Can one or two days ruin all good work?

edennapple

After 3 weeks of eating healthy, I haven't lost weight, I've actually gained a little. I know other factors might be involved but I was wondering if one or two bad days a week could ruin everything else.

Zipp237

One or two days can undo two or three weeks of work if you swallow enough calories. If you've gone three weeks without losing anything, you're doing something wrong. Watch your calories and see what you can do differently.

ariana_eatsandlifts

It depends, healthy eating does not guarantee weight loss, a calorie deficit does. How many calories have you been eating and how are you measuring those calories?

cerise_noir

It depends. How much over did you go? Gaining weight happens if you eat above maintenance. 500 extra calories over your maintenance (TDEE) every day for a week can = 1lb of weight gain. Fluid retention can mask weight loss and can come from new or extra exercise, TOM if you're female, too much sodium and dehydration. It is not muscle.

How many calories are you eating and how do you figure them out? Do you log everything that you eat and drink?

Neanbean13

Yyyyeppp yes it can . Your over all week intake is then exceeded by day or two over eaten or Consuming then yes. If you eating burgers within your intake then it won't.
Make sure u track things like oil in cooking etc. That bad boy has alot of calories per table spoon.

Whitezombiegirl

Totally. My defecit is only 200-250 a day to lose a 1/4lb a week (without exercise) . Its easy to overeat 200 cals a day which would totally wipe my defecit out.

StealthHealth

3 with a slight gain would indicate that you are eating at above maintenance. If you goal is to lose weight you need to routinely eat less.

If, when eating at a sizable deficit for a few weeks, you slip up an eat over maintenance for a weekend that would have an impact but ruin all your good work but I'm afraid to say - you're not in that place. You have been eating close to maintenance and THEN eaten over for a weekend.

sijomial

You can look at your calorie intake as a weekly instead of daily allowance if you prefer.

To directly answer your question - it depends on the deficit you have over 5 days as opposed to the surplus you have on 2 days.

kommodevaran

edennapple wrote: »

After 3 weeks of eating healthy, I haven't lost weight, I've actually gained a little. I know other factors might be involved but I was wondering if one or two bad days a week could ruin everything else.

It depends. If the amount of calories wipes out the deficit you've had, it will. If those two days bring their friends, it certainly will. Eating healthy can mean a lot of things, but it doesn't equal calorie deficit. Weight fluctuates naturally from day to day even if you are losing weight, so you need enough reliable data points before you can be sure you've actually gained weight.