A Week off the Wagon with devastating results

slim_photographer

Thanks for the post and I will commend you for sticking to your programs for 13 weeks in a row. For me it's more like 3 good days and a bad one, two good weeks and bad one.
Some people on here tend to cling to the meaning or use of certain words in their head and when someone uses them in a different way they can't help but to deviate from the point and go straight to try to correct you.
I get what you're saying.
I hope you reach your goals.
HC

ipiddock

I'd like to know how in the world you ate out 3 times a day and had drinks and still averaged 1900 cals a day ... I can do that in one eat out meal easily ... salad heavy?

I take your point.

I ate well on the Monday and the Friday during the week, it was really just the other 5 days. I also worked out on the Monday and Friday so that lowered the average for the week. If I had just posted stats about the 5 days those numbers would be different.

magerum

I have a few comments. I don't say any of this with any sort of tone but I am pretty blunt so hopefully you can take that for what it is:


1) 4lbs is not devastating, it's trivial. Yesterday afternoon I weighed in at 189. Today I weighed in at 184.5.

2) You didn't use any method to track bodyfat % so you can't know whether or not your 4lb gain was 1lb of fat and 3lbs of water, or .5lbs of fat and 3.5lbs of water, or all fat, etc. Obviously you wouldn't take DEXA scans before and after as that's not really practical, but the point still stands. I'm willing to bet a good portion of that gain was water weight, this can happen when you go from a chronic deficit to an immediate surplus or even maintenance.

In the long run, this break may do you more good than harm. You need to look at the big picture.


EDIT: I do thank you for posting this, I think there's value in it regardless.

^ This. Yesterday morning I weighed 181.4. This morning I weighed 184.4. I only ate 100 calories above my normal intake yesterday, but got only 5 hours a sleep, bad sleep on top of that. So I'm retaining water because I'm out of "the norm". I'm going to go to bed early tonight and get a full nights sleep. Two nights of that and the weight will be gone, which is unfortunate in my case because I'm actually trying to bulk.

likemeinvisible

So I weigh in this morning and I've gained 4 lbs!!!!!!!

I guess as the maths never worked when I was loosing weight I shouldn't rely on them when trying to predict the results of a 'bad' week. But still, that's a train crash, that has now potentially put be back weeks in reaching my goals. If 3500 calories is really equal to a pound, I should have consumed near on 30,000 calories to do that sort of damage, but I netted out at 13,000 (Av 1857 per day).

My calculator says:

4lbs X 3500cal = 14,000cal


edit: I'm not trying to be funny, I just want to know if I can trust the numbers.

CyberEd312

Agree with Sidesteal (Wow there something New!! LOL) but you are most likely talking water retention there is now way you gained that much fat.. I have Splurge meal or two on the weekend and am normally up 4 or 5 pounds on Monday but plenty of hydration and by wednesday I am back at weight and more than likely have lost weight for that week. Once every 3 months or so I will take a entire weekend off and don't track anything and pretty much eat what I what (not overly crazy but I have what I want) and there has been a couple of those weekends on Monday I moved the scale up 8-10 lbs. It is nothing but massive water retention from all the high sodium intake and within a few days it all balances out... My methods may not work for some or most but after 37 months and 311 lbs. lost I have disciplined myself and have no problems sticking to my plan after such meals... Just recommit and get back on point and keep working toward your goals...

1holegrouper

I agree with others that this is all sodium and water. If you are back to your normal routine then this experience can be thought of as a "carb cycling" session. There are many folks that do this purposefully on a regular basis to reset their body's response to their calorie restriction. This happened when I went to Ukraine and when I went to the UK. I actually lost weight from both of those trips after the sodium and the water levels normalized. Now let that worry turn into excitement!

ipiddock

So I weigh in this morning and I've gained 4 lbs!!!!!!!

I guess as the maths never worked when I was loosing weight I shouldn't rely on them when trying to predict the results of a 'bad' week. But still, that's a train crash, that has now potentially put be back weeks in reaching my goals. If 3500 calories is really equal to a pound, I should have consumed near on 30,000 calories to do that sort of damage, but I netted out at 13,000 (Av 1857 per day).

My calculator says:

4lbs X 3500cal = 14,000cal


edit: I'm not trying to be funny, I just want to know if I can trust the numbers.

+ normal food consumption = 30,000

lilawolf

Are you sure you were calculating your calories correctly? It is pretty easy to hit 1800 calories without big restaurant meals or alcohol.... I would expect at least double that. If your numbers are correct, than I also suspect water weight. There are scales that measure that you know.

skinnynerd

I gained four pounds after vacation. It came back off the following week. Although my calorie intake was higher, my sodium intake was off the charts due to eating out every meal. Give it a week or so, the weight should be gone. Drink lots of water!

ipiddock

Are you sure you were calculating your calories correctly? It is pretty easy to hit 1800 calories without big restaurant meals or alcohol.... I would expect at least double that. If your numbers are correct, than I also suspect water weight. There are scales that measure that you know.

Yes - see earlier post on this thread - 1800 over the week. 2 Normal days out of 7, exclude those days that also included workouts and the numbers look totally different.

Carfoodel

I have gained 3lbs since Thursday and had 2 days of restaurant and takeaway eating due to family occasions - even though I have been hammering the gym, walking loads and within calories - I have put it down to sodium and possibly increasing my weights? - so drinking loads of water to flush the crap out. - I am sure the scales will catch up with my effort. glad for the reassurance of this thread

pants77

This would be why I advocate daily weigh-ins.

If you only weigh once a week or worse, once a month, and your weigh-in day happens to be a day after you loaded up on sodium or you've got a three-flusher coming down the pike, you end up freaking out about nothing and doing all kinds of unnecessary calorie math.

Daily weigh-ins give you a better picture of your progress and prevent these kinds of hysterics when the number is temporarily higher than you expect it to be.

ipiddock

So as the majority suggested - water, water everywhere! Weighed in this morning - It's all gone

JennetteMac

I am so glad to have found and read this thread.
I have been looking forward to my holiday for months, but it has been tinged with trepidation as I am aware that I will find it hard to log in and even harder to be controlled in a hotel environment with 3 children.
I have tried to lose extra weight for the past couple of months, in the hope that if I then go up, at least it won't show up so much, but I have't been as successful as I hoped.

Reading all your thoughts and comments has given me a greater optimism, perhaps I'll put some weight on, but maybe not too much, and I should be abe to lose it with lots of care and a few weeks.
Thank you. :flowerforyou:

1holegrouper

I am so glad to have found and read this thread.
I have been looking forward to my holiday for months, but it has been tinged with trepidation as I am aware that I will find it hard to log in and even harder to be controlled in a hotel environment with 3 children.
I have tried to lose extra weight for the past couple of months, in the hope that if I then go up, at least it won't show up so much, but I have't been as successful as I hoped.

Reading all your thoughts and comments has given me a greater optimism, perhaps I'll put some weight on, but maybe not too much, and I should be abe to lose it with lots of care and a few weeks.
Thank you. :flowerforyou:

Do what you can to avoid sodium. Even then you will have some water weight when you return. Its almost unavoidable. Drink more water than usual and try to squeeze in as much exercise as you can. Other than that I wouldn't worry too much. Seriously.

Your stomach has shrunk from your current diet and that will have some control over your portions. The most important thing is to enjoy your time with your family. After that if you give some thought to your sugar, alcohol, grease and starch intake that's good but don't let it ruin your vacation. Generally when we are traveling we are moving more than when at home on our normal routine so the BMR calories required during travel time will actually be higher. That's one reason why so many people are surprised (after they lose the water weight) that they end up the same or better after a trip of abundant eating. The other reason is that it takes 3,500 extra calories to make 1 pound of fat in your body. That's a LOT of food.