A Week off the Wagon with devastating results

So, I just thought I'd share this with the group because i think it's interesting. I'm quite a mathematical guy and very carefully count the calories and the exercise etc. I must admit based on my daily calorie goal, etc, the maths have never quite added up and I've lost weight at a far greater speed than I calculated or the system predicted, I went along with it though and was happy to see the weight drop off. In 13 weeks I dropped 35 lbs. I feel great, never go hungry, etc.

So this past week has been a very interesting and unintentional experiment. Having spent the past 13 weeks in full control of my consumption and exercise, I was in a situation where I had little control, and I did not install any discipline.

So the scenario is as follows: I weigh once a week - Monday morning. On Tuesday I fly to Amsterdam on business, staying in a hotel eating out for breakfast, lunch and dinner, no exercise and lot's of socialising (code for alcohol consumption). I arrive back in the UK late Thursday, work from home on Friday, then Saturday morning I was off with a mate for a weekend of Motorsport staying in his motor home. So that was all eating out again and lots of socialising - arrive home late last night.

One thing I did do while away was keep track of calories consumed. Let's just say - It was off the chart (compared to my MFP goals), but overall I think I still finished the week under what my TDEE is. So the theory was, I'd probably stay the same weight.

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).

So my conclusion is the following (and it won't be a surprise to many of you): When restricting calories for so long (13 weeks) and having a strict routine your metabolism slows tremendously and the body adjusts to the low intake. When you change the habits for a week the body grabs it all and clearly gets confused. I suspect when I get back to routine again it will probably drop it all off quickly. So I'm very conscious now that as I begin to reach my goal I slowly adjust my calorific intake week by week to re-educate the body and the metabolic process.

I'm posting this because I think I have learned something through practical implementation rather than theory crafting which some of us do too much of from time-to-time.

Bye for now.

Ian