Yep. Definitely. I stopped logging for a week (deliberately) but was careful with what I ate. Found myself mentally logging anyway! Looking forward to starting again at a deficit. Not weighing for a few weeks though...my relationship with my scale is not a good one. If I see any "damage" I'll be disheartened. I'll weigh on Feb 1st and hopefully see a small loss.

Definitely looking forward to an uninterrupted period of being in my system. I plan to get my water weight back down and then start version 6 of my spreadsheet so I can nail down my TDEE. Until I do that I will not feel comfortable doing my recomp plan.

In the past I would feel bloated but at my lower weight and without much of the extra skin to mask it I can actually see it now. I am trying to keep that as an interesting observation and not allow it to place any additional stress on my mental state.

Since I have only been guessing at my calorie goal I am uncertain if I have gained anything over the holidays. If I did it wouldn't be much I think unless I am not as active as I think I am. I have learned in all of this that when my numbers are uncertain I have a harder time with believing how my logged calories compare to my TDEE which creates holes in my accountability.

The fog is being created by my activity which is higher so I know I can eat more but I do not know how high so I do not know exactly how much more I can eat. Since the inflammation of the surgery rolled right into holiday bloat I have not had clean numbers in months. There is also a bit of a internal battle about it. It is not easy for a person who started sub-sedentary to allow himself to believe that much has changed. Good ole fat brain!

My goal right now is to get a calculated TDEE by my second weight loss anniversary which is 6 weeks away. This means I will be tightening my logging and minimizing restaurant food. That won't be much of a challenge because I am kind of sick of holiday eating anyway.

I dont do well when I break routine so been on a break for 2 weeks now.
I'm away for weekend so I'm "restarting " on monday, I'm not going to weigh myself for as long as I can resist as I'll just get mad and disappointed. I'll be logging, exercising and having lots of early nights.
I have a holiday booked for July and a target dress for my goal, having something to aim for really helps me.

definitely feeling good about getting back into a regular pattern. I've got a few weeks until the spring semester starts, so work isn't so stressful at the moment. I'm going to take this opportunity to try some weekend meal prepping. I think it'll make life easier, and better to start the habit now.

it's been unusually warm here, which is not great. but... I'll be getting in rides whenever the roads are clear. 🚲

If my estimated TDEE is in the ballpark of correct I have eaten enough calories to gain 1.65 pounds. That is chief benefit of the spreadsheet for me. Things often feel worse than they are and the numbers pretty much always prove that if you only color outside the lines for short periods of time it will only end in a minor bump.

So far I am killing it... although today my right leg is killing me...

Since I am heavily motivated to get the bloat off which is almost done (at least I hope the last few pounds are still mostly bloat) I am limiting salty snacks right now too.

Normally I eat maintenance on Sunday but I skipped it last week because I had not banked any calories and I had no desire for additional treat food.

It is such a relief to be back firmly in the driver's seat for the last 5 days. I am not mad about the holidays though. I learned a few new lessons that did not come up during my first holiday season. I see no harm in putting a positive spin on something that led to some uncharacteristic behavior on my part. Besides weight loss cannot be my only objective I need to learn how to navigate food for the rest of my life in various situations.

Anyway I am feeling good right now... except for the leg.

I agree. I'll probably need to always log. I think my lesson from the break was that next time I plan to have a period of time at maintenance, I'd like to do it when I can (at least mostly) accurately log instead of when I know I'll be guestimating a lot. We went to several local restaurants & had many home cooked meals & treats (by my extended family), so I did a lot of guessing. I think the combination of guessing and maintenance calories probably resulted in a couple of pounds actually gained. I still enjoyed the break and am glad I took it.

@NovusDies I do not chuckle at your spreadsheet. I completely agree that keeping a spreadsheet helps me stay on track. It helps me convert emotions into logic is the best way to describe it.

@NovusDies or anyone else... would you share some of the columns you have in your spreadsheet. I'm not too happy with the one I created & have been using for the last 6 months, but can't for the life of me come up with what all info/calculations I want in it! I love numbers and I usually will edit/adjust templates to make them like I want them, but have a hard time starting from a blank page.