One day, not prepared . . . downward spiral

reteed

One day . . . one day and not being prepared . . . caused me to go into a downward spiral. And it was so easy to do, that's the hard part that I have to admit.

I have my meals planned out to the point that if I am on Day 22 of the month I know exactly what I'm eating on that day. I have my meals saved as Day 1 breakfast, Day 1 lunch, Day 1 dinner, Day 1 snack, Day 2 breakfast, etc. I need organization in my life, not to mention that it helps with my grocery shopping knowing what I will be needing for the next few days.

I also look at my MFPeeps diaries to get an idea of how everyone else manages their calories and food choices. So I got the wonderful idea to put a pork tenderloin in the crockpot and have shredded pork for dinner on Thursday night. Got home from work, and the bottom is burnt. It's Thursday night Chiefs, so we ordered pizza for supper. That night I'm cleaning up the burnt mess and discover that it's not burnt! I saved it just in time! So I had a sandwich (just to make sure it didn't taste burnt) right before I went to bed. Calories blown!

Friday morning my son calls, he wants to take me to lunch. No problem, I work the calories into my day. But on the way back to work, he wants a shake from Sonic. I can't resist. Not prepared for Sonic shake. And then my husband calls, he's been gone all week to a job site out of town. He's going to stop at McDonald's before he comes home, do I want anything? I don't do very well with fast food because it doesn't taste very good to me. But the thing I will eat is a large fry and a chocolate shake. Fortunately, I didn't get the shake. Calories blown!

Saturday morning I wake up late and head off to work. Get home and family wants to know what's for lunch? I'm not prepared, so the suggestion is that we go eat Chinese Buffet. I don't do well at buffets, because I tend to eat until I get my money's worth and then some. Saturday afternoon I take a 2 1/2 hour nap! Wake up in time to build a fire and have a few glasses of wine. Zero exercise for the day! Calories blown!

I'm okay with having an extra serving at times when I'm hungry because life happens and sometimes it really does taste good. BUT . . . THREE DAYS . . . IN A ROW!

It scares me of how easy it was for me to throw all my hard work away and go back to some crazy eating habits . . . . . .

Francl27

Maybe you're overthinking everything. There's no way I'd plan so far ahead, I mean what if I feel like having chicken but fish is on the menu? Seems like a recipe for disaster to me.

For me it works because I'm very lenient, and all I care about is staying under my calories. I want pizza? I have pizza. We're stopping at McDonald's? I'll just have a McWrap and fit it easily in my calories.

Honestly, a couple days is not going to blow everything, but you just need to learn to make better choices. If you have to, designate a cheat meal every two weeks when you can eat what you want, but try and make better choices the rest of the time.

The bottom line is it's not miraculously going to work until you're willing to commit. Maybe if you're less restrictive in your diet and allow yourself some treats within your calories (it's what I do), it will be easier for you to say no to a Sonic shake. And if you have one, just change dinner to make it lighter so it still fits in your calories... something you can't do by scheduling your meals days ahead.

jetlag

One day . . . one day and not being prepared . . . caused me to go into a downward spiral. And it was so easy to do, that's the hard part that I have to admit.

I have my meals planned out to the point that if I am on Day 22 of the month I know exactly what I'm eating on that day. I have my meals saved as Day 1 breakfast, Day 1 lunch, Day 1 dinner, Day 1 snack, Day 2 breakfast, etc. I need organization in my life, not to mention that it helps with my grocery shopping knowing what I will be needing for the next few days.

I also look at my MFPeeps diaries to get an idea of how everyone else manages their calories and food choices. So I got the wonderful idea to put a pork tenderloin in the crockpot and have shredded pork for dinner on Thursday night. Got home from work, and the bottom is burnt. It's Thursday night Chiefs, so we ordered pizza for supper. That night I'm cleaning up the burnt mess and discover that it's not burnt! I saved it just in time! So I had a sandwich (just to make sure it didn't taste burnt) right before I went to bed. Calories blown!

Friday morning my son calls, he wants to take me to lunch. No problem, I work the calories into my day. But on the way back to work, he wants a shake from Sonic. I can't resist. Not prepared for Sonic shake. And then my husband calls, he's been gone all week to a job site out of town. He's going to stop at McDonald's before he comes home, do I want anything? I don't do very well with fast food because it doesn't taste very good to me. But the thing I will eat is a large fry and a chocolate shake. Fortunately, I didn't get the shake. Calories blown!

Saturday morning I wake up late and head off to work. Get home and family wants to know what's for lunch? I'm not prepared, so the suggestion is that we go eat Chinese Buffet. I don't do well at buffets, because I tend to eat until I get my money's worth and then some. Saturday afternoon I take a 2 1/2 hour nap! Wake up in time to build a fire and have a few glasses of wine. Zero exercise for the day! Calories blown!

I'm okay with having an extra serving at times when I'm hungry because life happens and sometimes it really does taste good. BUT . . . THREE DAYS . . . IN A ROW!

It scares me of how easy it was for me to throw all my hard work away and go back to some crazy eating habits . . . . . .

Look at this statement: "throw all my hard work away" then look at your weight loss ticker. Have you REALLY thrown ALL you hard work away? Because that looks like a big 18 pound loss staring back at me. Or have you just been human and had 3 days of bad choices? Perspective.

I would be seriously disappointed if you have utterly failed to learn any coping mechanisms from this, though.

If you do nothing else, remember how rubbish you feel right now, box it up, then take it out and look at it the next time your husband asks you if you want anything from McDonalds.

I would also prepare an emergency meal and freeze it to help you cope with last minute cooking disasters.

Tiff050709

It is very easy for me to get off track so I understand where you are coming from. I have been doing really well for awhile now but the last few weeks I have not been exercising and eating like crap. I gained back 10lbs. I have lost all but 2. It sucks that I have to re-lose weight I have already lost.

kellyskitties

Household meal planning is an excellent budget saving tool. I agree with meal planning - but it's not a set in stone plan. You need a "backup meal" on hand like someone said. I wouldn't preplan your personal meals beyond a day. I do this sometimes, but alter it as it passes. It's not always right on target. Sometimes there's a surprise. I try to roll with it and adjust.

It sounds like a lesson learned on the milkshakes. That's how we grow - not through perfection but through learning from our mistakes. I agree, how will you cope next time? They won't be all perfect on plan days that follow what you laid out to do.

Is your plan too restrictive? It's not a person failing, it's a plan failing. Maybe it's time to loosen the reigns a bit. How low are you setting calories? If it's long term weight loss you're going to be doing this a long time. Is what you are doing sustainable?

Plan some things you can order at fast food. I use the phone app to look them up and I just ordered a new calorie king book for when the phone fails me.

I agree with the commenter that talked about you undoing an 18 pound loss. Probably not. Don't pay too much attention to the weight until you've had a week of close to on plan. The water weight has to come off and you will resettle on the weight again.

Are you aiming for perfection or progress? Look at how you ate before you started. Did you go too far from your norm to be comfortable in the changes?

Feel free to friend me - I have OCD tendencies and understand when obsession/perfection take over.

Mr_Knight

Ok, you went off track. It happens to everyone, that's pretty normal.

The real question here is...are you going to stay off-track?

Only you can answer that.

ballerina_tea

Don't give in to a "downward spiral", just stop it. You are in control, not any spiral. Part of good planning is being prepared, so give yourself more flexible options in the future. Sounds like you have a lot of black and white thinking though. Learn to go with the flow, and accept a few hiccups along the way.

ihateyoga

Calorie intake is like a loan! If you borrowed more today, you must pay it back tomorrow to stay on tract.

l911jnt

hang on, dont think of it that way. just start again. ok, so i usually plan my meals a day at a time, a day ahead of time. i plan meals for the week but not exactly when i am going to eat them that week. maybe this would help you. i agree, if not prepared we can make bad choices but if u had something in the fridge that would take little time to fix, you likely wouldnt have ate the mcdonalds so easily that was offered. little things like that make a difference for me. Also, look at your average calories for a week instead of just that day. then if u mess up, u can adjust and probably fix some or all of it. keeps me from stressing so much.

Ninkyou

Live and Learn.

Let's face it, fast food, buffets, restaurants, etc are always going to be part of our lives. Meal planning is fine, but you have to learn to be more flexible. What I'd do, is go to the restaurant's websites your family frequents and look at their menus & nutrition info. Pick a few foods from their menus that you feel could work within your calorie goal, so that when hubby calls up and asks if you want anything from McDonald's you can say "Why yes, I'll have a Chicken Wrap" or something or some such. If you go to a buffet, use the small plates instead of the big ones. If you go over on calories, you go over. But maybe later in the day you can squeeze in an extra workout to offset it. Life happens, don't be so down on yourself and get back on track and be prepared for these kinds of situations.

Stage14

It can only be a downward spiral if you continue to let it. I agree with those who said you need to maybe build a little more flexibility into your plans. And realize that these days happen. But you didn't wake up and learned you had gained those 18lbs back, right? So your hard work isn't blown.

staplebug

So, what will you do when you reach your goal weight and have to go back to "eating normal"? A lot of people on strict diets gain weight back after they reach their goals because they don't know how to eat normal anymore. This journey needs to be a LIFESTYLE change towards better health, not something you do for a few months to lose weight. If you put yourself on such a strict regimen, you feel deprived and the second you stray, just as you said, you go into a downward spiral. Try making smaller changes that you can work into your lifestyle. Ask your husband not to offer you fast food. Eat a couple bites of your son's milkshake instead of getting one to yourself. Get your whole family in on healthy eating and exercising with you. Don't deprive yourself, just work it into your calories. And hey, if you go over one day, either eat less the next day or kill yourself on the treadmill to really feel what it takes to work off the 400 calorie milkshake. Take smaller steps and if you are able to truly turn your weight loss into your new lifestyle, you won't feel like this as often.

Gee_24

When I KNOW people are coming over, I make the decision to go with the flow. But when someone invites me out, out of the blue AFTER Ive had a big lunch and daily snack and only have 700 cals left? I panic, too.

But remember, it didnt take you 3 days to put your weight on. You haven't blown ANYTHING, hun!! Look at your mindset, you know you made bad choices and you have identified the cause. Your thinking differently now.

Get back on track today or tomorrow, and move on. Log every bite and if it changes the scales for the worse, you will know your treat day limits. ( And my treat day I mean " Unexpected LETS ALL GO TO MCDONALDS!! " days that happen to me, regularly! )

You may just maintain this week. And that is still wonderful!

Alwayssohungry

It happens - what matters is what you do next...

taro1971

Give yourself a big mental hug. Its ok. There's no use in beating yourself up about it so forgive yourself and move on. I wish I was half the planner you are!