What to do after a binge?

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Jubee13
Jubee13 Posts: 132 Member
in Goal: Maintaining Weight
I have been maintaining successfully for about a month. I lost my weight eating about 1,200 calories, and I've been adding 100 calories a week. It's been going very well...until yesterday. I've been out of town and did really well with my eating until yesterday. I ended up losing all control and binging badly. Hopefully, I learned a lesson as I feel horrible today. It was NOT WORTH IT in any way. Don't know why I I did it. Anyway, my question is this - should I wipe the slate clean and eat at maintainance or should I go back to eating at a deficit for a week or two?

Replies

  • missiontofitness
    missiontofitness Posts: 4,074 Member
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    Log it, and remember tomorrow is a new day. There's no need to cut calories. Just eat what you normally would for maintenance. One day won't ruin maintenance.
  • melimomTARDIS
    melimomTARDIS Posts: 1,941 Member
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    Skip the scale for a few days, drink lots of water, and take some pepto bismol to soothe your stomach. Binge eating sucks.
  • juliet3455
    juliet3455 Posts: 3,015 Member
    edited April 2015
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    missiontofitness wrote: »
    Just eat what you normally would for maintenance. One day won't ruin maintenance.

    I can't remember who said it but I Quote: " I log everything, good, bad or ugly, every day. The thing to remember is, your body logs all the food you eat, whether you choose to put it in your diary or not. So there is no reason not to log it. Your food diary is a tool to help you keep track of what you are eating, with an aim toward achieving your goal ( a calorie deficit if trying to lose weight vs. maintain or gain). The only way that this tool is useful is if you record everything you eat as completely and accurately as you possibly can.
    The trick is to start...and then to continue."

    The real trick is to look back at the day(s) and try to pick out what the trigger was that caused you to Binge and then use that knowledge to move forward. Maybe you were so focused that you were eating under your calorie goal while out of town and had built up a huge craving for more calories.

    Examine it, learn from it. Flip the page and move on.
  • missiontofitness
    missiontofitness Posts: 4,074 Member
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    juliet3455 wrote: »
    missiontofitness wrote: »
    Just eat what you normally would for maintenance. One day won't ruin maintenance.

    I can't remember who said it but I Quote: " I log everything, good, bad or ugly, every day. The thing to remember is, your body logs all the food you eat, whether you choose to put it in your diary or not. So there is no reason not to log it. Your food diary is a tool to help you keep track of what you are eating, with an aim toward achieving your goal ( a calorie deficit if trying to lose weight vs. maintain or gain). The only way that this tool is useful is if you record everything you eat as completely and accurately as you possibly can.
    The trick is to start...and then to continue."

    The real trick is to look back at the day(s) and try to pick out what the trigger was that caused you to Binge and then use that knowledge to move forward. Maybe you were so focused that you were eating under your calorie goal while out of town and had built up a huge craving for more calories.

    Examine it, learn from it. Flip the page and move on.

    Preach it!
  • Michael190lbs
    Michael190lbs Posts: 1,510 Member
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    what is your idea of Binge eating?
  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
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    absolutely nothing. log as normal and drive on.

    go for a walk after dinner (more for your mental state and physical comfort)- and start again tomorrow.
  • RaspberryTickleChicken
    RaspberryTickleChicken Posts: 629 Member
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    Log it & carry on. :)

    Reflect on why you binged in the first place. A very restrictive diet can't be maintained for the long haul so you may want to try to strike a balance.

    It's okay to eat chips or cookie ... do it in proper portions.

    You may also try 80/20 Rule so that you can indulge without the panic or guilt.

    I have been practicing my version of the 80/20 and it's quite liberating. The guilt free indulgence is worth it alone to me.

    Best of luck to you!
  • tesha_chandler
    tesha_chandler Posts: 378 Member
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    Maybe burn a few extra calories this week, otherwise, pretend it didn't happen. :)
  • Babykeys32
    Babykeys32 Posts: 36 Member
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    I wouldn't eat at a deficit. Don't punish yourself, it's not healthy and breads unhealthy relationships with food and your body.

    Forgive yourself, laugh about it if you can and just continue where you left off. Drink lots of water and go for a nice long walk to refresh yourself.

    Don't weigh for a few days. In fact I'd leave it a week. All the best and I hope you get on really well :)
  • RachLovesFit
    RachLovesFit Posts: 73 Member
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    Take a hot bath and hakuna matata
  • kern11
    kern11 Posts: 37 Member
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    just move on. it happened. its done. back on track your next meal. seriously, don't try to compensate by starving yourself. it won't work. it gets you in a bad cycle. I know from experience. forgive yourself
  • 311snowwhite
    311snowwhite Posts: 30 Member
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    Just move forward. No need to cut calories, but also no need to feel guilty. None of us are perfect, and we all slip up from time. We eat things we shouldn't, we miss workouts, etc. The thing to do is learn from our missteps and try to exercise better judgement and self control next time. Let go of whatever guilt you may have, and just start clean today!
  • linna62
    linna62 Posts: 988 Member
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    echo-- log it, and resume your new found habits and routine.
  • dopeysmelly
    dopeysmelly Posts: 1,390 Member
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    I agree with others.

    Work has been stressing me and led to a couple of binges recently. What I found most helpful was analyzing what happened (and why) as though I were a doctor taking notes. How was I feeling before the binge e.g. depressed, frantic, overwhelmed? How did I feel during and then after e.g. calm, full, nauseous? What specifically did I binge on e.g. high fat, high sugar, both?

    This was really helpful in putting together a plan to confront it e.g. split calories over more smaller meals to prevent hunger, increase calories, go for a walk more often, take deep breaths etc. Actually, just writing it down and putting together a plan (regardless of whether I stay true to it) made me reduce the negative emotions
  • jaqcan
    jaqcan Posts: 498 Member
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    dopeysmelly wrote: »
    I agree with others.

    Work has been stressing me and led to a couple of binges recently. What I found most helpful was analyzing what happened (and why) as though I were a doctor taking notes. How was I feeling before the binge e.g. depressed, frantic, overwhelmed? How did I feel during and then after e.g. calm, full, nauseous? What specifically did I binge on e.g. high fat, high sugar, both?

    This was really helpful in putting together a plan to confront it e.g. split calories over more smaller meals to prevent hunger, increase calories, go for a walk more often, take deep breaths etc. Actually, just writing it down and putting together a plan (regardless of whether I stay true to it) made me reduce the negative emotions

    Perfect advice!
  • gothchiq
    gothchiq Posts: 4,590 Member
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    Stay at maintenance, go work out. :)
  • betuel75
    betuel75 Posts: 776 Member
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    Do a lot more cardio either that day and/or the next couple of days along with reducing calories the next couple of days to offset the overage. its all a numbers game.
  • kern11
    kern11 Posts: 37 Member
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    that is really good advice

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