How do you get back on track after a day of indulgence?

ravenrainchild

So...I messed up bad today. I was home all alone and there was an entire bag of after dinner mints in the kitchen that just isn't there anymore.

*looks down at tummy*

Not just that, but I ate probably a good 3-4 granola bars and about half a personal sized pizza. ALong with what I would usually eat, which would be lean ground turkey..vegetables...good-for-your-body stuff.

...This is so wrong!! I was doing so good!!!!!! My legs are getting more toned, my tummy is shrinking and my arms and back feel so strong. Now I just feel blah. Blah! (Witha capital 'B'!) I have a workout class in about an hour - which i'm going to FORCE myself to go to, but I still don't feel like thats enough.

So, friends, how do I come back from this tomorrow? How do I wake up and get my routine back on track on a weekend nonetheless? (Weekends are usually less structured for me so they're harder to stick to my eating routine)

How do you normally get back into it after a day of no-no foods?

AskTracyAnnK28

It's normal to slip up so please don't be hard on yourself.

Just get up in the morning with the confidence that you'll eat right and make good choices.

It could be possible that there was something in that granola or pizza that your body needed. Maybe add more protein and fiber to your diet to keep you fuller.

Last week I ate 2 giant bowls of Rasin Bran. 2 HUGE bowls - didn't even bother logging it. Clearly I needed the bran and it served it's purpose lololol

ravenrainchild

Possibly...I think it was more so the case of me being bored because I was home alone and that rarely happens. Thank you for your encouragement, it means a lot : )

tracyannk28 wrote: »

It's normal to slip up so please don't be hard on yourself.

Just get up in the morning with the confidence that you'll eat right and make good choices.

It could be possible that there was something in that granola or pizza that your body needed. Maybe add more protein and fiber to your diet to keep you fuller.

Camo_xxx

The same way you get up off the floor after you trip and fall. Get up, dust yourself off and move on.

bkerr30

Log it all today and start fresh tomorrow. If you feel like weekends are harder for you, I suggest doing some meal prep and menu planning tonight so you have a game plan going into tomorrow. Also plan some good for your body yet relaxing workouts....yoga, hikes with the family or friends, or a fun class you enjoy. And stop beating yourself up over today. You weren't "bad", you just made some food choices that don't fit into your current meal plan. But do record it. I usually include a note with my food diary saying why I was above my calorie allotment and how I felt afterwards (ie: lethargic, bloated etc) so I can read this the next time I want to go totally off the rails so to speak. I find it helps.
Good luck this weekend and enjoy your class tonight

Jruzer

ravenrainchild wrote: »

How do you normally get back into it after a day of no-no foods?

There are (or should be) no "no-no" foods, for one thing.

Bored binging is something I've run into as well. I wish I could tell you how to stop entirely. But carrying on is easy: admit you screwed up and keep going.

ravenrainchild

Thank you guys. I appreciate it.

Although why are you guys generally telling me to log it regardless if it's bad? I just usually chalk up the whole day and begin anew the next. Just curious!

Cortneyrenee04

Yes, I would always log a day like that. It helps you to see it and could stop you next time. I usually pre-log and only eat what I've planned.

avskk

1) I make myself log it. You don't have to, but I find that I can calm down about the whole thing quicker if I know exactly what I ate. I can also plan my recovery, should I choose to "recover," which I don't always -- sometimes I just write the whole episode off.

2) I think about why I overate and I talk it through somehow, either in a personal journal or here on MFP. I try to pinpoint what caused it, how "bad" it actually was, how I could avoid it in future, etc. (If you look at my profile you'll see a lot of status updates where I process through a binge.)

3) I make a plan: either I'm writing off the day or I'm going to attempt to save the week. If I'm writing off the day, I do nothing further. I let it go and start the next day fresh, eat to my goal, and just move forward. If I'm going to attempt to save the week, I cut my calories the following day (or two or three) by 200 or so in order to end up with a normal deficit at the end of the week. And then again, I let it go and continue with my normal plan.

I think the important parts here are processing, understanding, letting go, and moving forward. All else is optional.

SbetaK

Camo_xxx wrote: »

The same way you get up off the floor after you trip and fall. Get up, dust yourself off and move on.

Excellent way to put it! Bravo!

AskTracyAnnK28

I don't log it...because for me "what's done is done" and I move past and get on with my healthy eating. I don't need a glaring reminder of my slip up...and logging it doesn't serve me in a positive way.

It's purely a personal choice. Either way I'm sure you'll pick yourself up and get back on track right away

Ftw37

Honestly log it all, and continue onwards. You'll be able to look back on it as the rogue data point it is.

syedsaad

well yesterday i screwed up at lunch .... how i came back was not having dinner and I am doing the same today .... if you make a mistake just forget it and move on.

KANGOOJUMPS

I am into FASTING. but if you mention that here. ITS EVIL... well, it works.

Susieq_1994

ravenrainchild wrote: »

Thank you guys. I appreciate it.

Although why are you guys generally telling me to log it regardless if it's bad? I just usually chalk up the whole day and begin anew the next. Just curious!

I find that logging the whole mess makes me much more mindful, and it has helped enormously in my very long-standing struggle to learn moderation. How? Like so:

Generally, when I blow it, I blow it BIG TIME. I'm talking 5000-7000 caloriepalooza type of blowing it. I have a really bad issue with an all or nothing mindset towards everything in life, including my diet, which encourages that kind of blow-out.

The last two times I did have that kind of crazy blow-out... I forced myself to log every. last. calorie. And you know what? I haven't been tempted to do that again. I've had that "I want to eat like a crazy person" itch... But when I'm thinking of scratching it... Something in my mind just doesn't want to do that again.

The last time I had that feeling and went overboard.. I hit a grand total of about 2400 calories for the day. A huge improvement, wouldn't you say? That's why everyone who's been at this for a good long while will probably encourage you to log it. It really helps, at least for me, to know how I stand. The math will tell me how long it will take to repair the damage... And it's usually not as bad as I would expect.

As for what to do now about your indulgence... I would say log and move on. I've always suffered consequences if I give in to the need to punish myself for messing up, so I actively avoid that now. I might eat a bit lightly the next day if I'm feeling bloaty and gross.. Otherwise I go back to normal and my deficit will take care of it in time.

Sorry for being so long-winded! All the best to you.

MountainMaggie

Camo_xxx wrote: »

The same way you get up off the floor after you trip and fall. Get up, dust yourself off and move on.

What he said. Mentally picture a healthy and fullfilling breakfast tonight. One step at a time.

zyxst

ravenrainchild wrote: »

Thank you guys. I appreciate it.

Although why are you guys generally telling me to log it regardless if it's bad? I just usually chalk up the whole day and begin anew the next. Just curious!

When you log it, you can see exactly how much you've eaten calorie-wise and sometimes, it's not as bad as you thought it was. Maybe you just ate your deficit instead of gong over maintenance. You can keep yourself honest and have a better idea of how your indulgence affects your body (weight gain, bloating, mental alertness, etc), perhaps even figure out why your scarfing down the after dinner mints.

You're not alone, OP. Though I don't have off-limits foods, I do have times where I boredom eat and eat just to get rid of the last of the whatever-it-is.

ETA: now I want after dinner mints. :P

leighn62

One reason I log when I have made missteps is because sometimes when I log it, it wasn't as bad as I thought and it makes it a little easier to continue on a good path today knowing that I didn't do as much damage as I thought.

MKEgal

"Camo_xxx wrote:

The same way you get up off the floor after you trip and fall.
Get up, dust yourself off and move on.

This.

Be flexible. If maybe 80% of your diet is relatively healthy, enjoy the 20% that's not.
Forgive yourself. Don't try to be perfect because you can't. You're not.
Don't give up! If you give up, things won't get better.

So you ate too much. It's one day. And unless you do a really really major binge (like susieq used to) it's not going to set you back all that much.
If you had 3500 extra calories, you could do an extra 100 calories of exercise every day (on top of what you usually do) and in 5 weeks you'd be rid of the excess. 100 calories is nothing. Do an extra 250 per day, and it's gone in 2 weeks.
You haven't ruined anything, just delayed reaching your goal.

brendawhite2765

look at the week as a whole, not individual days - you may find that, although your day was a bad day (mine was today as well), your week may be ok. I always think that a good week is one where I maintain the current weight, an excellent week is one where I lose weight. I have learned not to beat myself up for the bad days and focus on the good.

SuggaD

I just move on or try to make it even out depending on how the week has gone. So like last night after dinner I ate around 1500 calories of dried fruit and larabars. Today, I decided to stay away from all fruit. But that is all.