I ate 3,000 calories today, and...
LaurenAOK
Posts: 2,475 Member
I feel great.
Give me a second to explain myself. This is for all the topics I see on here, on a daily basis, that declare "I went ____ calories over my goal! I'm a failure!" Or "I totally binged today and ate 300 calories of cookies! I've ruined all my hard work!" If you've ever posted one of those threads, or thought something similar, I'd like to share some thoughts with you.
My daily goal is to net about 1430 calories. Depending on exercise, this means I normally eat anywhere from 1400-1800 calories a day. I've been trying paleo recently (and actually loving it, but that's a different story), so my calorie intake has been a bit lower than normal because I've been adjusting to the new foods. Today, I was in a great mood and I decided I deserve a treat. I hadn't had a proper "cheat day" in a long time. Months, really. Maybe a couple hundred calories extra here or there, but nothing major.
So today, I ate Wendy's, ice cream, Olive Garden, and I'm about to eat more ice cream. When all is said and done I will have eaten over 3000 calories today. Given that my daily goal is half that, you'd think I'd be upset.
Nope.
Why not?
1) It was freaking delicious
2) I won't gain weight this week, because I was under my goal the other days of the week
and more importantly
3) One day really doesn't make a gosh darn lick of difference in the grand scheme of things!
Think about it. Many of you on this website have been overweight for YEARS, or maybe even your whole life. You've eaten thousands of calories on a daily basis. Now, you've turned yourself around. You're eating less, you're eating healthier, and that's great. But you're honestly going to get mad at yourself for ONE day of eating like you used to? C'mon, now. There's no need for that.
Most people are on here are at a 500 calorie per day deficit (some more, some less... but for the sake of argument let's say 500/day). First of all, this means if you go 300 calories over your goal, YOU WON'T GAIN WEIGHT. You're still under your maintenance amount of calories. You won't even maintain your weight. You'll lose weight, maybe just not as fast as you would have at the 500 calorie deficit. If you go 400 calories over your goal, you won't gain weight. If you go 500 calories over your goal, you won't gain weight. Starting to see a pattern?
If you go more than 500 calories over your goal, you probably STILL won't gain weight, because assuming you've been at your goal the rest of the week, you're still at an overall calorie deficit.
Even if you have a true "binge" and go 5000 calories over your goal, SO WHAT? You might gain, what, a pound? Which you'll probably lose again in the next week? Calm down. Deeeeep breaths. If you've got 50 pounds to lose, and you've already lost 30, and you gain ONE, is that really the end of the world? In the grand scheme of your weight loss journey, does that really make a difference?
What I'm trying to say is, too many people on this site see food and calories as the enemy. I can see where that's coming from - after all, calories are what made you fat, right? And you never want to go back to that! - but frankly, it's not healthy. Your mental health is just as important as your physical health. And if you're beating yourself up about going a few hundred calories over your goal, you need to give yourself a mental break. It's OKAY. Seriously. You're going to be fine. You've done so well already, and you're going to keep doing amazing, and a bump in the road isn't going to change that.
So next time you find yourself with your hand in the box of oreos after a perfectly healthy week, just enjoy the darn oreos. Seriously. Life is too short, people.
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to curl up in bed with my half gallon of Edy's Butterfinger ice cream.
Give me a second to explain myself. This is for all the topics I see on here, on a daily basis, that declare "I went ____ calories over my goal! I'm a failure!" Or "I totally binged today and ate 300 calories of cookies! I've ruined all my hard work!" If you've ever posted one of those threads, or thought something similar, I'd like to share some thoughts with you.
My daily goal is to net about 1430 calories. Depending on exercise, this means I normally eat anywhere from 1400-1800 calories a day. I've been trying paleo recently (and actually loving it, but that's a different story), so my calorie intake has been a bit lower than normal because I've been adjusting to the new foods. Today, I was in a great mood and I decided I deserve a treat. I hadn't had a proper "cheat day" in a long time. Months, really. Maybe a couple hundred calories extra here or there, but nothing major.
So today, I ate Wendy's, ice cream, Olive Garden, and I'm about to eat more ice cream. When all is said and done I will have eaten over 3000 calories today. Given that my daily goal is half that, you'd think I'd be upset.
Nope.
Why not?
1) It was freaking delicious
2) I won't gain weight this week, because I was under my goal the other days of the week
and more importantly
3) One day really doesn't make a gosh darn lick of difference in the grand scheme of things!
Think about it. Many of you on this website have been overweight for YEARS, or maybe even your whole life. You've eaten thousands of calories on a daily basis. Now, you've turned yourself around. You're eating less, you're eating healthier, and that's great. But you're honestly going to get mad at yourself for ONE day of eating like you used to? C'mon, now. There's no need for that.
Most people are on here are at a 500 calorie per day deficit (some more, some less... but for the sake of argument let's say 500/day). First of all, this means if you go 300 calories over your goal, YOU WON'T GAIN WEIGHT. You're still under your maintenance amount of calories. You won't even maintain your weight. You'll lose weight, maybe just not as fast as you would have at the 500 calorie deficit. If you go 400 calories over your goal, you won't gain weight. If you go 500 calories over your goal, you won't gain weight. Starting to see a pattern?
If you go more than 500 calories over your goal, you probably STILL won't gain weight, because assuming you've been at your goal the rest of the week, you're still at an overall calorie deficit.
Even if you have a true "binge" and go 5000 calories over your goal, SO WHAT? You might gain, what, a pound? Which you'll probably lose again in the next week? Calm down. Deeeeep breaths. If you've got 50 pounds to lose, and you've already lost 30, and you gain ONE, is that really the end of the world? In the grand scheme of your weight loss journey, does that really make a difference?
What I'm trying to say is, too many people on this site see food and calories as the enemy. I can see where that's coming from - after all, calories are what made you fat, right? And you never want to go back to that! - but frankly, it's not healthy. Your mental health is just as important as your physical health. And if you're beating yourself up about going a few hundred calories over your goal, you need to give yourself a mental break. It's OKAY. Seriously. You're going to be fine. You've done so well already, and you're going to keep doing amazing, and a bump in the road isn't going to change that.
So next time you find yourself with your hand in the box of oreos after a perfectly healthy week, just enjoy the darn oreos. Seriously. Life is too short, people.
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to curl up in bed with my half gallon of Edy's Butterfinger ice cream.
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Replies
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Awesome post. :drinker:0
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dammmit. A half GALLON?
I don't like you a whole lot right now.:laugh:
But I do like ice cream. Good post. And good luck speaking to the masses.
:flowerforyou:0 -
Wondering if any other posters will read and heed this! Great sound advise!0
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You know those super obvious things that you should know but forget constantly? This is one of 'em. Thanks for the reminder!0
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great post!!! thanks for the motivation and the removal of guilt for going over MY limit for the day!! and even though I just ate 3 slices of pizza, I'm hungry again... lol0
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applause0
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Great post. I have I think found an estimate for my tdee, that might be close. Somewhere between 2629 and 3112. I was thinking how I must have eaten heaps to gain weight, but in reality it crept on and I ate not enough on somedays, over ate because I was hungry, and didn't move enough. One days eating won't ruin you people.
I still can't believe my tdee. I have eaten 2700 this week and will see what my loss is this week...0 -
Lol! OMG!! The same thing just happened with me! I had 3 events to attend and I'm not going to document cause its not worth the headache nor the beating up of self!! Tomorrow is a new day!0
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I ate 2500 today, but netted way under my goal all week!! I have found much.more success
in looking at weekly cals!! it allows me to have some wiggle room!!0 -
Dear OP,
I think I just fell in love with you. No, seriously. THAT was an awesomely EPIC post!!
:flowerforyou:0 -
Love this post, so so true.0
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love!!!!!0
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Finally! Someone with common sense actually posted about this! Thank you!0
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Great post! This is all so true!0
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Love it!! awesome post! :drinker:0
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Great post!
I'm just waiting for some Negative Nancy to come along and bash you. Let's all remember to ignore them
The only way to be successful in regaining and maintaining your health is to make it a LIFETIME change... not a quick fix. That means eating the things you love in moderation (and sometimes in more than moderation).. not just refusing to ever eat them again. That's ridiculous. You cannot constantly be the exact weight you want to be.. you'll just drive yourself crazy.
So, enjoy food and enjoy life.. and try, overall, to be healthy while doing it! 0 -
Great post!! Treat days definitely help to remove that feeling of being deprived. I wouldn't be sane without them... :laugh:0
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Totally agree with you!!! Think ur post was :smokin:0
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Nice post. I regularly have days like this and have maintained my goal weight all year (BMI of about 20 with around 10% body fat).
Weekly calorie/macro tracking is a wonderful thing. I ate 7636 calories on Monday alone and will still hit my weekly goal.1 -
Awesome post!!! I had a celebration today as well and consumed over 2000 calories so cheers to indulging without stress!!!0
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Well my day is officially made. Thanks for this post!!0
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Thank you, I felt bad I ate all da cooooooookieeees!:blushing:
:glasses: 0 -
You stated what most people forget.... we need to learn to live with food.... not treat it and our bodies like the enemy.
I love food, I love how good clean food makes my body feel, I also like to have something I don't usually eat once in a while, and like you, I couldn't care less.
I don't hate myself for it, I just put it in its place as a treat.
I don't call it a cheat, I don't call it anything, its just fkn food!
We gotta live. Personally I love going out for dinner - or a dance and a few drinks.
When you are scared of food, when you are placed in a position where you have to make choices, you freak out and stuff your face till you cant move.
When you look at it as just food and a great social night out etc, then you enjoy it without eating like you are going to die without ever seeing junk again.0 -
Awesome post!! Thank you!! :-)0
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I love you for this. I ate like crap today after telling myself I wouldn't and this makes me feel loads better. Thank you.0
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Cheers!! 0
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I like you :happy:0
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Well said. It's hard, at first, to feel like going over isn't the end of the world. But, you're right. One day here and there is nothing compared to the big picture. :happy:0
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