How much weight should I expect to gain on a 2 day binge?

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CleanBEAN1
CleanBEAN1 Posts: 15 Member
edited May 2015 in Motivation and Support
I lost it after 4 weeks of being binge free! I think I ate a total of around 10 000 calories in the last two days. (5000 cals each day). How many pounds of fat should I expect to gain from this?

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  • Ninkyou
    Ninkyou Posts: 6,666 Member
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    Depends on what your maintenance calories are, whether you exercised at all?

    Kinda need more information that just "I ate 10,000 calories".
  • CleanBEAN1
    CleanBEAN1 Posts: 15 Member
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    My maintenance range is 1550-1600 calories. I did a 40 hour fast the following day and walked 30 km to compensate for my binge. I know what I did was unhealthy, but it helped with the guilt.
  • allyphoe
    allyphoe Posts: 618 Member
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    Binge-and-restrict cycle is a cycle; my concern is not so much that a one-off restriction is unhealthy per se but that you're setting yourself up to binge again.

    I'd guess that you're going to see some dramatic water weight swings, but if you go back to eating at maintenance or a moderate deficit, once everything settles out in a week or two, you'll be right where you were a few days ago. No harm done, just move on.

    What you've identified as maintenance is quite low - I'm 40-something and 5'4 and sedentary, and maintenance for me is more than 2,000 calories. If you're not under counting (so really maintaining on more calories than you think), you may have a more-restrictive goal than you really need. Giving yourself more calories day to day may help some with the urge to binge.
  • Ninkyou
    Ninkyou Posts: 6,666 Member
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    allyphoe wrote: »
    Binge-and-restrict cycle is a cycle; my concern is not so much that a one-off restriction is unhealthy per se but that you're setting yourself up to binge again.
    Yes, this.


    On the flip, look at it Mathematically.

    2 days of maintenance at 1600 calories, is 3200 calories.
    40 hours of fasting (based on your maintenance given) is approx 1333 calories

    10,000-3200-1333=5,467
    1 lbs = 3500 calories
    5,467/3500=1.562 lbs

    This is, of course, assuming your numbers are all correct and accurate.
  • allyphoe
    allyphoe Posts: 618 Member
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    1600/24*40=2666. So 3,800 surplus before the 20 miles of walking. I'd be surprised if there were any significant net surplus.

    IMHO, binge-and-restrict is one of those things where more information doesn't necessarily lead to better decisions. OP, don't focus on "how much fat might I have gained," because that just feeds the disordered thinking. Focus on getting back to track as if the binge had never occurred. A once-a-month binge, no matter how extreme, is not going to offset a reasonable moderate deficit the rest of the month. Falling back into the binge-and-restrict cycle and not breaking free, though, can dig you into a deeper hole.

    I find it useful to focus my mind on thoughts like, "I will eat all of my calories today, even if I don't want to." Control can work for good, too.

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