How long does it take before you see the damage you've done?

BulkyBison

Last week-end was so bad for me =( It was both my best-friend's birthday and also my boyfriend's within 2 days of each other! So on Saturday night I was drinking, and I stupidly didn't eat very much that day and ended up getting hammered enough to not care enough about my diet and ended up drinking too much and eating pizza at 3am!

This was followed by my best buddy's Birthday Breakfast (where once again I ate badly because I was hungover and feeling sorry for myself!) and I totally forgot that I was due to go to dinner at my other friend's house who I hadn't seen in years! So I ended up totally over eating as I accepted defeat at the start and didn't try hard enough to damage control!

This was then followed by my boyfriend's birthday on Monday, so I took him for lunch (had a salad, felt good!) then he wanted to go for dinner at a big-feed type restaurant and begged me to order as much food as him as he didn't want to feel like my big fat bf! I said yes and felt terrible again....

So over the last few days I've been being UBER good to try and negate some of the damage I've done... however every time I jump on the scales none of it's there! Now it's only been 3 days, and one of my friends told me it takes her a week or so before she sees damage but to be honest I've dropped! (Maybe from doing well last week before the weekend??)

Can anyone give me some idea when I might see the damage I've done with all this stupidity, or how I might continue to deal with the damage in the short term - will consuming less cals than normal for a few more days balance it out, or is that just wishful thinking???

Thank to all for any insight!

gemma247

if your really good you may balance it out, you just wont loose anything this week xx

mzjandiace

Did you go over your BMR? That's the amount of calories it takes just for your body to function. It took me a couple of days with no exercise, but when I over ate, as long as I stayed active (exercise) I didn't see it. I lost as well. You may never see it. Plus you said you've dropped. So just go with it, and if it sneaks up on you, get that body in motion and sweat it off. We've all done that! And to think the holidays are coming ... ugh!!!

BulkyBison

Not sure.... I may not have at my friend's bday - but I deff did on the Sunday and again deff on the Monday.....

I like the idea of upping the exercise! I'll give it a shot and hope or the best!!! thanks for the input!

MinnieInMaine

In my experience, it can take up to a week to show both good and bad behavior. However, I've also noticed that the occassional slip up actually seems to help to boost weight loss a bit, kind of like a kick start of the metabolism. it definitely helps that you were on track before hand and got right back on track afterwards. A lot of the damange from temporary setbacks is water weight from drinking and/or eating take-out/restaurant foods which tend to be loaded with sodium.

Going back to my first sentence, this weight loss your showing could be more reflective of how you did before the weekend. Give it another few days but don't worry about it either. if you do go up a little, I'm sure it'll be gone in no time because you've gotten right back on track.

JeSuisPrest

I think what is most important is not beat yourself up over it. You've got to live now and then. Pick yourself up, get back on the plan and maybe work out a little more. We are only human!

leomom72

wow..i wish it was like that for me..maybe you really wont have a gain..last time i pigged out, my family and i went to a chinese buffet, i only had 3 plates, but i saw the gain the next morning..2.6 lbs i gained..everyone is different, so you may be lucky, and not see any gain from it all..good luck, just make this weekend a more conscience one

Katie3784

If you have since lost weight, I don't think you need to worry about anything. Sometimes, when people are on very calorie-restricted diest, they will lose weight if they overeat. I'm not sure exactly why this happens, but it does happen. I would be upset if I were you about your BF begging you to eat a lot, especially when he knew how bad you felt about overeating the day before. He should never encourage you to binge, just to make himself feel better. That is selfish, but is unfortunately very common. Insecure men fear that if their GF/wife loses weight, they will gain more confidence and leave them. I hope this is not the case for you.

TashaP2011

I feel ya - We celebrated 8 birthdays and an anniversary this last weekend. I turned off my healthy old self and enjoyed the festivities - Life is all about balance, and I know any damage I did will be fixed in time. Take it in stride.
I noticed that I was not able to eat as much bad stuff this time around since I fill up faster and bad stuff doesn't sit so well anymore. Makes it alot easier to say no.

Angie80281

However, I've also noticed that the occassional slip up actually seems to help to boost weight loss a bit, kind of like a kick start of the metabolism. it definitely helps that you were on track before hand and got right back on track afterwards. A lot of the damange from temporary setbacks is water weight from drinking and/or eating take-out/restaurant foods which tend to be loaded with sodium.

I've noticed this, too. I wouldn't worry about it at this point if I were you.

Keeley23

I have no idea how true this is but a friend of mine says that it takes 48 hours for food to be completely digested and pooped, or stored as fat. So if you have not gained 2 days after the over indulgence then you won't at all. Makes sense not to weigh anytime before this anyway as you are almost certain to have gained due to all the sodium.

Like i said, i don't know how true this is!

Riebop

I wouldn't worry about it too much. If you see a gain, you know why. If you don't, you'll be relieved. If you lose, you'll be super excited. Just know that you shouldn't do it every weekend or it will set you back eventually. It's the progress over time that matters not the day-to-day or the week-to-week fluctuations.

BulkyBison

@NayShel - Yeah I think a week might be right. I was UBER good for a few days, then relaxed into my MFP set diet and by Sat I'd gone up 2 pounds -but then I was uber good again and by this morning I was down 3!! So I think it prob does take a week and all my damage controlling probably really helped! SO thank you so much for the insight... you're right, it could even be a case of upping my metabolism a little as well perhaps! Fingers crossed at the end of this week I see another little loss to feel proud of... SO far I'm getting a pound a week - it's not loads but I'm happy with it as it means I can enjoy this diet so it's easier to keep up!!

@AliciaD93 - You're so right. I do need to stop beating myself up too much... I've gotta get the working out down as well - I get out walking a lot but I've been neglecting the gym and I wanna build some muscle to keep the weight off in the long term. You're right, we are only human!

@leomom72 - Yeah you see, that's normally me! I'm usually the one with the big few pound gain which is why I was so so confused and worried I was gonna see a big jump next week! But NayShel has a point - there's a lot of sodium in take out food, ESPECIALLY chinese so your weight gain could have been water weight as well perhaps? Depends how long it took to get it off again!!

@Katie3784 - Maybe you're right about the temporary metoblism boost... I've noticed it's happened again as I ate a bit more than usual this weekend (not over cal limit, but more than my more controlled days) and I lost again unexpectedly! So you prob have a point!! Well my bf didn't encourage me to totally binge - just have a big meal same as he was doing. You're right he should be pressurising me and I'll be sure not to let him do it again! It definitely not the case fortunately that he'd be intimidated by my weightloss! Infact, he's the one who initially pointed out to me that I'd gained and that I wasn't looking after myself (more info on my profile if ur curious!) thank you for being considerate and raising the issue, because a lot of women don't realise that their partners are threatened. I even read last week that a girl was a little underweight and had just started dating a guy and although she wasn't eating more than usual over a small number of months she gained 65 pounds! Her new bf had been adding steroids and other things to her drinks so that she would gain weight can you believe!

@Keeley23 - That's what my bf thought as well... I just find it hard to believe after all that I wouldn't have gained! I weighed myself after 2 days and I'd not gained or lost! Not really sure what's true - maybe time to hit googled to be sure!!

@Riebop - Hmm that's a good point, maybe I should only weigh myself once a month instead of weekly???

MichelleF81

If you've had a load of alcohol then you'll have lost water weight, once your hydration levels are back to normal then you'll probably notice a bit of an increase. Just write it off as a bad week and keep going. I really think your bf needs to be more supportive though and not encouraging you to order a load of food when you're trying to lose, weight loss takes a lot of self discipline and understanding from other people. Good luck.

Riebop

I WI weekly, but I try not to get too discouraged by gains or really small losses. The key is to knowing what caused a gain or loss, and making changes as necessary. What you want to look for is a downward trend over time on your progress chart. I'm actually contemplating putting the scale away for a few weeks and concentrate more on healthy eating and fitness. It's just really hard to disconnect myself from the scale. I use my weekly WI for accountability. It helps me to eat better on a day to day basis. However, I do splurge within reason on special occasions.