Confused, do I count yesterday's calories at 3AM?

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whisperwhitley
whisperwhitley Posts: 61
in Health and Weight Loss
Hello, I'm a new member but not new to weight loss/calorie maintenance. I would love some insight into a problem I'm having though. Yesterday I ate 1300 calories, went to work ( I work retail for 7 hours) and didn't have time for dinner. I am always moving for those 7 hours. Walking, stocking, bagging, lifting. I don't even get a chance to sit. By the time I got home I was so tired I fell asleep. BUT woke up two hours later at 3 am STARVING. I tried to ignore my hunger..but finally got up and ate a piece of wheat toast and a banana. My question is..do I add those calories to yesterday's since I only slept 2 hours? or did I burn enough calories yesterday that the banana and toast didn't effect me badly?

Also I decided not to worry so much and ate a lot of protein and veggies today so I don't wake up again starving. I ate my chicken and veggies at 5 pm and feel wonderfully full still. I guess I ate less today than usual, but only because I'm scared I should of added today's calories on to yesterday's calories. Do I make sense? please ease my worries! I'm going crazy :(
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Replies

  • cafeaulait7
    cafeaulait7 Posts: 2,459 Member
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    I do this a lot because of my schedule. You can choose an hour to call the start of the day, which is probably what most people do. But for me it seems most helpful to split the calories between both days. That might sound crazy to some folks, but it does help me decide how to hit my calorie goal from day to day.
  • Lizzy622
    Lizzy622 Posts: 3,705 Member
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    I don't worry about one day as long as my week looks good. Last Tuesday I under ate by 500 (late aqua aerobics class) and Wednesday I went over by about 300 because I was famished from the day before. I still had a 3500 calorie deficit for the week.
  • Stage14
    Stage14 Posts: 1,046 Member
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    I would definitely log it, but whether it's under yesterday or today is up to you. Logging only works if you're relatively accurate.
  • whisperwhitley
    whisperwhitley Posts: 61
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    Should I add today's calories onto yesterday's then? if yes then I have had 2264 calories..not good!
  • Ready2Rock206
    Ready2Rock206 Posts: 9,488 Member
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    Either way. Yesterday or today - just log it. You're body doesn't keep a perfect 24 hour clock - so no need to stress.
  • DanIsACyclingFool
    DanIsACyclingFool Posts: 417 Member
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    Your body doesn't care which day you log it in, so why should you? Seriously, this is a total complete and utter non-issue. It's your long term average that matters. Unless you're doing a diet that relies on strategic nutrient timing you can eat and log whenever it suits you.

    no worries.
  • whierd
    whierd Posts: 14,025 Member
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    Doesn't matter if you log it for today or yesterday. Try to start thinking in terms of weekly averages. :)
  • YesIAm17
    YesIAm17 Posts: 817 Member
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    Personally I consider midnight the cut off... if I eat anything before midnight it goes on that day, if it is after midnight it goes on the next day.

    Either way though whierd is right, doesn't really matter, think in terms of weekly averages.
  • DanIsACyclingFool
    DanIsACyclingFool Posts: 417 Member
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    OP, you lost 130lbs?

    awesome!


    I usually consider bedtime the cutoff, but it's purely arbitrary...I have to log it somewhere. But you either eat the cals or you don't, your body cares not about what day it is logged under.
  • sugafreak
    sugafreak Posts: 53 Member
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    If I was to eat at 3am then I'd call it the start of my new day but I am more focused on the weeks calories Friday to Thursday, weighing every Friday. Doing 5:2 keeps it simple though so I really don't sweat it. This past week my calories were 2377, 2099, 1674, 1673, 538, 1653 and 717. Didn't stick religiously to the 500 days, ate 10,731 calories over the week (average of 1,533 calories per day), burnt 1027 exercising (so average of 1386 calories after taking exercise into account). Normally I eat between 1600 - 1700 calories a day with 500-600 on fast days but I lost 2lb this week so it's all good.

    Just do what works for you and don't sweat it. :flowerforyou:
  • whisperwhitley
    whisperwhitley Posts: 61
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    Thank you dbroerse, yes I lost 130 pounds :) in a little over 2 years, and have been at 125-130 pounds for over 3 years. I'm a bit obsessive about my health now!

    I never thought of adding my week's calories, I just always added day by day. Normally I eat 1300-1500 calories a day, I haven't been trying to lose weight in awhile I'm just trying to maintain my weight. And to maintain fitnesspal says I need 1700 calories. So I have been counting right. Just last night really messed me up! I never ever eat in the middle of the night but it couldn't be helped, I was feeling sick. I am trying not to beat myself up though. If I have to count the last two days together and have had over 2000 calories..then I must live with it and move on. I'm not happy about it but I cant do anything about it now.
  • DanIsACyclingFool
    DanIsACyclingFool Posts: 417 Member
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    Whisper my dear, I promise you:

    IT DOES NOT MATTER.

    Throw away any and all stress about this. What day the calories belong under doesn't matter. Really. There's nothing to be confused about, nothing you have to live with and move on from, there's nothing to feel bad about, there's nothing to regret.

    Whether you a] came home and ate then slept or b] came home and slept then ate it makes NO DIFFERENCE.

    If a] you might have equal calories both days
    If b] you might be "under" yesterday and then "over" today. But the "over" is cancelled out by the "under". The net effect is the same as a].

    The reality is that whenever we eat we are in a surplus (for the moment) and storing calories as fat/glycogen/maybe even muscle and whenever we burn we are in a deficit and using stored calories as fuel. Your body is switching back and forth ALL THE TIME. It's the long term average that matters. Are you storing MORE than you're burning ON AVERAGE? (Fat gain) or less? (Fat loss)

    Like I said it's a non issue, not worth a single further minute of your attention.

    really.


    so congrats on maintaining your inspiring loss and carry on the great job you're doing.

    :flowerforyou:
  • Stage14
    Stage14 Posts: 1,046 Member
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    Thank you dbroerse, yes I lost 130 pounds :) in a little over 2 years, and have been at 125-130 pounds for over 3 years. I'm a bit obsessive about my health now!

    I never thought of adding my week's calories, I just always added day by day. Normally I eat 1300-1500 calories a day, I haven't been trying to lose weight in awhile I'm just trying to maintain my weight. And to maintain fitnesspal says I need 1700 calories. So I have been counting right. Just last night really messed me up! I never ever eat in the middle of the night but it couldn't be helped, I was feeling sick. I am trying not to beat myself up though. If I have to count the last two days together and have had over 2000 calories..then I must live with it and move on. I'm not happy about it but I cant do anything about it now.

    Why are you talking about counting the last two days "together"? Put what you are today on today's log, then pick either today or yesterday and put the 3am snack on that. Heck, split it up and put the banana on yesterday and the toast on today if it makes you feel better. Your body doesn't care, it doesn't have some sort of magic reset switch. Your progress will not be affected differently if you log it under 10/17 or 10/18, I promise.
  • Oh_Allie
    Oh_Allie Posts: 258 Member
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    Anything before midnight goes on today, anything after midnight goes on the next day.

    Look at it this way, a piece of wheat bread is what, 70-100 calories, depending on the bread? A medium-sized banana is about 100 calories. If you used 1 tablespoon of butter/margarine on the toast, it's about 100 calories. 300 calories over every now and again will not make or break your weight loss goals.

    If it's really that big of a deal, log it on the appropriate day (today, since it's after midnight) and work out until you burn it off.
  • IndigoFlowers
    IndigoFlowers Posts: 221 Member
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    From the moment I wake up to the time I go to sleep, I log it all under the same day, even if it is 4 am when I go to sleep.
  • FluroFaye
    FluroFaye Posts: 130
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    Doesn't sound like you're eating enough/the right stuff if you're waking up at 3am after a hard day's work unable to ignore any hunger you may have until breakfast-time. I have a large breakfast, medium lunch and light dinner. I stop eating at 7pm LATEST and don't usually get up to have breakfast until 9am at the earliest, due to my ailments.
  • jmkmomm
    jmkmomm Posts: 3,247 Member
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    I added an entry to my food diary called anytime foods. So if I eat something at 3 AM or 8 PM that's not on my meal it goes in that category
  • darkrose20
    darkrose20 Posts: 1,139 Member
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    OK, here's what I do. I work overnight, so I found myself asking if my meal I ate (for example) when I got home at 8am "Dinner" or is it "Breakfast" or is it a "Snack" (since it was only a piece of fruit, right?) or maybe it's "Lunch" (since i'm staying up a few more hours anyway)? So, yeah, pretty confusing, huh? I got wise, though to avoid the confusion.

    I have changed the settings of my diary to read 12am to 6am, 6am to 12pm, 12pm to 6pm and 6pm to 12am. That way, whatever "meal" it happened to be, I know where to put it. My day starts at midnight, just like the calander. It's been working. I'm slowly taking off the weight.

    Here's to you and your journey!:drinker:
  • whisperwhitley
    whisperwhitley Posts: 61
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    Thank you everyone, for the words of inspiration. I was only confused about the two days calories being put together because I only slept two hours. I should have made that clear. I slept from 1 am to 3 am, then napped in the afternoon. I was worried because 2 hours doesn't seem like enough time to burn off the day before calories :/
  • DanIsACyclingFool
    DanIsACyclingFool Posts: 417 Member
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    Now I'm confused, lol.

    You don't just burn calories when you sleep, so the length of your nap makes no material difference. You burn calories every moment you're alive.

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