Well, I've been dieting (1500~ calories) for 2 weeks now, and I've run into a problem. My best friend just graduated, so I offered to take him to the movies today - The only problem with that is that I won't be able to resist the popcorn they serve at the theater, and we are likely going out for some fast food (Arbys, McDonalds, etc.) afterwards.

My question is this, if I allow myself some popcorn and fast food (With the high possibility of going over), will I have to start all over? I'm fine with fasting a few days (I know it's not healthy) to balance it out, but I wouldn't want to do so if I don't have to.

I wouldn't look at it as starting over, just look at it as life! Not every day will be POP (perfectly on plan), and that's okay. You don't need to fast to balance it out, just go back to your 1500 calories as normal.

That said, movies and fast food can be managed. If you must have popcorn, order the smallest one and share with your friend. Look up some lighter items from fast food restaurants in advance so you can plan what you'll eat and keep the calories reasonable.

Well... I didn't really plan on 'cutting down' or eating the healthier items, I just kind of planned to order a combo or something, maybe eat a medium popcorn, that sort of thing - Should I really go for the healthier things? I don't know if I would really enjoy that very much...

So, I'm not sure if how I write this is going to make sense or not, but essentially a person's weight is a result of the average amount of calories they have consumed. If you eat enough to lose weight for 6 months, and in those six months have three days sprinkled in where you ate enough to gain weight...you're still going to lose weight. One day of overeating is not going to undo all of your good eating, just like one day of good eating is not going to undo your lifetime of overeating.

There is not a single person that eats enough to maintain or lose weight every single day of their life...everybody has days that they over eat. However, that being said, do not go crazy. If you eat 1500 calories a day for a week, you're average for that week is going to be 1500 calories, and you could lose about 1.5 pounds. If you eat 1500 calories a day for a week, but have one day that is 4500 calories because you ate a normal breakfast, a normal lunch, 1500 calorie dinner and 1000 calories in popcorn, your weekly average will be 1929 calories.

1500*6 days=9000+4500 for one day=13,500/7 days in a week=1928.57 calories a day average...leading you to be within the average range of weight maintenance.

Likewise, if you eat a lot one day and then starve yourself the rest, your body will cling to the calories that you ate that day and not lose anything either. You will feel lethargic and sick because your body is trying to conserve energy and slowly burn what you put into it that day because it thinks it is being starved...which, technically, it is.

Your best options are to decide whether or not you are willing to maintain your weight this week, eat a little less than you planned that evening, exercise a little bit everyday or for a few days (30 minutes or so to keep your body from clinging onto those calories, but not so much that you are eating too little for your body to function normally) to bring down that average a little bit, or make good meal choices and continue to lose.

Side note: This is also where a lot of people don't lose much on their diet, they will diet 6 days and then have one cheat day and they will maintain their weight. This is why consistency is key and having one day once in a while (maybe once a month) where you go to dinner and eat a burger for a treat, is the best way to lose. Do well 95% of the time, then treat yourself so you still feel human with your friends and family, but you won't undo all of your hard work.

Good luck!

You'll want to start thinking about making changes in the long run (you can't have popcorn and fast food all the time) but every now and then isn't a problem. Just work it into your plan--if you're eating popcorn here, try to eat something low-cal and healthy later.

Then again, for some people going cold turkey is the only thing that will work, so you need to decide what works best for you and your willpower

Me personally, I look at it as a lifestyle change. The popcorn at movie theaters and the butter that they put on it I don't even want to think about all the disgusting hydrogenated fat that is in that stuff. When I started to change how I ate I don't even go to fast food restaurants anymore because of doing research into how things are prepared and the processed food and how much salt and fat is in it. And this coming from a person who used to down two Mc Chicken's and Two Mc Double's, a small fry and a large Mocha Frap in one setting.

If I am going to go to the movies I will pop some popcorn at home, take a large purse and sneak it in. I know that is wrong to some people but the movies don't provide something I am willing to eat so I don't have much choice. As far as going out with friends, some fast food places offer chicken sandwiches where you can get a "dry" bun (this is where they don't put that oil/butter stuff on it and put it on the grill) and just get light mayo and lots of veggies. It's delish!

A cheat day for me would be something healthy where I eat tons of it, not junk. I firmly believe that a calorie isn't just a calorie. Case in point. 100 calories of Almonds vs 100 calorie can of sugary soda.

A good movie to watch to learn more about what I have learned is called Fed Up. Came out in 2014 and it's on Netflix

Since you have only been on this plan for 2 weeks, this will be a good test to see if you can pig-out one day and then get right back to your plan the next day. With me, there would be a good chance that that one pig-out day would turn into a month long binge where I would undo everything I've done so far.

You seem to be determined that you are going to do this. As someone else said, you should think of your new eating plan as a lifestyle change, where you learn to have smaller indulgences here and there. That usually works best long term, but the decision is yours.

Planned binges can be very tricky. When I was dieting I tried to include planned "cheats" and it never worked out. I would overindulge and then I would feel so bad about myself that I would say "screw it, I'll start over on Monday" and then I'd continue to binge.

On the other hand, dieting and restricting are awful and hard to do and I would end up going off my diets anyway. The more I tried to control the diet the harder it got to stay on the diet.

The best thing for me was to try hunger-directed eating, which would allow me to eat any food I want and only eat as much as I needed to get full. I'm mentioning this because what you said " I just kind of planned to order a combo or something, maybe eat a medium popcorn, that sort of thing" is something I said to myself often and then it would lead to a binge. The danger of this for me was that planning a binge means eating everything that's on my want list. If I were you I would eat that medium popcorn and then go out and have a combo at the fast food joint, regardless of whether I was truly hungry or not. This is called "last supper eating," which is what we all do when we are given a chance to eat something that may not be available to us later. Like when we go to Paris and eat croissants we say "oh well, there are no parisian croissants back at home so I want to get my fill of them" or when we're visiting Grandma once a year and she bakes us our favorite blueberry pie and we say "oh well, I only eat blueberry pie once a year so I'm going to eat it all" etc. The same goes with these cheat days, you think you have this free window of opportunity to eat so you eat and eat and eat regardless of what your body wants.

Now, because I'm more attuned to what my body really wants and needs and nothing is off limits I can tell you 100% that even looking at a medium sized movie popcorn that I can't finish half of it, and that there's no way I'd be able to fit anything else in my stomach afterwards anyway. If I go to the movies and have popcorn that's it, there's no eating afterwards! That was not something I could have achieved with cheat days and diet days, cheat days meant eating everything in sight, feeling terrible about it and continuing the binging into the next day.

A popcorn + fast food meal can fit within 1500 calories (just look up calories of the fastfood restaurant menu beforehand).

If you must have the popcorn and a full fast food meal, just fast or eat very lightly the rest of the day. You can have these foods without derailing your diet, just plan around them

Good luck

I ran into this situation like a week after starting my lifestyle change. I had promised to take my niece to movie and lunch a month before. So, I did not get any pop corn. She had the child pop corn and did not eat all of it. So, I had a little that she had left over. I bought her a child's meal and myself one. And, just remember one day does not make or break you.

Making a plan to fast for a few days to counter big calorie days almost never works. Many people break down from hunger and derail. The best thing to do is to just stick to the original plan after off days.

I'd really look into yourself as to why popcorn at the movies is so important..or any big calorie item is. What's more important to you right now? Losing weight or a popcorn. Just because you skip something today doesn't mean you'll never have it again..you're just not having it today.

If you decide you really want those things plan for them. Look up the calorie counts of them and try to fit them into your plan for that day. You might even be shocked how much they really are and decide you dont want them. As for fast food places, almost all of them have healthy alternatives.

Losing weight does not mean you miss out on the fun with friends. As soon as people can disconnect food and fun, weight loss gets easier.

I'm curious what you ended up doing and how the following couple of days were?

I'd like to hear what happened as well as this is a tough situation

I wanted McDonald's pancakes. Then I looked up the nutrition info and realized they're half a day's calories and sodium, so I'd have to pay for them the rest of the day, lol. Screw that. I'll just wait.

Also wondering how the OP made out. Good day, bad day, whatever.