Okay, so PLEASE don'd judge me haha, I'm having a rough weekend. Here's a little bit of backstory to introduce my question.
So Friday and Saturday the radio station I work for was out promoting at a local rodeo. I worked both shifts. (Both all day) and I was surrounded by delicious vendor food. (Kettle corn, churros, BBQ, funnel cakes, burritos, burgers, fries etc. ugh sometimes I wish I had a desk job instead of working as a promoter ugh Im always out and about surrounded by FOOD!) So I did good and made all my food for the day and brought it. But BOTH days the kettle corn lady came to our tent and gave me and my coworker a bag of it to share, aaaand both days I ate half a bag. I figured I ate about 600 calories in kettle corn a day and I reluctantly added it into my daily calorie intake. Then after work last night I went to a friends (she was making nachos) and I had that "well I messed up anyway, might as well mess up again and start over tomorrow" mentality. Horrible I know. I reached for the nachos and ate myself into oblivion.
So here I am today. Frustrated that I slipped up just as I was starting to lose weight but determined to go back on plan. So I went to my fridge and cupboard today and saw NOTHING that I wanted. The usual yummy lunches I always make sounded SO boring. I didn't want veggies. I didn't want fruit. I just wanted to pig out for some reason! So I kept looking and found turkey burgers and some left over plain angel hair pasta. So the turkey burger is 200 calories, the cheese I used on it was 70, and I used one piece of bread to put it on, 50 calories. That totals 320. Then I used the 1/8 of a package serving of angel hair @ 210 calories. So my meal just now totals 530 calories. Now calorie wise, that's okay. It's my first meal of the day I have about 1000 calories left and I still haven't worked out. But I feel AWFUL now! I feel so full and just blechhhh its horrible. I don't understand. Should I feel guilty about what I ate, or no because the calories weren't that bad!? I don't know ugh. I don't really know what I'm asking here. I think it's mostly me feeling like I need to admit and come to terms with what I did. Was my lunch really bad? What should I eat for dinner tonight to balance it out? Am I crazy? Ahh help.
Don't beat yourself up over it. Get back on track and put it behind you. Most of us have done something similar , one day won't hurt you....but get back on track right away.
It seems that the kettle corn triggered you. I know that happens to me when I eat something sugary that isn't on plan and in an unreasonable amount. It makes me want to devour everything sugary.
Don't beat yourself up. Drink a lot of water to help flush your system and get back on plan. Easier said than done - I have BTDT many more times than I care to have. You can do it!
You shouldn't feel guilty at all, because this is not about morality. You haven't committed any crimes or sins. All you did was eat a little bit off your plan.
Don't try to balance it out, and definitely don't try to do penance for it - just get right back on the horse. Eat the same, healthy, on-plan dinner you would have eaten had you had a flawless day.
I see nothing wrong with your meal, but I question why the angel hair pasta after the burger? When you were going along with the ingredients, I was thinking "she's gonna make something yummy." Sounds to me like you're beating yourself up over today's meal, but you really want to beat yourself up over the kettle corn. Today's meal wasn't bad. Would it have been better with a salad instead of the pasta? Sure. You've got the rest of the day to incorporate more good choices into your diet. You'll be fine.
I completely agree with Carter. It isn't about morality. Even "naturally" thin people (those elusive lucky few--LOL!) eat crappy sometimes (and a very few eat crappy most of the time!). In the larger scheme of things---i.e., the entire lifetime you have left to eat well----this is a mere blip. It won't even matter a month from now. The only value this may have is that you might be able to learn something about yourself---e.g., maybe that you still have that "all or nothing" mentality; perhaps you can think of some ways to combat it. So, try to learn from it, but don't fret over it.
I actually think you did incredibly well, considering all of those temptations! I'm not sure I could have withstood such enticing junk for two days in a row. Having half a bag twice is really moderate actually because I would have had much more and would have gone for funnel cake and other disastrous choices (I'm a major food addict...can you tell?). So instead of beating yourself up, you really ought to be patting yourself on the back. The reason you feel yucky could be just from water retention. Whenever I eat off plan, it happens and it takes a few days to de-bloat. I would hold off on weighing myself for at least a few days and drink lots of water. Eat as you normally would on plan, as others have advised. You did great. Congrats!
I had a bad day yesterday, too. Went to a football game- had gin & diet tonic while tailgating, but ended up having 2 beers in the stadium. 1/2 a sub, 1/2 a sausage sandwich, chicken wing dip, taco dip (although a reasonable amt, had the willpower not to eat tons!), and a few brownies made up my diet yesterday
I also feel badly today, even after just yogurt for bfast and a lean cuisine for lunch. Oh well. Stay on plan and you'll feel better tomorrow! Your lunch today wasn't so bad.
You want to know a big weight loss secret from someone who's been at this for awhile???
We ALL have bad days. Sometimes even bad weeks (or months).
But the real test is if you're able to come back. What did you do? Today, instead of eating yourself into oblivion after some extra kettlekorn and nachos on the weekend, you came to 3FC and posted about it, that's always a good sign.
I'll be honest, if I've had a lot of junk in a short period of time, my cravings go through the roof but after a day or two of being on plan again, you'll starting wanting those yummy meals once again. So pick yourself up, starting eating all those veggies and great meals that you have made and take it from here!
I doesn't sound like any damage was done from your wild weekend besides some cravings so don't feel guilty, just acknowledge it and move on. Maybe write down how you felt afterwards along with any body side effects (bloating, water retention, cravings etc) so if you're tempted to go off plan again you have that to refer back to.
I know exactly how you feel! When I eat something that I know I shouldn't or didn't plan to, I usually fight feelings of guilt. And then of course the whole "Screw it, I'll start over tomorrow/next monday/next week" thoughts pop up. However, the whole beating myself up then starting over cycle is how I came to be overweight in the first place. I've learned that not only do you have to take each day at a time, but more than that you have to take each moment at a time. If you make a bad choice or give in to temptation at lunch, try to make a healthy choice at dinner.
If I know I'm going into a special occasion, I planon eating maintenace calories that day...so an extra 500 or so. I still count everything I eat, but I remind myself that today did not HELP my weight loss, but it didn't HURT it either. I just maintained that status quo. Its not something you want to make a habit of, but its a great way to still LIVE LIFE and not sabotage all your hard work.
So many great answers you got. And i agree don't beat yourself up. What you eat when you eat does not make you "bad". It makes you human. Just do what the others suggested, pick yourself up and get back to your normal plan.
Stop over thinking this. The calories were fine. Food is nutrition. Not the emotion barometer.
Progress, not perfection too. So why did this calorie ok food make you feel yuck? Was it too high in sodium from yesterday? That's going to be my guess.
Drink water to help flush it out, make some still calorie good but perhaps sodium wiser choices today and roll with it.
astrophe - I love that you wrote: Food is nutrition. Not the emotion barometer. That makes so much sense, but often our emotions throw us over the edge. That's something to remember. I like it. Food is nutrition; not emotion!
Thought this was a good place to post my guilt from last night! Had fettucine alfredo (WHAT WAS I THINKING!!--I WASN'T!).
Thankfully at the end of the day I was 50 calories below goal. I ate 1550 cals for the day and still enjoyed buttery cheesy goodness.
I have crazy guilt though!
"Bad" meal, but still good on calories?
I feel so full and just blechhhh its horrible. I don't understand. Should I feel guilty about what I ate, or no because the calories weren't that bad!? I don't know ugh. I don't really know what I'm asking here. I think it's mostly me feeling like I need to admit and come to terms with what I did. Was my lunch really bad? What should I eat for dinner tonight to balance it out? Am I crazy? Ahh help.
