How many calories you have left in the day to consume yet lose 1.2 lbs per week.

I take their statistics with a cynical grain of salt because they also informed me that if I continued today's pace for a month I'd lose 20 pounds. I know that's a bunch of crap. But when I saw that I had 700 calories I could still eat and (according to this site) STILL lose 1.2 lbs. in seven days, a little voice in my head whispered, "Go on, finish the pint. You've got permission."

I'll keep you posted on that 20 pounds I'm losing by eating chocolate ice cream at 10 PM every evening on the couch.  Thanks to my new online conscience.