How long does it take for your body to reflect the damage you have done with a bad meal/day/weekend?

I think it depends... mine takes 2-3 days and usually I can recover within 6. I went drinking with some friends on Friday night (UGH) and i'm still retaining water from it. Learned my lesson on that one! NEVER again!

well, i had a whole bad WEEK--when I went on vacation and ate half the seafood in South Carolina, and it took several weeks to recover from that. I didn't GAIN any weight while on vacation, but I stayed at that plateau for weeks. As soon as I came home I started my good ol' healthy routine immediately, but that scale didn't budge for WEEKS.

I'm learning this ever so slowly, but surely! I can undo a weeks worth of dedication in one outing! Add a few glasses of wine and I retain water for days after. Somehow I can't seem to get past the weekends as I / we live for the weekends. Living up north, we only have a few months out of each year to cram everything in. Somehow I'll have to figure out a way to stop sabotaging myself. Any ideas?

I don't know--one bad day shows the very next day and that makes me try to be extra good that day and the next and usually by the 3rd day, things are back to normal. But I really have to try extra hard to make it all up. Yesterday was pretty bad, after having a really, really good week. I am trying hard today (difficult for the weekend) but will be really good tomorrow. I think Tuesday things will look up. I refuse to just give up. Falling is not failing.

I'm pretty much the same way. A couple of weigh ins ago I was up 4.4 pounds after a free for all week. I was good for most of the week after and I lost the same 4.4 pounds at my last weigh in. I learned from that and have been good since. Not saying I won't falter again but it should keep me on plan for awhile before it happens again

Just get back up on the high horse and try again.

Kim

Maybe it's just me ...but I don't notice changes from bad meals or days. It's really just a mental thing where I get disapointed for a little while before I vow to do better the next day.
You have to remember that one bad day or one bad weekend wont cause you to gain 4 pounds overnight. If that was the case no one would ever lose weight!

but it can certainly cause ME to gain 5 lbs in water weight!!! My weigh in tommorow morning is screwed! LOL

it can take a week for me to see a bad weekend show up. ditto for hard work and eating right, I might not see the results until the following week.

sometimes the extra weight will show up on Monday (that's why I don't weigh myself until Wednesday), when my body has had a chance to level off from a higher cal weekend.

I have a problem when I eat white bread...The problem shows up overnight, but goes away after about three days...
I really can gain 3 lbs of water overnight and sit there and wonder why...but at least it´s just water.....

--Katherine

I'm not sure. I ate poorly this weekend when we went to the lake. Sunday wasn't the best either. Back on track this morning. Won't weigh til Thursday so hope I can break even by eating right til Thursday.

I do that too. Takes just a couple of days but I can "break even" pretty quick.