What do you do when you have a bad day with eating?

Mr_Knight · December 2013

It's not about motivation, it's about discipline.

When it happens, I log it, and wake up the next day back on plan.

Schlackity · December 2013

I get up, dust myself off and remind myself that tomorrow is another day, one full of promise & that I will do better!

:flowerforyou:

Amen to that! And I love your ticker message!

Debbe2 · December 2013

I move on and know that some days I'm over and some days I'm under but overall I'm much better off living life and doing the best I can than I ever was feeling guilty over food decisions. I try to stay conscious of what I eat and that's why I log, I try to move more and exercise and that's also why I log. I forgive myself and I don't dwell on eating an excess of food. Instead I do dwell on eating food that I enjoy and is nutritious for my body most of the time and food I enjoy just because it tastes good some of the time.

So when you have a bad day with eating as you said-- maybe look & move forward, never back :flowerforyou:

jennifer_417 · December 2013

I learned to just shrug it off and go back to my regular deficit the next day.

scottkjar · December 2013

Remember that 3500 calories = 1 pound. So 400 calories twice, or 800 calories total, is not even 1/4 of a pound. You could go over by 400 calories every day for a week and still not be up a pound. You want to recognize the days that you go over, but also recognize how small the impact really is.

Project_Jodie · December 2013

Exercise a little more and get back on track right now!

Ninkyou · December 2013

Accept it and move on. If possible, plan for such eventualities in advance.

ironanimal · December 2013

Enjoy it and move on. The object is to love life, and be happy. You can't do that by not indulging once in a while.

Strong first post -- for real.

Pretty much what my answer would have been.

piersonj · December 2013

Sometimes if I go over the next day I lose weight.Just log it and tomorrow is a new day don't worry be happy!

I thought I was the only one this happens to. It like my body does a little jump for joy when I have a occasional small indulgence, to often and my body shows its' displeasure with problems in "regularity". I don't feel guilty if I don't hit my calorie goals, I take the chance to learn how my body responds. It helps me make better choices in the future.

A big step for me in changing my eating habits was to accept there are no good days, bad days or cheat days. Every day is just a day where you try to balance the good thing that happen and that you do with the things you wish could have gone better or would have liked to have time to do.

TruckersWifeTruckersLife · December 2013

I get up, dust myself off and remind myself that tomorrow is another day, one full of promise & that I will do better!

yep this its so true tomorrow is a new day

jennifer_417 · December 2013

Ok, can I just say that I LOVE the fact that we all pretty much said the same thing? Squishy feels and stuff...:smooched:

TriShamelessly · December 2013

Don't sweat it. Even if you're over your MFP set calorie goals, you may still be in a deficit overall. Even if over your TDEE, one or two days will not derail progress as long as you make steady sensible changes in your diet and exercise. Best wishes for continued success.

kelly_e_montana · December 2013

I don't restrict or exercise more to compensate for a previous slip up. That's the beginning of disordered eating behaviors. Don't let food control your feelings or make you feel bad. Let it go. If you feel you need to exercise or restrict every time you mess up, soon purging or skipping meals seems okay and then more and more aggressive things seem okay. Over-exercising with the goal simply to burn off the calories associated with an overeating or binge episode IS PURGING.

I just simply make a plan on how I will have a better day the next day. Pre-log. Follow your plan.

Also, look at your calories and see if your weight loss plan is too aggressive. It's easy to lose weight but hard to keep it off. Were you hungry? If so, maybe increase your calories.

If it's just holiday food and you weren't hungry, it's something you either need to plan for to fit it into your cals or avoid it.

matcartmill · December 2013

It happens. Not a big deal.

The way I'm slowly learning to not let these things happen is I take the number of calories that I went over (in your case 400), and double it (800).

That becomes the golden number for me to burn at the gym the following day. An 800 calorie burn, for me at least, is only about 60 minutes of spinning.

Edit: In regards to KellyMontana's post above mine, she's absolutely right that this can start bad eating habits, as it is supposed to make you not want to eat too much. I use this method for myself, and I know that if I go too crazy with it it can be bad. This is how *I* deal with it in a way that both allows me to have the extra food AND allows me to amp up my workout. If you do my method thinking it's a punishment, things can turn very bad for your lifestyle habits.

MelissaPhippsFeagins · December 2013

Log it and move on. Especially this time of year. Christmas is a celebration; humans celebrate with food. I've got three kids with birthdays in the next 10 days. That's a lot of cake and ice cream. I'll be adding an extra 15 minutes to the dog's daily walk and enjoying every minute of the rest of this year. I'm down 30 hard earned pounds. I'm not going to eat enough to totally wreck that, but if I gain a couple back, I'll take them off again. It's all good.

Merry Christmas!!!!!

AnnaZimm70 · December 2013

My goad, before exercise, is 1200 calories a day. Yesterday I was 1288 calories OVER this. While I am logging my meals I think "Holy cow the Longhorn appetizers are high" but other than that I just move on to a new day (I log everything -- no hiding from my choices). I would gain weight if I did this everyday and it diminishes what my loss is likely to be this week, but life will go on. In fact, it will go on to today where my family is coming over for an early Christmas celebration complete with cookies. pies, and lasagna, so it is not likely to be a good day today either! I will say I am looking forward to January when all the holiday food is done!

logtecbrad · December 2013

As everyone else states... log it and move on. If this happens on a regular basis, I would think ... why and what happened to make you want to eat more. If necessary log your feelings or what happened to you that day. If you find a pattern then see if you can eliminate or find an alternative... for example if being a buffet makes you have a bad day, then stay away from the buffet.

_jayciemarie_ · December 2013

Honestly it is so hard to NOT beat yourself up over it, but you can't. Get back on track the next day. For me I think about my eating habits before I decided to change. Going over by a few hundred calories doesn't seem so bad then. Just don't make it a habit. We all deserve to indulge from time to time. The holidays are almost over so we can get through this.