Donut and calories

whisperfitandhappy

I think I'm crazy but I have a question. If I eat a sweet but it ties in with my calories for the day do I have to worry about any weight gain? I ate brunch and a donut with it and now I'm feeling really guilty. I think that meal was my entire day's worth of calories.

kimnsc

You have to eat 3500 calories above maintenance to gain a pound. I don't think going over on a single brunch will cause any noticeable weight gain.. Just make sensible food choices the rest of the day and maybe do some cardio to earn some calories back.

vegasgyrl79971

Track your calories, if the doughnut doesnt cause you to go over your net calories for the day, youre good to go. No need to feel guilty. Even if you did go over, its one day and like the previous poster said, you would have to eat 3500 cal over to gain a pound and I dont know a doughnut with that many calories. Cheers!

whisperfitandhappy

You have to eat 3500 calories above maintenance to gain a pound. I don't think going over on a single brunch will cause any noticeable weight gain.. Just make sensible food choices the rest of the day and maybe do some cardio to earn some calories back.

Thank you for reassuring me I'm positive I didn't go over my calories. Just that donut has me feeling guilty. I know I will be fine..I just obsess to much.

kkimpel

I call these "exceptions" because they happen, but it doesn't happen often. From there, I just eat what I would normally eat, though i might tack on a couple of extra miles to my walk, if I feel like it. Most important is not to let it get to my head that it is wrong or right or ok or not ok ... food is just food. It doesn't have specific moral value and the food I eat doesn't define me as a person.

I eat what I eat because I want to feel good and be healthy. Though I do like sweet foods, I choose not to eat them, except as an occasional exception .. that works for me .. Beating myself up, is never helpful and leads to sneaking an "low cal" ice cream in the car or some other ridiculous eating binge.. I am grateful to be past that in my life (I hope).

I think the turn for me came by the mindset above ... to keep on keeping on and not let one bad choice be a day of bad choices and then a week.. and then a decade

La5Vega5Girl

i think the key is to NEVER feel guilty about anything you eat. that is a bad cycle.
i once read this, sorry i don't know to whom i should give credit:

don't let one negative choice in a meal define your day.
don't let one negative day define your week.
don't let one negative week define your month.
don't let one negative month define your year.
don't let one negative year define your life.

this goes for food, and every other choice we make.
:flowerforyou:

GuineaKitty

Yeah be careful with restaurant food those calories will sneak up on you. Don't feel bad if its one day going over your calorie count that will not hurt you. I love donuts too and I have a love-hate relationship with Dunkin Donuts. If you feel really bad go take a 30-45min walk it will burn off calories or eat light tomorrow. Good luck!

healthygreek

Track your calories, if the doughnut doesnt cause you to go over your net calories for the day, youre good to go. No need to feel guilty. Even if you did go over, its one day and like the previous poster said, you would have to eat 3500 cal over to gain a pound and I dont know a doughnut with that many calories. Cheers!

Then you haven't visited Voodoo Donuts in Portland, Oregon!

cwolfman13

There is no such thing as a "fattening" food....you don't gain weight because you ate a donut or a slice of pizza or whatever...you gain weight when you consume more energy (calories) than your body needs. A calorie is a unit of energy...consume a balance of energy and you maintain...consume excess energy and it gets stored as fat...consume a deficit of energy and your body has to dip into stored energy (fat) to compensate.

lms0520

Great answer, kkimpel. I agree, I've found that a treat now and then can fit in very nicely with a healthy eating plan and while not exceeding your total calorie allotment for the day I find that I continue to lose. Even when it exceeds your total calories for the day it's not a problem for one day...as another poster pointed out "it takes 3500 additional calories to gain a pound." For me, eating for health is my primary motivation, weight loss secondary. I have found that if I am too strict with myself then sooner or later I am going to break, and then will beat myself up about it. Been there, no longer doing that. So...now and then a Snicker's bar will pop up in my diary. But, overall my food choices will have been very healthy. I take in it stride, adjust the next day and maybe eat fewer calories or step up the exercise to make up for it.

Kalikel

The problem with junk food, as it relates to weight loss, is that you don't get very full. With fruits and veggies, you can stuff yourself till you pop for 300 calories, but with donuts, you get one and are are still hungry, so you eat more, go over the amount required to lose and it's just a downward spiral.

One donut won't kill you or your diet. It *might* put you over for that day (and might not, depending on how careful you are), but you can get right back on track.

One donut also can't stop you from changing your eating habits from bad to good, if that's your goal. It's a process that takes A LOT of hard work. There will be setbacks.

Get back on the horse and ride.

Francl27

Nothing wrong with a treat if it fills your calories.