How do you handle bad days?

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  • ldaratha
    ldaratha Posts: 29 Member
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    I cycle between weight loss and maintenance. Keeps me sane. As long as the long-term trend is going downward. I figure if I’m in this for the long haul there’s no rush. This has to be something I can live with.
  • rheddmobile
    rheddmobile Posts: 6,840 Member
    edited November 2019
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    Reserve guilt for those occasions when you hurt someone. Eating too many calories is not a fitting occasion for guilt.

    A lot of good advice here already. What I would ask is, how did you end up eating over your calorie goal? Is your goal too restrictive? Did you fail to plan ahead? Did someone else buy pizza and eat it in front of you? How exactly did you go from, “I am going to eat X number of calories today,” to “Oops, I didn’t do what I planned to do”?

    Instead of feeling guilty, focus on figuring out what you are going to do differently next time this happens. Resisting temptation isn’t very reliable; it’s better to set yourself up for success by avoiding temptation. Whether that means budgeting for pizza by eating a smaller breakfast and lunch, working out to gain extra calories, or meal prepping so you don’t order a pizza because you don’t feel like making dinner when tired, or avoiding going out with certain friends who always overeat (making plans to do something other than eat can be good!), or planning what delicious but lower calorie treat you are going to eat while your husband orders pizza, or just eating a smaller portion of pizza and a large lower calorie salad. There are a million tactics to keep this sort of thing from happening, but first you have to be aware of why it happened. No one put pizza in your mouth; you made that choice. When you take a closer look at why you made it, you will be better equipped to make better choices.
  • riffraff2112
    riffraff2112 Posts: 1,757 Member
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    I used to get that but now I look forward to days where I can let go and have a few beer, nice hamburger etc. Going over is almost inevitable, no one is perfect, so the secret is to ensure it doesn't happen day in and day out.
    I am very good at following up a bad day with a real good day, but it took years to get to that point.
  • IAmTheGlue
    IAmTheGlue Posts: 701 Member
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    It's just one day and it's not a competition. It will be okay.

    Here is the thing... I'm sure it's been said but don't do anything you aren't willing to do forever. So, don't restrict to the point you are hungry, dizzy, etc People do that and then they overeat. You can think that you are going to do whatever but your body has one goal and that is to survive. I think some people starve to the point that their body feels like it is an actual famine.. no food and at some point they go crazy and eat everything. I think it triggers a Feast/Famine thing.

    Just do what you plan on doing forever. There has to be balance. You're going to want to eat pizza sometimes. Thanksgiving is in a few days and I'm totally eating some pie. BUT.. Black Friday, I'm totally eating another piece of pie but in place of my regular breakfast and it will fit in my goals. Balance.

    Be kind to yourself.

  • pjwrt
    pjwrt Posts: 166 Member
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    It's cold, raining, and my mandatory weekend rest period. I'm a good chef. I made a great meal for four, but there's only two of us piglets in da sty. Guess who ate up the tasties?

    If it wasn't for the guilt, I'd have no shame and 50 pounds of fat.

    Monday is back to the 4am wake up and hitting the exercise routine and strict diet. Twice as hard.
  • neenaexp
    neenaexp Posts: 38 Member
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    This is a goal of mine too :)

    I try to be home around midnight but need something to help me relax and wind down, besides food. I may drink tea.
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,182 Member
    edited November 2019
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    In recent weeks, a day of eating to excess is reliably followed by a night of no sleep. That, no sleep, is a far greater thing to fear than a few thousand extra calories. Therefore, I try to stop the excess before it starts.
  • unstableunicorn
    unstableunicorn Posts: 216 Member
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    Accept that even in maintenance it’s okay and even a bit healthy to indulge now and then. :) Start anew tomorrow and enjoy life!
  • koalathebear
    koalathebear Posts: 236 Member
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    I tend to just move on. I don't beat myself up about it. Just draw a line in the sand and move on. I might exercise a bit harder the next day or eat a bit less, but overall - the next day is a new start. Now that I'm in maintenance, I've also discovered that the 'bad days' don't seem to affect the scales the way I would have expected. In the same way the scales don't miraculously jump down when I've been 'good', they don't jump up magically when I've been 'bad'. Ultimately it's about a combination of behaviour over a series of days, weeks, months and longer ... Losing weight after packing it on for so many years is about the long game...
  • JaxxieKat
    JaxxieKat Posts: 427 Member
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    Try not to look at it as a bad day. Look at it as a day of eating at a caloric surplus instead. Yesterday, I went over by several hundred calories. I mindlessly ate, tracked what I could recall, and faced the music when I weighed in this morning. I was up 3lbs. Did I eat nearly 11,000 calories above my TDEE? Nowhere close, so it's water and it will go away. Today my head is 100% back in the game.
  • CalgaryMac
    CalgaryMac Posts: 19 Member
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    I am more likely to be on track but on days when I go over I appreciate the food/drinks that I normally don't consume. I am in this for the long term and no matter how well I plan my days there are some instances where something comes up that was unplanned - invitation to meet friends for lunch for instance. I am going to enjoy my friends and the lunch and resume the plan the next day.

    When I do go "off plan" I am surprised at how much/badly I was eating before I joined MFP. It is a reminder to me how much better I am doing by being aware of what I am eating and how easy it was for me to ignore my health.
  • CSARdiver
    CSARdiver Posts: 6,252 Member
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    Even if I went over deficit I check to see if I went over maintenance. If so I look at the larger picture - week, month, etc. and adjust accordingly.

    We don't get win or lose based on the actions of one day. We win and lose through consistency over time - discipline.

    I gave up guilt for Lent.
  • corinasue1143
    corinasue1143 Posts: 7,467 Member
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    Again, life is like school.
    100% is good, and what we all aspire to. But nobody’s mad at a kid who brings home a 98. Don’t expect perfection of yourself.
    Expect an A.
  • lgfrie
    lgfrie Posts: 1,449 Member
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    corinasue1143 wrote: »
    Again, life is like school.
    100% is good, and what we all aspire to. But nobody’s mad at a kid who brings home a 98. Don’t expect perfection of yourself.
    Expect an A.

    Good analogy. I'd just add that an A student can even get a C or D on a test once in a while and still end up with an A for the year by nailing things the rest of the time. That in a nutshell is effective dieting to me.
  • Mr_Healthy_Habits
    Mr_Healthy_Habits Posts: 12,588 Member
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    Oh Man, I thought you meant bad day as in, your dog died, or you were in a car accident or something like that...

    Keep perspective on what a "Bad day" really means...

    Having some pizza is not a bad day... You're not on a clock, you've got the rest of your life ahead of you to work on you and sure as *kitten*.... There will be more pizza
  • ReenieHJ
    ReenieHJ Posts: 9,724 Member
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    I like that word....badass. :) Take control. You got this!!

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