how long do you...

knightreader

pay the price for a cheat meal?

i went out to dinner saturday night for a special occasion. treated myself to some fried calamari, pasta in a wine sauce with steamed clams and mussles and a few drinks. didn't finish my meal, altho would admit to eating slightly too much. no dessert. had my standard healthy breakfast and lunch on saturday.

sunday was mothers day. feel i had a good day. good meal, just water to drink and wasn't over on calories.

monday, back to regular routine, including my elliptical.

tuesday, the same, minus the exercise.

weighed myself this morning (wednesday) and was a pound and a half up from where i was saturday morning.

this is common for me...have a treat meal, not even a cheat meal, but more of a treat as it is something i wouldn't normally have, but certainly not a pig out, on the weekend, then work most of the week to get to where i was prior to that meal. i feel like it takes me 4 days to get to where i was before my meal, then i have 3 days to lose weight.

overall i have been pretty successful, but this is something i just can't seem to get a hold of that is really bothering me.

any ideas or advice?

knightreader

bump for some advice, please.

neanderthin

Probably water weight........add in an exercise bout the day after and drink more liquids.

melsinct

Sodium laden restaurant meals usually jack up my weight for about 3 days by a couple of pounds, and I drink tons of water daily. Give it another day or two, you'll probably go back down very soon.

phillieschic

It usually takes me a day (as in the next full day) of healthy eating and exercise to get back to where I was before...and my cheat meals usually include lots of Miller Lite. :drinker:

joleen126

Ive been there, i think it's the sodium and water. When i treat myself with greasy foods it takes a while for my body to get back on track, but if i treat myself, or over indulge on healthy treats i bounce back faster... but dont let it both you, stay focused when you weight in the next time things should, hopefully be back on track! good luck!!

jmkenny

ask for a smaller portion, if there's less in front of you you'll eat less. My cheat is usually buffalo wild wings... I used to eat 24 wings with extra bleu cheese, now I do 6 with a small amount of bleu cheese and I make sure I enjoy the hell out of them! I get them grilled instead of fried, too. For pasta, maybe ask for less sauce, every little bit helps!

sarahrbraun

make sure you are drinking plenty of water if you are going to treat yourself. I have been doing low carb the last 11 days. On Monday (7 days in) I went out to lunch with hubby. I thought I ate decent, but Tuesday when I got on the scale, I had gained 0.6lbs...but Wednesday when I jumped on the scale I was down 1.2 pounds!! I drink probably 12-15 glasses of water a day...

heytherestephy

i don't do anything. i let the water weight go away. one meal isn't going to make me gain that much and i always make sure i'm within my calorie limit if i have a treat out. i might feel kind of bad about eating the dessert or having a bit too much, but in the end... meh.

my boyfriend and i celebrated 6 months on monday and i had chocolate cheesecake and a london fog latte plus a full dinner out, but i'd gone pretty hardcore at the gym that day, burning around 600 calories and i was well within my limit.

AllyBooMommyof2

I don't really have any advice I guess.. But, I know how you feel I did the same Sunday for mothers day and it took me until today to break past where I was Sunday morning. It's just a natural thing to retain water after one of those meals and unfortunately it takes a few days for you body to recover in my experience.

Ravenesque_

You can always ask for any stuff you don't want to be wrapped up to take home with you.

Any pub restaurant that has issues with me taking my food home with me (IN my own container! I'm being discreet, and No inconvenience to the staff or other clients!) I tell em, I paid for the plate of food, if I wanna take some of it home to enjoy later i can damn well do that. It's better for the environment, my diet, and their dishwasher!

If I'm feeling generous, I may even give em the plate back too

jennifer52484

My trainer tells me that 3-5 days prior reduce your carbs and work out more Enjoy your cheat day/meal and 3-5 days after reduce your carbs and work out more. He says it can take 5+ days to get your body back on track.

meg7399

I feel the best advice was the person who said one meal would not make you can that much. Body weight can flucuate and I rarely pay attention to one pound when I know I got back on track. You are probably fine.

Hoegers

First of all, congratulations on your current weight loss! I know exactly how you feel. My diet has been pretty strict for the past 11 months and I have dramatically changed the way I eat. With that said I too have some cheat days. We have had some special events of late and have eaten out some more too. I had a hamburger on a bun and French fries, even a dreaded shake from Steak & Shake one day. Then there was a special dinner for Mother's Day this past weekend. I weighed after both of these events and had put on 8 and 12 pounds. I know that isn't really fat that I put on and can lose a couple pounds a day afterwards but it is sure frustrating. It took me nearly 2 weeks to get back to where I was after the first and will take probably about the same this time. The key is to stay focused, know that you can reset and not become too discouraged and give up. Good luck on the continued battle!

peles_fire

I agree with those who say likely most of the extra is due to water weight - if you put a little citrus juice (lemon or lime) in your water, it will help some of that extra water flush out a little faster. That was the tip recommended to me while I was a client of LA Weight Loss centers. It works like a charm! I also use it around "that time" to help avoid bloating and water gain.

knightreader

thanks for all the advice everyone! it is good to know i am not alone. i think my lesson here might just be to stop weighing myself so often too. it is tough to enjoy a treat meal knowing that the scale is going to suck for the next three days though. i plan on trying the citrus in water trick, altho i absolutely hate lemons and limes. my water intake is just under a gallon a day, but if my body is used to it, than i guess i still got to up it after a meal like that to shock the system a bit.

thanks again.

to those that have friended me, nothing personal at all. i just don't think i have time to be a good friend back at this point...