timing of the logging ?

Trish1c

When I overeat, which usually happens at dinner, I can't bring myself to log until the next day. Why does it feel less psychologically painful to see the big numbers in the morning? I do get a charge out of going to bed knowing I met my goals on the days when that happens.

rosebarnalice

I do this every now and then, too.
In my case, it's about the immediacy of the THOUGHTS that are associated with the BEHAVIOR at that moment ("I deserve this", "I just want to enjoy myself for the moment", or "dammit, I just want to think about all that logging sh#t right now!" . The best morning, the behavior of the previous day is now separated from my current thoughts. I can still recall the memory of the previous evening's thoughts, but now in the past rather than present tense, and so can be much less emotional and much more rational about them.

quiksylver296

I do this sometimes, too. I count the fact that I logged it at all a win!

AnnPT77

Speculative answer: Fatigue. It's ever so slightly harder to make an effort - even an emotional one - when it's almost bedtime. Rarely hard to do something that's low physical effort, gives a boost emotionally. YMMV.

MsCzar

Are you planning your dinners or do they just sort of happen? Do you have a calorie goal and portion size in mind before you cook?

I pre-log my dinner right before heading for the kitchen. That way, I know exactly what and how much I'm going to make. After dinner, I may have to alter a measurement or two - but that's about all.

Tonight, I had a fish and veg stir-fry over white rice - using up the last bit if rice in the bag. I pre-logged everything - but forgot to add the cooking oil, which added 150 calories. Also, I had a little more rice than I'd pre-logged and had to change that measure. All in all, I ended up overshooting my pre-log estimate by ~200c. But since I aim for 1000 calories daily and allow for a 200 calorie overage, I almost always land near my true goal of 1200. I know it's only a mental game, but aiming for 1000 calories tends to keep me at ~1200. So if you consistently over-eat at dinner, maybe reduce your calorie goal with a wink and a nod to reality to absorb the overage?

kshama2001

Trish1c wrote: »

When I overeat, which usually happens at dinner, I can't bring myself to log until the next day. Why does it feel less psychologically painful to see the big numbers in the morning? I do get a charge out of going to bed knowing I met my goals on the days when that happens.

I hear ya! For me it was a sort of "Today is another day" thought, but I would keep doing it day after day.

These days I prelog dinner and the rest of the night BEFORE dinner and it is every so helpful

Trish1c

MsCzar wrote: »

Are you planning your dinners or do they just sort of happen? Do you have a calorie goal and portion size in mind before you cook?

It's mixed. When I don't have a good plan, that's when the overeating happens. If I'm starving when I walk in the door I will end up eating cheese & crackers. I love cheese so . . . calories. I console myself that like my mother I will never get osteoporosis due to all the calcium.

My calories are supposed to be 1200. If I'm close (under 1300) I don't get all the excited about the overage. It's when the number goes above 1500 that I get upset with myself. It is easier obviously if I can get in a good walk but lately it's been too cold.

I'm not gaining so I shouldn't complain too loudly but I'm not going to starve myself. If I am hungry I will eat. Food isn't my biggest vice. Empty calories from alcohol is my downfall but I have been successfully doing Dry January. I'm just disappointed that the pounds aren't coming off faster. Darn slowing metabolism from aging.

qhob_89

Trish1c wrote: »

MsCzar wrote: »

Are you planning your dinners or do they just sort of happen? Do you have a calorie goal and portion size in mind before you cook?

It's mixed. When I don't have a good plan, that's when the overeating happens. If I'm starving when I walk in the door I will end up eating cheese & crackers. I love cheese so . . . calories. I console myself that like my mother I will never get osteoporosis due to all the calcium.

My calories are supposed to be 1200. If I'm close (under 1300) I don't get all the excited about the overage. It's when the number goes above 1500 that I get upset with myself. It is easier obviously if I can get in a good walk but lately it's been too cold.

I'm not gaining so I shouldn't complain too loudly but I'm not going to starve myself. If I am hungry I will eat. Food isn't my biggest vice. Empty calories from alcohol is my downfall but I have been successfully doing Dry January. I'm just disappointed that the pounds aren't coming off faster. Darn slowing metabolism from aging.

Something that has been super helpful for me this go round (habitual starter, end up quitting few weeks in) has been eating in a range of calories, opposed to a hard number (especially 1200). It’s helped me address the emotional aspect of weight loss and defeated feeling which is when I quickly throw in the towel. After reading a ton on the forums I realized I was going about it all wrong by drastically adjusting to the drop down to 1200 calories, and after a couple negative days, I’d beat myself up and quit. Now learning about scale fluctuations and maintenance, I figured out the maintenance calories for my goal weight and just focus more on staying under that. I allow myself 1200-1800. Some days 1200 feels like more than enough, other days I want every bit of that 1800. I’ve never made myself feel deprived or been negative about what I’m eating. I’ve continued to see progress, along with small scale fluctuations, and don’t feel like quitting like I normally do at this point. I know as I get closer to goal weight, I’ll likely have to tighten the reins a bit, but hoping by then everything is more of a habit and that adjustment will be minor. This may not work for many people and may not be recommended by a lot of people, but it’s currently working for me, so just thought I’d throw it out there.

AnnPT77

Trish1c wrote: »

MsCzar wrote: »

Are you planning your dinners or do they just sort of happen? Do you have a calorie goal and portion size in mind before you cook?

It's mixed. When I don't have a good plan, that's when the overeating happens. If I'm starving when I walk in the door I will end up eating cheese & crackers. I love cheese so . . . calories. I console myself that like my mother I will never get osteoporosis due to all the calcium.

My calories are supposed to be 1200. If I'm close (under 1300) I don't get all the excited about the overage. It's when the number goes above 1500 that I get upset with myself. It is easier obviously if I can get in a good walk but lately it's been too cold.

I'm not gaining so I shouldn't complain too loudly but I'm not going to starve myself. If I am hungry I will eat. Food isn't my biggest vice. Empty calories from alcohol is my downfall but I have been successfully doing Dry January. I'm just disappointed that the pounds aren't coming off faster. Darn slowing metabolism from aging.

So maybe have some pre-planned pre-prepped, portioned, more helpful snacks always available? If it were me, I'd make it some food that I thought was nice, was always happy to eat, but that wasn't super-crave-y "gosh I want more" food. For me, maybe not for you, single-serve packages of things are easier (for no good reason!) to limit to reasonable amounts, vs. getting a portion out of a bigger block/bag/whatever. So, if cheese were the target, I'd be thinking individual string cheese, or something like that. (There are actually some decent-ish, varied cheeses available in single-serve packs these days in big grocery stores, beyond string cheese, at least where I am in the US - cheddar, parmesan, fresh mozzarella pearls, more.)

While I was losing, I also kept shelf-stable snacks in my car, in single-serve packs, so I could have a snack while out and about if I started getting hungry, rather than arrive home ravenous with an inclination to eat everything in sight including the floorboards. (Example snacks I used: Dry-roasted seasoned soybeans, packaged crispy broad beans, 100-calorie nut packets. The latter are very low volume, but the bit of protein/fat would take the edge off, for me.)

Bad news: High calcium intake isn't a guarantee against osteoporosis. I've eaten boatloads of it from childhood, been ovo-lacto veg with a strong dairy bent for 46+ years, got osteoporosis anyway (and it wasn't a big genetic deal, in my line). Excessive alcohol intake is an osteoporosis risk factor, IMU, so you're doing a good thing cutting back, for your skeleton as well as your calorie/nutrition balance.

Personally, if I'm snack-y when it's time to start making dinner, I'll cut up some raw veggies (including things that don't require cutting like cherry tomatoes) and snack on those while prepping dinner. That may not work for you, but it helps me.

As a final comment, IMU it isn't really mostly "metabolism" that slows down as we age, in some unavoidable, unchangeable way. And the effect - in population statistical terms - is surprisingly small, IMO. Mostly, it's that we age, we lose muscle mass (by not challenging the muscles along the way). That by itself has a quite-tiny effect on "metabolism": It's just a few calories per day per pound of muscle vs. fat. More importantly, as we slowly lose muscle mass, it gets more difficult to do muscle-challenging things in daily life, so we tend to avoid doing them, and get in the habit of being less active.

Add to that that our older life stages often involve less daily life movement compared to ourselves at 20 (which has negative fitness/mobility consequences over the long haul, in addition to the lower calorie burn). My college job was in a cafeteria, on my feet lifting/carrying, etc. My adult job was at a desk. Makes a difference. On top of that, transportation options, hobbies, family life (chasing toddlers or no, remodeling or enjoying our "nest"), and that sort of thing tends, on average to reduce calorie expenditure in daily life as we age. (Not universal, just a common tendency.) Here, too, the less we move, the less easy it is, so the less we do it: Down spiral. If weight gain is part of that, movement is even less easy, so the spiral is faster/further.

If I go to a TDEE calculator (like https://www.sailrabbit.com/bmr/), and tell it that I'm 65 (I am), it thinks (at sedentary) that my maintenance calories are 1400-1500. If I then tell it I'm 25 (heh), everything else being equal, it says my maintenance calories are 1700-1800. That difference is around one regular-sized Snickers bar, or a slice of bread with a serving of peanut butter on it. It's not that big, really. Further, if I tell the calculator that old and young me have the same body fat percent at 25% (so the same muscle mass), the calorie estimates it gives for the two ages are . . . exactly the same.

That means the good news is that much of the "reduced metabolism with aging" is not only pretty small, but it's also related to things we can influence or control: How much movement is in our daily life, and how much muscle mass we have. The latter doesn't change quickly, but research studies have shown improvement among folks at least into their 80s, with appropriate exercise. As a bonus, the right type(s) of exercise do help prevent osteoporosis, though there are still no guarantees, of course.

Hmm. I'm sorry . . . that was a long essay, and it went way beyond your actual question. Apologies!

Good luck on finding solutions to the things that are sticking points for you in weight loss: It's an experimentation and learning process for nearly everyone, I think. I like your plan to let yourself eat a range of calories, not white-knuckle it daily on what feel like way-to-low calories. That can backfire, with time, for sure.

Wishing you huge success! 🙂

Trish1c

No need to apologize @AnnPT77 It was helpful. Assuming your avatar is you, you are somebody I want to listen to. So thank you!

AnnPT77

Trish1c wrote: »

No need to apologize @AnnPT77 It was helpful. Assuming your avatar is you, you are somebody I want to listen to. So thank you!

I'm relieved to hear it wasn't upsetting. The "aging metabolism" issue is one that I think can potentially discourage some people, hold some people back. I tend to over-react a little when I see it, I'm afraid. 😐

Yes, the photo is me, but a bit younger. It was right after weight loss, when I was 60. I'm 65 now. (I don't think I look much different, for sure I'm around the same weight and activity level . . . but all of us have our little pleasant delusions, so who knows? 😉😆).

Best wishes!