I can't be stressed and up late. Late night hours, midnight or so, have always been my snacking witching hours. Tonight, the hubs and the 7 yr old were out fishing and strolled in at 1145 pm. As they're eating dinner... I made myself a snack. Nothing major, 4 saltine and peanut butter sandwiches. I still had calories left for the day, so its not a binge, yet.... that's how I feel. Like I broke my personal goals of not eating after the kitchen is cleaned (I telly self its 'closed').

I know in the grand scheme of things its truly not that big a deal, but I still feel..bleh about it.

Ah well. Tomorrow is a new day

I guess I close the kitchen too. But sometimes life just gets in the way of our diets! Be proud of yourself for not gorging!

Eating is very communal, a big part of bonding with our loved ones. We are wired this way.
So you had a small snack so you could eat with the two men you love, and it fit within your calorie budget for the day. Who cares what time it was?
Maybe next time you could have a cup of tea or broth so that you've got something in front of you at the table when they sit down to eat? I do that sometimes when my fiance gets home from work later than I do and I've already eaten my dinner.

Something I am working hard it is making no absolutes. I mean, yes, I am following a pretty strict plan and I stick to it as much as I reasonably can. But when that has too big of an impact on living my life, then I stick to it as best as I can under the circumstances.

So while you may have set up a very reasonable goal for yourself of not eating after the kitchen is closed, then you did the best you could do under the circumstances. A limited amount of food, something with protein, within your allocated calories, at a time where you actively engaged with your family while they were eating. That's pretty different than waking up by yourself at midnight and giving yourself permission to raid the cabinet.

I think it can be scary and harder to re-wire ourselves for some of this stuff - it's easier to just stick with the absolutes because we are worried that going beyond those can be a slippery slope leading to disaster. But the reality is that there are always going to be times when the absolutes don't work, and part of being successful at not just losing, but maintaining, is going to be learning how to handle those times. And you did a good job of that!

I'm not upset about it, or down on myself.....it's just one of those things. I know the 220-230 weight range is my "You must knuckledown and really pay attention" range. This is my body's happy place, apparently. Once I get below 235, my body loves this range, it hangs out and party's. So, I know, judging from past loss, as well as just having stepped on the scale here and there even when I wasn't diet aware, that I seem to settle pretty easily right here. That's all. I'll just keep trucking and make sure when I go to the store tomorrow I grab more of my fave 'free foods', get them cut up and ready to go so they're always there.

Oy vay- me too! I am so sick of tired of being guilty. In the past- I have felt soooo guilty all the time.

I find it challenging to balance boundaries for myself with being kind to myself.

Ang- Good thinking for gathering up free food. I also like the idea about tea.