Am I in the clear?

ChickenKillerPuppy

Drank and ate too much last night. About 3,500 calories and I usually consume an average of 2100/day to maintain, but I tend to eat less than that during the week so I can eat more on the weekends (hence the average).

Had whiskey and a lot of chocolate last night. Got up and weighed myself this morning and I weigh exactly what I did yesterday morning. If I just eat my normal maintenance calories today as I planned (or a slight deficit), you think I’m in the clear for las night’s indulgence, or is it going to show up tomorrow or in a few days?

Obviously only time will tell but curious to see what people think!

HeidiCooksSupper

It may show up. You may be dehydrated a bit this morning. It's only an extra 1400 calories ( a little over 1/2 a pound) over your 2100 so isn't much in the grand scheme of things unless you do it repeatedly and often.

DanaDark

Usually after drinking you can actually weigh less due to dehydration, but I think you're fine.

I practice something similar and last weekend I had cake, ice cream, an entire bottle of rum and still managed to come across with -1.0 lbs today (my login day).

And even if not, don't worry about it. Just avoid making it habitual.

cmriverside

Well.

You'll know in a day or two.

I wouldn't think any more of it, life happens.

AnnPT77

Hard to tell, but for sure not worth worrying over.

I'm in year 4+ of maintenance. I calorie bank, and have some over-goal days. The latter are spaced out, so I've basically simulated what you say you did, in my body (sometimes with substantially more than 1400 extra calories above maintenance, BTW). I generally just to go back to my regular routine afterward (so 150 or so calories under where I think my maintenance is, as that's my bank-deposit routine deficit). If I'm less hungry that day, I'll eat accordingly, but I don't make any other attempt to "make up for it".

Usually, I see a big-ish scale bump the next day (which you didn't, but as others said, that could be dehydration). Usually, that next day, my resting heart rate is up a bit, by anything from a few to 10bpm. Subjectively, I may be a little likelier than normal to feel hot (like hot flashes). Other than that, I don't usually perceive any kind of energy jump the next day, but maybe there's something happening.

Even if I ate enough over goal to gain a pound or more of fat (which I have done quite a number of times), I can't think of a case where the total gain seems to be as much as the raw number of calories would suggest, if this is a rare event. This, even though "3500 calories = 1 pound" works out pretty close for me in slow gain/loss situations. (I wonder whether some of the calories are not extracted during digestive transit, when eating dramatically more than my body is accustomed to eating. 🤷‍♀️)

I've seen at least 2 other people here report pretty much what I said above, about their experience - less gain than expected from a big day. I've seen one person report the exact opposite, that they gain more than expected from a big over-maintenance day, after the water weight settles out.

So, bodies are weird. You're running your n=1 experiment. You can learn how your body responds, which will be useful info. I don't know whether you're a daily weigher, but if you're not, and the scale isn't too stressy for you, this might be an educational time to weigh daily for a week or two.

FWIW, I posted a "case study" of a long weekend of over-goal eating for me, with calorie estimates and weights for about a week: https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10603949/big-overfeed-ruins-everything-nope

If you feel like it, let us know how this works out, eh? 🙂

PAV8888

It shows up later, at least for me. But, so what?

Do you expect to weight the same every day? To never eat more one or two days and a bit less on a couple of others?

Dampen the perturbation. Don't chase the ball. Aim for generally normal.

Don't overcorrect but also don't refuse easy pickings.... I wouldn't go out of my way to replace a meal I might have missed while sleeping off my indulgences, but I would view that differently as compared to deliberately trying to create a deficit to compensate.

beyond that... that's why you observe your weight trend change over time as opposed to your daily weight...

Noreenmarie1234

Personally I see the increase (if any) about a week after. I see the effects of what I was eating about a week delayed. So if I have an indulgence I usually see it about a week later. It takes time for the body to convert extra energy to fat. You weren't much over so you may just naturally expend a bit more energy the next few days (extra walking here and there, etc) and may see nothing. That is what usually happens for me.

ChickenKillerPuppy

Thanks everyone! I really was just curious - I’m not concerned at all. I have gone on vacations and totally indulged and have gotten back on track and all that - just was nice to see no change in the scale. But it’s all good - I weigh myself every day so yes, of course I know my weight changes every day. I guess we will see!

xayles

I tend to find that it takes a couple of days for the weight to show up if I have a binge.