Overeating for a few days

GeorgiaPeach707

Just wondering if going off diet for two days and eating badly can ruin all of my progress. I did really well all of January and lost 8 pounds but last two days ate pizza and pasta and feel like *kitten* now and guilty.

Idontcareyoupick

Every day is a new day. Your hard work is only derailed if you give up

heybales

Only if you had 2 days into the diet.
Actually, you could probably overeat in 2 days what a reasonable deficit would take 4 days to create.

It does show the need to be mindful, and not give up for a short period of time - that can be a problem. But true to above post.

Now, if this overeating was more than just enjoying some good food with say good friends or good event, but rather more like you'd been feeling starved or badly deprived and just binged uncontrollably - that could be concerning to future success.

AnnPT77

Nope - not likely. 8 pounds is roughly 28,000 calories worth of body fat. If you'd eaten that much over maintenance calories in two days . . . well, you'd know, and you should consider a future entering eating contests, because that's really a lot.

You may see a big jump on the scale right after, but that's mostly water weight (from extra sodium and carbohydrates, mostly) and extra digestive contents on their way to becoming waste.

Stay cool, don't stress about it, get back on a healthy track; the water weight and digestive contents distorting scale weight will drop off over a few days to a couple of weeks.

Guilt and self-recrimination don't burn any extra calories, feel icky, so there's no point in them. If you wish you hadn't done this, think about why it happened and how to revise your plan to avoid future repeats. (Spend no more than about 10 minutes on this, longer is just wheel-spinning.)

Heybales is right: If this was cravings-related, not a special celebration or something . . . consider whether you've adopted a weight loss plan that's too extreme, either in calorie level, or putting desired foods (that you could moderate) totally off limits.

FWIW, here's a little personal case study that you might find amusing:

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10603949/big-overfeed-ruins-everything-nope#latest

yirara

No, that's unlikely. However, you will probably notice this on the scale. It's important to note though that changes in scale weight don't reflect changes in body fat only. Scale weight also changes due to changes in water weight (that's temporary), amount of waste in your system (poop weight, temporary), and a few other things. So if you suddenly eat more food, maybe more carbs and more sodium your water weight will likely go up. In some people this can be quite substantial. Also, if you suddenly eat more food then of course there's more food in your body that also has a weight. All those things will go down again. The most important thing is: don't panic. If you're so inclines you can record your weight and observe what happens. It can be quite enlightening.

To give you an idea: I've just been through such period. Not because I overate but because I was a bit sick = less movement = more water weight. Then I decided to be a dickhead and go on a very long run = getting sick again, rinse and repeat. Then (yeah, I'm stupid) went on a hill hike = dehydration = less pooping AND sore muscles = more water weight even. Result? 1.7kg up. But I know it will go down again as it's not bodyfat.

Bridgie3

just remember 1 lb = 3500 calories. so no way did you eat 3500 of calories. But carbs, especially pizza, soak up a ton of water in your gut. In fact; you can get dehydrated if you eat pizza and don't drink water. so while it goes through your guts it weighs a lot. Just remember: water weight doesn't matter; it's fat you want to lose.

wilson10102018

The beauty of calorie counting is that every day is a new day, unrelated to the day before. Just as important as any previous day.

ReenieHJ

I feel the hardest part about taking a few days of eating a lot more, is getting your head back in the game. I started Friday night with a pint of Ben and Jerry's ice cream, stopped counting calories but will start first thing today. Yesterday was a bust all the way around because I had that 'gotta eateateat' feeling going on. Yeh, I probably gained a couple pounds but Thursday morning is my weigh-in so expect(hopefully) I'll weigh what I did last Thursday. No loss but hopefully, no gain showing......by getting right back to it today.

Good luck and make your mindset strong again but lots of positive self-talk.