is it ok to go to all you can eat places?

lurker011

i am trying to lose about 50 pounds,but as i mentioned before,i take certain medications that cause weight gain. Red Lobster has all you can eat shrimp and i ate alot. i had 2 orders of the shrimp linguini,2 orders of shrimp scampi,2 orders of parmesan shrimp scampi and one order of coconut shrimp. i also had a cesar salad and 2 bisquits. i did drink water,but the total sodium content of my meal was over 6,000mg. i want to ask,how many times per week/month can i give myself this cheat day?? thanks.

chadya07

its up to you. if i have a cheat anything its not really a cheat, just a thing. i sometimes go over by a few hundred cals, no more than once every couple weeks.

i used to frequent all you can eat places and it is one of the few things i dont allow myself anymore. i tried a couple times but while i always start with a healthy plate i just cant keep myself on track...

i dont deny myself anything except deep fried things and all you can eat buffets.

if you are planning already how you can get around the rules, you may want to rethink your outlook. having a day where you go off is one thing, trying to figure out how i can make them happen more often sounds more like... reservations to me. it seems planning how you can start new habits would be more productive.

meshashesha2012

well you can do the math yourself.

if the calories from your "cheat" day negate all of your deficits from the other 6 days of the week then you'd either be eating at maintenance (staying the same weight) or eating over maintenance (gaining weight).

Kellryn

I can't really answer your question, but I wouldn't have too many days like that. I went to the Red Lobster Endless Shrimp the other day and my meal was just over 1000 calories, and I ate about HALF what you did...

One thing you can do, if you know about large meals in advance, is too eat light the rest of the day. Even though my meal was over 1000 calories that day, it still fit my calorie goal, since I ate light at breakfast and lunch before that.

odusgolp

... Did you calculate all of the calories in that meal? That matters to weight loss. Calories. Not the sodium, per se.

MinimalistShoeAddict

Weight loss only requires a deficit to your TDEE.

If daily goals are too strict for you, try using weekly calorie/macro targets. If your overeat one day you can still stay on track if you adjust your calorie/macro goals on other days to compensate.

How often you can eat large meals such as the one you describe will be determined by your compliance with your calorie/macro targets

hearthwood

Well, I really don't know how to answer that. You don't mention what you're calorie goal is each day, nor how many calories you ate a Red Lobster, but just judging what you did eat, it sounds to me like you really over did it.

I think most people when they mention a cheat day, they're referring to eating 1 to 2 hundred extra calories over goal, because "they cheated and had an ice cream or piece of cake", and aren't referring to a smorgasbord of all you can eat.

999tigger

The key to losing is a calorie deficit.

Did you measure or do you know how many calories that equates to?
Cheat days are fine as long as you realise you end up having to balance the calorie books elsewhere. For instance you might be doing a 100 calorie a day save elsewhere or doing extra exercise every day, which adds up.
Shrimp by itself is very low calorie, but id be more conerned with the other ingredients.

You dont need anyones permission to eat what you like, but if you wnat to lose weight then you have to take responsibility for what you eat and make sure you burn more. This is why its important to track food and it sounds like you dont know how much you ate in Kcal. Either losing the weight is more important or it is not. Dont panic but make sure you know how cheat days fit into your overall plan of eating less than you burn.

For the salt do some research and make your own mind up.

lurker011

i just looked it up,my total calorie intake was 3220. thankfully i only drank water and had no dessert. i have been eating anywhere from 1000-1800 calories per day since the beginning of 2014. the problem is that a certain medication causes me to be very hungry. i have a wristwatch that shows how many calories that i have burned and i burned 3121 today according to my watch. i also walked 4 miles today according to the watch but most of that was pacing back and forth,which is another side effect of the medication. your replies were good,i feel like i can cheat once a week like this but due to the meds that i am taking,my metabolism is slowing and i have not been losing even though i usually burn 2500-3000 calories a day and eat 1000-1800.

999tigger

How do you know unless you weighed it. Watched and MFP are only estimates which require accurate data.
No idea about your med you just have to deal with it or go back to your Dr.

You will know whether its working over a period of time if you lose weight or you do not. If I was losing weight then I'd be a bit mindful of binging out on over 3000 calories beccause thats nearly 1lb a weekor 1h of gym work five times. A gugh price to pay for one meal.

If it works for you then it works, but be mindful of what most people say in addition to the calorie deficit.

It's about a sustainable change of lifestyle.

MelodyandBarbells

I did part companies with the all you can eat Chinese buffet. Doing the portion control thing just seems like a slap in the face compared to how much you pay lol. Chinese buffet unfortunately to me is a place to go nuts and stuff yourself silly for a little over ten bucks. Maybe I'll stop by and mostly grab baked chicken and fried rice and try to portion it over a week

I agree with most of the other responses by the way. Can't tell you if you're "allowed" to eat anywhere. You'll have to run the numbers for yourself. I will say restaurant calories can be very hard to estimate, and even when the info is posted on a website the chef isn't necessarily being very precise with the measurements so there'll be a significant amount of error built into your logging. But you still want to live your life and not feel deprived. If you feel you have to or want to do the all you can eat, just be mindful of the numbers and go from there

lurker011

holy crap,yesterday i weighed at 225 lbs and this morning i weighed at 229 lbs. i know that 3,200 calories does not equal 4 pounds.

nicsflyingcircus

Water retention from the massive amounts of sodium you consumed. Give it a couple days, it will go away.

fleshyflower

only if u are willing to stick to your diet ;P you gota ctonrol yourself n its pretty hard to when you have all you can eat around u

odusgolp

.

asdowe13

i just looked it up,my total calorie intake was 3220. thankfully i only drank water and had no dessert. i have been eating anywhere from 1000-1800 calories per day since the beginning of 2014. the problem is that a certain medication causes me to be very hungry. i have a wristwatch that shows how many calories that i have burned and i burned 3121 today according to my watch. i also walked 4 miles today according to the watch but most of that was pacing back and forth,which is another side effect of the medication. your replies were good,i feel like i can cheat once a week like this but due to the meds that i am taking,my metabolism is slowing and i have not been losing even though i usually burn 2500-3000 calories a day and eat 1000-1800.

What is this magical medication?

Unicorn Semen

Mikkimeow

i just looked it up,my total calorie intake was 3220. thankfully i only drank water and had no dessert. i have been eating anywhere from 1000-1800 calories per day since the beginning of 2014. the problem is that a certain medication causes me to be very hungry. i have a wristwatch that shows how many calories that i have burned and i burned 3121 today according to my watch. i also walked 4 miles today according to the watch but most of that was pacing back and forth,which is another side effect of the medication. your replies were good,i feel like i can cheat once a week like this but due to the meds that i am taking,my metabolism is slowing and i have not been losing even though i usually burn 2500-3000 calories a day and eat 1000-1800.

What is this magical medication?

Unicorn Semen

Nope, they discontinued it last year because of rashes that consisted of glitter and bullsh*t.

BigT555

I, like most men, tend to take all you can eat buffets as a personal challenge, so they've gotten pushed to the side for the most part. i think i've been to one since i started and that was because i was in a large group of guys who we're all feining all you can eat chinese

Jacwhite22

i am trying to lose about 50 pounds,but as i mentioned before,i take certain medications that cause weight gain. Red Lobster has all you can eat shrimp and i ate alot. i had 2 orders of the shrimp linguini,2 orders of shrimp scampi,2 orders of parmesan shrimp scampi and one order of coconut shrimp. i also had a cesar salad and 2 bisquits. i did drink water,but the total sodium content of my meal was over 6,000mg. i want to ask,how many times per week/month can i give myself this cheat day?? thanks.

As long as that's all you eat for the week you should be fine going weekly.

MelsAuntie

Of course it's "okay"... I go to our local (excellent) Chinese buffet for the peanut butter chicken whenever I'm on that end of town. Just make ONE pass, don't keep going back and reloading your plate!

DerekVTX

I find your question kind of annoying! First of all you have the tools to know how many calories you ate, you have the tools to count your calories, you can obviously do the math and see that this kind of eating can destroy 4 or 5 days worth of eating within your goals. You wanna know how often you can cheat like this........you obviously do not want to lose weight and follow the program so the answer is you may as well go every day.