Binged today, but did cardio...question

bornofthorns

This sort of concerns me because I feel as though you have an unhealthy view of both food and exercise. Yes, it is calories in/calories out. Yes, exercise is a good thing. BUUUUT, food is a good thing. To be honest, OCCASIONALLY, a lot of food is ok, too. I know we all tend to have this Draconian, hardcore view of food. Like it is some sort of enemy to destroy. The truth is good is not the enemy, food is the ally. Excess fat is the enemy!

That being said, you win the War of the Weight, by winning the Battles of the Bulge one step at a time. The more steps you take correctly, the closer you get to your goal faster. This you know. That being said, besides for these physical battles of exercise, calories, carbs, etc is the mental mastery. You have to be able to look at a single instance - one meal, one workout, one drink, etc - and see how that works into your long-term plans. So what it sounds like is that this single instance of eating satisfied something that you wanted. That is good. If you satisfy your wants from time-to-time it makes it much easier to steadily satisfy your needs. Same with exercise. If you really love rocking that elliptical for 4 hours, then have at it. Something tells me you don't like it THAT much. So long-term, maybe you do an extra 15 - 20 minutes three times this week and counter your binge. I just don't want you to hate food or hate exercising so much that it reverses and starts to consume you. That being said...good work overall and keep up the good work!

javajunco

I dunno. I think there are a lot of folks overreacting here. 1.5 hours of cardio really isn't overexercising. I do more than that every day, even if sometimes it's just walking.

On the other hand, you want to make sure that you don't do so much today that you are unable to do any tomorrow. And be careful not to injure yourself!

anemoneprose

I dunno. I think there are a lot of folks overreacting here. 1.5 hours of cardio really isn't overexercising. I do more than that every day, even if sometimes it's just walking.

olympic athletes do more than that. but that is not related to disordered thinking, because that involves structured training towards a goal. they eat enough food to support that activity. it's monitored, etc.

the problem isn't the amount of time exercising, it's the motivations and emotions around it. (and the not-enough food)

OP the advice you've gotten is right on. You are not eating enough, which is why you ate a lot of food at once. If you set your regular daily calories to a higher level, you're much less likely to eat 3000 cals in one day/go.

If your regular foods that make up those calories are filling - protein, fibre, fats - this will help you stay fuller longer, too.

MB_Positif

I dunno. I think there are a lot of folks overreacting here. 1.5 hours of cardio really isn't overexercising. I do more than that every day, even if sometimes it's just walking.

On the other hand, you want to make sure that you don't do so much today that you are unable to do any tomorrow. And be careful not to injure yourself!

It's not. OP clearly has some disordered thinking which is why I am concerned about the potential pattern of binge/exercise. What happens when she eats 5,000 calories in a binge? Elliptical for 5 hours to "fix" it?

CoderGal

I binged today and ate almost 3000 calories...my food diary for today Jun 22nd is public and you can view it for reference. However, I exercised and burned 1000+ calories from exercise, and am still in the middle of exercising. Will the cardio exercise (elliptical trainer) help in erasing the bad that I did to my body with my binge, or will it only burn off the calories?

Thanks in advance for your help.

By not eating enough regularly and causing yourself to 'binge' and feel emotionally bad enough to make this post and exercise excessively over 1000 calories in one day (purely for the reason of guilt), which can potentially cause injuries, particularly if you're not eating enough....you are causing bad...the food wasn't bad. The food was fuel trying to fuel a under fueled stressed out body.

sugaree1202

Is your goal to eat 1200 net calories (net = consumed - workout calories) or 1200 total calories?

If you are feeling the need to eat more calories, it will be helpful to increase what you are eating. Like other commenters said, eating 3000 calories, then burning 1000 is still eating at less than maintenance since you are probably eating at a 1,000 calorie deficit already. The net calories you consume is just as important as the total (or gross) calories you consume. For example, on my rest days I consume 1,200 calories - net and gross since I don't have any workout calories to figure in. On workout days, I burn 600-1,000 and consume around 1,400-1,600 gross/800-600 net calories with a goal of 1,000 net but find it difficult to eat that much since I'm eating much more clean foods than I used to. The more activity you do, the more fuel your body needs. You didn't screw everything up in one day, but it might be a good odea to reevaluate your calorie goals on workout days. Good luck!

lithezebra

You can eat at least 1500 a day and still be losing. Why not recalculate your goals and create a plan that is easier to stick to? If you overexercise one day, it can be hard to do anything the next day. Get some rest, maybe take a rest day, and start over with the goal of eating enough to stay active throughout your weight loss process.

JesterMFP

wait, you've burned 1000 calories on the elliptical today and you're still on the damned machine? are you trying to set a record or something? get off the elliptical and do something productive like read a good book. 3000 calories isn't that big a deal, especially if you (allegedly) have burned 1000 calories in exercise. relax, you haven't done anything "bad to your body".

This. You've switched one extreme act (binging) for another (over-exercercising on the ellipical). Chill out. It's one day. Stop trying to kill yourself on the elliptical to punish yourself for eating.

^ This.

One binge is not the end of the world in terms of weight loss. It's something that needs addressing, but not by turning exercise into punishment, or into a get out of jail free card. Binging is not good for your body, especially if it's something you do often. Exercising won't negate that, even if you do burn some of the excess calories off.

It's also worth being aware that binging is a natural physiological and psychological response to calorie restriction, and it might be that 1200 calories a day is too low for you. Eat to fuel and nourish your body; exercise for fitness, and cardio vascular health, and to feel good, and to maintain muscle mass, and all the other benefits. Don't exercise for punishment or to "fix" disordered eating. That's a feature of bulimia.

JesterMFP

i appreciate the constructive comments and not the sarcastic ones that try to bring me down. thank you lots ^_^

I don't see anyone here trying to bring you down, just a lot of people concerned for your health.

lithezebra

i appreciate the constructive comments and not the sarcastic ones that try to bring me down. thank you lots ^_^

I don't see anyone here trying to bring you down, just a lot of people concerned for your health.

I don't think that telling her that she's bulimic, in danger of being bulimic, or "disordered" is constructive.

DavPul

^^Even if it's true?

lithezebra

^^Even if it's true?

Only fools rush in where competent health care professionals require an in-person appointment for a diagnosis.