And on the seventh day HE feasted

terence

I'm wondering whether feasting on just one day a week would have the same outcome as spreading the goodies across every day of the week.

For example, let's say the designated Binge-day includes a nice juicy breakfast of bacon and eggs; lunch at McFatties with all the trimmings; a rich, moist piece of Betty Crocker's best chocolate cake for afternoon tea; a juicy he-man-sized steak for dinner; and a liberal helping of ice cream with strawberry topping as a night cap.

We've blown the day's budget by, say, 2100 calories. All other things being equal, would this lascivious and totally delicious day have a more or less severe impact on one's weight than spreading the treats over seven days (i.e. 300 calories a day) ?

WARNING: Example is for exposition purposes only ... do not try this at home.

xsargex

I'm wondering whether feasting on just one day a week would have the same outcome as spreading the goodies across every day of the week.

For example, let's say the designated Binge-day includes a nice juicy breakfast of bacon and eggs; lunch at McFatties with all the trimmings; a rich, moist piece of Betty Crocker's best chocolate cake for afternoon tea; a juicy he-man-sized steak for dinner; and a liberal helping of ice cream with strawberry topping as a night cap.

We've blown the day's budget by, say, 2100 calories. All other things being equal, would this lascivious and totally delicious day have a more or less severe impact on one's weight than spreading the treats over seven days (i.e. 300 calories a day) ?

WARNING: Example is for exposition purposes only ... do not try this at home.

I dont' know about an all-out binge day. But for me, the weekend is to enjoy some fun-food, but within reason. During the week, I keep to a strict regime of exercise and working out. As far the weekend, I usually do one day of heavy cardio on saturday or sunday just for the sake of eating yummy food. Like pizza or a hamburger. Again, within reason. I try to use a little self control and watch the portions.
By the end of the weekend, what I eat in calories, I make sure I burn off thru cardio that weekend...just to keep me accountable for what i eat.

CasperO

Calories are calories,,, if you run a 500 calorie daily deficit for 6 days, and then go 3000 over on sunday, you've broken even. Won't work,,, You'll maintain weight and screw up your metabolism.

Give this a read - explains it well: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/3047-700-calories-a-day-and-not-losing

Personally I blow off one meal a week. Nothing nuts,,, a little pizza, maybe a big burger or a country fried steak. Wouldn't wanna do it for a day.

Now the good news. After 3/4/5 months of eating healthy, you won't want that crap anymore. Your body will adjust, your tastes will adjust, and it just won't even sound good. I see the Tv commercial for those whacky "Thickburgers" Hardees is making and it just doesn't appeal - at all. They might as well be trying to sell me something outta the litter box. :indifferent:

This makes it easier to stay on track,,,

xsargex

yeah when I say have some fun-food...that doesn't mean run down to Taco Bell and go to town. I meant go somewhere where you can get a good-lean hamburger. We got a local place in town that does bison burgers. Really good. Or maybe an Asian restaraunt....something thats good but some-what healthy. Or we'll cookout something at home, make a spread.

I agree with Casper. I steer clear of fast food. Plus, I don't even consider that to be satisfying anymore.

MissKim

I guess I mess everyone up then! I'm on Body for Life, which means every Sunday i can eat whatever I want as much as I want. One of my co-workers did this with her husband and they lost all kinds of weight and they would be at krispy kreme at midnight on their cheat day. So far I've been on it for two weeks and lost six pounds. This diet has been very successful for a lot of people. Not really sure of the aspects of why this system works. I'll look into that...

MissKim

http://www.diet-blog.com/archives/2008/10/24/have_a_day_off_your_diet.php

MissKim

http://www.articlesbase.com/weight-loss-articles/to-lose-weight-successfully-you-must-cheat-on-your-diet-311108.html

ivykivy

It depends on how large your deficit is.

If you are doing 1000 cal a day deficit for 6 days you've racked up 6000cal on the seventh day you go over my 2100 which means you exceeded maintenance cals by 1100. Your deficit total for the week would be around 5000 which would still but you around 1.5 pounds

But I think your body gets used to patterns. If sunday or saturday is always your high calorie day, I think your body know hey in 6 more days I'll get a good calorie boost. I did this for a while but I think my body got used to it. Just like it got used to getting a set number of cals a day.

I'm wondering whether feasting on just one day a week would have the same outcome as spreading the goodies across every day of the week.

For example, let's say the designated Binge-day includes a nice juicy breakfast of bacon and eggs; lunch at McFatties with all the trimmings; a rich, moist piece of Betty Crocker's best chocolate cake for afternoon tea; a juicy he-man-sized steak for dinner; and a liberal helping of ice cream with strawberry topping as a night cap.

We've blown the day's budget by, say, 2100 calories. All other things being equal, would this lascivious and totally delicious day have a more or less severe impact on one's weight than spreading the treats over seven days (i.e. 300 calories a day) ?

WARNING: Example is for exposition purposes only ... do not try this at home.

SHBoss1673

Here's the thing very few people realize.

how many calories we eat total is important but how many calories we eat IN ONE SITTING is very important also.

remember, the body can process only so many calories at one time, if you eat more than your body can process, they are STORED AS FAT!!!!!!!

this means even if you eat within your calorie limits for a day, if you eat it all at once, you're probably going to be adding fat to your frame.

as an example:

your daily alottment is say 1500 calories, and you have a small breakfast of say 300 calories, then at lunch you eat 900 calories, then at dinner you eat 300 more.

sounds ok right? Wrong! eating 900 calories (the type of calorie matters as well, foods that take a long time to digest help keep your body fueled instead of packing on fat) in one sitting is most likely more than your body can handle, say your body can do 500 max at one time, that extra 400 calories is going to be stored as fat. And as we all know, it takes a lot more effort to get rid of fat, than it does to get rid of calories that we've just eaten.

So that giant binge day, that's a killer to a diet! A much better option is a single meal that's over your calories, that can help kick start a sluggish metabolism sometimes, but that doesn't mean going over by thousands of calories, it just means adding a couple hundred calories to a single meal, maybe once or twice a month or so.

terence

An observation piqued my curiosity on this. If I have a signficantly excessive day (calorie-wise), I notice that I excrete a commensurately higher volume of waste the next day or two. I understand that excess calories are stored as fat, however I was wondering whether or not the body has a limit to what it can store in a given time? Will a greater proportoon of a big feast be excreted because the 'little storage men' are unable to keep up the pace?

SHBoss1673

that wholly depends on the person, and the food they eat. But generally, your body usually won't give up on very many calories, more often than not there's more fiber being consumed, which leads to larger, and more frequent BM's. Terrible topic to discuss, but relevant.

xsargex

I know that for an average male, the body can only digest 30-40 grams of Protein per meal? Or something to that effect.

czewwhat

Ahhhh, the old how much can I sin and still go to heaven question! I have an occasional treat! However I count the calories regardless. I try very hard to stay in my goal range. I don't binge and say that was the weeks saved up calories, that is a Metabolic myth! If I am over 70 calories one day under 50 the next I feel I am okay. But a binge day is just a recipe for your body to go into storage mode!

Eat smart, eat healthy, you will be successful faster. Good health to you!

BrendaLee

Your calorie deficit at the end of the week would be the same, so I would assume your weight loss would as well.

JoyousMaximus

Whether you lose weight or not, you're asking to gain it all back when you stop dieting because you're not training yourself to live a healthy lifestyle. The reason so many people here preach moderation, even on "cheat" days, is because it is a way to retrain your body to not want unhealthy foods in excess. JMO.

P.S. Hi sarge!

CasperO

Good point JB

czewwhat

Hi casper, you look fabulous as usual!

BrendaLee

WARNING: Example is for exposition purposes only ... do not try this at home.

No worries. I think at this point, that day of eating would kill me. lol

JoyousMaximus

WARNING: Example is for exposition purposes only ... do not try this at home.

No worries. I think at this point, that day of eating would kill me. lol

Right? I don't even want to imagine the stomach pain. I had nachos a couple of weeks ago and it messed up my stomach for DAYS.

juliep63

Here's the thing very few people realize.

how many calories we eat total is important but how many calories we eat IN ONE SITTING is very important also.

remember, the body can process only so many calories at one time, if you eat more than your body can process, they are STORED AS FAT!!!!!!!

this means even if you eat within your calorie limits for a day, if you eat it all at once, you're probably going to be adding fat to your frame.

as an example:

your daily alottment is say 1500 calories, and you have a small breakfast of say 300 calories, then at lunch you eat 900 calories, then at dinner you eat 300 more.

sounds ok right? Wrong! eating 900 calories (the type of calorie matters as well, foods that take a long time to digest help keep your body fueled instead of packing on fat) in one sitting is most likely more than your body can handle, say your body can do 500 max at one time, that extra 400 calories is going to be stored as fat. And as we all know, it takes a lot more effort to get rid of fat, than it does to get rid of calories that we've just eaten.

So that giant binge day, that's a killer to a diet! A much better option is a single meal that's over your calories, that can help kick start a sluggish metabolism sometimes, but that doesn't mean going over by thousands of calories, it just means adding a couple hundred calories to a single meal, maybe once or twice a month or so.

That's a really good point and I never thought of it like that... :noway: you have totally just changed my outlook here. Thanks for this! :blushing:

lessertess

Banks:

ok, I get this but it begs another question.

So i eat 900 calories at one meal and my body can't process all of it so some gets stored as fat. That stored fat is not going to be reflected by a tape measurer. I'm assuming this is true because, with the exception of an extended belly, you generally don't see your hips or thighs get instantly bigger within hours of eating a meal that contains more energy than you need. In fact, as i understand it, that energy gets stored as glycogen for now. However, later that day I eat 300 calories and about an hour later head to gym where I do a 60 minute cardio workout that burns 600 calories followed by a strength training workout. Once I depleted that 300 calories, wouldn't my body dip into that stored fat?

Even if I did my workout that morning. I started on 300 calories, burned 600 so I had to burn stored fat, which was then replenished by my larger meal. Again, if I stored less than I burned, I lose weight.

At the end of the day, I ate 1500 calories (300 breakfast, 900 lunch, 300 dinner) and with a RMR of 1300 and an exercise burn of say 600 I still have a deficit for the day of 300 to 500 calories, depending on activity level. So, bottom line is that I stored some fat temporarily but then burned more than I stored and i should be losing weight.

So, wouldn't that work for a week? I stored some extra fat due to a binge day but had a deficit for the next 6 days. Wouldn't I burn off what I stored as long as my binge calories don't exceed my weekly deficit? And if I'm burning more than I stored, then I'll lose weight. It still comes down to net/net doesn't it?

Maybe I'm just looking at this wrong but anecdotal evidence suggests that people tend to eat/store energy inconsistently. Most of the world does not eat small meals 6 times a day. Despite that inconsistency they manage to lose/maintain weight.

Not saying you're wrong or trying to argue. Just want to understand since I'm trying to break through what I consider to be my "set point" (yes, I know the theory was debunked some time agobut is seems to apply to my particular problem) right now.

rtmama

Awesome! This is very helpful! Thanks for all the advice guys! This one is going into My Topics so I can remember it!

April0815

I don't have "cheat" days, if I am craving something if I have enough calories I can eat it. But since I started my healthy living I haven't had to many cravings.

Casper- I totally agree with you about after 3/4/5 months you no longer crave the bad stuff. I love the food I am eating now, the other bad stuff doesn't appeal to me at all.

It's funny when I started I ate a lot of processed foods, now I try to eat clean. That's very important to me and the way it makes me feel.

ivykivy

You are correct. I hear people say eat 3 small meals 3 snacks which is all fine and good. It is a healthy habit to develop to get you in the habit of eating especially if you are used to eating one or two meals. But even to keep your blood sugar steady 6 small meals are not required 4may be better or even 3 depending on what you ate, your activity after you ate, etc.
Your energy requirements can never be predicted from moment to moment or even day to day. There are just too many variables- ovulation in women, infection, heat or cold, etc. What we do is work with averages. That is why one binge will not kill your efforts physically; psychologically is another issue.

ok, I get this but it begs another question.

So i eat 900 calories at one meal and my body can't process all of it so some gets stored as fat. That stored fat is not going to be reflected by a tape measurer. I'm assuming this is true because, with the exception of an extended belly, you generally don't see your hips or thighs get instantly bigger within hours of eating a meal that contains more energy than you need. In fact, as i understand it, that energy gets stored as glycogen for now. However, later that day I eat 300 calories and about an hour later head to gym where I do a 60 minute cardio workout that burns 600 calories followed by a strength training workout. Once I depleted that 300 calories, wouldn't my body dip into that stored fat?

Even if I did my workout that morning. I started on 300 calories, burned 600 so I had to burn stored fat, which was then replenished by my larger meal. Again, if I stored less than I burned, I lose weight.

At the end of the day, I ate 1500 calories (300 breakfast, 900 lunch, 300 dinner) and with a RMR of 1300 and an exercise burn of say 600 I still have a deficit for the day of 300 to 500 calories, depending on activity level. So, bottom line is that I stored some fat temporarily but then burned more than I stored and i should be losing weight.

So, wouldn't that work for a week? I stored some extra fat due to a binge day but had a deficit for the next 6 days. Wouldn't I burn off what I stored as long as my binge calories don't exceed my weekly deficit? And if I'm burning more than I stored, then I'll lose weight. It still comes down to net/net doesn't it?

Maybe I'm just looking at this wrong but anecdotal evidence suggests that people tend to eat/store energy inconsistently. Most of the world does not eat small meals 6 times a day. Despite that inconsistency they manage to lose/maintain weight.

Not saying you're wrong or trying to argue. Just want to understand since I'm trying to break through what I consider to be my "set point" (yes, I know the theory was debunked some time ago but is seems to apply to my particular problem) right now.

BrendaLee

Here's the thing very few people realize.

how many calories we eat total is important but how many calories we eat IN ONE SITTING is very important also.

remember, the body can process only so many calories at one time, if you eat more than your body can process, they are STORED AS FAT!!!!!!!

this means even if you eat within your calorie limits for a day, if you eat it all at once, you're probably going to be adding fat to your frame.

as an example:

your daily alottment is say 1500 calories, and you have a small breakfast of say 300 calories, then at lunch you eat 900 calories, then at dinner you eat 300 more.

sounds ok right? Wrong! eating 900 calories (the type of calorie matters as well, foods that take a long time to digest help keep your body fueled instead of packing on fat) in one sitting is most likely more than your body can handle, say your body can do 500 max at one time, that extra 400 calories is going to be stored as fat. And as we all know, it takes a lot more effort to get rid of fat, than it does to get rid of calories that we've just eaten.

So that giant binge day, that's a killer to a diet! A much better option is a single meal that's over your calories, that can help kick start a sluggish metabolism sometimes, but that doesn't mean going over by thousands of calories, it just means adding a couple hundred calories to a single meal, maybe once or twice a month or so.

This makes sense. It's easy to think of calories as a running daily total or a running weekly total, but really each time we eat, our body has to decide what to do with those calories.

terence

This is all really interesting and helpful guys. Thanks.

xsargex

Whether you lose weight or not, you're asking to gain it all back when you stop dieting because you're not training yourself to live a healthy lifestyle. The reason so many people here preach moderation, even on "cheat" days, is because it is a way to retrain your body to not want unhealthy foods in excess. JMO.

P.S. Hi sarge!

hi

arewethereyet

All I can say is this on the subject:

I ate 900 calories for dinner, including pizza and a fat slice of NY cheesecake and I feel like crap.

My heart is pounding. I cannot sleep. I think my body is saying. WTH were you thinking.........I can not POSSIbly distribute this fuel (and that is what food is, no?) so now I must find a place to dump it.

I dont expect to pours 30 gallons of gas into my 20 gallon tank in my car and have it for extra the next day. I just over flows.

I wish I had a pressure valve:laugh: :laugh:

OMG that stress eating was so not worth it.

foxyforce

i love the title of this, because i went to Metro today, bought Betty Crocker Fudge Mix and Duncan Hines frosting

and made brownies

and ate 1/4 of the tray...probably more, but my log doesn't need to know!

and it felt GOOD!!!

Euphonasia

This may just be me, but I've noticed a trend. If I spend an entire day binging on food that's terrible for me, I'll think to myself "Well, I'll go back onto my diet tomorrow....." and I think that the next day after I've overeaten as well. And the day following. And the day after that. It's a hard habit to break out of.

I guess from my perspective, there's nothing wrong with having the occasional treat. Nothing at all. But spending an entire day eating your guts out is akin to reverting to the bad habits that got you where you are in the first place. Try to build healthy habits. Don't let yourself grossly overeat like that. It's reinforcing old habits that probably weren't healthy to begin with.

SHBoss1673

Banks:

ok, I get this but it begs another question.

So i eat 900 calories at one meal and my body can't process all of it so some gets stored as fat. That stored fat is not going to be reflected by a tape measurer. I'm assuming this is true because, with the exception of an extended belly, you generally don't see your hips or thighs get instantly bigger within hours of eating a meal that contains more energy than you need. In fact, as i understand it, that energy gets stored as glycogen for now. However, later that day I eat 300 calories and about an hour later head to gym where I do a 60 minute cardio workout that burns 600 calories followed by a strength training workout. Once I depleted that 300 calories, wouldn't my body dip into that stored fat?

Even if I did my workout that morning. I started on 300 calories, burned 600 so I had to burn stored fat, which was then replenished by my larger meal. Again, if I stored less than I burned, I lose weight.

At the end of the day, I ate 1500 calories (300 breakfast, 900 lunch, 300 dinner) and with a RMR of 1300 and an exercise burn of say 600 I still have a deficit for the day of 300 to 500 calories, depending on activity level. So, bottom line is that I stored some fat temporarily but then burned more than I stored and i should be losing weight.

So, wouldn't that work for a week? I stored some extra fat due to a binge day but had a deficit for the next 6 days. Wouldn't I burn off what I stored as long as my binge calories don't exceed my weekly deficit? And if I'm burning more than I stored, then I'll lose weight. It still comes down to net/net doesn't it?

Maybe I'm just looking at this wrong but anecdotal evidence suggests that people tend to eat/store energy inconsistently. Most of the world does not eat small meals 6 times a day. Despite that inconsistency they manage to lose/maintain weight.

Not saying you're wrong or trying to argue. Just want to understand since I'm trying to break through what I consider to be my "set point" (yes, I know the theory was debunked some time agobut is seems to apply to my particular problem) right now.

this is gonna get a bit technical, but I'll try to keep it as simple as I can for those of us who don't have a firm grip on the inner workings of our body.

In a perfect world this would be how it would work.

Unfortunately our bodies don't work like a straight causality machine. What you have to take into account is the idea that our body doesn't just take in the food, process it and expel waste. It (passively) takes all the things that you do into account and it also takes energy from where ever it needs it and where it can get it fastest.

So when doing the calculations (and obviously this is theoretical, there's really no way for even doctors to tell exactly where you are deriving all your energy) you must factor in the concept of use of proteins as a secondary fuel source and slow digesting foods as a fuel source also. So while some of those extra calories (many, in fact) that you need come from the fat you just stored, some also comes from lean tissue, and bone. There is always some degree of muscle loss in humans, how much depends on how often, and for how long, and how hard the particular muscle in question is being used.

Remember, muscle is always very close to the blood supply, it has to be, that's how muscles are "fed". Fat on the other hand, doesn't need a ready supply of blood which is why it's stored in the out of place area's it is. So when the body sends out the chemicals saying it needs fuel (lactic acid, insulin, and cortosol among others) the body responds by grabbing first digested food in the form of glycogen from the liver and blood, then it looks for alternate fuel sources, fat is the major one, and yes, a large percentage comes from fat, but also amino acids are broken down too. Because what ever fuel source the body thinks it can break down fastest, it will use, if the fat is far from the blood, it takes a while to pull the fat, get it to the liver, break it down, and put it back into the blood as glycogen, if that takes longer than pulling amino acids and breaking them down, guess who wins!

this all factors in to why we say to keep doing strength training while trying to lose weight, active muscles don't release protein up to the body as easilly, and force the body to use fat.

One other tid bit to remember about this is that, while you are doing this kind of eating, you are basically keeping older fat stores right where they are. Remember, it's harder to burn fat than to burn glucose, so it takes longer, giving the body more of a chance to slow down and not burn older fat. So when you binge , you are helping to keep the old fat (any fat that wasn't just put on) hanging around.

A lot of people either tend to forget the important roll protein metabolism plays, or just plain don't know about it. It's a big factor in how fit we become.