1200 cals/day = Guilt.

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  • SingRunTing
    SingRunTing Posts: 2,604 Member
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    I suggest calculating your TDEE (your maintenance calories). One really good site for that is the Scooby TDEE calculator (just google it).

    As long as you're eating below your TDEE, you'll lose weight. So on your "cheat" day, feel free to eat up to your TDEE. The rest of the days you'll eat at your deficit and you'll still lost weight.

    I'm suggesting this because its a weekly thing. If it was only a few times a year, I would say "just eat and don't worry about it". But once a week can really throw off your overall deficit if you just throw caution to the wind. So calculate your TDEE and try not to go over that on your weekly cheat days.
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    edited October 2014
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    You can either set your goal to maintenance, where even if you don't lose that day you won't gain any real fat, or you could "borrow" calories from next week. I'm currently using banking. The past two days I was not too hungry, which was perfect because today we have an event with lots of calorie rich sweet things. I simply banked the extra calories I did not eat in the past two days and added them to today. Even with that, I came out at higher than my goal. No problem. Those roughly 180 extra calories will be coming off of some of next week's days 50 calories at a time.

    Take a look at my diary. the amount of sweets I will be eating today will send you running. 1000 calories of them plus a calorie rich lunch. Even though I will be eating about 2300 something today, in the grand scheme of things the past 3 days average at around 1270 plus exercise plus 180 debt from upcoming days.
  • wink212
    wink212 Posts: 46 Member
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    Hey I'll be right with ya Tuesday night. Those Royals deserve a cheat day. Work out a little harder today and tomorrow and enjoy yourself Tuesday!! One night will not hurt you but forgoing that beer to help the Royals will be devastating!
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,626 Member
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    You're an adult. If you want to eat wings, do that. If you want to have a salad, do that.

    Do whatever makes you happy. Then be happy with the choice.

    This is not Sophie's choice. :)
  • gabrielleelliott90
    gabrielleelliott90 Posts: 854 Member
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    Happens to everyone. Just eat it. Don't worry about it. Get back to 1200 calories the next day and continue. This is not a diet, it's a lifestyle, and we should not get so worried about these things. I don't worry about it on my bday. I won't worry on Xmas. Compared to the amount of days you eat the right amount, this is miniscule. Seriously, enjoy yourself. Don't make yourself feel guilty. This could actually speed up your metabolism as normally you only have 1200, and you will have more than that and that will shock your body, which is good to do once in awhile. I once saw someone on these forums saying sometimes they'll eat over maintenance just to shake things up.
  • astrose00
    astrose00 Posts: 754 Member
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    I think it depends on what you do AFTER you eat the wings. If you are strong enough to bounce right back then go for it. I agree with most posters that one day won't make a difference in the long run. But if that one day somehow resets your "standards" on what is acceptable then it will make a difference. You know yourself so make your decision based on that knowledge. And for my soapbox moment: Enjoying a night out with friends and cheering on your team should not be made/broken by what you ingest. A lot of my social activities have been focused on food and that's how I gained a ton of weight after achieving a lean and muscular physique. My goal is not only to lose fat and look great but to also break my love/hate relationship with food. In college, I drank to be social. As an adult, I ate to be social. In the end, none of that was necessary. Quite the opposite. And now, with scores of lbs to lose, I wish I realized that earlier.

    Anyway, enough about me! Have fun, no matter what you decide. This journey should be fun.
  • lbride
    lbride Posts: 248 Member
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    I would eat hard boiled eggs and low cal broth veggie soup all day and drink coffee and then enjoy whatever I wanted at the game. I did this last week; and ended up sharing the burger and fries with a friend (huge portions) and had 2 glasses of wine and had a great time.
  • sofaking6
    sofaking6 Posts: 4,589 Member
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    I have a cheat day for every Chargers home game, and that's the whole day of tailgating and boozing and grilling etc. I've found that stressing about it makes me want to eat even more, while just accepting my decision and its consequences lets me enjoy the day without focusing on the food.
  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,951 Member
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    I had a 1200 calorie starbucks today. Getting ready for a double training session.
  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,951 Member
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    Not if I swim for 3 hours an fast until Weds.

    HAH! I win!

    What's behind door number 3?
    No gainz.
  • Lasmartchika
    Lasmartchika Posts: 3,440 Member
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    dbmata wrote: »
    I had a 1200 calorie starbucks today. Getting ready for a double training session.

    Omg... what kind of delicious Starbucks did you get?! :drinker:
  • UmmSqueaky
    UmmSqueaky Posts: 715 Member
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    The key to success is learning how to eat for the rest of your life. Are you going to avoid a wings joint forever? Nope, it will probably come up occasionally. So work on fitting in a splurge meal. You're not going to do it every day, or even every week. You can enjoy wings without eating 5000 calories worth.

    If it bugs you a lot now, eat a small breakfast, some veggies for lunch and then eat maintenance for dinner. Pre-log how many wings you can have for x amount of calories and stick to it. You may be pleasantly surprised at how many wings you can eat and how they fill you up more now that your are used to eating less.
  • 999tigger
    999tigger Posts: 5,235 Member
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    Kalikel wrote: »
    You're an adult. If you want to eat wings, do that. If you want to have a salad, do that.

    Do whatever makes you happy. Then be happy with the choice.

    This is not Sophie's choice. :)

    I kind of agree with this and youve been iven lots of strategies. Just choose the one that best suits where you are at the time. As dat as I can see.

    1. Cheat meal= think this is a load of rubbish because mfp is all about tracking and knowing what you consume. You arent really cheating anyone except yourself. I understand some people prefer this method and want to do it. I wouldb't but if you do, then for heavens sake make sure you enjoy the food, dont get a stupid guilt complex and chew it a bit more.
    2. Moderation= You can still have the beer, but try a bit of portion control. Chew it more drink and eat more slowly. If you arent used to it then less will go further. Gult complex not allowed.
    3. Work it into your weekly calorie total. As others have said 3500 calories =1lb so even at 3500+ whatever your daily allowance is you arent going to put in much more weight and no kittens will die. Do not worry.
    4. Create extra credit by exercising an extra 15 mins for each session over the next week. That would give you an extra 1000 calories to play with.
    5. As multiple others have pointed out 1200 is probably too low anyway. You still have the difference between that and your maintenance calories to play with before you threaten putting on any weight.

    Enjoy your beer and wings.
  • leaner426
    leaner426 Posts: 90
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    Enjoy your life. Your team isn't always in the playoffs. I agree, guilt has no place in weight loss. If it does your weight loss will be temporary and you'll be miserable. This is about changing your choices on a permanent basis because you like how it makes you feel and look more than you like the temporary taste of the food. If you haven't already done it, for a week or so focus on getting the right protein, fiber, carbs or sugar. See how it makes you feel when you do, and when you don't. Log those feelings of tiredness, bloat, fuzzy thinking in your daily log. If you start realizing that salty, fat taste of food is going to make you feel bloated and tired its easier to choose not to eat it because it makes you feel bad rather than feeling deprived of it because it doesn't fit your diet.
  • gamesandgains
    gamesandgains Posts: 640 Member
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    I love Pluckers. I love their wings and fries. However, if I must go while I'm dieting, I don't mind getting their salads w/o the dressing. Or if I'm going to eat their fatty foods, watch your carb intake for the first part of the day and kill it at the gym that day. I mean maybe it's just my way of thinking but, "how bad do you want it?". Either you can or you can't. Neither answer is wrong.
  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,951 Member
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    Lasmartchika wrote: »
    dbmata wrote: »
    I had a 1200 calorie starbucks today. Getting ready for a double training session.

    Omg... what kind of delicious Starbucks did you get?! :drinker:

    a large frappaderpydoo, with two extra shots, hazelnut, chocolate, caramel, cookie crumble thingies, and the whipped cream blended in. I had a ton of free drinks banked, so might as well use one. Today's a double gym session day since it's a work holiday.
  • freckledrats
    freckledrats Posts: 251 Member
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    OP, why do you HAVE to have wings and fries and beer? Tradition? Habit? Because sports? I mean, I think it's fine and even a good idea to eat up to your maintenance once in a while on your diet so you don't have to always feel so limited, but if you're worried it's more than a one-time event (or that it'll even put you over maintenance cals) ... here's the thing.

    We got to a weight we didn't like or that was outright unhealthy because of habits like this. Chew on that, and look at it in a different light. Why do you have to eat *those* items? You can change what you're eating there. You can change how much, you can sub the fries for celery, you can choose unbreaded chicken, you can have less beer. This is all within your control. When you feel tempted, remember that giving in and eating everything you want to is how you got to Square 1 in the first place. Don't cheat yourself and go back there.
  • Ninkyou
    Ninkyou Posts: 6,666 Member
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    Enjoy your meal out, log it, and move on.

    In the grand scheme of things, a few days (including holidays/birthdays/parties/etc) out of the entire year are a drop in the bucket and have little effect on your progress.

    If you still end up feeling guilty about it, then perhaps you should re-evaluate your relationship with food.

    IMO, life is meant to be lived. If you can't enjoy a single outing because of food, or worrying about food, it's a red flag that you should do something about it. Loosen the reigns a little and stop freaking about something that happens infrequently. Enjoy your life, enjoy your food, keep logging and the rest will fall into place.

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