I cheat by adding food to the next day :/

slenderizeme
slenderizeme Posts: 154 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I am embarrassed to admit this but I feel like I cheat on my food diary. I will add food to the next day when I eat it late at night. It doesn't even have to be after midnight. Sometimes I will add it to the next day even if I eat it at 8pm. I work third shift so I have a weird eating and sleeping schedule too. It eventually catches up with me and I go over on my calories. Does anyone have this problem? Or have ideas on what to do?

Replies

  • jeme3
    jeme3 Posts: 355 Member
    Don't worry about your schedule, just record everything you eat from midnight to midnight seems like it would be the simplest.
  • Zalli
    Zalli Posts: 132 Member
    How you lose weight and manage diary is a really personal thing I think.
    If you think of it as cheating and it bothers you, then I guess just realize that the whole process is just for YOU, your own well-being,so fudging a meal or two is a little like cheating at solitaire.

    But MFP is just a really useful tool and I've seen lots of people modify the way they log things to suit themselves.

    I get hungry late at night sometimes too and just log it as a snack regardless. No guilt needed,right? :)
  • janlee_001
    janlee_001 Posts: 309 Member
    I am embarrassed to admit this but I feel like I cheat on my food diary. I will add food to the next day when I eat it late at night. It doesn't even have to be after midnight. Sometimes I will add it to the next day even if I eat it at 8pm. I work third shift so I have a weird eating and sleeping schedule too. It eventually catches up with me and I go over on my calories. Does anyone have this problem? Or have ideas on what to do?

    Your schedule will be different than someone on first or second shift - base it on a 24 hour schedule.
  • auntiebabs
    auntiebabs Posts: 1,754 Member
    As long as you track everything, it doesn't matter what day you track it under. It all comes out in the wash.

    I've taken to doing 10-day totals so that I check that my overs and unders balance out.
  • manohirarevolutions
    manohirarevolutions Posts: 71 Member
    Hahaha, I also do this sometimes.

    weekly calories deficit is more important. better you cheat this way than if you dont log it at all.
  • Pimpmonkey
    Pimpmonkey Posts: 566
    I record everything from the time I get up to the time I go to bed as one day. Then start over the next "awake" Period as a new day.
  • Aldino557
    Aldino557 Posts: 15
    I admit I have been tempted to do he same.
    Late at night, one often gets hungry.
    The way I avoid that feeling is by having something filling and warm and low in calories like tea.
    The best thing is a non-caffeine tea, like rose hip or hibiscus tea. I also chew some high-fiber tabs.
    These tend to kill the acid in your stomach and put a stop to that hungry feeling.
  • SoDamnHungry
    SoDamnHungry Posts: 6,998 Member
    As long as your calorie intake averages out to be what your limit is set to, it shouldn't matter all that much.
  • deenaspell
    deenaspell Posts: 227 Member
    I just started doing this! LOL
  • trixiemou
    trixiemou Posts: 554 Member
    I have been tempted, but the I think when I look back I want to see how I have actually done, 'Warts and All' as they say.
    oops which reminds me I didn't add that vodka and tonic I had last night. haha.
  • AmyFett
    AmyFett Posts: 1,607 Member
    If it's after midnight, it goes on that day. It's not really cheating.. I've done that before too. Last night at like 1 am or so I had leftover mashed potatoes because I was starving and couldn't sleep.
  • slenderizeme
    slenderizeme Posts: 154 Member
    fudging a meal or two is a little like cheating at solitaire

    Lol that is a good one :) I will have to be stricter and record without skipping to the next day. Thanks everyone.
  • amnsetie
    amnsetie Posts: 666 Member
    If you set your intake to 250 cals deficit per day, you can go over by up to 250 and not really be over
    same for setting to 500 cals deficit gives you 500 leeway
    As most people here seem to have set themselves 1000 Cals deficit you have room to move.

    Try reducing your goal per week to half a pound

    and

    why not just log on the day and allow yourself the grace amount when you need it.
    If you are going over your TDEE change your eating habits so you are not quite that hungry at night.
    more protein could do it, like boiled eggs etc
  • pattyg1821
    pattyg1821 Posts: 81
    I agree with everyone else it doesn't matter what day you record it on. I work the 2nd shift and its 125 am here now and if I decide I wanted to eat something now then I would record it for sunday 9/23 since its already after midnight.

    as long as you know that those calories from that food you add too the next day needs to calculated in for the next days.

    alot of people do this. they may eat alot one day and less the next to makeup for the eating more from the next day.

    just log it and if you notice that you gain weight by eating tooo many cals on "the next day" then keep in on the current day
  • Rosa1213
    Rosa1213 Posts: 456 Member
    I do that sometimes if I'm going to bed immediately afterwards, and if it isn't too bad, like yogurt or a rice cake.
    It's ~100 calories less the next day, and then I also don't feel bad for going over.
  • weemawhit
    weemawhit Posts: 26 Member
    Just be careful about setting yourself up to fail the next day. If you already have 200 calories or whatever and you haven't actually eaten anything, it's only that much easier to go over, continuing the cycle. I personally count each "calorie day" by when I wake up and go to sleep, works best for me.
  • VanessaHeartsMasr
    VanessaHeartsMasr Posts: 727
    I work really weird hours too, so I log in 24-hour periods. Plus, don't feel guilty if at the end of the week it kind of evens out.
  • tiffanympm
    tiffanympm Posts: 62
    I hardly ever write down my dinner calories. I tend to keep track up until dinner and then do mental math for what I'm eating at dinner and even snack. I tend to ever estimate my calories or "round up" on everything so I never normally go over my calorie goal. I imagine it can happen but I'm fair to myself.
  • atxdee
    atxdee Posts: 613 Member
    haha i do that too!
  • jeleclekat
    jeleclekat Posts: 124 Member
    If you look at my diary, I have "brunch" at 12:30pm, then dinner at 5:30 and "late night about 11pm. I don't work so I am usually up til 3am cross stitching, then get up in the mornings about 10:30. Eating is different for me too. lol, but it works. ( I have kitties that I work my stitching around. They "go to bed" when hubby doe about 10-10:30pm. We shut the door to the hallway then, hubby goes to bed, I come in computer room and stitch) Don't fret about the hours on the clock.....
  • MDWilliams1857
    MDWilliams1857 Posts: 315 Member
    I work third shift and the way I do it is from the time I wake up till I go to bed is a day. So If I wake up at 6pm Saturday, everything I eat from 6pm Saturday til I go to bed Sunday will go on Saturdays log. So For instance, Its about 245am Sunday morning here and I just ate dinner, I logged it as dinner for Saturday because to me, this is Saturday. I just find it easier to do it that way.
  • TheRealParisLove
    TheRealParisLove Posts: 1,907 Member
    My husband does that. He says it reminds him to hit the gym hard the next day. I like to see my eating from one sleep to the next. I am also funny about "breakfast" being the first meal I eat after waking, even if it isn't until noon or 1pm.
  • mq68
    mq68 Posts: 118 Member
    I work 2nd shift and start mfp day when my day starts... usually at 3:30 in the afternoon. I post my day on the day that it started. I am up usually from 3:30 pm until the following morning at 8am. That is my day! If you feel bad about cheating, quit it, or change your caloric intake. I am allergic to many foods so I usually do not eat as many carbs that are specified, I eat more protein than recommended. I had to personally go and manually change my goals. But that is my eating structure. I have lost 14lbs in less than 40days.

    You know yourself best. If you are doing it to keep your numbers down, it will not help you mentally nor physically. Please for your sake reevaluate and do things that you can accomplish instead of creating failure. You can do it!!! Good Luck!!!
  • kvalmera
    kvalmera Posts: 129 Member
    I work late evenings/nights and I have a 9pm-3am slot but I generally try not to eat after midnight. If I have calories left over then I will eat some cheese, nuts or peanut butter when I get home just to take the hunger away. I generally do not log those because mentally I know I am within my calories. But today I ate all my calories and it's almost 3am here and I am still stuffed so I will not want anything when I get off at 4am..... well except my bed and pillow :)

    Just find what works for you.
  • rudegyal_b
    rudegyal_b Posts: 593 Member
    decide whether to log wakeup to bedtime or 12am-12pm and stick to it...i have a weird schedule too and 12-12 works best for me...as long as you stay consistent it will all even out
  • annette79h
    annette79h Posts: 20 Member
    lol thats funny, I do the same thing, kinda. I work NOC shift only 3 nights a week and my lunch break is at midnight so I just count that for the next day cuz during the next day I will be sleeping and not eating, so it does average out. Ultimately, if you add calories to the next day just because you dont want it to look bad, you're only cheating yourself and whats written on paper doesnt matter compared to how your body looks and feels :wink: I love that saying "What you eat in private you wear in public"
  • runfreddyrun
    runfreddyrun Posts: 137 Member
    i work late alot so sometimes i do this as well, but i have to be careful because then the next day i come up short! it's no big deal - but try not to let it become a habit. it's good that you're writing everything down.

    i guess ask yourself - are you really hungry or do you just want something. sometimes i still have one more shake left for the night but i'm hungry for something bad. if i go ahead and just have the shake i either don't want anything else or i forget about the craving. not sure what that's all about but that's been my experience.

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