Is gorging once as bad as regular slight overeating?

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  • tomcornhole
    tomcornhole Posts: 1,084 Member
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    I have been cheating every Saturday for the past 80 weeks or so. Usually 4,000-6,000 calorie days. Never effected my weight loss. I kept doing it in maintenance and never effected my maintenance. That's one data point for half your hypothesis. I have not eaten at a surplus for a long time, but when I did before dieting I gained 30 pounds over a 4 year period. So I guess that counts.
  • helpfit101
    helpfit101 Posts: 347 Member
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    I have been cheating every Saturday for the past 80 weeks or so. Usually 4,000-6,000 calorie days. Never effected my weight loss. I kept doing it in maintenance and never effected my maintenance. That's one data point for half your hypothesis. I have not eaten at a surplus for a long time, but when I did before dieting I gained 30 pounds over a 4 year period. So I guess that counts.

    That's fine and all.. but obviously if you do the same thing right/wrong every day/week you have based your regular calories on that.

    So that means if you overeat by 3500 calories on every Saturday you could be eating 3500/7=500 calories more on every day of the week.

    That's why it doesn't matter if you over or underestimate calories or exercise either. As long as on average you always do it wrong the same way.
  • harleygroomer
    harleygroomer Posts: 373 Member
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    the occasional binge isn't what will set you back. Over eating has lead us ALL here--but that being said, why do you FEEL the need to binge at a buffet? It isn't as if the food is really good in these places. Take pride in spending the same money you waste at one of these buffet dumps and learn to cook a wonderful meal for your self. You will be shocked at what so little can create.
  • tomcornhole
    tomcornhole Posts: 1,084 Member
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    That's fine and all.. but obviously if you do the same thing right/wrong every day/week you have based your regular calories on that.

    So that means if you overeat by 3500 calories on every Saturday you could be eating 3500/7=500 calories more on every day of the week.

    That's why it doesn't matter if you over or underestimate calories or exercise either. As long as on average you always do it wrong the same way.

    Agree.
  • wild_wild_life
    wild_wild_life Posts: 1,334 Member
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    If you're overeating only once every few weeks, you're probably not consuming the amount of the deficit you created in that time. In regards to your body eliminating cals not needed, if true, then no one would be fat.
    That's not what I'm talking about - what I mean is, if I eat a really heavy meal, does the sheer mass of food cause a lot of calories to just wind up getting passed before they can be absorbed? I think that's the case, but was interested in other perspectives.

    Failure to absorb all calories from food definitely happens -- in fact I think they just changed the calorie count of almonds for this reason. You can also do things to increase the rate of passage of food through the GI tract to decrease the calories absorbed (at least according to Tim Ferriss). I've never heard of it happening due to the volume of food consumed, and I think that even if it did it would probably make a negligible difference.
  • jen_zz
    jen_zz Posts: 1,011 Member
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    How about if the excess calories are the same for both cases?

    Say my calorie limit is 2000 cals per day. One scenario is I eat 4100 calories (2100 over) on Monday, then for the rest of the week I eat at 2000 per day.

    In another scenario I eat 2300 cals a day for a week so 300 over per day and total 2100 over for the week.

    Given the excess amount is the same, would I gain 0.6 pounds in both cases? Or in the first scenario I might gain a tad less?
  • Ophidion
    Ophidion Posts: 2,065 Member
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    A controlled refeed can be beneficial for the body or so I believe but consistent bad eating habits are what got most people over weight.
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
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    If you're overeating only once every few weeks, you're probably not consuming the amount of the deficit you created in that time. In regards to your body eliminating cals not needed, if true, then no one would be fat.
    That's not what I'm talking about - what I mean is, if I eat a really heavy meal, does the sheer mass of food cause a lot of calories to just wind up getting passed before they can be absorbed? I think that's the case, but was interested in other perspectives.

    no. you're looking for magic where none exists. it's pure, simple math.

    overeat at the buffet one time probably results in a 1500 over tdee day at most. overeat by 300-500 cals per day and at the end of the month you've packed in 9000-15000 of excess cals. 10x the amount of cals from one day at the All You Can Eat chinese joint.
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
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    If you're overeating only once every few weeks, you're probably not consuming the amount of the deficit you created in that time. In regards to your body eliminating cals not needed, if true, then no one would be fat.
    That's not what I'm talking about - what I mean is, if I eat a really heavy meal, does the sheer mass of food cause a lot of calories to just wind up getting passed before they can be absorbed? I think that's the case, but was interested in other perspectives.
    [/quote]

    Is this what happens with competitive eaters?

    Kobayashi can eat 60 hot dogs in about 2 and a half minutes.

    takeru-kobayashi-muscles.jpg
  • Irenaekl
    Irenaekl Posts: 116 Member
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    If you're overeating only once every few weeks, you're probably not consuming the amount of the deficit you created in that time. In regards to your body eliminating cals not needed, if true, then no one would be fat.
    That's not what I'm talking about - what I mean is, if I eat a really heavy meal, does the sheer mass of food cause a lot of calories to just wind up getting passed before they can be absorbed? I think that's the case, but was interested in other perspectives.

    NO..thinking that is just deluding yourself! Eating a really large heavy meals does not cause lots of calories to pass through before being absorbed. If that was the case we could all eat huge meals all the time and none of us would be fat.....I wish!!!!

    A large meal just takes longer to be digested but the calories stay with you
  • Ophidion
    Ophidion Posts: 2,065 Member
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    If you're overeating only once every few weeks, you're probably not consuming the amount of the deficit you created in that time. In regards to your body eliminating cals not needed, if true, then no one would be fat.
    That's not what I'm talking about - what I mean is, if I eat a really heavy meal, does the sheer mass of food cause a lot of calories to just wind up getting passed before they can be absorbed? I think that's the case, but was interested in other perspectives.

    no. you're looking for magic where none exists. it's pure, simple math.

    overeat at the buffet one time probably results in a 1500 over tdee day at most. overeat by 300-500 cals per day and at the end of the month you've packed in 9000-15000 of excess cals. 10x the amount of cals from one day at the All You Can Eat chinese joint.
    hiN0ZqO.gif
  • wild_wild_life
    wild_wild_life Posts: 1,334 Member
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    If you're overeating only once every few weeks, you're probably not consuming the amount of the deficit you created in that time. In regards to your body eliminating cals not needed, if true, then no one would be fat.
    That's not what I'm talking about - what I mean is, if I eat a really heavy meal, does the sheer mass of food cause a lot of calories to just wind up getting passed before they can be absorbed? I think that's the case, but was interested in other perspectives.

    Is this what happens with competitive eaters?

    Kobayashi can eat 60 hot dogs in about 2 and a half minutes.

    takeru-kobayashi-muscles.jpg

    [/quote]

    Love the drawstring pants -- a must for competitive eaters I guess! :laugh:
  • wild_wild_life
    wild_wild_life Posts: 1,334 Member
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    How about if the excess calories are the same for both cases?

    Say my calorie limit is 2000 cals per day. One scenario is I eat 4100 calories (2100 over) on Monday, then for the rest of the week I eat at 2000 per day.

    In another scenario I eat 2300 cals a day for a week so 300 over per day and total 2100 over for the week.

    Given the excess amount is the same, would I gain 0.6 pounds in both cases? Or in the first scenario I might gain a tad less?

    I've never read or heard anything to suggest it would be different (energy expenditure held constant of course). In a real world scenario, though, one would be more likely to eat less following the 4100 cal day than following days of mild calorie excess. In that real world scenario, especially if 2000 cals is a deficit for that person, a "refeed" day might also have hormonal and metabolic benefits that the daily overage wouldn't have. It all seems pretty theoretical though. If one was trying to gain weight, it would be kind of interesting to do it to see what the difference was.
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
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    If you're overeating only once every few weeks, you're probably not consuming the amount of the deficit you created in that time. In regards to your body eliminating cals not needed, if true, then no one would be fat.
    That's not what I'm talking about - what I mean is, if I eat a really heavy meal, does the sheer mass of food cause a lot of calories to just wind up getting passed before they can be absorbed? I think that's the case, but was interested in other perspectives.

    no. you're looking for magic where none exists. it's pure, simple math.

    overeat at the buffet one time probably results in a 1500 over tdee day at most. overeat by 300-500 cals per day and at the end of the month you've packed in 9000-15000 of excess cals. 10x the amount of cals from one day at the All You Can Eat chinese joint.
    hiN0ZqO.gif

    stolen
  • MatthewLewis81
    MatthewLewis81 Posts: 59 Member
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    I'm not looking for magic or any excuse to "binge," and I don't exactly appreciate those inferences to my motives. I was asking a straightforward question about something I've observed anecdotally, and was interested in the experiences of others.

    I personally believe (albeit still only anecdotally) that our bodies are made to benefit from the occasional fast and the occasional feast, assuming generally healthy and balanced eating in between. So I don't mind having a particularly heavy meal every six or eight weeks or so (as well as a couple fasting days in there), and have found that doing so actually seems to have an overall positive effect on my health in general.

    Finally, I used the buffet as an example. But I can stuff myself just as effectively on steak I grill myself (the equal of which I've never met when dining out, by the way) as I can at a restaurant.

    Thanks to everyone who took the question as it was intended and replied in kind.

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