Gained 4 lbs after one bad day?

dawnp1833

I keep reading about people on MFP who have free days or eat what they want once in awhile. I've been doing pretty well, changing my lifestyle dramatically. So I thougth I'd give myself a free day. Saturday I had 1/2 a cheeseburger, but made up for it the rest of the day and worked out. Sunday I ate what I wanted, (potato pancakes in the morning, no lunch, steak and potato dinner) but I was still in my alloted calories and I exercised. Then Monday I had a big problem - I had to skip breakfast and eat out lunch at work because of bad planning and unexpected meetings. I work in an area without many healthy choices and had limited time. I went to Panda Express because I thought it was healthier than McD or TacoBell. I got the bowl, because I thought that it was a smaller portion and that some rice with spicy chicken on it couldn't be that bad. I ate it and when I went to log it in MFP found out that it was a horrifying 1010 calories. I tried to not eat the rest of the day to make up for it, but I was so hungry I ended up eating a 1/2 PB and J at night. Didn't get to exercise because of the hectic day, but drank tons of water to try to make up for all the sodium in the lunch.

Still, I was close to my calories each day, so I thought it wouldn't be too bad.

Got on the scale this morning and I'm up 4.2 pounds since sunday morning.

So I guess my question is - does this mean that I'll have to stay on this diet forever? That once I reach my goal, the minute I eat any of the foods I love, the pounds are going to pack right back on?

HeidiHoMom

It's just normal sodium fluctuations.

In order to gain 4 lbs you would have had to have eaten an extra 14 000 calories above your regular TDEE. Your 1000 calories meal will not have done that.

Another tip, if you have a bad meal, don't skip out on eating for the rest of the day. Just make healthy choices but eat regular snacks and meals as if the cheat meal didn't happen. You will only be hungry, binge and it can also negatively impact your weight loss.

bsinno

oh my no, you did NOT gain 4 lbs in a day!!

it takes 3500 extra calories = 1 pound.

so did you eat 14,000 calories OVER your TDEE yesterday?!?!

read the scale stickies....the foods you ate were probably very high in sodium and you are retaining water. eat well today and drink water - im betting the scale reads differently tomorrow

knowak82

It's just normal sodium fluctuations.

In order to gain 4 lbs you would have had to have eaten an extra 14 000 calories above your regular TDEE. Your 1000 calories meal will not have done that.

Another tip, if you have a bad meal, don't skip out on eating for the rest of the day. Just make healthy choices but eat regular snacks and meals as if the cheat meal didn't happen. You will only be hungry, binge and it can also negatively impact your weight loss.

^^^^This^^^^

Raynn1

Im not sure what you are asking... This group is for people who are eating more to lose weight, not surviving on a 1200 cal a day diet..You are saying you barely ate anything, then "indulged" in a 1000 cal meal and then starved yourself the rest of the day.

I suggest you read the stickied and get an understanding of what this group is all about first. This is not a "diet" plan. We do not eat 1200 cals in here, nor do we starve ourselves at any point in our day. We are here to change our lifestyle and get out of hte "diet" mentality so we never have to eat so little again.

If you are looking to eat more and get out of the 1200 cal cycle you appear to be in, then please read through the stickies and see what we are all about.

Hope this helps

As for th4 pound gain... You had an incredibly salty meal... its likely all water retention as it is impossible to gain 4 pounds overnight. Also, by eating so little, your body will likely hold on to every ounce of food you give it, which means your weight loss will stall and very likely you will gain weight back. If you truly want to get off of the diet cycle, then read through the stickies..

best of luck.. we are here if you are ready:)

dawnp1833

Im not sure what you are asking... This group is for people who are eating more to lose weight, not surviving on a 1200 cal a day diet..You are saying you barely ate anything, then "indulged" in a 1000 cal meal and then starved yourself the rest of the day.

I suggest you read the stickied and get an understanding of what this group is all about first. This is not a "diet" plan. We do not eat 1200 cals in here, nor do we starve ourselves at any point in our day. We are here to change our lifestyle and get out of hte "diet" mentality so we never have to eat so little again.

If you are looking to eat more and get out of the 1200 cal cycle you appear to be in, then please read through the stickies and see what we are all about.

Hope this helps

As for th4 pound gain... You had an incredibly salty meal... its likely all water retention as it is impossible to gain 4 pounds overnight. Also, by eating so little, your body will likely hold on to every ounce of food you give it, which means your weight loss will stall and very likely you will gain weight back. If you truly want to get off of the diet cycle, then read through the stickies..

best of luck.. we are here if you are ready:)

Thanks for the reply. I just started the eat more to weigh less concept, and while it's totally possible that I'm doing it wrong, I calculated my TDEE 1749 and BMR 1457 and figured I should be eating 1399 calories to lose. Is that wrong? A website I was referred to here suggested that number. Do I eat 1399 and then also eat back the exercise cals?

My barely ate anything, then indulged day was not a typical day for me. I was stuck in an unexpected situation that day. Usually I plan ahead and bring food with me and do much better. I try to eat 3 reasonable meals and 1 or 2 snacks every day. I do struggle with knowing what to eat. I wander the grocery for hours agonizing over what to put in my cart sometimes. And I tend to eat heavier at night beause in the morning I don't want to eat too much and not have enough calories for later. I'm trying to break that habit.

Again, thanks to everyone for the support and advice.

Raynn1

Thanks for the reply. I just started the eat more to weigh less concept, and while it's totally possible that I'm doing it wrong, I calculated my TDEE 1749 and BMR 1457 and figured I should be eating 1399 calories to lose. Is that wrong? A website I was referred to here suggested that number. Do I eat 1399 and then also eat back the exercise cals?

My barely ate anything, then indulged day was not a typical day for me. I was stuck in an unexpected situation that day. Usually I plan ahead and bring food with me and do much better. I try to eat 3 reasonable meals and 1 or 2 snacks every day. I do struggle with knowing what to eat. I wander the grocery for hours agonizing over what to put in my cart sometimes. And I tend to eat heavier at night beause in the morning I don't want to eat too much and not have enough calories for later. I'm trying to break that habit.

Again, thanks to everyone for the support and advice.

No, you need to eat ABOVE your BMR. You are taking approx 15% off your TDEE, not your BMR. So you should be around 1500 cals a day.
However your numbers seem really low.. can you give us your stats to make sure you are calculating it correctly?

dawnp1833

Thanks for the reply. I just started the eat more to weigh less concept, and while it's totally possible that I'm doing it wrong, I calculated my TDEE 1749 and BMR 1457 and figured I should be eating 1399 calories to lose. Is that wrong? A website I was referred to here suggested that number. Do I eat 1399 and then also eat back the exercise cals?

My barely ate anything, then indulged day was not a typical day for me. I was stuck in an unexpected situation that day. Usually I plan ahead and bring food with me and do much better. I try to eat 3 reasonable meals and 1 or 2 snacks every day. I do struggle with knowing what to eat. I wander the grocery for hours agonizing over what to put in my cart sometimes. And I tend to eat heavier at night beause in the morning I don't want to eat too much and not have enough calories for later. I'm trying to break that habit.

Again, thanks to everyone for the support and advice.

No, you need to eat ABOVE your BMR. You are taking approx 15% off your TDEE, not your BMR. So you should be around 1500 cals a day.
However your numbers seem really low.. can you give us your stats to make sure you are calculating it correctly?

Stats: 45 year old female, 5'5" and today I weighed in at 178.2. Desk job, so very low activity level. (but I do try to exercise daily)

Raynn1

Thanks for the reply. I just started the eat more to weigh less concept, and while it's totally possible that I'm doing it wrong, I calculated my TDEE 1749 and BMR 1457 and figured I should be eating 1399 calories to lose. Is that wrong? A website I was referred to here suggested that number. Do I eat 1399 and then also eat back the exercise cals?

My barely ate anything, then indulged day was not a typical day for me. I was stuck in an unexpected situation that day. Usually I plan ahead and bring food with me and do much better. I try to eat 3 reasonable meals and 1 or 2 snacks every day. I do struggle with knowing what to eat. I wander the grocery for hours agonizing over what to put in my cart sometimes. And I tend to eat heavier at night beause in the morning I don't want to eat too much and not have enough calories for later. I'm trying to break that habit.

Again, thanks to everyone for the support and advice.

No, you need to eat ABOVE your BMR. You are taking approx 15% off your TDEE, not your BMR. So you should be around 1500 cals a day.
However your numbers seem really low.. can you give us your stats to make sure you are calculating it correctly?

Stats: 45 year old female, 5'5" and today I weighed in at 178.2. Desk job, so very low activity level. (but I do try to exercise daily)

OK, Desk job with little exercise is as follows

TDEE -1821
BMR - 1518
15% Cut - 1548

However, if you are exercising daily, this isnt going to be correct. Just because you have a desk job doesnt mean you arent active:).. So look at how many hours in a week you are doing activity. This doesnt mean just hitting the gym. This means DVDs... gym.. walking, running, etc.. anything over and above your "normal" daily activities. I would probably NOT be using the numbers above as what you need to be eating..

If you are doing 1-3 hours a week on average, then your numbers are:

TDEE - 2018
BMR - 1518
15% Cut -1774

If you are doing 3-5 hours a week in activity. Then your numbers are:

TDEE - 2353
BMR -1518
15% Cut - 2000

So look at your activity level and pick the one which is best for you. Your TDEE includes your exercise cals in it, so you would not have to eat back any of those, UNLESS you workout enough in a single day to net below your BMR level. So on average you would have to burn 400-500 cals a day in order to net below BMR

dawnp1833

Thank you!