Ahhhh so after a month of working out every day and basically staying 100% OP, I had a ridiculous amount of alcohol on friday and as a result I also consumed at least 800 cals in food, plus alcohol calories.

And I have been swamped yesterday and today and didn't go to the gym. I have gained back 3 pounds and that will prevent me from getting to goal!!!

How do I fix this? I feel like garbage. I'm hitting the gym tomorrow without question, but how should I eat for the next few days to reverse the damage?

Well the scale may say that you are three pounds heavier but I don't think it is 3 pounds of fat - especially since you said you consumed 800 calories. That's not even 1/4 of a pound. I am sure your body is feeling slightly unhappy with you at the moment as mine was the day after a business supper last week (2 glasses of sangria, dessert, steak - I could go on!). My scale said 6 pounds heavier the next day! After my initial freakout I said "Self - there is no way you ate 21000 calories at supper last night." So I drank water, a lot of water, ate fruit, ate veg, ate oatmeal and whole grains and made sure I didn't feel hungry. And in two days I was back to normal. I am sure there was a tonne of sodium in the meal that I had and that was surely part of the problem. I don't know what plan you are on but that was what worked for me.

Good luck and don't beat yourself up!

Oh and I should add - I don't think you totally ruined your diet. I think you are a normal human person who went out and had fun and this time the fun involved food as it often does for people. Just get back on the horse and remember that you might fall off again at some point. Knowing how to pick yourself up is an important skill. So you might look at this as an opportunity

Too Pollyanna? Again don't beat yourself up.

In the scheme of things, you overeating for one meal is no big deal. Remember this is for life.

Dont worry, one slip up isnt that much in the long run of things. Dont give up.

Oh and I should add - I don't think you totally ruined your diet. I think you are a normal human person who went out and had fun and this time the fun involved food as it often does for people. Just get back on the horse and remember that you might fall off again at some point. Knowing how to pick yourself up is an important skill. So you might look at this as an opportunity

Too Pollyanna? Again don't beat yourself up.
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I totally agree...

You didn't ruin anything. You're human.

We all make decisions every once in a while to indulge. The lesson to learn here is that it's not the end of the journey and it most certainly didn't ruin your diet. Now is the time to acquire the knowledge of how to move forward without beating yourself up.

We pick ourselves up. We get right back to plan at the very next chance. We move forward.

How should you eat? Like a normal, health-minded human being. In other words, eat your usual healthy meals.

I'm going to tell you something. Six months from now, you're not even going to remember going off plan one day in August. It'll be the tiniest little blip on your enormously successful journey.

So treat it like that now. A tiny blip. Step over it, and step forward.

how do you figure that you "totally ruined" your diet?

it's a slip, a mistake, a set-back.

just get right back on plan & keep on going.

YOU CAN DO THIS. and remember that you are human! none of us are perfect all the time, every meal, every day, etc.

I have a slip up like that at least once a WEEK. I get right back on plan the next day. And I still lose weight every month, because one day off plan isn't going to ruin anything, unless that one day leads to one more day, and one more, etc. Forget about last weekend and focus on making good choices TODAY. That's what I'm doing. Those extra pounds will be gone in no time at all!

it could very well be water weight from sodium intake. try not to weigh yourself every day. bi weekly or monthly weighings work best to really judge what's happening

Everyone who has ever been on a diet has had days like this. It probably won't be your last. What's important is how you handle it. Get right back to plan the next day and go on.

I sure hope that 800 calories of food isn't your normal total per day, especially if you are working out. Definately not enough. I hope I misunderstood.

Carol

Thanks for the support everyone

To clarify one thing - I hate 800 cals worth of snacks in addition to alcohol!!! I must've had probably 2000+ cals of that ahaha oops :P

Like usually I don't mind indulging in alchohol with diet chasers, but I had coolers and mixed drinks and stuff....which rack up like 400+ calories per drink.

And I ate a little over my cals for the day during the day too - 1600 instead of about 1300.

So yeah I haven't really bounced back yet...my sugar cravings are back with a vengeance and stress of getting ready for school is killing me haha.

And the lbs are staying on...which sucks. It's probably more due to stress and exhaustion though...I think I've totaled about 12 hours of sleep over the last 4 days.