i had a dinner party tonight and ended up with 1800-1900 calories instead of 1200. is this like WAY overboard? do you think it will stall my weight loss or cause a gain? it is WAY more than usual, but is that number of calories that excessive?
I don't think so. You may have a smaller loss than normal this week, but an additional 6-700 calories won't cause a GAIN as long as you create a matching deficit the rest of the week.
Think about it - if you're eating 1200 calories a day, and one day a week, you hit 1900, you're still averaging only 1300 a day. Some people even do this on purpose - it's called Calorie Zigzagging.
Not a big deal at all. As mandalinn suggests, just cut back a little the next day and move on (or frankly I don't think you even need to do that). If this happens every day, then obviously you need to rethink the strategy but otherwise, just move on and stay on plan.
Relax, you'll be fine. I zig zag my calories whenever I hit a mini plateau. This will probably be good for you, you'll be surprised. 1200 is pretty low for your weight anyway, I'm surprised you're not plateauing already.
You'll be fine! The problem will happen if you let yourself think that because you weren't "perfect" that everything is over ! That kind of all-or-none thinking foils many a dieter!
The fact that you know roughly how many calories you ate is good!
An occasional zig-zag won't hurt you, as long as you get yourself back on track and move forward from here. And really, at your height and current weight 1800-1900 is probably pretty close to a maintenance level.
I started "maintenance" a month ago and eat around 1800 calories a day, and I'm still losing (went from 147 to 144). I lead a sedentary lifestyle but work out for about an hour at least 5x/wk
700 calories is only 1/5 of a pound (tha's 0.2 pounds).. so if you would have lost 1lb this week, now you'd lose 0.8, for example. Heck, 0.2lb is the smallest increment my scale even measures! I don't think you'll have a big problem.
I will say that if you ate more food than usual, especially if it was higher in sodium than your usual diet, you might gain a little water weight for a few days. So if your weigh in is tomorrow, or maybe even the next day, you might see it on the scale. But it's not REAL weight gain.
700 calories is only 1/5 of a pound (tha's 0.2 pounds).. so if you would have lost 1lb this week, now you'd lose 0.8, for example. Heck, 0.2lb is the smallest increment my scale even measures! I don't think you'll have a big problem.
I will say that if you ate more food than usual, especially if it was higher in sodium than your usual diet, you might gain a little water weight for a few days. So if your weigh in is tomorrow, or maybe even the next day, you might see it on the scale. But it's not REAL weight gain.
thank god b/c i weighed myself this morning (wed is my "weigh day") and im up 1.6 lb. which is REALLY discouraging b/c ive been stuck at 180ish for a month and a half. i just wrote a huge rant about how ready i am to give up. ugh.
Julia, quite frequently when people eat more food than what their bodies are used to (like the example of you eating 1,900 calories when you are used to 1,200), they gain a sudden amount of water weight. It happens to me all the time. I've also noticed when I am consistantly, perfectly "on plan" I am around 135, yet as soon as I fall off even for a SECOND, I'm 140. Now, I KNOW logically that a FEW extra calories (or even just a few wrong foods) will not actually make me gain five whole pounds, but my body loves holding onto water. Most of us will retain easily -- the amount of water our bodies choose to retain depends on the person, of course.
Julia, quite frequently when people eat more food than what their bodies are used to (like the example of you eating 1,900 calories when you are used to 1,200), they gain a sudden amount of water weight. It happens to me all the time. I've also noticed when I am consistantly, perfectly "on plan" I am around 135, yet as soon as I fall off even for a SECOND, I'm 140. Now, I KNOW logically that a FEW extra calories (or even just a few wrong foods) will not actually make me gain five whole pounds, but my body loves holding onto water. Most of us will retain easily -- the amount of water our bodies choose to retain depends on the person, of course.
You'll be fiiiiiiiiiiiiine!
thank you i freaked out a little this morning when i weighed myself. hopefully next week will be a loss *fingers crossed*. its just so hard when you're between "10's: (191-189, 181-179, etc) and you keep seeing that 180-something when you think its gone. this one has been a real doozy too, i keep thinking its gone, then it sneaks back up, lol. thanks for the support tho, i need it today!
Last edited by juliastl27; 08-26-2009 at 02:37 PM.
did i screw myself?
