Okay I'm not very sure where to put this so I thought this would be okay.

Anyways..
I went on a 2 hour trip with a group of classmates for a school thing... anyways they took us to the Olive Garden for lunch.. @_@. I stuffed myself till I couldn't stand up straight anymore. Pasta, bread.. chicken.. like 10 different kinds of cheese. Sodas. plus I munched on chips and such on the way there and back and had a slushie. ect. I didn't do any kind of working out for 4 straight days. and then yesterday when I went back to the gym it showed that I didn't gain anything. And today I lost half a pound.

most times.. if I evel look at that kind of food, I gain weight. Why didn't I gain anything and why did the half pound slip right off with hardly any work?

or am I just making mountians out of mole hills?
Don't get me wrong, I'm glad I didn't gain... but it's not the norm for me.

who knows. Our bodies are crazy like that. Maybe because of the working out you did previously, youve sped your metabolism up. Just feel really Lucky!

Body, food and metabolism is a mysterious thing sometimes. I recently posted about a 1 week trip to Singapore where I ate a lot of rich, fattening foods I normally don't eat. And not just one meal, there were several extremely decadent all you can eat buffets involved. Not to mention freshly squeezed pineapple juice. Weighed myself yesterday, 127, just like it's been since January.

I try to tell myself it wasn't ONE meal that made me a heavy person and one meal won't sink everything for you either. Just want to make sure you climb right back onto the "healthy eating" horse and don't let one bingy meal spiral into a day, weekend or week of unhealthy eating.

Sounds as if you were just lucky this time!! Be thankful!!!!

Just wanted to add, even when I was actively losing weight, I still had the occasional wonderful meal which didn't seem to derail my progress. I had an extremely fancy dinner for my birthday about a month after I started eating better and still lost weight that week. I also lost weight over the Christmas holidays that year, although I went to my mom's house and had dinner with all the trimmings (and pie!). I didn't turn Christmas dinner into Christmas week, though. Just let it all loose for one meal Scale forgave me!

^^ Good point.

Ive noticed with me that if once and awhile I have a big meal and not really care about what I am eating that I lose weight the following week. I think it has something to do with tricking our bodies? Like they are expecting us to eat healthy and when we dont it doesnt know what to do?!?! I dont know..but I know that I usally dont gain when this happens.

Egads I know I'm very lucky lol
I thought it might be because my Metabolism sped up. But wasn't sure. Often if I slip like that I gain like 3 pounds.
But I'll try not to do it again ^_^ at least not work out for 4 days straight.

In the past I would have situations like that happen and not gain right away (or even lose as you did), but then I would find a few days later that I had a gain that seemed "mysterious" -- I don't know the 2 are related, but then, I don't know they aren't. Just as now, I can do everything right and not show a loss. I think that sometimes our bodies may take a while to process the changes -- good or bad.

As you say, don't use it as license to eat like that again -- that's how I used to get in BIG FAT trouble!

Heck, I've lost over 80 pounds having that one "big fat meal" every week. Every Sunday my mother-in-law comes over for dinner. We fix whatever we want. For that one meal alone, I take 'time off' from calorie counting and worrying about what I eat. We have Italian, Mexican, or maybe even a good old-fashioned "downhome cooked" meal. I eat what I want and as much I want. Every single week for the last 2 years. I even have dessert. Cake, pie, ice cream, whatever dessert I've happened to make for that meal.

Sunday is my day to look forward to. Not the whole day on Sunday, mind you, just Sunday dinner. All day long up until Sunday dinner I still watch what I eat. But Sunday dinner is my time to let go and enjoy myself. If I feel like 'pigging out' during the week, I stop myself and say, "Nope, you can do that on Sunday."

That one meal a week is what has kept me sane through all of this. It's the meal I reserve for making whatever the heck we're in the mood for. If we want homemade fried chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy, then we have it. Last week we had a big Italian-style casserole with salad and garlic bread and next Sunday I'm fixing stuffed cornish hen with mashed potatoes and stuffing and whatever else will go with it.

Sorry to ramble on so, but dammit, I sincerely believe in allowing yourself one freaking meal every now and then to just cut loose a little bit without obsessing over how many calories you're eating.

Of course, this is just my personal opinion.

I agree!

LLV I love your plan! Lol maybe I should try that. How long did it take you to lose the 80 pounds though?

I went and reread the initial post -- first I thought that she had eaten poorly for 4 days, then I realized it WAS one bad meal and 4 days of not working out. My initial thought "don't eat like that again" was based on a 4 day notion.

As Linda says, one big meal every now and then isn't a problem.

However, I personally don't go all out once a week. Currently, I don't feel like I really deprive myself much day in day out. I eat 1800-1900 calories/day on average. If I used Linda's plan, I would have to eat less each of the other days to make up for the big meal (or day) -- after all, just because we don't count what we eat in a meal, doesn't mean our bodies don't count it -- and that's not worth it to me. I would rather keep my averages higher on a day to day basis and not have a "don't worry" meal once a week. I think that if I allowed myself to go all out once a week it would be harder to eat less the rest of the time. Not to say that I am completely strict day in day out or that I would never have a day or a meal I don't worry about -- that's what the average is all about.

I guess what I'm saying is that there are different approaches and we all have to find the one that works for us. But one big meal won't kill you. For me, I'd want it to be "worth" it!

What time on Sunday should I show up?

You're my hero.

Wyllen, we think pretty much the same way! I certainly don't feel deprived on a "normal" day either; in fact I have never eaten better! I honestly don't WANT all that stuff any longer... it is not worth what it does to me. Eating "whatever" once a week would just make me crave it more at other times...and I would gain weight from it. But as you say, we all need to find what works for us and stick with it!!