What do you do when you slip up?

Kittyy1994

Those days where it seems impossible to stick to your calorie goal?? For example very hungry that day, go out for a meal and order what you like, when you have a couple too many wines!? Does this happen to people every couple of weeks or is it just me.... and how do you “recover”

PigHerder

I usually shrug, and carry on. Maybe drink a bit more water than usual to flush out the extra salt that tends to be in restaurant food?

Ultimately days like that will slow your overall weight loss time a tiny bit, but you also have to enjoy your life and eating out is a big part of that. So don't sweat them.

Some of it comes down to planning, I think. If I know I'll be out for dinner one night, I try and have a bigger than usual lunch so I'm not ravenous by the time I get to the restaurant. If I can suss out the menu ahead of time, I can work out what my best food options are. Knowing what I'm going to be eating in advance, usually stops me from ordering ALL THE THINGS.

And I don't go nuts on the alcohol. Prosecco is festive and relatively low cal. But always order plenty of water for the table. Don't quench your thirst on booze.

TavistockToad

i don't 'slip up' as i don't see it as doing something wrong, i just have days where i might over eat, because of stress or because of a special occasion... so the next day i go back to my normal calorie allotment (whether that's a deficit or maintenance).

however, working to a weekly goal means there isn't much that i cant fit in, so that makes life easier.

Kittyy1994

TavistockToad wrote: »

i don't 'slip up' as i don't see it as doing something wrong, i just have days where i might over eat, because of stress or because of a special occasion... so the next day i go back to my normal calorie allotment (whether that's a deficit or maintenance).

however, working to a weekly goal means there isn't much that i cant fit in, so that makes life easier.

Ooh, that’s a great point making a weekly deficit instead as I guess one day wouldn’t matter if you were under overall. There are many days (especially when I work out) that I have 300-400ish left over by bedtime.

Is there a way you can see your weeks results with MFP?

amusedmonkey

I don't consider it a slip up, it's just life. Life is not always predictable and plannable, so learning to be flexible is important. Hungry? I either wait it out or eat more. If I eat more, then that's that, if I'm not hungry next day I just don't continue eating more, and problem solved.

Any extra calories can be safely ignored if I get back to what I was doing and don't continue overeating. If I'm not very hungry and feel like making up for overeating, I just eat less the next few days provided it doesn't feel like punishment. If I notice myself feeling hungry and doing negative "serves you right for overeating" self talk, I halt my compensation plans immediately and move on. Not every calorie needs to be made up for.

For things that can be planned, like a day out or a party, I just eat a little bit less/move a little bit more that week to bank calories for the event.

If I want a couple too many wines (well, other things in my case because I don't like wine), I plan for them in advance. This happens like this:

1. I decide what I want to have and if it's worth it. Example: "This weekend I'm going to have a large bag of chips, not a single serving, and I understand that I will have to work for that. I haven't had chips in a while, and I feel this is worth it."
2. I calculate how much it would cost me. "A large bag of chips has 800 calories".
3. I decide how I'm going to split those calories depending on my appetite and what I feel like doing. Some of my usual options are: having one very low calorie day that week (800 calories fewer than my usual budget), doing 100 calories fewer every day for 8 days, doing 50 calories fewer but exercising for 50 calories more for 8 days, or any size deficit/exercise that feels right to me that week. I may also decide that I'm fine with a smaller deficit that week and understand that it will mean slightly slower loss, in which case I don't do anything differently and eat my chips anyway.

tinkerbellang83

Kittyy1994 wrote: »

TavistockToad wrote: »

i don't 'slip up' as i don't see it as doing something wrong, i just have days where i might over eat, because of stress or because of a special occasion... so the next day i go back to my normal calorie allotment (whether that's a deficit or maintenance).

however, working to a weekly goal means there isn't much that i cant fit in, so that makes life easier.

Ooh, that’s a great point making a weekly deficit instead as I guess one day wouldn’t matter if you were under overall. There are many days (especially when I work out) that I have 300-400ish left over by bedtime.

Is there a way you can see your weeks results with MFP?

In Nutrition on the diary, switch the view from day to week.

Dilvish

We all have days where we exceed our calorie goal. Slow and steady is how you lose weight and keep it off. Weight loss for better appearance and health is a journey, not a destination.

When you "fall off the wagon", just get up and get back on. Don't worry about it, just don't fall off too often!

I personally allow myself a cheat day once a week. Although I can eat what I want on that day, I tend to still remain somewhat conservative, but I don't feel guilty about it.

Realize that there will always be days where we go off track...accept it and move forward.

Running2Fit

I just shrug it off and focus on doing better the next day. I don’t feel the need to “recover” or punish myself for having an off day.

NovusDies

If this is a regular event then I suggest making it part of your overall plan. Instead of feeling like it is a mistake I think you should embrace it and look forward to it as part of your new lifestyle. I eat more every Sunday. This was part of my plan since the beginning (February) and it has worked really well for me.

I only really care about my week's calories so I eat less on normal work days which leaves more calories for Sunday. I have lost weight doing it this way for 10 months now. The only downside is that I will often have a water weight fluctuation for a few days following Sunday but that is really no big deal if you understand why it is happening.

1BlueAurora

I try not to feel deprived. So every day I eat a piece of pie or a couple cookies, or drink a glass of wine. It's not for everyone, I guess it triggers overeating for some people, but I just try to make sure I am not boring myself with an unending river of broccoli. When I do overdo it, I just make sure I have fun while I'm at it and start over the next day without guilt.

Psychgrrl

Keep going. Just one day (or more). Doesn’t define you. If I gave up, I’d never have gotten where I wanted to go. Progress, not perfection.

ailsalw

Don’t beat yourself up
It’s just one of those days you didn’t stick to your plan, doesn’t mean your plan is ruined
Smile and shrug it off, tomorrow’s a new day

Machka9

Kittyy1994 wrote: »

Those days where it seems impossible to stick to your calorie goal?? For example very hungry that day, go out for a meal and order what you like, when you have a couple too many wines!? Does this happen to people every couple of weeks or is it just me.... and how do you “recover”

Eat within your calories the next day.

snickerscharlie

Kittyy1994 wrote: »

Those days where it seems impossible to stick to your calorie goal?? For example very hungry that day, go out for a meal and order what you like, when you have a couple too many wines!? Does this happen to people every couple of weeks or is it just me.... and how do you “recover”

Make sure that your daily calorie deficit isn't too aggressive and that you're occasionally overeating to compensate for the fact that you are just too damn hungry!

If that's not the case, well, life happens. Log everything you ate honestly and completely, learn what you can from it and move on.

ShayCarver89

I just go back to it. I don't linger on it. I don't put too much thought into it. I just go back to what I was doing. I feel like in the past, beating myself up over mistakes was what made me quit. 'I ate half a pizza so screw it. I'll just eat whatever I want the rest of the day.' Its never done me any favors to dwell on the mistakes. Take the loss and keep truckin'.

jjpptt2

Wake up tomorrow and try again. That's what I do every day, regardless of how good or bad the previous day was.

JeromeBarry1

@Kittyy1994 Treat every awakening as a new beginning, a fresh start with improved knowledge.

kami3006

As many others already said, I log it and move on.

Once I started following a weekly calorie goal, this became a non-issue as I can balance my calories out over the week and stay on my goal.

Danp

Meh, 'Slipping up' is human, the problem is 'giving up'

I'm a flawed human being so I'm bound to go off track occasionally so why would I beat myself up for being a normal person. I just understand and accept that 'slipping up' is a normal part of life so it's really no big deal. I didn't get to the weight I was because of the occasional 'slip up'.

I also made myself understand that not every detour from the plan was a 'slip up'. Sure I've started to manage my weight but I also have a life to live and a life I plan to enjoy.
So just like how I didn't put on all the weight because I 'slipped up', I also didn't put on all the weight because I ate a piece of cake at a party, I didn't put on all the weight because I ate chocolate at Christmas or Easter and I didn't put on all the weight because I indulged while on holidays. I put on all the weight because I over-ate consistently every day between those occasions.

So yeah, 'slipping up' every now and then is perfectly normal and really doesn't matter in the long run and deliberately slipping up occasionally is great in my book