What happens if you have a bad diet day?

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Replies

  • I too, have 1 bad diet day every week and have lost weight....It's a easy way to not feel guilty, so if I want something I shouldn't have I wait until Saturday...Most of the time by Saturday I have already forgot about it....However, that is my day to eat whatever.....
  • julimonster
    julimonster Posts: 243 Member
    spank yourself & start again tomorrow!
  • Flixie00
    Flixie00 Posts: 1,195 Member
    Log it and move on. I never tried to make up lost ground by over exercising the next day or cutting calories further. Took me 16 months to hit goal, and I had plenty of bad days, both planned and unplanned.
  • sharonpink
    sharonpink Posts: 76 Member
    I think for the first time in my life I am taking a different mind set toward "dieting." Since this truly has to be a life change for me (I need to lose 100 lbs!), for instance, yesterday I had what you call a "bad day." Actually the day was pretty good and I partied last night and ate a huge meal, with dessert, and had drinks and went about 800 calories over my calorie level. So, this morning, I could say to myself, "Oh, what the hell, I screwed up" and stop the whole dieting process like I've done in year's past. It was one meal. I'm going to have those "one meals" now and again. Or, I may just eat a whole bag of chips. What you have to tell yourself is that it's not bad, it's just what you did. I hate the fact that "it's bad". What it is is that you ate a whole bag of chips - or whatever. Don't wait until tomorrow to start in back with your dieting. Do it now. Do it with the next meal. I've made the mistake of "waiting until tomorrow" many times. It has to start with now. Do it now.
  • maryjay52
    maryjay52 Posts: 557 Member
    we all have bad diet days just like we all have bad hair days.. it is what it is . learn from it and move forward with yourself. i lost 80lbs ,gained 30 back due to stupidity and being lazy but i dont beat mself up over it.. im just back on track and glad i caught myself before i gained it all back. life throws lemons at you just make lemonade with it
  • It's days like this when I am glad I found MFP. Before, if I had a bad day, it would turn into a bad week and then I would completely derail. I love the fact that with MFP, no matter how "bad" I was on a given day, the next morning I have a clean slate. I also love that it tells me "if every day were like today you'd weigh X in 5 weeks." It really puts things in perspective. That being said, I log the ugly days as well as the good days and use the reports to try and identify trends in my behavior--stressors, triggers, etc.
  • gsager
    gsager Posts: 977 Member
    Sounds like you're depriving yourself and setting yourself up for failure. If I eat too many calories I just work out more to make up the calories.
  • Deipneus
    Deipneus Posts: 1,855 Member
    I have no idea what that would be like. I've never had a bad day and every day is perfect. Yeah, right...
  • sylviatx
    sylviatx Posts: 156 Member
    Move on. The very most wonderful thing is that every day is a new day, every moment is an opportunity for a new choice. Even if your day starts out with a bad choice, you can still make better choices for the rest of the day. And yesterday? Yesterday's gone.

    Have a great today! And then string a few together...
  • MichaelFunaro
    MichaelFunaro Posts: 66 Member
    Don't let one bad day become two, three, seven.... and then you are done. Put it behind you, recommit and move on. Take it from someone who has let one bad day completely derail them. You just have to put it behind you and know those days will happen from time to time.
  • bbgughj
    bbgughj Posts: 219 Member
    It's Okay , Take it as if it was your one cheat day for the week and move on . Just the Fact that you were able to comprehend that you had a bad day will make you better .
  • paulywoo
    paulywoo Posts: 169 Member
    Just keep going, learn from it and move on.
  • californiagirl2012
    californiagirl2012 Posts: 2,625 Member
    Today was a bad day for my diet, but I'm not sure what caused me to steer off course. I feel ashamed and annoyed with myself. What should I do tomorrow, or what can I do in the future to not have a bad diet day?

    I felt this way especially when I started this journey. Amazingly I still feel this way at times even in maintenance when everyone tells me I shouldn't. We are all human. We have good days and bad days, all of our lives. The tools you find and use to get out of a funk will serve you the rest of your life, and you will always need them. I call it sharpening your sword for battle and you will always need to keep your blade sharp for the rest of your life. We may get to relax at times for a few moments, but life is a bit of work until the end.

    There is nothing easy about this journey. Don't give up. Keep your eye on the prize. You do not have to be perfect to do this. You just have to have more good days than not. A bad day is not the end of the world. Tomorrow is a new day. Just pick it right up again. Be kind to yourself at all times and never beat yourself up.

    Being on a calorie deficit is hard. You can't do this journey on will power alone. You must set up your environment for success. Have a team around you in your real life, not just online. Get trigger foods out of the house. It will take some sacrifice and it's not easy. You might have to say no to some social events sometimes.

    Too many changes at once can be hard on some people. I've always eaten healthy so it easy for me to simply eat less. Eating at a calorie deficit is hard on people; even a small deficit puts your body in a state of flux with hormones and such. Everyone is different. Some people can handle a deeper calorie deficit than others, this is not right or wrong, it just is. Stress in your life affects your hunger hormones; lack of sleep, fatigue, job stress, family stress, financial stress, etc. Add in emotional eating issues and it gets even more complicated. Most people can only handle so much change/stress at once, they try to do too much and fail. Sometimes it might be a better strategy to eat at maintenance and make some small changes first, it really depends on how much stress you are taking in at the moment.


    For me it's all about a calorie budget. I had less of a budget available when I was losing weight, more to spend now that I'm maintaining and all the tools I used for weight loss come into play for the rest of my life maintaining.

    When you have accumulated excess fat, you have accumulated a debt. It is hard to pay off the debt (you have less calories to spend). If you are sitting next to someone your same gender and height and they are not overweight and you are, they get to eat more than you (have more calories to spend) because they are debt free. You have less calories to spend because you are paying off your debt.

    Wishing you the best! -Bobbie
  • we all have them! Just get back on the next day. :_)
  • I am even more motivated to kick *kitten* the next day.
  • JenniBaby85
    JenniBaby85 Posts: 855 Member
    Slap your wrist and start over again. One day isn't going to ruin everything you've striven for. Just don't let it happen every day. Step back, check your food diary and see where it started, consider WHY it started, and work to make better choices. Also remember, one or two bad decisions in a day is NOT an excuse to make more and more bad decisions.
  • shirleygirl910
    shirleygirl910 Posts: 503 Member
    First off this is a life style change not a diet. If you think of it as a diet we have a tendancy to beat our selves up over little things because we take it literal like there are black and white rules. Second, when you have a bad moment (not day) you start fresh right now. Don't wait and say tomorrow to start again. Start at this moment. The past is the past. Also if you find yourself having problems staying on track start logging your moods and feelings when you eat. A lot of my problems are mental. How I eat, when I eat etc. There are lots of books that discuss different mental habits. By logging your moods and what's going on around you might help you understand what is happening too. Good luck, we are all here for the same reason. We all have problems with food and exercise. We all are learning how our bodies work and what we like. We're in this together.
  • dvisser1
    dvisser1 Posts: 788 Member
    Today was a bad day for my diet, but I'm not sure what caused me to steer off course. I feel ashamed and annoyed with myself. What should I do tomorrow, or what can I do in the future to not have a bad diet day?

    Well....I've seen a lot of people start by giving themselves a guilt trip, getting angry with themselves, etc. ,etc. But don't bother with that. This is a lifestyle change with how you approach food as part of your life. From a dietary plan, one day does not make or break a life. This is all about the long haul, not a one day success plan. Yes, you need to approach this one day at a time to keep it manageable but understand that one bad does not change anything. It's a minor blip in the course of a month or a year.

    Just last night I steered off course with a pint of ice cream and a pre-made lasagna (Stouffers). 3/4 of a pint of ice cream and half the lasagna later, I felt stuffed and terrible as I then fell asleep last night. This morning, shrugged my shoulders and hopped back on the bandwagon. Bad days happen, just keep it to one day. That's it. Constant dedication to improving your dietary intake doesn't mean you can never have a bad day or never give yourself a small treat; what it does mean is you keep the bad days to a minimum and never give up!
  • Never expect perfection from yourself--you'll just be sad and angry in the end. A bad day won't happen once, but several times. Just realize it isn't the end and keep to your regular routine the next day.

    For me personally, when I feel like I've done really awful, I drink a big glass of water before bed (since I normally screw up with soda or other beverages).
  • Go exercise some of it away. Forgive yourself, get over it and make better choices tomorrow. You are not perfect and you can start again anytime.
  • skinnyforhi
    skinnyforhi Posts: 340 Member
    Today was a bad day for my diet, but I'm not sure what caused me to steer off course. I feel ashamed and annoyed with myself. What should I do tomorrow, or what can I do in the future to not have a bad diet day?

    First forgive yourself- it happens. Second, next time you feel like you made a bad food choice stop and think about it. Focus on not letting a bad meal turn into a bad day. I used to think the whole day was shot if I had a cheeseburger. Now I focus on moving on immediately and eating healthy for the rest of the day- even if I'm already over my calories. Good luck!
  • Don't beat yourself up, it happens to all of us and tomorrow is a new day.