Eating in the middle of the night

Personally, I'd log it for the next day as it wasn't planned eating and can then be accounted for during the next day. However if I had spare calories from the day before I might log it for that day if I was truly hungry and felt the need to eat.

Well, 1:30 is actually today, I’d log it in snacks for today.

I actually eat in the middle of the night regularly, 3-4 times a week. If I wake up hungry I have a really hard time falling back asleep and a little snack helps be get back to sleep faster. I always log it as my next day, if I already know I ate 200 calories I can adjust the rest of my meals to account for it that way. As long as you are counting it and still in your calorie goal there is no reason to allow this to mess with your head. You can eat anytime you want to throughout your day. I have found the fewer rules I give myself, the easier it is to stay in a deficit. I eat when I want, and what I want within my calorie range. Putting to many rules around it, for me, increases the mind set of, well I already failed, I might as well go crazy.

runlaugheatpie wrote: »

I logged it today - I didn’t have the calories yesterday anyway. But it’s kind of mentally messed up my day today.

I sometimes keep weird hours. And if I get overtired while doing so, I can end up eating anywhere between 1-3 a.m. that I did not plan for. I have tried logging unplanned night grazing both ways now as far as which day to include it on.

The quoted text is why I log late night/wee hours eating for the day it is still part of by circadian rhythm (i.e., it is still "that night") since the sun hasn't come back up yet. Yeah, it will mean I went over my calorie goal for what is *was* a perfect day just hours earlier, now technically yesterday, and so I royally "messed up" that day.

So what. It's now in the past and there's nothing I can do about that but move on and start fresh. Far better for me psychologically for it to now be a fixed point in time that cannot be changed than to start a new day in an unplanned and unwanted deficit. That's what will really mess me up; my having to feel deprived because I have to ditch my original plans for the entire day and scramble and whittle and cut to figure out how to make the night eating calories fit. As a result, it will affect me negatively for *all day yet to come*.

And if you are an "all or none" type of person when it comes to missing a calorie goal for a day - will do the ol' "Eff it, since I already messed up the day, mind as well..." that results in eating now hundreds or thousands of additional calories off and above plan - you can fly off the rails for what is now an entire new second day because of it. At least for me, that used to be a very common way a one day slip becomes two days (or more).

panda4153 wrote: »

I actually eat in the middle of the night regularly, 3-4 times a week. If I wake up hungry I have a really hard time falling back asleep and a little snack helps be get back to sleep faster. I always log it as my next day, if I already know I ate 200 calories I can adjust the rest of my meals to account for it that way. As long as you are counting it and still in your calorie goal there is no reason to allow this to mess with your head. You can eat anytime you want to throughout your day. I have found the fewer rules I give myself, the easier it is to stay in a deficit. I eat when I want, and what I want within my calorie range. Putting to many rules around it, for me, increases the mind set of, well I already failed, I might as well go crazy.

Yes, I am a regular middle of the night eater as well. However, this is so regular for me that I log it the day before.

Whichever works. If I have extra calories the day before if not the next day. I’m a nightshifter and work 630p to 730a. So it gets pretty ticky then but I just make it work

runlaugheatpie wrote: »

LyndaBSS wrote: »

Maybe it's what you're eating that's not satisfying you, not how much you're eating. 😞

well, no, I don't think so. I think it's a few things. 1) I'm not quite sure what the right amount of calories should be to actually lose weight, 2) I'm not 100% sure what my TDEE is, 3) I'm pretty active, 4) I'm in menopause and I don't sleep well in general which I think sometimes gives me a hungry or even hangover feeling. That said I'm open to suggestions and insights - my diary is open, though some things are in English and some are in Dutch. I try to eat good fats, lean proteins, good carbs (and less on less active days), lots of veg and fruit for snacks. I hardly drink alcohol. No sodas or added sugar drinks. I've been at this for years, only I was training and running a lot a few years ago and it's slowed down because I've had some physical issues (I had a foot operation in March).

If you are using MFP you do not need to know what your TDEE is - put your stats in to MFP, choose a realistic activity level and a realistic rate of weight loss and eat as many calories as it gives you.
Also eat back at least some of your exercise calories.

If, after a month, you have not lost weight as expected. adjust calorie goal up or down

Not sure what you are differing about.

After almost a month you adjusted your calorie level according to results - isn't that what I said too?

And I said IF you use MFP to calculate your calorie level, you don't need to work out your TDEE - are you differing about that statement ?