Bad weekend but still lost weight?!

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janahcarter
janahcarter Posts: 42 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Ok, to say I'm confused would be an understatement. This past weekend (actually Fri-Mon) was the worst weekend I've had since I started losing weight. I not only fell off the wagon, I rolled down the hill eating mini-sized candy bars along the way and fell at the bottom with my face planted in a take-out box of Chinese among other things. In other words, I ate **** like there was no tomorrow. I do not know what came over me or why I couldn't stop myself. I had a few healthy meals in between and drank a lot of water. The last day I worked out was Friday. So I woke up this morning and thought, "What the hell, why not step on the scale and see what damage I've done to myself? Why not make myself feel worse about it?" You can imagine my WTF face when I saw 198.8!! (I weighed myself last week and was 199.2) Not that I mind, but how in the hell did I lose ANYTHING after all that junk food?! What gives??
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Replies

  • Cara2628
    Cara2628 Posts: 64 Member
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    I know this doesn't help anything but I just wanted to say that has happened to me too! It is definitely an awesome surprise but I would love knowing why that happened too haha
  • RunHardBeStrong
    RunHardBeStrong Posts: 33,069 Member
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    Were you under calories the rest of the week by chance? If so then you may have just averaged out overall. This is why some people (myself included) go by weekly totals. That's what it comes down to anyway. Either way don't overthink it. Go with it, enjoy it and try not to go overboard next weekend! :smile:
  • mellieyeg
    mellieyeg Posts: 14
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    That is great news. It is nice to know your body still loves you after you think yo uwere so bad to it all weekend. You probably burnt the extra calories rolling down the hill lol. I know when i have had a bad weekend and still lost, my mind has thought wow this is awesome i can eat what i want and lose still. well it doesnt happen like that. maybe once in a while, and I have learend that once in a while our body just needs that bit of not healthy eating, its like it shocks your metabolism. glad you had a loss.
  • LeidaPrimal
    LeidaPrimal Posts: 198 Member
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    When you are doing reduced calories for a while, over a week, one of the hormones goes down dramatically. It signals starvation and fat conservation to your body. Feasting re-sets the hormone levels to high, allowing the body to release fat. Human beings developed under the conditions of feast and fast, so their bodies work the best under those conditions. You can check out 4 Hour Body, the author is one of the most eloquent proponents of controlled binging for fat loss and general health.
  • LaurenAOK
    LaurenAOK Posts: 2,475 Member
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    Most people can eat a lot more calories than they think and still lose weight. Your calorie goal may be lower than it needs to be :) I know because the same thing used to happen to me. I was on 1200, then I'd splurge really bad one weekend, and at my weekly weigh in I'd still have lost weight. Later I started eating more like 1400 and continued losing weight, and it made a lot more sense. Congrats on your loss!
  • thelovelyLIZ
    thelovelyLIZ Posts: 1,227 Member
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    It is REALLY REALLY HARD TO GAIN WEIGHT even with bad eating. You have to eat 3500 calories OVER maintenance to gain a pound.

    Your weight loss could be because you had a large enough deficit for the rest of the week, or you may be dehydrated with little water in your body as well (I tend to weigh less after a night of heavy drinking, because it dehydrates me.)
  • Koldnomore
    Koldnomore Posts: 1,613 Member
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    I did the same thing but I know that I was not eating enough during the week anyway. I was still under what I should have been which is why I didn't lose much..but I did manage a little drop.
  • mustgetmuscles1
    mustgetmuscles1 Posts: 3,346 Member
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    Were you under calories the rest of the week by chance? If so then you may have just averaged out overall. This is why some people (myself included) go by weekly totals. That's what it comes down to anyway. Either way don't overthink it. Go with it, enjoy it and try not to go overboard next weekend! :smile:

    ^ This. "Healthy meals" or "crap" has very little to do with weight loss compared to overall calories. That being said I have had some great losses after a cheat day. Sometimes it gets the weight loss kick started to calorie cycle.
  • 120weeks
    120weeks Posts: 242 Member
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    You probably weren't overeating :) Do you know what your estimated daily calorie burn is? Your TDEE? It's just an estimate but if you over-eat for your personal goal but still eat under than number, you won't gain weight. Also, weight loss isn't linear. This may have been a loss coming to you from a week ago or so. It's hard to tell and hard to predict. Good for you though and you must have kept your sodium in check. It's weekend sodium that sets people bonkers with water retention!
  • Tamisha15
    Tamisha15 Posts: 83 Member
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    The lb lost may be a result of your previous week. It takes a burn of 3500 cals a week burn for 1 lb to show up. So you may have burned over 3500 cals Mon-Fri and what you did over the weekend may have not caught up with you yet. But now that you recognize that you had a bad weekend, you can work it off during the week and get back on the wagon. Also, even though you may feel like you ate alot, that may not be so.

    Hope you burn another lb next week
  • funsteps
    funsteps Posts: 74 Member
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    I've noticed that a "bad" day can sometimes re-start my weight loss if I've been stuck at the same weight for a while. I don't really understand it and maybe there are a lot of other factors playing into it so I wouldn't suggest binging one day to break a plateau, but it seems to work for me... for now.
  • daisiemae123
    daisiemae123 Posts: 277 Member
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    When I did Weight Watchers years ago, my leader called it credit card eating. Sometimes the extra calories and junk just hadn't caught up before weigh in. Sometimes happened to me sometimes not. Hopefully won't show up on your next weigh in if you are back on target.
  • mathjulz
    mathjulz Posts: 5,514 Member
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    Were you under calories the rest of the week by chance? If so then you may have just averaged out overall. This is why some people (myself included) go by weekly totals. That's what it comes down to anyway. Either way don't overthink it. Go with it, enjoy it and try not to go overboard next weekend! :smile:

    This was my first thought, too.
  • joann1948
    joann1948 Posts: 161 Member
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    It usually takes 3 days for it to show on the scales. I have had the same experience......
  • SuffolkSally
    SuffolkSally Posts: 964 Member
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    It makes no sense, but I've had the same thing happen. I think there's quite a lot to be said for zig zagging - in my case it's never intentional though, LOL
  • been285
    been285 Posts: 99 Member
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    long term count's more than bumps in the road .
    Your mission if you choose to accept is to:
    figure out what sparked this binge and how to avoid the next one.
    If you feel deprived some part of you will always be fighting against your diet plan.
    find YOUR way.
    row row row your boat,,,, bye........ later
  • ErinBeth7
    ErinBeth7 Posts: 1,625 Member
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    I've done the same thing. I was stuck for a couple months at one weight and had a crazy food weekend where I ate anything and everything. It turns out the next week I lost 2lbs. It has definitely helped kickstart after a plateau.
  • scagneti
    scagneti Posts: 707 Member
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    I find I always lose weight if I have a few day break between workouts. I think it's the extra water weight that surrounds the muscles. I gain it back once I start working out again, so it all balances out.
  • Murf1968
    Murf1968 Posts: 315 Member
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    I had a really bad week last week - concerts on Monday and Tuesday, my birthday on Wednesday, friends birthday on Thursday, concert Friday and my binge continued over the weekend. Was really disappointed with myself at weigh-in time (7am) on Monday morning as had gained almost 3 pounds!

    Got back into it yesterday and weighed again at 7am this morning and had lost 1.5lb of that so I feel like I got away lightly. Thank goodness birthdays only come once a year!

    Still, I look at what I have lost since I have been here and realise that one bad week won't kill me. I'm still pleased overall.
  • tunezter
    tunezter Posts: 7
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    Everyone else has essentially hit the nail on the head but allow me to put my spin on things. You lost .4 lbs which based on your current weight is <1% of your overall weight...i.e. negligible...(not that you shouldn't be happy about it...any movement in the right direction is a good thing!). Since the body is such a complex thing it's impossible to say for a certainty what caused the weight loss...it could just be water weight or a combination of fat loss due to your overall calorie intake vs. burn throughout the whole week that decided to show up when it did. I definitely agree with those who have said that changing things up (eating more at times to 'reset' things) is a good idea. I think that applies to exercise as well as diet.

    The best pitchers in baseball are successful in part because they are able to 'fool' the batter. It doesn't matter how good his fastball is...if he keeps throwing that every pitch then even a mediocre batter will be able to hit it. The real effectiveness is in changing up the speed and location so the batter has to keep adjusting. In the same way, if you keep the exact same routine in your diet and exercise your body will adjust and it will become less effective (not that it won't work just not as well).

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