Is it ok to restrict calories the day after excessive calorie consumption?
 

Yesterday I ate 2,500 calories and I feel very regretful (usually I stick to about 1,550-1,650). I can't even exercise it off due to a leg injury.

Do you think it is safe to cut my calories down to about 900 calories, just for this one day to "even out" the calories consumed over the past 2 days? (That way the average between the 2 days would be as if I ate maintenance calories)

This won't become a pattern, but do you think it okay in terms of not damaging my metabolism if I just do it one day? Or do you think it's a bad idea?

Thanks!

There may be different opinions out there, but if you don't make a habit of cutting your calories down too low you should be fine. It works for people who do intermittent fasting. Some of them have two 500 calorie days twice a week. Where people go wrong is when they hit a weight loss plateau, and then they cut their calorie consumption down every day, and their metabolisms dial down to starvation mode.

Of course it is OK and actually is common sense.

Aim for a normal day, but do NOT try to cut calories below your normal 1500-ish unless you are truly not hungry. That leads to a nasty deprivation/overeating cycle more often than not. But if you're not hungry on your normal calorie allowance, don't force it, either.

If you truly are not hungry I would say go with it. if you find yourself hungry than aim for a normal day.

I naturally tend to balance out heavier eating days with less food the next day or sometimes even the next two days....I don't often drop below 1200-1500 unless i'm terribly busy or stressed and sometimes that happens too....I don't buy into the starvation mode myth BUT I do find that when I intentionally deprive myself of food, I naturally end up hugely overeating at some point to compensate from it...I also exercise pretty hard almost daily so i'm naturally a bit hungrier because of that

Do what works best for you! For me personally, if I have a day of extra calories I work hard to just get back on track the next day - as that is hard enough. The most important thing for me is that the day after that I'm on target and the day after that I am on target....

Good luck.

I've done it before to good effect.

I was going to answer quickly with "sure, no problem".. then I read this:

and it reminded me that its something I see nothing wrong with and I also have over 15 year struggle with starving and binging...my calorie intake swings back and forth if I try to make up for over eating...When I just get back on track the next day, eat me typical cals (like 1500) and dont try to under eat, I move on faster and get back to "normal"...for *me* trying to undereat the next day either leads to a binge that evening, or sometimes the next day I feel unusually hungry, and have a hard time with my typical calorie amount, like your 1500, doesnt feel like enough after a day of say 900, then I end up over eating that day and the next day I'm trying to undereat to compensant....and there has been my struggle for far too long...so no, I dont recommend it either...

I do this all the time. If I'm "bad" one day I eat very little the next to balance things out and then I go back to business as usual. It seems to work for me.

I don't think it will make any difference to your metabolism (except perhaps for a few hours).

That said, my own experience has led me to avoid this strategy. Everyone is different, but I find that cutting calories too much saps my energy, brain power and will power.

Eating 2,500 cals in a day is really no big deal. Just get back on your regular plan and the extra quarter-pound (or whatever) will be off in no time.

F.

If you can do it in a healthy way, it's not a problem. I usually try to exercise more when I eat more, a different kind of compensation, but I hate eating hardly anything. We're all different.

I read Hungry:a memoir, by Allen Zadoff, he talks about breaking that binge/starve cycle by eating normally the next day, it robs the binge of it's power.

Best of luck to you :sunny:

There are a number of diet programs designed around this very idea.

If it's part of a plan than I think it's fine. Where it becomes problematic is when it is used as a strategy to enable binge eating.

2500 calories does not qualify as a binge unless one is a rodent so in this context it seems perfectly fine.

I've done it all week and I plan around bigger meals like this. Then again, I also do IF. I used to have serious issues with binging.I don't really worry about a potential of binging. I know in a day or two, I will be able to indulge in more calories (plus I devoured a few candies, truffles, and meat trays that was DELISH this week). I also know my body. So that's the difference. If you can do this without causing a binge/etc, then you should be fine. I'm counting it all on MFP and making sure the deficit isn't too big. Honestly it's looking more like one of those up down up down weight loss/cal counting systems. I always have two low days (500-900 typically). But on my feast days this week, I've been trying to stay about 1200-1600 to combat holiday eating.

It's fine periodically, as long as it doesn't become an ongoing binge-restrict cycle.