HORRIBLE BINGE

graciesparklesgrace

A day after doing a 30 hour water fast (i did not fast for weight loss, it was strictly religious) i had a horrible binge. it lasted the whole day. I consumed over 4,000 CALORIES. I’m used to 1500 calories. and over 250 grams of sugar and 100 grams of fat. i’ve been sobbing for over an hour about this. I’m just wondering what i should be prepared for because i have never had a binge before. How much weigh will i gain? How much fat? What should i do tomorrow? thank you!

Blythmag

First of all, relax, its done, you feel a bit bloated but its not a disaster.try and be super good for a week then you will rescue it back.the scales will move a wee bit but will soon be back to normal.

We have all done it....its no biggy

PAV8888

N o t h i n g

Weigh yourself the day after the day after tomorrow.

Realize that your fat level and weight level don't change with the same speed/velocity. (Water) weight changes fast. Fat levels much slower.

Understand that large deficits increase your chance of having a break down... Like you did.

In 54 hours you consumed 4000 Calories. This is 1777.77 per 24 hours. It's hardly earth shattering.

Your macros are definitely a majoring in the minors concern.

You think that a year from now your weight and health will be determined by whether you ate 250g, 300g or 100g of sugar and fat?

What matters is what you do... consistently. Day in and day out.

Tomorrow eat as per your normal plan. If you're not hungry early on, delay a bit. But don't overdo it. Just re establish your normal routine as soon as you can!

Simplez!

lynn_glenmont

Reality check:

If your normal goal is 1500 kcal (I'm assuming that's a deficit goal for weight loss, both because it's so low and because you're so upset about eating more), and you zero calories yesterday (during the water fast), and you had 4000 kcal today, that's only an average of 2000 kcal for the past two days, or only 500 calories above your goal to be in a deficit. If your daily goal is set for 1 lb a week weight loss, you just averaged at maintenance for the past two days. If you have your weekly loss goal set higher than 1 lb a week, you're still below maintenance.

Without your telling us what the 1500 kcal represents, no one can tell you how much in theory in you will gain. And because water retention varies with overall food intake and with the specific things you eat and with stress (and beyond the stress of the fast and the binge, getting upset and sobbing for an hour probably has released all kinds of stress hormones), there's no way of knowing what the scale will say.

Tomorrow you should continue normally.

lynn_glenmont

holycrosser wrote: »

First of all, relax, its done, you feel a bit bloated but its not a disaster.try and be super good for a week then you will rescue it back.the scales will move a wee bit but will soon be back to normal.

We have all done it....its no biggy

I advise you to ignore this. You haven't done something "bad" and there's no need to be "super good" to make up for it. That's the kind of thinking that can lead to restrict-and-binge cycles, which you apparently don't need to be encouraged in.

PAV8888

No do NOT try to be super good. Emotionally this would feed your current overstressed outlook and possibly lead to an undesired cycle

TavistockToad

holycrosser wrote: »

First of all, relax, its done, you feel a bit bloated but its not a disaster.try and be super good for a week then you will rescue it back.the scales will move a wee bit but will soon be back to normal.

We have all done it....its no biggy

This is really bad advice

tinkerbellang83

graciesparklesgrace wrote: »

How much weigh will i gain? How much fat? What should i do tomorrow? thank you!

You might see a couple of extra pounds on the scale for a good few days, but this is nothing to freak out over because it's not fat.

If you've chosen 1lb loss or more per week you will still have been at maintenance or below so you wouldn't be seeing fat gain. Even if you were set to 0.5lbs loss you're talking around 0.25lbs gain which is nothing when yoi consider the bigger picture.

Just continue on as normal and put thr day behind you, if the water fasting is something you do regularly just look at your calories over the week, rather than day-to-day. So if you're normally set to 1500 calories per day on a week that you're doing a fast look at it as 10500 calories over the week and remember it's not the end of the world if you go a little over.

stephieleee

Well if you think about it you had 0 calories in one day and 4000 calories the next... So on average you consumed 2000 calories per day... which is probably maintenance? That's probably not how it works but hey.

Binges suck but just let it go and move on.

TavistockToad

stephieleee wrote: »

Well if you think about it you had 0 calories in one day and 4000 calories the next... So on average you consumed 2000 calories per day... which is probably maintenance? That's probably not how it works but hey.

Binges suck but just let it go and move on.

Yeah that kind of is how it works... look at your weekly goal.

Seffell

Maths will set you free

psychod787

Good advice from above. $#!÷ happens. Life does not end. Start preparing for maintenance now and get a handle on the binges. No need to cry over eaten sugar.

amy19355

I am with the others who say to try and not label your decisions as good or bad.

Call them “on target” or “off target”, (your personal targets are your calorie goals).

Above all - PATIENCE & Consistency Over Time.

Running2Fit

Girl, you are majorly overreacting. This is nothing to cry about. So you had an off day. It’s one day. Just get back on track with your plan and move on.

cmriverside

So my understanding of religious fasting is so that time can be spent in meditation and prayer.

I would suggest you take these feelings to your Higher Power and let him/her take them from you. Guilt and shame are not part of my relationship with God.

cmriverside

The other thing is that fasting often leads to over-eating on the next day. It's okay, now you know you will survive a day without food.

This is why we often say on this site that under-eating leads to over-eating/binges. A good moderate consistent plan is easier and less stressful to the body and mind.

I know you felt a call to this fasting, so next time you do it maybe plan better for the following day. No harm done. One day out of many more to come.

Cbean08

It happens! I don't know a single person who has never binged before. We all have a different definition of what it means to binge, but I think it's part of being human.

I recently went out for an anniversary and I ate way more than I ever would have at dinner. Did I regret it? Kind of, because my stomach ended up hurting a bit. But I had a great meal with my boyfriend and it was good food. I put in an extra workout the day after and ate a little less because I wasn't hungry. By the next day, I felt normal and resumed my regular eating routine. It had zero impact on the scale.

Lounmoun

Look at your weekly calorie goal and stop the emotion/drama over eating high one day.
It isn't that bad. You skipped eating 1 day and ate 4,000 calories the next. You ate the 1,500 you missed plus 1,500 for today plus 1000. If your daily deficit is usually 500 calories then you essentually had 2 maintenance calorie days.
It takes 3,500 calories over maintenance calories to gain 1 lb of fat. You did not get there.
You might retain some water or have more food waste than normal in your system so don't hop on the scale for a few days and just eat and exercise normally.

It seems that a 30 hour water fast may not be the healthiest choice for you if you don't plan to make up for it.

solieco1

No more tears It's ok and not that bad. We've all been there and likely will be again. This is not a good/bad judgement on your character. Take a breath and move on. I doubt you'll see any evidence of it in the long run. I agree with the above advice, do not spend the next week somehow making up for it. It's done, move on

melissafeagins

You ate two days of food in a day. Do you know how many years I have done that on Mardi Gras in preparation for Ash Wednesday? And Easter after after the long Good Friday and Holy Saturday fast?
Do not beat yourself up. Move on if bingeing is not a habit.

AnnPT77

Let it go. As others have said, mathematically it's trivial in the big picture.

Like any other incident of over-eating that occurs during weight loss, I'd encourage you to spend a few (no more than 5-10) minutes thinking about why it happened, and how you want to handle a similar scenario in future differently (if you do).

Since your fast was a religious practice, you might want to think about a special personal ritual to undertake on the next day after each fast. For example, that might be something like beginning to eat normally, but being more mindful of the act of eating and thinking about the source(s) of the food, being grateful for the enjoyment you experience, appreciating the sacrifice and labor that went into bringing you that food, and thinking about how your consuming of it will contribute to the health and energy you need in order to best accomplish good things in the world.

Today, you ate a little extra. Maybe do a little extra good in the world? (<=== I'm kidding here, really. Just go on with life. It'll be fine. Food is not sin, and doesn't require expiation.)

What you'll see on the scale the next few days is the big question mark. Stress raises cortisol and could increase water weight, as would any above-normal amounts of sodium and carbs in the food (even if a perfectly healthy amount of either). Digestive system contents in transit could be higher and show up on the scale for a few days, but they were presumably down from the fast. On the other hand - and I hate to admit it - sobbing for an hour probably burns a very few extra calories, and sheds some tiny amount of extra water.

I'd say, keep weighing yourself to learn from it, but don't stress over the results for another few days to two weeks, after which most of the weirdness will sort itself out.

It's going to be OK, really. You did your religious practice - a good thing. You ate a bit extra the next day - not a terrible or sinful thing. It'll be OK. Be kind to yourself!

pinuplove

I doubt the desired outcome of a religious fast is for you feel horrible and be sobbing over what you ate afterward. Chalk it up to a learning experience to keep in mind for next time. Any weight gain you see on the scale will be transitory and not worth worrying about.

NextRightThing714

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