Maintenance for one day

bembo1980

Hubby is bringing a meal in for our anniversary. It will be the first time in 4 weeks I have gone over my calorie goal for the day. I *could* only eat a little bit but I really fancy it.

If I change from 'lose 2lb week' to 'maintain' I get an extra 650 calories to use. If I do that just for today then go back to lose 2lb would that work?

I will resent it if I don't eat it but want to stay accountable and track it...

__TMac__

Sounds like a good plan.

mdnorthside

It depends what you mean by "work." It's all about CICO. Think about it in terms of your whole week. If you're still at a deficit over all you'll still lose weight, just less by that many calories. If you're no longer at a deficit (I've definitely had binges that bad) then you won't lose weight. Simple as that. The only question is whether that's what will make you happy!

bembo1980

mdnorthside wrote: »

It depends what you mean by "work." It's all about CICO. Think about it in terms of your whole week. If you're still at a deficit over all you'll still lose weight, just less by that many calories. If you're no longer at a deficit (I've definitely had binges that bad) then you won't lose weight. Simple as that. The only question is whether that's what will make you happy!

I've rang him and made him choose things that won't put my off by too much so that my deficit is still there

bwogilvie

mdnorthside wrote: »

It depends what you mean by "work." It's all about CICO. Think about it in terms of your whole week. If you're still at a deficit over all you'll still lose weight, just less by that many calories. If you're no longer at a deficit (I've definitely had binges that bad) then you won't lose weight. Simple as that. The only question is whether that's what will make you happy!

This is spot on. I aim to meet a weekly goal, not a daily goal, because some days I'll be hungrier than others, and some days I know I'll want to indulge. If my net goal is 1500, I might do 2100 on a day I'm eating out (which is well over maintenance), then aim for 1400 a day on the other 6 days of the week to hit my total weekly goal of 10,500.

The only challenge is sticking to the weekly plan.

ogtmama

bembo1980 wrote: »

Hubby is bringing a meal in for our anniversary. It will be the first time in 4 weeks I have gone over my calorie goal for the day. I *could* only eat a little bit but I really fancy it.

If I change from 'lose 2lb week' to 'maintain' I get an extra 650 calories to use. If I do that just for today then go back to lose 2lb would that work?

I will resent it if I don't eat it but want to stay accountable and track it...

Doooo iiiiit!

Eta: this obviously isn't something you do all the time so enjoy your special occasion. A day at maintenance will slow you down for your final goal by less than a day.

If this truly isn't a diet but a change in how you live, these "indulgences" are important. The fact that you've planned ahead and made sure it's within maintenance level calories is exactly how these days should be handled. Congratulations!

SarahMacphail1

I'd just do it personally. Not like it's an every day thing, special occasions happen. Log it and if you are over then just get back on track tomorrow It becomes a problem when you think "well I went over yesterday so there's no point now" imo.

annabee88

I've had a couple of these days recently with birthdays etc. I just logged as normal, don't see why you would need to change it? Enjoy it and have a wonderful time!

sbrandt37

You can do it with or without changing your weight loss goal. The only impact of eating more one day will be that your weight loss for the week will be slightly impacted. Eating 650 calories more on one day will reduce your weight loss for the week by about 3 ounces, which is not something to get too worked up about for a once-a-year occasion.

tracy63031

Just go for it. The important thing is to track it and be accountable. It's a special occasion. If you try to be perfect all the time you're just going to flip. Believe me I have been there.