Yesterday I had the worst eating day in a loooong time. I started the day OP, by 6 p.m. is was at 800 calories.
Then I went nuts.
An entire bag (large) of Sun Chips
2 Reeses, 1 Big Cup
A Corona Light
Vodka
Starbucks French Vanilla
Margarita
Half a Chicken Fried Chicken Alfredo dish from Mazzios and Garlic bread

My final total for the day? 4114 calories.

I gained 7 pounds this morning. Yeah, I know it's mostly water weight (Sun Chips are super salty). I plan on spending the weekend exercising and drinking LOTS of water. Anything else I should be doing?
Do I understand this right - Is it correct that to gain 1 pound you have to eat 3500 calories OVER your BMR? Mine is 1700, so I would've had to eat over 5000 calories to gain a pound... right??
I hope so anyways! I feel horrible. I haven't done this in a loooong time.
For the last week I've been trying the "every other day" diet. I thought, 'hey I do calorie shifting, this is like calories shifting to the extreme!' Well, it got into my head and I started slacking. On the off days I stayed just below 2000 calories, but it involved Mazzios pasta one day and Burger King the next and then my disaster last night. I also felt like crap on the "off" days. I wasn't get my nutrition in. So I'm done with that. Back to normal shifting. I think these indulgences got into my head and I allowed myself to have this disaster of a night last night. Ugh.
Thanks for letting me rant. It's my first confession. Feels good to get it out.

ETA: Do you guys ever eat less the next day to compensate the overeating? Maybe just 1000 calories?

Sometime i will eat less the next day, but i still wont go below 1200 or else i'll just be famished and eat more later in the evening. If i go overboard i try and add in more workouts and drink more water. Most of what you gained is just water weight, and a few days of eating healthy, drinking water , and working out should level you out.
Today is a new day!

Ahhh don't feel too bad Rebecca. You slipped up, big deal. Thats life. Just make your next meal a healthy one and get back on plan.
Just drink lots of water this weekend to flush it all out of your system.
And yes, it does feel good to confess, doesn't it?

Hey!

This is less likely to happen if you eat more during the day. 800 calories by 6 pm isn't enough, IMO. Not only is a person hungry by then, but it's easy to give permission to go overboard because you've been "so good."

Jay

Forget about your binge day and start over, I don't think you have done any permanent damage.Never go below 1200 calories as you will rob yourself of needed nutrients and actually slow down the losing process.

I agree with Jayell 800 calories at 6pm is not a lot. But today is a new day and just brush yourself off and start over!

You just keep going. It's actually a really satisfying feeling to have a day that didn't go the way you'd like, and then pick up and just keep going. When you *know* it can't totally derail you, it loses a lot of its power.

You can go bonkers trying to figure just how many extra calories you ate and how much you should gain. But the thing is, there's really no way to know how much you burned. BMR estimators online are not that accurate, neither are the ones that tell you how much your activities burn. And what you eat also changes your metabolism. Our bodies are just so complicated.

Couple of thoughts.

One, yes you have to eat 3500 calories over your BMR to gain a pound, so your 4000 calorie extravaganza (*grin*) didn't hurt you that much. As long as it's a ONE DAY extravaganza.

Two, I don't think 800 cals by 6 p.m. is necessarily bad. Usually by 6 p.m. that's about right where I'm at and I'm rarely hungry on that. If I am between 800-900 cals by 6 p.m. that means my evening breaks out like so:
120 cals - after gym protein shake
350 cals - dinner (approx)
140 cals - evening snack (usually frozen yogurt)
That's 1400 calories, total for the day. Sometimes I'll eat more for dinner, sometimes not. So what I'm saying is that if this is normal for you, then there's nothing wrong with 800 before dinner. I can eat a lot of food over the course of the day for 800 calories.

I don't think you NEED to compensate, but I will say this: Sometimes when I overdo, it makes me feel better mentally and emotionally to compensate in some way. I wouldn't drop your calories in a crazy way or anything like that, but if you wanted to get in an extra workout or push yourself extra hard or put in another 15 minutes on the elliptical or whatever makes you feel better ... that could be a good thing. Spending a day eating really incredibly super healthy is another option. For me, doing something like that helps push me out of the "argh I screwed up" mindset because I feel like I'm taking positive action. Just make VERY sure that what you're doing is a push in the right direction and not a *punishment*. I don't believe in punishment for having a little loss of control.

FWIW.

.

Yep, just get back on the wagon. I agree with JulieJ08 in that, when you do fiind yourself back on plan today.... it will be a whole new level of sucess!!

You can do this. And I'm betting the scale will be back to normal in 2-3days. (at least that's what it does for me when I veer a little/lot off plan)

Thanks guys!
I was anticipating on being bad so I did eat a little less than normal during the day, but I wasn't anticipating on being that bad! I knew I wanted a couple drinks so I went a little easy. I'm normally at about 1000 by 6 p.m. and shoot for 1400 by the end of the day.
I worked my booty off today! Worked out for over an hour and I've been drinking tons of water and eating really healthy. I feel much better already. I also jumped on the scale (obsessed, I know) and was down 4lbs from when I weighed this morning. *sigh* I'll be all right.
Thanks again!

Sounds like your blood sugar dropped at 6pm due to the lack of food and your body went into sever hunger mode. Don't let it happen by eating more. By 6pm I am onto dinner and am finishing up most of my calories for the day.

If I do screw up and am up a pound or two, I spend the next day drinking lots of water to flush out the junk, I exercise but not to the extreme but I make sure I don't miss a session, and I eat very sensibly. It usually evens up in a day or two.

I think it is correct that you must eat 7000 calories above what you need to sustain for the day in order to gain 1 lb. Also, I wouldn't eat less to compensate for the next day, you'll only end up being so hungry that you won't make rational eating choices, and repeat the night before. that's what happens to me if I don't eat enough..i get very irrational. I would just move on with my diet and try not to let the slip up set me back.
also, maybe this on again off again dieting might be screwing with you. you can't eat 1500 calories worth of say, cake, and claim that its the same as 1500 calories worth of healthy, nutritionally complete meals. (i'm not saying you ate cake all day, its just an example.)

Barista, it's 3500 calories over.

Jay

I know this is going to sound a little silly but... YaY You!! Your a.k.a disaster has turned into an unexpected, resounding success!



Moral of this story: Another lesson learned in what works and doesn't work for You! and take a bow .

Your fine RAW

You know what you gotta do....

Get over it!