Can one REALLY bad meal/evening ruin my progress?

timpani9
timpani9 Posts: 20
in Food and Nutrition
So on Halloween I decided to just eat whatever I wanted (I think that was the alcohol talking haha).

I had a bacon cheeseburger (double patty, with the works) and fries.
Then my friends and I ordered sushi. I had 2 rolls AND dumplings AND tempura.
Plus I had chocolate and candy.
And I drank. More than I ever do.
I don't even want to guess how many calories I ate/drank.

I still feel super bloated and just overall 'heavy'.
I am worried that when I weigh myself later this week, I will not see any progress due to this crazy night.

Is that true? Or am I just being crazy?

Replies

  • Tornadoes_R_Fun
    Tornadoes_R_Fun Posts: 41
    yes a really bad evening could ruin your progress for the week.
  • Chief_Rocka
    Chief_Rocka Posts: 4,710 Member
    1. Your meal wasn't "bad," you just ate too much.

    2. 3,500 cals over maintenance = 1 pound, and if you're exercising, the entire gain wouldn't be fat
  • synchrohobbit
    synchrohobbit Posts: 58 Member
    My suggestion would be to skip your weekly weigh in...even if it set back your progress for a couple days, that one episode will not "ruin" anything (I have to remind myself of this all the time).
  • MsHarryWinston
    MsHarryWinston Posts: 1,027 Member
    It may slow your progress a bit but it doesn't ruin your life.
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,151 Member
    It's just a week out of the scheme of things and you're maybe talking a pound. Log it and move on.
  • Aemely
    Aemely Posts: 694 Member
    No. Just keep on keepin' on, don't stress about it, and don't make a habit of it. Good luck!

    B)
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,603 Member
    The only thing that can stop you is you. One bad night or week is a setback, not the end of the game.

    Forget it and move on.
  • forkofpower
    forkofpower Posts: 171 Member
    Nothing can 'ruin' your progress except for you. I went for a 3 day holiday and ate 2000-3000 calories minimum during every single day (and my TDEE is only 1400 calories, so that's a lot). I gained a few pounds by the end of the trip. Then I went back to my deficit and lost all of it, and more.

    As long as you don't let this turn into a permanent thing, it'll be totally fine.
  • missiontofitness
    missiontofitness Posts: 4,059 Member
    One splurge won't derail your progress. Just log it the best that you can, and move on! :)
  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 18,341 Member
    Can one really big calorie day stop you seeing progress for the week? Yup, totally. Does it matter in the long run? HELL NO! Nothing is "ruined".

    Life will happen. mark it up to a learning experience, move on. If you get into a mindset of "I had a bad day, I ruined it" you might just get into a mindset where you 'give up' when you go over.

    Skip the weigh in if it will make you feel better. Or, simply own the bad day, weigh and move on.
  • Juliarosemary66
    Juliarosemary66 Posts: 64 Member
    I have bad days too from time to time, then the guilt kicks in so i just have a really focussed week with my food and do loads of exercise to offset! I also think that a day off (once in a while) can wake your metabolism up! Not sure if its' a scientific fact!
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    missiontofitness wrote: »
    One splurge won't derail your progress. Just log it the best that you can, and move on! :)

    Not true. It can undo a week of deficit easily.

    Doesn't mean you can't just go back to it the next day though. Heck, last week was the first week in a month that I actually managed to keep a deficit, lol.

  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    timpani9 wrote: »
    So on Halloween I decided to just eat whatever I wanted (I think that was the alcohol talking haha).

    I had a bacon cheeseburger (double patty, with the works) and fries.
    Then my friends and I ordered sushi. I had 2 rolls AND dumplings AND tempura.
    Plus I had chocolate and candy.
    And I drank. More than I ever do.
    I don't even want to guess how many calories I ate/drank.

    I still feel super bloated and just overall 'heavy'.
    I am worried that when I weigh myself later this week, I will not see any progress due to this crazy night.

    Is that true? Or am I just being crazy?

    does one salad make you thin?
  • timpani9
    timpani9 Posts: 20
    Thanks for all you input everyone!
    I ended up going way over my calories yesterday as well so this weekend is a bit of a write off and I am back on track today... going to postpone my weigh in though just in case!
    Thanks!
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    TavistockToad wrote: »
    timpani9 wrote: »
    So on Halloween I decided to just eat whatever I wanted (I think that was the alcohol talking haha).

    I had a bacon cheeseburger (double patty, with the works) and fries.
    Then my friends and I ordered sushi. I had 2 rolls AND dumplings AND tempura.
    Plus I had chocolate and candy.
    And I drank. More than I ever do.
    I don't even want to guess how many calories I ate/drank.

    I still feel super bloated and just overall 'heavy'.
    I am worried that when I weigh myself later this week, I will not see any progress due to this crazy night.

    Is that true? Or am I just being crazy?

    does one salad make you thin?

    Nope but it's much easier to gain a pound in a day than to lose one (I'm actually not sure it's technically possible to have a 3500 calorie deficit in a day... 3500 surplus? Yup).
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
    You're not going to be ahead of the game...but you're not going to gain either. You probably averaged to one day or two days of maintenance. So you're projected weight loss for the week might not be on target. That's okay.
  • ajsminer
    ajsminer Posts: 11 Member
    Lets not forget sodium. Salt makes us retain water which will show up on the scale. I like the idea of forgiving yourself and skipping a weigh in.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    Francl27 wrote: »
    TavistockToad wrote: »
    timpani9 wrote: »
    So on Halloween I decided to just eat whatever I wanted (I think that was the alcohol talking haha).

    I had a bacon cheeseburger (double patty, with the works) and fries.
    Then my friends and I ordered sushi. I had 2 rolls AND dumplings AND tempura.
    Plus I had chocolate and candy.
    And I drank. More than I ever do.
    I don't even want to guess how many calories I ate/drank.

    I still feel super bloated and just overall 'heavy'.
    I am worried that when I weigh myself later this week, I will not see any progress due to this crazy night.

    Is that true? Or am I just being crazy?

    does one salad make you thin?

    Nope but it's much easier to gain a pound in a day than to lose one (I'm actually not sure it's technically possible to have a 3500 calorie deficit in a day... 3500 surplus? Yup).

    it would be fairly difficult to gain 1 pound of pure fat in a day.
  • NoelFigart1
    NoelFigart1 Posts: 1,276 Member
    My strong recommendation is to log it as best you can and move on. No, your diet is not blown at all.

    But it is impossible to get a clear idea of what you are really doing if you neglect to log out of embarrassment or an outraged sense of perfection.

    But while many who diet try to hit a specific calorie count a day, keep in mind that it's really your accumulative behavior that will tell on which way your weight moves. As @TavistockToad commented, it would be difficult to gain a pound of fat in a day. However, if I ate a lot of salty snacks, you bet me stepping on the scale tomorrow would show a jump disproportionate to the excess calorie consumption FOR THAT DAY. If I did it every day for a week, chances are good that gain might actually BE fat. That make sense?

    So, while I, for instance, aim for about 1700 calories a day, it's what I averaged for the WEEK that's really important. (I've had a high-calorie week what with Halloween, and still averaged 1749 a day when taken over the past week, to give you an idea of what this would look like).

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