Struggling after an unexpected cheat meal

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FedoraNinja
FedoraNinja Posts: 45
in Motivation and Support
I had a lunch meeting today with my team at work. Chinese was ordered, and there was no opportunity to leave and grab "good" food.

All the dishes were fried or sweet sauce based, so even though I had a small portion, I suspect I went over on calories. I just don't generally eat Chinese takeout. I don't even know what dishes I ate.

In past attempts at a healthy lifestyle, cheating on my diet has lead to critical failure, and a "oh, screw it" mentality. I know better, now, but I'm really struggling. I'm having strong cravings to go snack on the treats in the work kitchen.

I keep reminding myself that small misteps are inevitable, and that's helping, but I could really use some support right now.

Help?

Replies

  • craigmandu
    craigmandu Posts: 976 Member
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    It's not the end of the world...

    Try to guess what it was using the mfp database...yea, you are probably going to be over for the day, big deal.

    No one day decides your weightloss.

    No single day of going over will destroy your efforts...consistently having those days however will.

    Chalk it up to a learning experience and start to think about how you can "keep" it from happening in the future.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,049 Member
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    The rest of your life is going to be filled with these types of events. Formulate a plan to deal with them.


    For me, I just cut back 100 calories a day for a few days after, or exercise a little more, or just not worry about it at all, depending on how recently I've had it happen previously.

    You aren't going to ruin everything by not being perfect. It's about a pattern of behavior over time, not any one meal or one day. Consistency doesn't mean perfection.
  • ars1300
    ars1300 Posts: 159 Member
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    Just try to move on and not dwell on it. its not worth beating yourself up over. Just try and do better the next day. Temptations are everywhere. If you know something like this is coming up try and cut back somewhere else in the day to try to even it out. Its about the long term choices.
  • wanttoloseweight4
    wanttoloseweight4 Posts: 253
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    i had a off day yesturday kind of i had a little to much peanut butter and breaded the hell out of my chicken! i felt horrible to! but i got up today and did better then yesturday and now that day is just a memory learn from it and move on tom is a new day !
  • 77tes
    77tes Posts: 7,941 Member
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    If you missed brushing your teeth once, would you give up on dental hygiene? Of course not. Think that's it's a lifestyle, not a diet.
  • missability
    missability Posts: 223
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    I find when I eat a "high carb" food, especially refined, like white rice, flour based stuff like bread or breading...I crave the rest of the day...I agree with others here....log the best you can, tomorrows another day. But definitely devise a plan of attack for these events. and tonight drink so much water that u are living in the bathroom....I would definitely add fresh lemon to the water if at all possible.
  • Peerke
    Peerke Posts: 1
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    A nice thing about life is; you can make a new start every day... :smooched:
  • TheStephil
    TheStephil Posts: 858 Member
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    If you missed brushing your teeth once, would you give up on dental hygiene? Of course not. Think that's it's a lifestyle, not a diet.

    I really really like this way of thinking.

    To the OP, it happens. Just try to stay positive and don't fret. If you must snack, look for low cal, healthy options.
  • MyChocolateDiet
    MyChocolateDiet Posts: 22,281 Member
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    NO don't go snack. Log your cals or an estimate if you really don't know. If it's a restaurant you think might have nutritional info online find that and use those numbers otherwise use similar items from MFP. THEN look at the totals, you may find you're not as over as you are. Even if you are look at the week as a whole and decide if you can shave off some cals tomorrow, workout tonight, workout for the next two days or so until you make up those extra cals.

    Don't starve yourself today, if you have more meals to go, eat them just try to shave off a little cals if necessary.
    Don't snack all crazy today, if you are still hungry once you log all this you can get an idea what snacks might be satisfying because you will know what macro's you might be short and might be making you still feel something is lacking. Also look at your water intake, because you might be dehydrated and that might make you feel better. Finally just the simple act of researching and logging all this and getting a real handle on the numbers may make you feel more calm if the snacking urges are resulting from emotions like confusion, despair, or otherwise.

    You can do this. Logging onto this tool is just one step, using it is the next one. This is what they call "hard times" use this tool to get you thru it. You can do it!:flowerforyou:
  • PosterPens
    PosterPens Posts: 172 Member
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    wouldnt worry about it. i too had chinese last week and still managed to lose 3lbs. just keep going!
  • 777twist
    777twist Posts: 75 Member
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    I have had some seriously bad days over the past two weeks. And although my goal is slowly getting away from me, I still have plenty of time to get things back in line. So I don't stress about it one bit.

    And the only reason my goal is time sensitive is because I'm doing a YouTube series chronicling me shedding 100 pounds by December 31st. Hence the name Shed100lbs.

    But if it wasn't for that... I would take my sweet time making small corrections and looking at the bigger picture. And I would not only look at the scale, but look at those non-scale victories. Check the size of clothes, do you make a grunting sound getting in and out of your car anymore, can you participate in more activities that you couldn't before.

    Again, small goals over a long period of time will make this a lifestyle change and not just a diet.

    Good luck!
  • ahmadfahmy
    ahmadfahmy Posts: 214 Member
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    I had a lunch meeting today with my team at work. Chinese was ordered, and there was no opportunity to leave and grab "good" food.

    All the dishes were fried or sweet sauce based, so even though I had a small portion, I suspect I went over on calories. I just don't generally eat Chinese takeout. I don't even know what dishes I ate.

    In past attempts at a healthy lifestyle, cheating on my diet has lead to critical failure, and a "oh, screw it" mentality. I know better, now, but I'm really struggling. I'm having strong cravings to go snack on the treats in the work kitchen.

    I keep reminding myself that small misteps are inevitable, and that's helping, but I could really use some support right now.

    Help?

    you sound like youre really hard on yourself..you need to accept that you will screw up and move on. a few off days (or weeks) will not ruin you as long as you don't make it a habit...you cant get fat over night just like you cant get fit overnight.
  • SanteMulberry
    SanteMulberry Posts: 3,202 Member
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    You probably didn't go over as much as you thought. When you are used to being on a calorie deficit, even eating up to your TDEE feels like you are wayyyy overeating--at least it does for me. When I have had a situation like this in the past, I avoid the most calorific foods (and they are usually the least nourishing foods--like desserts and breads) and go for the ones that will be less likely to take me over TDEE. And if you get right back on the wagon the next day, you will find that there is no particular problem with weight gain (sometimes you will even lose a bit, I have found). I haven't had a TDEE day for a long while. I will probably plan one soon. It isn't bad to do this once in a while.
  • highervibes
    highervibes Posts: 2,219 Member
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    I don't eat many refines carbs or sugar because I"m insulin resistant and I find that if I DO have them, I crave and fight my body for a day or two. Try eating a lot of healthy fats and keeping the refined and sweet stuff to a minimum. You'll be back to your old self in a couple of days.
  • irishblonde2011
    irishblonde2011 Posts: 618 Member
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    Work on getting out of this mind set. I used to do this for years if I had one slip up I would be mad as hell and would tell myself oh well I have eaten it now so I might as well eat what I want. I will start again Monday. It's life you are going to have days where you go over your cals. Just tell yourself it's done. No food is good,no food is bad. Go for a walk and just keep doing what you are doing.

    Good luck.
  • FedoraNinja
    FedoraNinja Posts: 45
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    Thank you all so much! :flowerforyou: I just needed someone outside my head to tell me to chill the hell out.

    I had an apple once I got home to take the edge off before dinner. My mood got a ton better right after that, making me I think I got super low blood sugary.

    Thanks to you guys and all your support, I was able to make it through the rest of the work day and get home and fix myself a healthy dinner.

    You're my heroes! :bigsmile:
  • FedoraNinja
    FedoraNinja Posts: 45
    Options
    NO don't go snack. Log your cals or an estimate if you really don't know. If it's a restaurant you think might have nutritional info online find that and use those numbers otherwise use similar items from MFP. THEN look at the totals, you may find you're not as over as you are. Even if you are look at the week as a whole and decide if you can shave off some cals tomorrow, workout tonight, workout for the next two days or so until you make up those extra cals.

    Don't starve yourself today, if you have more meals to go, eat them just try to shave off a little cals if necessary.
    Don't snack all crazy today, if you are still hungry once you log all this you can get an idea what snacks might be satisfying because you will know what macro's you might be short and might be making you still feel something is lacking. Also look at your water intake, because you might be dehydrated and that might make you feel better. Finally just the simple act of researching and logging all this and getting a real handle on the numbers may make you feel more calm if the snacking urges are resulting from emotions like confusion, despair, or otherwise.

    You can do this. Logging onto this tool is just one step, using it is the next one. This is what they call "hard times" use this tool to get you thru it. You can do it!:flowerforyou:

    Also, specific props for this post being super helpful. It just clicked, despite the hunger and the cravings.. Thanks ChocolateDiet. :smile:

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