[Gia]

I went to a potluck tonight and by my calculations I ate for today about 2400 - 2600 cals (I did not know how many cals lasagna and cheesecake had in them! Oh my!!). I have stuck at between 1200 and 1800 for the past 3 weeks. Will this slip screw me over? I have been at a plateau for a week, and I hope I didn't make things worse.

[aphil]

You didn't do that much damage-only 600-800 calories-or about an average dinner for a "non-dieter". If this only happens occasionally-once a month or so-it shouldn't slow your weight loss down anything noticeable at all. Now-if you are overdoing it like this more often-once every week-then your weight loss will slow a little.

[lucky]

I completely agree with Aphil. I find that the guilt I feel about a slip is usually much more damaging than the slip itself. Don't worry about it, forgive yourself if you need to, and move on. Just start the day anew and file this one under lessons learned.

[hefty1]

eat less the next day and it will even out the day before. glen

[togger]

Actually, if you have been on a plateau, eating more in one day may kick start a weight loss. It has worked for me before.

One incidence will not derail your efforts....but if 1 leads to 2/3/4 times you let yourself indulge, then you will need to address your behaviors.

[LKTS]

The calorie calculations for anything that you didn't make yourself or aren't prepackaged are also going to be wildly inaccurate. It's impossible to know how much oil went into things, how much sugar, etc. It's great that you came up with a figure, though - I used to just say "eh, this day was blown" when maybe it wasn't that bad (as yours wasn't, imo).

That said, was this potluck a planned thing, or a surprise? Don't beat yourself up about the past, but think about how you might plan around these events in the future.

[BostonMox]

If you know you have a potluck/family dinner/eating out/party etc... have something healthy before you go (fruits, veggies etc). It takes 20 minutes for your body to tell your brain that your full so by the time you get to the party you will already be somewhat full and will eat smaller portions there! The WORST thing for me is to go to a restaurant or a party starving!!

[JayEll]

One day in a week won't blow everything--but it's really more for maintaining than for active weight loss. The problem comes when you think oh well, what the heck, and do it again two days later. Two days of overeating in a week can stop weight loss cold for me.

Some people are saying don't worry about it, but I think we do need to understand that going off a program, whatever it is, can be a dangerous thing to do.

Jay