Lesson Learned: One bad day does not matter a hill of beans

jsheph1

I had been doing pretty good with watching my calories until a birthday celebration about a week ago. On that day, I went hog wild and ate over a thousand extra calories. The next day I steppedon the scale and found I was up over two pounds. I was disappointed and felt like I blew it. I posted on MFP the about it, and got the same response over and over - Get back on track, one day is not going to make a big difference. I took the advice and returned to my calorie goals.

Well a week has passed and not only have I gotten rid of those two extra pounds but I lost two more. For everybody out there sweating the prospect of Thanksgiving, I say don't worry about. Give yourself a day of indulgence if you have been successful in watching your calories. One day is not going to derail you for very long, and as some have pointed out the shock to your body may even spur some additional loss.

lillychap

Absolutely spot on! Enjoy the moment and then get straight back on track.

Good luck with your weight loss journey !! xx !!

JDMPWR

This is very true....just dont let your endulgence linger beyond that day where some will want to draw it out into a week or a month which I can fully understand.

mymelody_78

Great post! It took me about 10 years to learn this lesson. Thanks for the reminder!

goron59

Sounds about right to me... gotta keep at it!

rclarke05

Great advice! The big thing is learning that it's ok to "screw-up", as long as you get back on track. Alot of people, when they are on their weight loss journey, throw in the towel after they lose control. They beat themselves up, feel guilty, and quit. There are plans out there that allow one high calorie meal per week, or a "free-day". The big thing is if it happens, don't beat yourself up about it...just move on and continue with the journey.

Thanks for posting!!

miqisha

I comepletely agree...keep up the good work!!!

vickiele1

That is exactly the message I give others - this is a journey - your journey. And in "real" life, people do indulge and then they do what they "need" to do to compensate for it. If you don't like the 2 lbs from the indulgence, then you have options - exercise more to compensate, choose to indulge 1/2 as much the next time or not at all, or just accept and move on. Life is to be lived - and while it is really important to eat healthy and exercise - it is also important to recognize our own humanity. Having fun, indulging our passions (on occasion) and then making healthy decisions following those events are all pieces of the puzzle to a successful accomplishment of our goals.

Vickie

superwmn

GOOD FOR YOU FOR REALIZING THIS!!!

I NEVER step on the scale the morning after a huge meal because a lot of those extra pounds are from water weight. Next time, wait to weigh in until the following week and all you'll see is the 2lb loss (and all you'll feel is the JOY of that loss as opposed to the guilt of the gain).

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Charmagne

CreativeRedhead

I actually totally agree with this. I'm so not stressing over Thanksgiving! It's my favorite time of year, I mean c'mon all of that delicious food. You'd be crazy to give that up. Now the having 2 Thanksgiving meals in 2 states might be another issue altogether. :laugh: Maybe I'll go half wild during each of those.

Natural

agreed. if i do go crazy, i drown with water. i know i'm doing the work and 1 day or 10 days out of 365 is dust on the scales

Memah

This happened to me too. Saturday night we were out and I ate like a crazy person! Sunday, up three pounds according to scale. Yesterday, Monday, down THREE. And this morning, down another ONE. Unbelievable!

So, yes, you are right. It shows me that as long as we are diligent in our day-to-day eating, a splurge day really DOESN'T make a hill of beans of difference.

Go, us!

NoAdditives

I allow myself 1 day week to not worry about going to the gym or sticking to my calories. I don't go crazy, but I don't stress about it either. 1 day doesn't do any damage. A couple days doesn't do much of anything either. I went 5 days without going to the gym or tracking my calories. I gained .2 pounds. Going over calories or missing a couple days at the gym isn't going to make you gain any significant amount of weight.

That two pounds you gained most likely was not from eating those extra calories. Body weight can fluctuate up to 5 pounds from day to day from a number of different factors.

The bottom line is that once you get into a good diet and exercise routine your metabolism won't go back to its old state in such a short time. Your body burns fat even when you're not working out and you'll still burn fat when you eat a few extra calorie or don't work out for a day or two.