i just completely wasted an otherwise great day

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sbatch43
sbatch43 Posts: 14 Member
in Motivation and Support
Help me here.
I have learned that I need X amount of caloric intake to lose the weight. I get that now.
Today I ate great foods and even though i didn't feel like it, I went and did my workout with my trainer. Glad I went, cuz the "go" part is always the hardest and once I was there doing it, I was happy I went. Home and I feel great. No more funk after the last almost 48 hours.

A little back story in case you missed it. Yesterday morning was the first time the scale stopped moving in 3 weeks. I started 3 weeks ago tonight. Steady drop, with the occasional upward climb cuz I made a stupid decision and ate way way way too much. So i was expecting it and planned to get right back on track. Monday and Wednesday nights I go see the trainer. Monday was a great day for me food wise, a great day. And my workout kicked my butt and then some. Huge workout for me. I thought for sure come Tuesday morning weigh in I'd be down a good chunk and I was completely beside myself that the scale didn't move. Not one bit. I had all sorts of temptations for food Monday and I did great not touching any of it, I had the workout of a life time to date for me and this is my reward? So now Tuesday I'm in a funk all day, took the advise I got here and rested, drank a ton of water all day.

My rest day was rewarded with a 0.8lb loss this morning. I'll take it. I now understand it is impossible to keep up the 1-2 lbs daily loss.

Today I ate well, but apparently not enough. I drank my 8 glasses of water too, and did a slightly lower impact workout tonight. I had roughly a 1000 caloric intake today and about 1100 left with the workout.... see as I type this out I now realize where I went wrong!! (maybe -this is where you come in). MFP gives back calories for exercise and I saw 1100(ish) and when i closed out my day it told me I had too few calories. Oh well, hope for the best and move on to tomorrow....

Night time, after 7pm eating is my vise! I knew of Twix bar my wife bought for the kids that no one ate and it's in the fridge. I thought, just one piece can't even be close to 1100 calories so I didn't even think twice, thinking I'll be fine. Not a good choice of food but at least this might out me over the top for that low calorie warning...

WOW this tastes gooooood. What do I do? Still chewing I dash to the other side of the kitchen, without hesitation rip open a package of strawberry pop-tarts, toss them in the toaster and pour myself a glass of milk. BOOM theres another 650 calories, I'm good on my too few.... yeah, I am but wow, WAY wrong choice! I don't know what kicked in on me when that Twix hit the tastes buds.... but luckily for me I knew to stop with just what I had done vs going in for more tasty treats.

I'm going to pay for this in the morning aren't I? I know some of you will say don't even get on the scale tomorrow but my brain, my OCD is numbers.... I NEED to see numbers in everything I do. i don't care which way they go on whatever I just need to see them and figure out stupid equations in my head. In a way I need to see the direct result of bad choices as well as the good.

Help me understand this too few calorie thing. Would it have been just as bad as making a last minute bad choice? If this happens again, what should I do instead of grabbing junk? Let it go at what it is or find something to get me over that line.

I'm so pissed at myself right now! Anyone got a way back machine I can borrow???
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Replies

  • lemonhead66
    lemonhead66 Posts: 109 Member
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    It was a day, good or bad, it's over. Tomorrow is a new day and you go from there. I have started drinking 10 - 16oz of water every time I start looking for snack after meals. Most of the time it works. I also try to have high protein snack handy, hoping I will choose that over junk. As far as the scale thing...I have noticed that my bad and good days are NOT reflected the next day. Don't beat yourself up! I eat almost all of my exercise calories back and am still losing, slowly but losing.
    We did not get this way overnight. It took many years of traveling the wrong way.

    Good luck you can do this.
  • sbatch43
    sbatch43 Posts: 14 Member
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    I guess I should also be clear that I wasn't hungry and decided to eat the Twix. I was just going for a last minute calorie boost to make sure I had enough to help burn off the weight. Once the Twix hit the buds I went nuts and WANTED pop-tarts.

    As I finished them I .... no, actually while I finished the last one I began this post.

    What I am looking for is what do i do when I'm too low on caloric intake for the day? I don't want the metabolism slowing back down on me and I certainly dont' want my bidy to go into starvation mode if I have a "too few" day.

    I understand what's done is done. Help me understand why I made that last minute stupid choice and what better choice I could have made. I mean... should I have left it as is or should I have broiled some fish or something?

    Thanks!
  • stephaniemejia1671
    stephaniemejia1671 Posts: 482 Member
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    Don't feel as if you destroyed everything you have worked for. We all have had our "wtf" moments and you know what? It's ok. It takes time to learn how to eat well again, if we ever did it at all. As long as you workout and eat how you are supposed to eat, it's ok. Maybe try to measure yourself instead of stepping on the scale. They are still numbers right? The measuring tape won't lie to you as the inches you lose are an accurate measure of your hard work. You'll be ok, I believe you will have better days.
  • amye004
    amye004 Posts: 32
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    A couple things.

    1. Retrain your brain. I am the type of person who prefers not to have the chocolate bar around as I will eat the whole thing. I live with a roommate who doesn't have that problem and so I have had to retrain myself to think differently. It went from "i'll have a tiny piece" to 'you will eat the whole thing, do you really want it?" "Today you worked out hard and did so well, do you HAVE to have it?" Question yourself. Stop. Take a pause. Assess the situation. [side note: if you really want it, have it! don't deprive and binge later!]

    2. Give yourself a break. It sounds like you are doing some amazing things. Do not get discourage because the results don't happen right away or when you make a less than healthy food choice. Accept that you ate it, analyze the situation to figure out what you can do better the next time (learn from it), and MOVE ON! Save your guilt for something good.

    Hopefully this helps, all the best in your journey. :)

    Edit: Just saw the clarification and did some editing as my original point 2 did not work. If want to get to that minimum then just drink milk if you aren't really hungry. Provides some nutritional benefits and then you can go about the rest of your evening.
  • lself0924
    lself0924 Posts: 113 Member
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    Hey friend let me tell ya, I'm no different than you are. In fact you and I have a lot in common.

    I've had at least three days in 45 that i went 1000 +/- over. I was eating emotionally tbh. Next day was a new day!

    Slow and steady wins the race! Slow and steady wins the race! I eat something sweet almost daily. Why? Because I'm here to change my lifestyle into one the will produce a healthy weight for me. If it is an extreme that I can't see myself doing for a life time then it will not work for me. I ate a giant hershey almond bar my wife got me for valentine. No guilt. An occassional indulgence.

    Side note. The scales have been good to me within a couple of days of my indulgence. Why? They judge the balance of my activity not just one day or one act!

    God bless! YOU ARE DOING GREAT!
  • linxus
    linxus Posts: 87
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    Honestly, this is why I avoid sweets altogether on the weekdays. Only allow yourself a sweet on your cheat day. When I have junk on my ''diet'' days, I keep wanting more because I feel restricted. On your cheat day, you know there isn't that restriction and pressure, so you do not want to ''keep going'' because that need to sabotage isn't there.
  • janerfitnesspal145
    janerfitnesspal145 Posts: 55 Member
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    I keep several items on hand for just those times when I want something, especially at night when I want a snack or need extra calories. I like almonds and found these cinnamon glazed almonds at Natural Grocers (like Whole Foods Market) that I combine with a serving of unsweetened carob chips, and sometimes petite baby carrots. I'm one of those folks who need "crunch" and the cinnamon almonds and petite carrots provide just the right crunch.

    Don't beat yourself up if you occasionally eat things that you (emphasize you) think you shouldn't. Learning how to eat better doesn't mean you can't indulge every now and then. I've told our son that there are certain foods we just can't have in the house right now (chocolate!) because they are just too tempting to me. He might not have been happy about it, but he eats enough junk when he's not home, so he'll manage, plus he's old enough to understand.

    Good luck and take it day by day!
  • Sabdavis
    Sabdavis Posts: 31 Member
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    Trail mix or peanut butter are great ways to add calories when you're not particularly hungry. You get the good fats and some protein as well as needed minerals.

    You can't judge by one day. It does become a lifestyle change, but that lifestyle change takes about 6 months to really settle into. You are doing a great job! Just remember, too, that when you do a heavy workout day, especially with weights, your body will retain extra water to "repair" the muscles. It can take a few days until it lets go of that water. My biggest issue is sodium intake and that prevents me from dropping much rapidly, but there are many factors that can affect the weight loss. Number one, is water weight.

    Stick with it and you'll be where you want to be in no time.

    I also have a lack of control. If I have a candy bar, I eat the whole thing in 5 minutes. My husband can eat a square every few days and leave it in the cupboard. It makes me nuts. I have to either allot the calories, or keep it out of my reach. You don't have to be perfect, just better. :)
  • statickey
    statickey Posts: 309 Member
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    Don't deprive yourself of treats because then things like that happen, something im still learning. You should be able to have a sweet treat here and there. Just not a whole cake or 12 twix bars.
  • TrailRunner61
    TrailRunner61 Posts: 2,505 Member
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    Sorry I am not bulimic.. I don't even know how to spell it. But I have been studying up on Bariatric surgery and if you over induldge in sweets or rich foods or over eat you will throw up unvoluntary ... so I would throw it all up.. just saying if it's good enough for people who spend thousands to lose weight why not someone who at 5.00 of crap. Just don't eat that crap again. Best wishes.
    I hope you're just kidding!
  • macummins1959
    macummins1959 Posts: 23
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    12 twix bars! That's funny
  • tonyacoursey
    tonyacoursey Posts: 404 Member
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    It's the emotional part of this that's a b@tch. Why did I eat the whole (insert yours here) when I only wanted a bite. Now I've blown it....what the hell I'll eat another. This is hard to overcome and as it has been said re-training your mind and emotions is key. If your just trying to get in those extra calories nuts are a great way to do it. Keep those handy and not in arms reach of those pop tarts..:)
  • MightyDomo
    MightyDomo Posts: 1,265 Member
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    Kind of sounds like you are expecting a daily result of a up or down of 1-2lbs and that you are not eating enough.

    Each day a minimum of 1200 net calories needs to be consumed, if you calculate your BMR I would actually be more inclined to say that should be the minimum calories you consume as that is the minimum your body needs to function.

    Eat back your exercise calories if you calorie goal does not include your regular activity calculated into it. Do not save it for another day unless you are planning a binge day that week, but I still wouldn't banking calories for other days. Also if you don't want to feel worried about the jump on the scale then do not weigh yourself everyday, the more you obsess over the day to day the more it will drive you crazy. Hide your scale even and try not to weigh in for two weeks or maybe a month! The numbers shouldn't be what you need to see as a change as your weight doesn't always show your losses.

    The exercise you are getting should allow you a little treat everyday, I eat a skinny cow ice cream sandwich probably once every day or two and that to me is enough since I am not the biggest fan of eating candy or sweets anymore. Training yourself to not crave candy is a good thing to do, it makes having that treat a little more happy, at least it makes me feel happier to 'treat' myself.

    Also, don't worry about one day that you ate poorly, it's just one day and each day you spend doing this is a new opportunity to learn from your mistakes and do better.
  • EmmaKarney
    EmmaKarney Posts: 690 Member
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    You really need to weigh yourself less! Shoot for once a week, max.

    Don't judge a bad day on what the scale says the next - that's insane.

    Any gain from day to day is simply water, or lack of digestion (if you catch my drift).

    To lose actual fat you need a calorific deficit of 3,500 - and the same in reverse. To put on a genuine pound of fat you'd need to have consumed 3,500 more calories than your TDEE.

    Weight-loss is a linear thing, not an "eat & weigh" on a 24 hour cycle thing.
  • BogQueen1
    BogQueen1 Posts: 320 Member
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    Sorry I am not bulimic.. I don't even know how to spell it. But I have been studying up on Bariatric surgery and if you over induldge in sweets or rich foods or over eat you will throw up unvoluntary ... so I would throw it all up.. just saying if it's good enough for people who spend thousands to lose weight why not someone who at 5.00 of crap. Just don't eat that crap again. Best wishes.

    Wtf? You just advised someone to vomit up the food they ate?

    On topic: Sometimes if you have exercised a ton and not fed your body enough your body goes.... I need food NOW! Try a protein shake a half hour after your work out. I find that it seriously curbs my appetite.
  • livelaughlove384
    livelaughlove384 Posts: 100
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    These kind of days happen. You're not on a diet, you're making a lifestyle change! Always ALWAYS! eat the minimum required calories of 1200. If you worked out great! make sure you're over the 1200 calorie mark!

    I have something sweet everyday. That way I don't feel restricted to never having it or only being able to have it once a week. I LOVE the 90 calorie fiber one brownies! I also enjoy the Skinny Cow brand chocolates! No these foods aren't clean or the greatest of treats but we're attempting to lose weight because we've over induldged in the past. to me anything chocolate and under 100 calories is fantastic =)

    Don't get frustrated over one day...we have all been there believe me! I to step on the scale few times a week as a visual aid. You have MFP to help you and this is a great support system! Keep it up! Best of Luck!
  • floridagirl7264
    floridagirl7264 Posts: 318 Member
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    My rest day was rewarded with a 0.8lb loss this morning. I'll take it. I now understand it is impossible to keep up the 1-2 lbs daily loss.


    Are you expecting to lose 1-2 lbs every DAY?
  • lcn1220
    lcn1220 Posts: 124 Member
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    I guess I should also be clear that I wasn't hungry and decided to eat the Twix. I was just going for a last minute calorie boost to make sure I had enough to help burn off the weight. Once the Twix hit the buds I went nuts and WANTED pop-tarts.

    As I finished them I .... no, actually while I finished the last one I began this post.

    What I am looking for is what do i do when I'm too low on caloric intake for the day? I don't want the metabolism slowing back down on me and I certainly dont' want my bidy to go into starvation mode if I have a "too few" day.

    I understand what's done is done. Help me understand why I made that last minute stupid choice and what better choice I could have made. I mean... should I have left it as is or should I have broiled some fish or something?

    Thanks!

    Your body is not going into starvation mode because you at less on one day. Some suggestions to deal with your huge caloric deficit:

    Break up your 1000 cals into approx 2-3 meals. If you're not eating a meal after your workout, have a protein shake and some wholesome carbs. I prefer fruit, but you might like something else. And then split the remaining cals. Try to have a good mix of protein, some good fats (nuts, avocados) and some high quality complex carbs in these meals. Twix and poptarts don't count. Sweet potatoes, brown rice, oats etc do.

    It's ok if you don't eat back all of the 1000 cals. What I would suggest is if you know you're going to be torching that many at a gym session plan your day and include about 300 of those exercise cals before heading there. And then polish off the rest when you get home.

    Lastly, leave the treats for the kids. :) Put Post Its saying "Daddy please don't eat me" on those Twix bars and poptarts.

    Hope this helps, good luck!
  • hattie869
    hattie869 Posts: 20
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    1000 calories is not enough especially if your excercising! Your setting yourself up to fail as your body will be too hungry pushing you to have cravings!

    Talk to your trainer about calories they should be able to help.

    I find having lots of healthy snacks around really helps - fruit and nuts especially almonds are great.

    And dont forget weight loss shouldnt be fast or its not sustainable!
  • SCtolulu
    SCtolulu Posts: 154 Member
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    Been there done that!!! I think it is especially hard when I'm close to my period.

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