600 calories over today 😬 advice?

Kittyy1994

Hi there. I went 600 calories over today - which is about 380 over my maintenance! No particularly special day or anything, stuck to goal until after dinner when I just started craving snacks. Anyways very disappointed with myself .... do you think this will cause weight gain? Should I try and balance out over the course of this week by saving 100 cal per day or just write it off and start fresh tomorrow?

tinkerbellang83

I would just write it off as a fresh start tomorrow, you don't want to get into the mentality of punishing yourself for eating a little over maintenance if it happens rarely.

To gain a pound of fat you'd have to eat around 3500 calories above maintenance. So if you're 380 calories over you've set back your weight loss by maybe 24 hours, which is but a drop in the ocean.

If anything, if it becomes more than a one off, getting to the root cause would be more helpful than trying to counteract it.

drmwc

It is a long haul journey, not a sprint. Don't worry about it, but try to learn from it. Start from fresh today.

It may have caused some weight gain, depending on the level of your deficit, but it will be pretty negligible. (I think 3,500 calories is about equivalent to a pound of fat. So 600 calories is equivalent to about 1/6th of a pound.)

LyndaBSS

Forgive yourself. Don't sweat the small stuff. ☺

stephaniek511

Agree with the other responses - it happens to all of us from time to time. For me, the big thing is not beating myself up over it - think of all the super successful days when I've done well and realize they far outnumber the once in a while day where snacking just happens.

And if it's helpful, I did the same thing last night. Good, healthy dinner and a reasonable sized dessert of fresh peach crisp...and then decided right before bed to have chips and salsa AND butterscotch pudding - and didn't even bother to measure either. Oops.

tinkerbellang83

drmwc wrote: »

It is a long haul journey, not a sprint. Don't worry about it, but try to learn from it. Start from fresh today.

It may have caused some weight gain, depending on the level of your deficit, but it will be pretty negligible. (I think 3,500 calories is about equivalent to a pound of fat. So 600 calories is equivalent to about 1/6th of a pound.)

Of the 600 only 380 was above maintenance. The 600 calories was over the calorie goal for weight loss so it's only about 1/10th of a pound.

ayalowich

I have had several similar days recently. Accept it and make an effort not to repeat in the next day.

Usually once a week it happens where I eat too much and don't work out. But like the others have said it takes a 3,500 gain to actually put on a pound, so while the scale may show a 2 or 3 pound gain, it will quickly reverse. Move on and as I write in my log "TYN", which means trust your #'s. If you record properly any short term gain will go away. I've been taking this approach for 6 years and really appreciate MFP for just being available.

missysippy930

Been there, done that.
Just start fresh and move forward. As long as you keep on your path, and don’t start sliding down a slippery slope, you’ll be fine.

lalalacroix

It's really not a big deal in the grand scheme. I've lost over 50 pounds and have probably gone off plan about twice per month during that time.

If it starts happening very often then that's a different story.

oharras

You seem to be concerned because you have made this a topic....I record all I eat and pay close attention in the evening because I know that once overeating or craving starts, it will continue so my self-discipline and purpose for keeping weight off being my health kicks in and I let go of the craving--it fades--chew some gum, that will always break my craving. Use this situation to help create a stronger self discipline and think about how your health will improve with the weight off....

texasredreb

Forgive yourself; it's just food. Log it and move on.

If it happens again, try to figure out why you are craving snacks so bad. Is your deficit too aggressive? Do you need a "diet break"?

Zodikosis

Try again tomorrow.

Pipsqueak1965

OR go for a weekly average - that means to can eat more on days you are hungrier, and less on the others.

Jenanne31

There's a weight loss app at https://www.pbrc.edu/research-and-faculty/calculators/sswcp/, called the Single Subject Excel® Based Weight Change predictor. It helps you calculate your projected weight loss based on calorie intake and age, weight, height etc. It's not 100% accurate but it's close enough to be helpful.

amyepdx

No need to even “start fresh” - that implies you are “on a diet”. Just with continue your plan. If you were driving from LA to NY and took a wrong turn halfway there, you wouldn’t go back to LA, you would just get back on the route!

trbp72

Like most are saying here...don't sweat it...it happened...move on...if it begins to happen regularly...then look at why...I have days where I feel like a remorseless eating machine at night...if I have tasty snacks in the house...they end up in my belly...whether I require them or not...it's a real failing of mine and one I keep addressing...but the way my life has gone in the last month or so...I've been a slave to it and have stopped and started on an almost weekly basis...I'll be no doubt rebooting in 7 days because we are going away on Thursday this week...so I will be leaving the gym and home-handled meals behind in favour of socializing at the Punk Festival we are attending whilst eating (somewhat sensibly) in pubs or seaside takeaway establishments...

Once that's done and dusted...I will be able to look at streamlining my food life again and picking back up the exercise regime...the point here being that life is your greatest roadblock and sometimes you gotta just roll with those punches...get knocked down...and get back up again...I keep doing it...and I'm not gaining weight...so something is working right?!

feisty_bucket

Disagreeing with everyone. I'd do the banking technique and carry over the excess to the next day. That way you're always compliant with the system and never just blowing it off. You'll eat less the next day.

kimondo666

its just 1 day further from the goal. Dont be depressed about it.

tinkerbellang83

feisty_bucket wrote: »

Disagreeing with everyone. I'd do the banking technique and carry over the excess to the next day. That way you're always compliant with the system and never just blowing it off. You'll eat less the next day.

If you're managing your calories over the week by planning to do so in advance that's a totally different mind set to punishing yourself for having an off day!

Trying to drop intake by 600 calories in one day to balance it out can lead to bingeing in the following days out of sheer hunger.

lgfrie

My 2 cents:

380 cals over maintenance is around a tenth of a pound of fat. Unless you own a $5,000 doctor scale, it won't even be accurate enough to register that 1/10th of a pound. Those 380 calories won't make you look any different, won't make your clothes tighter, and won't show up on the scale. They just don't matter.

Ignore it and move on.

I have never known anyone in my life who, while on a diet, didn't have days when they were way over their target. It not only happens, it is guaranteed to happen. Even people who lose 100 or 500 pounds occasionally take a day off or binge on some junk food.

So, you've got the best of all worlds here. You're losing weight, and you got to take a time out and enjoy some munchies you've been denying yourself. Don't try to "make up" the calories and don't feel bad about it; you simply did what every single other dieter since around 100,000 BC has done - go off road for a night. Nothing bad there and no reason for self-doubt. Don't let it turn into two days, though. You had your fun, now get back on the horse! That is the key.

Kittyy1994

Thanks for the replies everyone. I have been a little hungrier lately but this is the first time I have gave in.

I am currently at my goal weight (but still not happy with how my body looks) have now been looking into re-composition but have no idea how to approach this- are you supposed to eat at a small deficit still or maintenance?