Tracking from midnight to midnight

[Kevin]

I’ve been using MFP and tracking from midnight to midnight for about three months now. I find myself waiting up at night to have a snack or meal after midnight as not to go over my macros for the day. I’m trying to track my intake and it has helped me but I’m afraid that I can possibly develop an eating disorder. Is there a middle course with food tracking? How can a track and not go overboard?

Thanks

[Richard Schmitt]

Why are you waking up at midnight to eat? Are you prepping for a bodybuilding show or something and have a lot of muscle mass? I’m not being disrespectful, I’m just trying to understand.

[Makoto Tomizawa]

Think of it “weekly” and not “daily.” Figure out your estimate macros for the week, and just try to hit that. If one day you go over, eat a little less the next day or somewhere down the week. Or something like that.

Midnight to midnight is kind of obsessive. The whole point of tracking macros is so that we learn to not have to rely on counting and measuring everything. For one, it’s not sustainable for the rest of your life because life happens. Two, as you mentioned, constantly being anal about tracking can cause some sort of disorder.

Just be aware of how much of what you’re eating, use the mirror, scale, and other measurements as a tool, and adjust (eat more/less) based on your goal and how you’re progressing towards that goal. What makes is really easy is to just eat mostly the same foods.

Training Log: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1vuwHRdBaPVILxxLhXly_N1Ys66Hcwk4j-bM7nvKSLrI/edit?usp=sharing

[Kevin]

I’m not getting up at midnight to eat Tex. I work the PM shift so I get home around 9 o’clock and I don’t get to bed until around midnight. I could go to bed earlier but using MyFitnessPal I was tracking it from midnight to midnight and for example if I went over my carbs for the day and I wanted to have some carbs I would wait until midnight to have some carbs. I know it sounds silly but I am NOT extremely knowledgeable about tracking my macros so I guess it’s just a newbie mistake.

MT, tracking by the week might work for tracking fats and proteins but what about carbs should I not try to stay under 30 grams of carbs a day or should I try to stay under 180 carbs for the six days that I am the in ultra low carb state?

I appreciate the replies

[Makoto Tomizawa]

Kevin wrote:

MT, tracking by the week might work for tracking fats and proteins but what about carbs should I not try to stay under 30 grams of carbs a day or should I try to stay under 180 carbs for the six days that I am the in ultra low carb state?

My point was that the body doesn’t operate on a strict 24 hour cycle. Hormones and other bodily functions don’t reset at midnight and say, “For the past 23 hours and 58 minutes, we got 27 grams of carbs.” *2 minutes later* “Okay, as of now, the 27 grams of carbs no longer matters, so we can get more carbs!”
Keep in mind the 30 grams is set to be absolutely sure that you’re body is using fat as fuel. If you go over a couple grams, that’s fine. The whole point is to keep carbs as low as possible, so intentionally eating carbs kind of defeats the whole point of ULC.
In regards to your other macros, just figure out your estimated caloric intake for the week, keeps carbs under 30 grams from whenever you wake up to whenever you go to bed (instead of operating by the clock) everyday, and make adjustments with proteins and fats.

Training Log: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1vuwHRdBaPVILxxLhXly_N1Ys66Hcwk4j-bM7nvKSLrI/edit?usp=sharing

[Kevin]

Thanks,

I’ll do that but I don’t “intentionally” eat carbs. I just sometimes can’t resist them. I have been going over thirty on some days. I’ve been struggling with keeping them that low on some days. I don’t know exactly why because when I first stated this regiment it was easy. but I try to keep 50 the absolute max.

[Richard Schmitt]

Kevin wrote:

I’m not getting up at midnight to eat Tex. I work the PM shift so I get home around 9 o’clock and I don’t get to bed until around midnight. I could go to bed earlier but using MyFitnessPal I was tracking it from midnight to midnight and for example if I went over my carbs for the day and I wanted to have some carbs I would wait until midnight to have some carbs. I know it sounds silly but I am NOT extremely knowledgeable about tracking my macros so I guess it’s just a newbie mistake.

MT, tracking by the week might work for tracking fats and proteins but what about carbs should I not try to stay under 30 grams of carbs a day or should I try to stay under 180 carbs for the six days that I am the in ultra low carb state?

I appreciate the replies

Oh alright, the shift work would be a different story, and your circadian rhythm is different. My suggestion would be to treat each day like you’re up at a 8-5pm type of job or 7-4pm. So when you get to bed you can have something but it doesn’t necessarily have to be carbs. What does your other macros look like?

[Kevin]

I’m trying to understand what you’re saying Tex. I quess I have to contemplate on it a little more but as for the rest of my macros then I’m not going to lie I am a little sloppy. I was trying to do 140/140 with the protien and fat but there just aren’t enough hours in a day for me to weigh all of my food raw and do the meticulous calculations that I should be doing. I have been logging on MFP for about three months now but my calculations are getting rougher by the day. With that said the only thing I pay close attention to is carbs. I try to stay under 30 on a good day and under 50 on a bad day. I am not gaining weight and I don’t appear to be gaining body fat. I might even be loosing. I’ll know for sure in a couple of weeks or so. Maintaining this body composition is progress because I haven’t been able to do this before. Eventually if I stall then I will definitely have to make some adjustments. My goal is to get under 15% bf at least and under 10% at the most. I am 5’8″ 170 lbs. I started working out but sometimes only able to get it in once a week. That’s an improvement because before it was none. I am trying to increase the volume and sessions. I’m 39 years old and I got five kids and I do shift work. I start at different times and end different times. Mostly in the evenings. I don’t work the day shift at this time but maybe in the future. I may also be able to get a more stable schedule in the future but that may take a while. Not to make excuses but it’s definitely not easy. I’m hanging in there though and loving this CNS.

Thanks

[Author]

Posts