Best Advice Given After Overeating

NeahF

I think every few weeks I will go completely berserk with my food. Like, raiding the fridge in the first am hours, pancakes, whipped cream, cookies, and like five bowls of cereal. I texted a friend (certified nutritionalist) after this to see what I should do... Should I cut my calories for the next week? I was so ashamed with myself and upset, thinking I've ruined all progress and thinking Id wake up the next morning sick. Okay, the downsides of eating like this at night is, yes, I do sometimes, a lot of the times, feel sick. But anyways, not the point; the point is the advice that she had given me.
How much had I gone over? Like 600 calories over.
The good news? My body would recover. In fact, it would start expelling more energy in everything I did the next day because I had more stored energy. You know about carb loading before a big competition? Well, my body was just ready to get out some BIG energy. I worked extra hard in my workout the next day just because I had the energy to.

This weekend I over did it again by a bit. But I ran today and was so much faster because of all the energy.

Moral of the story is, don't beat yourself up for eating over your goal. Your body will use it as fuel! Don't live everyday like this, of course, if maintaining weight is your goal. But enjoy the extra burst of energy after the weekend and don't beat yourself up! Happy maintaining, everyone

fdlewenstein

Love your mindset! Really good advice.

cupcakesandproteinshakes

That’s a good outcome.

I over ate yesterday by about 1500 calories I reckon. Woke up today, didn’t bother weighing myself as I know that the scale would be up and that it would piss me off. One day isn’t the end of the world. I’m back on track already.

Skrib69

Binge eating like that is not healthy, physically or mentally. Seriously consider professional help before it develops into something far more sinister.

harper16

Skrib69 wrote: »

Binge eating like that is not healthy, physically or mentally. Seriously consider professional help before it develops into something far more sinister.

Something more sinister like?

elisa123gal

I agree with exercising it off. You can do it the next day.. or over a few days. I like it..because when I start blowing it; It either stop and think I don't have time to work it off.. or hey.. I want to do this. Overall.. you end up overeating less.

Lietchi

I would recommend trying to figure out why you are binging... Are you being too restrictive in the way you eat: a too aggressive deficit and/or too restrictive in the foods you are allowing yourself to eat?

snowflake954

For me it isn't normal. Pretending it is and rationalizing may pull you into a binging disorder. I agree to try to discover why you're doing this. I would think that what you're eating daily is not enough or satisfying.

MelanieCN77

harper16 wrote: »

Skrib69 wrote: »

Binge eating like that is not healthy, physically or mentally. Seriously consider professional help before it develops into something far more sinister.

Something more sinister like?

Binge purge?

Honestly OP I kinda look at it the same, but gentle corrections over time.

AnnPT77

For me, the occasional 600 over maintenance is a normal part of life, sometimes much more than 600 over.

IMO, this kind of calorie level is not inherently "a binge" in the eating disorder, technical sense of "binge".

What makes the difference, IMO, is state of mind, and only the person doing the eating knows that. S/he needs to do some honest self-assessment: Was it in fact a complete loss of control, literally unable to stop, compulsively consuming unusual amounts of nearly any food available? Was it a reaction to stress or other emotional upheaval? (In the OP description, it seems like there's room for that interpretation, based on things like "berserk", "feel sick").

If those kinds of psychological issues are present, then it would be a good plan to address them. If the problem isn't really food, then nothing about food is the solution (including white-knuckled adherence to calorie goals - that's just treating the symptoms, and avoiding the weight consequences: Not valueless, but not addressing the core problem). The real solution might be any number of things, from therapy to meditation to other more productive stress-management or self-soothing behaviors. At that point, it's not a food problem, it's another kind of problem expressing itself through food.

If, on the other hand, someone has been over-restricting calories, or not getting good nutrition, and the appetite hormones get the better of him/her as a consequence, it would be a good idea to re-examine diet strategies, and adopt a more sustainable approach. That's a reason to re-assess, and correct course in a better direction.

But eating over maintenance, even hundred (or thousands, sometimes) over maintenance - not necessarily a psychological problem. If I make a conscious decision to loosen the reins and eat/drink freely at Thanksgiving dinner, I'll be far over maintenance - hundreds to thousands. If I go out to dinner at a special restaurant, and decide to have an indulgent entree, a rich dessert, plus some wine or cocktails, I'll be far over maintenance. This is not inherently a sign of disordered eating. It's possible that people can make conscious choices to do these things, with the recognition that things need to balance out somewhere, over the long haul. It can be a low-drama kind of thing.

I agree with the OP that guilt, retribution, "making up for it" are not the answer. Figuring out what's behind it can be useful. If not hungry the next day (as sometimes happens), then eating less is fine. If more energy the next day(s), then sure, extra workouts or extra intensity. But the "must make up for it" mentality, if it begins to move toward guilt, shame, self-blame, extremes of exercise or calorie compensation - also potentially signs of deeper issues, just as true uncontrolled binge eating can be a sign of deeper issues.

It's definitely been my experience, by the way, that the scale-weight consequences of a rare, isolated high-calorie day or two are much less dramatic than I might expect from the raw calorie count, as long as I'm back on my normal routine immediately. I don't know why, but I've found it to be so (across 4+ years of maintaining a healthy weight, BTW).

malungidodo

And here I was worried because I ate 4 shortbread Biscuits at one go. I guess one's usual diet determines what bingeing is.
Anyway, I hope you get to the bottom of your need for early hour meals.

Skrib69

harper16 wrote: »

Skrib69 wrote: »

Binge eating like that is not healthy, physically or mentally. Seriously consider professional help before it develops into something far more sinister.

Something more sinister like?

Well there could be several. On the face of it, it is the definition of a binge eater, and the reference to a friend who is a nutritionalist is classic justification. One would hope the ‘friend’ would pick up on this. Progression could be to bulimia, anorexia, laxative abuse etcetera. As has been said throughout the post, you need to understand why you do such things and deal with that rather than the sticking plaster of dealing with the calories.