OK so here I am... been doing so good on everything, lost 16 pounds so far... Well I just started tracking my calories again today after about 2 1/2 months of not and I just found out that I'm already over on calories for the day and I haven't had dinner yet. The first thought I had was oh well you're over anyway go ahead and eat whatever you want. Now I know better than think like that and haven't for a while so why now. I haven't been tracking and I wasn't really worried about how many calories, but now that i'm seeing consistant results I wanted to be more aware of how many calories I'm eating, so I start tracking and what happens, the negative inner voice comes back. Please someone explain this to me. Now I'm not even sure that I should track, but I'm scared that if I don't start doing it I'm not going to continue seeing results or worse I'll gain the 16 lbs back. HELP!!

Think about it logically. That's what always helps me. Sure, you're over on calories for today, so it's easy to see today as a "failure"... BUT, it isn't. Today runs into tomorrow, and if you binge today just because you're disappointed with yourself for going over your allowable calories for the day, you'll STILL have to work it off later.

I wish we could work it one day at a time like that.... but if you give up and allow yourself that negative self-talk, you WILL eventually have those extra binge calories to lose, too.

Don't beat yourself up over it. It's just one day, and like you said, you've been off the counting wagon for a little bit, so it's only natural that your first day back wouldn't be absolutely perfect. Give yourself a little slack. Overeating your calories by 300-400 a day isn't so bad compared to the habits you had before you started altogether, right?

You're doing great. 16 pounds is a lot! Applaud yourself!

Since you're just starting to track, just consider today as a sort of 'practice shot.' Tomorrow, you'll be better prepared to space your calories throughout the day. I log my calories and there are definitely days when I go over, but keeping track helps me to reduce the occurence of those days. I'm not a very organized person by nature, but I'm meticulous about keeping track of my diet. I have an Excel document where I chart what I've eaten, how many calories were in what I ate/drank, and the calories I've burned at the gym for each day. I also have a Word document where I keep track of my daily weight and body mass index. I can compare all the information and really start to understand how my actions affect my body. In the beginning, it seemed a bit excessive to keep track to this extent, but it's helped me a lot. I wish you luck and hope you continue to track your calories. And really, don't worry about today; you can make up for it by being really focused tomorrow.