How is this possible?

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ar1ms
ar1ms Posts: 98 Member
How is it possible to eat like crap for a weekend and still lose weight? I went home for the weekend and wasn't completely watching my diet and i have seemed to lost another 2 pounds. How is this so?

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  • michellekicks
    michellekicks Posts: 3,624 Member
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    Depends on a lot of things, but sometimes I find if I'm being overly restrictive, a few high calorie days will give my body a bump to shed some fat. It's weird, but it has worked for me.
  • neohdiver
    neohdiver Posts: 738 Member
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    Calories consumed doesn't convert instantaneously into weight - it has to be processed by your body. Give it a couple of days. (But it is also hard to eat enough more calories than you burn in 2 days to really add weight. - it is when the two day over consumption keeps on going that it turns into extra pounds (or interrupts the loss cycle)...)
  • dsjohndrow
    dsjohndrow Posts: 1,820 Member
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    Depends on a lot of things, but sometimes I find if I'm being overly restrictive, a few high calorie days will give my body a bump to shed some fat. It's weird, but it has worked for me.

    ^^^ This used to happen to me when I first started. I would hit a buffet or something and go over, and bam, down. Now that I am close to my goal weight, not so much.
  • amylovescupcakes
    amylovescupcakes Posts: 146 Member
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    I wish!!!
  • californiagirl2012
    californiagirl2012 Posts: 2,625 Member
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    How is it possible to eat like crap for a weekend and still lose weight? I went home for the weekend and wasn't completely watching my diet and i have seemed to lost another 2 pounds. How is this so?

    Although you want to eat healthy to fuel your body properly it is not necessary for weight loss. All you need is a calorie deficit for weight loss.

    I don't use the scale anymore since I've been maintaining for a year but I noticed that when I eat desserts or eat desserts and wine I wake up ripped. I went to a wedding last night and ate over my calorie budget because of wedding cake and wine and I woke up ripped. I don't know why it happens but it's happened before a few times on accident:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/745151-i-got-a-compliment-from-rusty-moore-from-fitness-black-book

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/734011-desserts-always-make-me-wake-up-ripped-with-pics

    Also:

    Your body loses weight in chunks, not linear. I have found that you can do everything right and your weight loss seems to plateau but if you are patient and keep exercising and eating at a deficit (however slight) you will lose it, it will suddenly "whoosh". There are so many variables for the scale; water retention, digestion, allergies, sodium, carbs, water intake, DOMS, inflammation, the list goes on. People mistakenly think they lose or gain weight when they eat more or less because of these fluctuations.

    Losing weight requires tremendous patience. You will not lose it when you want it or where you want it. The body does its thing. Some apparent plateaus can last a month or so. You can not make it happen faster. You must focus on two things; calories and exercise. Nothing else matters. Scales and metrics don't matter. The day in and day out grind of exercise and calories are all that matters. It is not very exciting until things fall into place. You get your victories and you ride one victory to the next.

    The scale is a trend tool. The scale is good but put it away and only check once a week and only use it as a trend tool. It will fluctuate, it does not matter. Take front side and back progress pictures at least once a month. You will see differences that the metrics won't tell you and it's that little bit of NSV that will keep you going until the next victory.
  • minizebu
    minizebu Posts: 2,716 Member
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    I don't use the scale anymore since I've been maintaining for a year but I noticed that when I eat desserts or eat desserts and wine I wake up ripped. I went to a wedding last night and ate over my calorie budget because of wedding cake and wine and I woke up ripped.

    Uhh, I daresay that you wake up ripped EVERY day, unlike most of us...
  • Angie80281
    Angie80281 Posts: 444 Member
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    Depends on a lot of things, but sometimes I find if I'm being overly restrictive, a few high calorie days will give my body a bump to shed some fat. It's weird, but it has worked for me.

    ^^^ This used to happen to me when I first started. I would hit a buffet or something and go over, and bam, down. Now that I am close to my goal weight, not so much.

    Same here, I think it jump starts your metabolism somehow. I broke my last plateau with a stuffed crust pizza from Pizza Hut. But unfortunately, it doesn't have the same amazing effect anymore.
  • ar1ms
    ar1ms Posts: 98 Member
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    is it possible to gain weight back from over eating for say 2 or 3 days... or does it depend on the amount of calories you consume?
  • minizebu
    minizebu Posts: 2,716 Member
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    is it possible to gain weight back from over eating for say 2 or 3 days... or does it depend on the amount of calories you consume?

    Yes, of course it is possible to gain weight back from overeating. That is the way most people regain the weight they lost.

    Or, are you asking if you manage to come under your calorie goal for the week as a whole, does it matter whether you overate on two or three days?
  • cuarrech
    cuarrech Posts: 118 Member
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    This seems to be the only way I lose. It's funny, really.
  • JohnMessmer
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    Perhaps your regular caloric intake is too low, throwing you into that dreaded "starvation mode", so once you binged and gave your body some fuel it jump-started your metabolism and poof you lost weight. Without knowing the particulars that would be my guess as to why it happened.
  • mem50
    mem50 Posts: 1,384 Member
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    Wierd, isn't it? I went up to a friends cottage for Labor Day weekend...ate way too much, drank a little too much and came home with a 3 lb weight loss that, thankfully, has not returned. A friend told me that stress can make losing weight harder. It was a definate stress free weekend. Was yours?
  • ar1ms
    ar1ms Posts: 98 Member
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    is it possible to gain weight back from over eating for say 2 or 3 days... or does it depend on the amount of calories you consume?

    Yes, of course it is possible to gain weight back from overeating. That is the way most people regain the weight they lost.

    Or, are you asking if you manage to come under your calorie goal for the week as a whole, does it matter whether you overate on two or three days?

    yes that is what I'm asking :)
  • minizebu
    minizebu Posts: 2,716 Member
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    Our daily caloric needs aren't fixed, they fluctuate depending on our activity level (not just working out, but non-exercise activity as well). And, our caloric intake varies as well.

    On the whole we have three possibilities: 1) we are generally matching our caloric intake to our caloric expenditure (maintaining), 2) we are generally taking in more calories than we expend (gaining), or 3) we are generally taking in less calories than we expend (losing).

    I don't know what the body's timescale is for that balancing act: hourly, daily, weekly?

    You will have to wait and see if you are able to maintain the two pound loss that you reported over the weekend.

    However, I personally believe that your quick loss can be chalked up to a difference in water weight.

    If you weigh yourself daily, and record the weights, you will start to notice patterns of differences in weight over the course of the week. (For me, I usually weigh more on weekend days, because I tend to eat more calories on those days. I tend to weigh the least around mid-week.) Over the course of several weeks you will also notice general trends of weight maintenance, weight gain or weight loss.

    If you only weigh yourself once a week you may catch yourself one week at the high point of water retention and the next week at the low point of water retention (or vice versa), and chalk the difference up to fat loss (or gain), when you may actually not have much a difference in actual body fat.
  • FITNLUVINIT
    FITNLUVINIT Posts: 119 Member
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    I did the same thing went out of town for the week never exercised not one bit ate donuts, pizza all in moderation of course came back home and lost 2lbs. crazy but it worked.
  • cinnamon471
    cinnamon471 Posts: 34 Member
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    I dont know but, isnt it great!!!!