I went way over my calories today! Am I doomed forever?

threnjen

Today I ate at least 1500-2000 calories over maintenance, possibly more (I don't even know!)

Here's what will happen:

a) When I wake up tomorrow I will probably be up 3-5 pounds from my normal weight. This is because I ate so much that I will replenish my glycogen stores (I am usually at a deficit) and retain a ton of water. I will not have actually gained 5 pounds overnight because that is impossible.
b) I will get back on my deficit, and if I still eat at my 1 lb/week loss calorie level the other 6 days of the week, even if I went 2000 calories over today I will still lose almost half a pound this week.
c) Everything will be fine.

Remember - ONE BAD DAY will not ruin your diet forever. Don't let it derail you. Just get up and keep going and remember that you can recover pretty easily from one bad calorie day. The worst thing that you can do is consider a single bad food day as a permanent mistake and give up. One bad day will not hurt you that badly. Just don't make it a habit. Pick yourself up by the bootstraps, log it, and do better tomorrow. Forget the bad day and move on.

(For me, I engage in extreme overindulgence very rarely and don't do a regular or planned "cheat day". I do think it's very easy to wipe out an entire weekly deficit if you allow yourself to overindulge too frequently)

Leana088

I overate by 7000 about....which is more than my monthly deficit...but since it's my bday, I'm certainly not giving a s***t. Hahaha

Nony_Mouse

threnjen wrote: »

Today I ate at least 1500-2000 calories over maintenance, possibly more (I don't even know!)

Here's what will happen:

a) When I wake up tomorrow I will probably be up 3-5 pounds from my normal weight. This is because I ate so much that I will replenish my glycogen stores (I am usually at a deficit) and retain a ton of water. I will not have actually gained 5 pounds overnight because that is impossible.
b) I will get back on my deficit, and if I still eat at my 1 lb/week loss calorie level the other 6 days of the week, even if I went 2000 calories over today I will still lose almost half a pound this week.
c) Everything will be fine.

Remember - ONE BAD DAY will not ruin your diet forever. Don't let it derail you. Just get up and keep going and remember that you can recover pretty easily from one bad calorie day. The worst thing that you can do is consider a single bad food day as a permanent mistake and give up. One bad day will not hurt you that badly. Just don't make it a habit. Pick yourself up by the bootstraps, log it, and do better tomorrow. Forget the bad day and move on.

(For me, I engage in extreme overindulgence very rarely and don't do a regular or planned "cheat day". I do think it's very easy to wipe out an entire weekly deficit if you allow yourself to overindulge too frequently)

NoIdea101NoIdea

Lol, i was ready to post with 'one day won't make a terrible difference, just get back into it today, we're all human, etc.'

YES to point A: The number of people i see posting about how they weigh in at 2lbs more than the previous day after going 500 calories over their daily allowance is a bit much sometimes. Relax people and do the math, and accept we will all make mistakes.

Good post

shawnaes91

Too bad theres not a love this option for the OP.

shatandrawilliams

Thank you I really needed to read this! I had a bad day of overindulgence yesterday

NobodyPutsAmyInTheCorner

We're all doomed!!!!!

What a brill post! Nice to see some common sense in a sea of stupidity lol

SR_86

Love this! I ate soooo much at my best friends wedding yesterday and I didn't even know how to log it. I weighed this morning (out of interest, I know it's not real weight gain) and I'm up 4lbs - but I don't even care. It was one day of indulgence and I'm back on the logging train today. I will be back down to normal in no time and that chocolate cake was worth it.

VanillaGorillaUK

I overeat almost every week, I end up losing a little bit less because of it.

but still 22kg down, so doesn't look like it hurts?

crazyjerseygirl

Ha! That must have been awesome!
We are having a baby-naming party, I'm having a NYC bagel with cream cheese, lox, capers, the works and I am going to LOVE IT!!!

Pootler74

Yes! This! Can we just make every new MFP member read this?

I go over all. The. Time. Sometimes massively. No doom yet.

I have my daily cals set higher than what MFP suggests for just a pound a week, but lose about 6 and a half pounds a month, consistently. To me, it seems to be what you do AFTER you go over your daily calories that matters. Getting right back on the wagon after hurling yourself off (again!) makes a big difference.

ExRelaySprinter

I went over by about 2000 cals yesterday, but i'm back on track today and pre-thinking my meals for the rest of the week.
I also won't be logging my exercise all week.
I've even opened my food diary, which i'm hoping will shame me into eating better Meals. Lol

4leighbee

Pootler74 wrote: »

... No doom yet ...

LOL!

earlnabby

You sound like me. When I have a day like that, I just drink a lot more water and stay off the scale for a couple of days, then it's onward and downward.

earlnabby

Pootler74 wrote: »

Yes! This! Can we just make every new MFP member read this?

I go over all. The. Time. Sometimes massively. No doom yet.

I have my daily cals set higher than what MFP suggests for just a pound a week, but lose about 6 and a half pounds a month, consistently. To me, it seems to be what you do AFTER you go over your daily calories that matters. Getting right back on the wagon after hurling yourself off (again!) makes a big difference.

Your graph looks like mine. When I take mine to my doctor appointments, she points at the occasional spike and goes "good, you need a fun day once in a while".

uvi5

threnjen wrote: »

Today I ate at least 1500-2000 calories over maintenance, possibly more (I don't even know!)

Here's what will happen:

a) When I wake up tomorrow I will probably be up 3-5 pounds from my normal weight. This is because I ate so much that I will replenish my glycogen stores (I am usually at a deficit) and retain a ton of water. I will not have actually gained 5 pounds overnight because that is impossible.
b) I will get back on my deficit, and if I still eat at my 1 lb/week loss calorie level the other 6 days of the week, even if I went 2000 calories over today I will still lose almost half a pound this week.
c) Everything will be fine.

Remember - ONE BAD DAY will not ruin your diet forever. Don't let it derail you. Just get up and keep going and remember that you can recover pretty easily from one bad calorie day. The worst thing that you can do is consider a single bad food day as a permanent mistake and give up. One bad day will not hurt you that badly. Just don't make it a habit. Pick yourself up by the bootstraps, log it, and do better tomorrow. Forget the bad day and move on.

(For me, I engage in extreme overindulgence very rarely and don't do a regular or planned "cheat day". I do think it's very easy to wipe out an entire weekly deficit if you allow yourself to overindulge too frequently)

What a refreshing post OP! Btw, congrats on your fitness acomplishment. You look fantastic. The before and after picture are like two different people. You looked lovely before, but wow very inspiring for me.

I planned my "treat" day for yesterday, but worked my butt for it. I had only ended up having 2008 calories w/ 498 exercise left over. I also carried over 500 exercise calories from the day before (also had 375 left over from exercise from that day as well). Anyway, the day before Easter I mindlessly ate and did not log it. Maybe a few cups rice and a few servings of chips, ground turkey, fruit, guacamole, salsa etc... I wish I had logged it. I did not work out and felt awkward after over two weeks rocking my fitness plan. After yesterday and knowing I logged my day, I feel great. As I get better at this, I know I will have a day that I gross a few thousand over my goal for the day, but I will log it and pick up where I left off the next day. I love food and am really starting to love working out (as I did years ago). I did not think at my age that I could feel this good and can eat, enjoy and be fit!

Thank you OP for this post!

uvi5

uvi5 wrote: »

threnjen wrote: »

Today I ate at least 1500-2000 calories over maintenance, possibly more (I don't even know!)

Here's what will happen:

a) When I wake up tomorrow I will probably be up 3-5 pounds from my normal weight. This is because I ate so much that I will replenish my glycogen stores (I am usually at a deficit) and retain a ton of water. I will not have actually gained 5 pounds overnight because that is impossible.
b) I will get back on my deficit, and if I still eat at my 1 lb/week loss calorie level the other 6 days of the week, even if I went 2000 calories over today I will still lose almost half a pound this week.
c) Everything will be fine.

Remember - ONE BAD DAY will not ruin your diet forever. Don't let it derail you. Just get up and keep going and remember that you can recover pretty easily from one bad calorie day. The worst thing that you can do is consider a single bad food day as a permanent mistake and give up. One bad day will not hurt you that badly. Just don't make it a habit. Pick yourself up by the bootstraps, log it, and do better tomorrow. Forget the bad day and move on.

(For me, I engage in extreme overindulgence very rarely and don't do a regular or planned "cheat day". I do think it's very easy to wipe out an entire weekly deficit if you allow yourself to overindulge too frequently)

What a refreshing post OP! Btw, congrats on your fitness acomplishment. You look fantastic. The before and after picture are like two different people. You looked lovely before, but wow very inspiring for me.

I planned my "treat" day for yesterday, but worked my butt for it. I had only ended up having 2008 calories w/ 498 exercise left over. I also carried over 500 exercise calories from the day before (also had 375 left over from exercise from that day as well). Anyway, the day before Easter I mindlessly ate and did not log it. Maybe a few cups rice and a few servings of chips, ground turkey, fruit, guacamole, salsa etc... I wish I had logged it. I did not work out and felt awkward after over two weeks rocking my fitness plan. After yesterday and knowing I logged my day, I feel great. As I get better at this, I know I will have a day that I gross a few thousand over my goal for the day, but I will log it and pick up where I left off the next day. I love food and am really starting to love working out (as I did years ago). I did not think at my age that I could feel this good and can eat, enjoy and be fit!

Thank you OP for this post!

Btw, may I ask how tall are you? I started at 163 Lbs. I was down to 154 last time I weighed, but wont weigh again until next month. I know I've slimmed more because my close are hanging on me.

lynndot1

I think people get too wrapped up in their daily deficit that they forget you need 3500 calories for a pound. Which means you'd need to binge over 3000 calories to actually gain just ONE POUND overnight, and most people who overindulge don't overindulge THAT MUCH. I've gone through and put in days in which I "eat the world" as I like to call it and it ends up being at most 700-1500 at most over. Which isn't great, but also isn't even half a pound so, meh?

And really, what is a pound in the grand scheme of things? You fluctuate a few pounds every day just living your life. Unless you're competing or have a need to be at a specific number at a specific time, just relax, it'll all be okay and work itself out.

threnjen

Ha thanks everyone, glad you liked it.
Just as a report in, temporary scale damage wasn't as bad as expected, 2 pounds up. Whatevs, it will all go away in the next few days. I've got nothing to weigh in for.
When I went to bed I was really impressed at the food belly that I was rockin! It actually felt really strange to be so ... full. The last time I ate in excess (let alone over maintenance) was on Christmas day so I don't eat like this often. I forget the feeling of when you are so stuffed.
I also feel kind of bad today. It's like a food hangover!!

But it was worth it

@uvi5 Thank you! I've been at it for almost a year, so it's been slow and steady winning the race. I think you did better than me for a treat day, I knew about mine all week and I didn't save anything for it I am 5'1"

threnjen

I had a plan to follow up on this thread with my daily weigh-in to report how long it took the temporary weight to go away.

1 day after +2 Pounds overall
2nd day +3 overall
3rd day +4 overall (I can see why people get so freaked out )
But on the 4th day I came down with the stomach flu. I not only didn't weigh in, but I ate 500 cals all day, and surely didn't even retain that.
So 6th day after I am back to normal (and still with the flu ), but without a valid dataset.

krissyreminisce

I really needed to see this thread today. I'm going to a birthday party tomorrow in which there will be smores (which I desperately want and have already added two into my log) and other foods I'm not sure about, but I want to have a good time and partake. I've read enough of the boards to know I don't have much to worry about, but I still do.

So thank you, I've been worrying all week and even considered not going just to avoid the food.

I'm just going to have a good time, get in my run before the party and the morning after. I'm the DD, so at least I won't be hungover.

kdiamond

Agreed...and this is precisely why I go by average weekly calories and not daily!

lesliereloaded

I've eaten 2000 more calories than I should have for four days straight. I.Feel.Terrible. ... Ugh

threnjen

lesliereloaded wrote: »

I've eaten 2000 more calories than I should have for four days straight. I.Feel.Terrible. ... Ugh

It's ok Try to do better tomorrow.

Sued0nim

Yep..to all of that

It doesn't matter a jot

JenniferInCt

rabbitjb wrote: »

Yep..to all of that

It doesn't matter a jot

THAT is awesome to see on someones weight tracker, especially because youve been so successful. A good reality check for me because i went over my cals today, more than i ever have since starting. Deep breathes and onto the next day.

pinkshoelaces

This is definitely something I needed to see as I bombed my calories yesterday with an almost 5,000 calorie binge. Logically, I already knew that one day of extreme binging won't even make a dent in my progress as long as it's a stand-alone, but there's still that emotional side of me that will try to convince me that I've ruined all of my progress and everything's gone wrong now. So, in that sense, it's kind of comforting to see that other people go through the same thing and to hear some words of reassurance from them.

dufus12

Good gal. you got it together. In all ways....

lalabrucey

Thank you, I will be bookmarking this post for sure! I am on day 15 and thought I had really wrecked things attending a work function yesterday - Thanks for assuring me I haven't.
Feel *heaps* better now

quksan

Hey hey awesome thread my hubby brought home olive garden breadsticks and I went crazy with them and then realized oh PMS. Go figure! So i was stressing but now I will relax and start tomorrow like it never happened. Good advice people.

llUndecidedll

Of course one bad day won't hurt you, but it rarely stops at one bad day for the average binger. I overate by 15000 calories over 3-4 days of maintenance calories. I think working second shift makes me want more food. Any who.... This isn't the first time. I'll get back on track. I think Intermittent fasting works best for me.