So you want a nice stomach

shelleygold wrote: »

Hey usmcmp, you are clearly the champion of insight and knowledge here so may I ask you a brief question with the hope that I am not interfering with existing thread(s)? If I am, please let me know and I will send you a private message so as not to detract from the flow of your conversations with people. You are entitled to that degree of courtesy since you must spend a great deal of time both contemplating and then responding to your readers.
Here is my situation (and I do not mind if others would like to add a thought or two).
Yesterday, I chose to eat an enormous amount of food; most of which was high in saturated fat, salt and sugar. The scales this morning told the story of an increase from 92.4 to 96 (kg). I find myself panicking a bit and obsessing about getting to the gym and beginning the self flagellation one part of me things I deserve. I have been engaging in this quasi type of bing behaviour on a decreasing basis but when it happens, I worry about the sharp spikes in my blood-sugar levels, the implications for enormous insulin production, the rapid storage of fat and the introduction of some very unnecessary and unhealthy oils and chemicals. So what are the questions:
1. Is it normal to have such an increase in weight?
2. How long might it take for the body to restore its homeostasis?
3. Is there anything I can do after the fact to help my body recover after this type of "eatathon"? in terms of food and water?

Thank you
S

@shelleygold

I'll answer here just in case others are curious as well, but if you have further questions I'd like to continue by private message.

First of all you are way over thinking the entire fat/sugar/insulin thing. Insulin is not just used to store fat, it's also an important part of stimulating muscle growth. Worrying about all of that is majoring in the minors.

When we eat a significant amount of food our weight will spike. This comes from a few factors. The first is glycogen. Our glycogen stores deplete when we start dieting, which is one of the reasons we tend to lose more in the first weeks than we do after the first month. The second is that many of us eat a lot more sodium and carbs when we binge, which would increase water weight. Another factor is simply food volume. You usually eat a certain amount of pounds in a day (most studies say 1.5 to 2.5 kg), so when you eat twice that you're going to have extra weight in your digestive tract for a few days.

1. Gaining 3.6 kg isn't unheard of. After a binge most people see about a 2.5 kg increase.
2. It could take a week or even two weeks to return to normal. Your body will take a bit to burn through the glycogen. You'll eventually flush out the excess water. After a few days you should pass the extra food volume.
3. The best thing you can do for your body and your mental health after having a calorie surplus day (or even few days) is to go do some sort of resistance training. You're going to have extra energy and that means a bit more fuel for muscles. Now you haven't really ruined your progress, you've fed your muscles well. Return to a balanced diet and maybe drink a little bit of extra water (your weight could go up a little bit more, but it will drop).

I struggled with binge eating for a long time and I've done a lot to overcome it. The biggest thing that helped was setting an appropriate calorie goal. I say it all the time on here, but for most people the two pounds a week goal doesn't give them enough calories to be sustainable. Setting it to one pound a week or even half a pound a week can do a lot to prevent binge eating. The other reasons many people struggle with binge eating is unnecessary dietary restriction (which we fix by making sure they include treats) and habit (which we fix by recognizing the habit, like how I always eat an entire box of Swiss Cake Rolls).

I hope this helps explain it a bit and help you get back on track. Now is a good time to reflect on what the circumstances were that lead you to binge. Once you understand why it happens you can work to fix that. Above all, further restriction or punishing yourself for a binge will lead to another one.

disturbed_s wrote: »

Wow lots of good stuff in here, and congrats on your awesome transformation!! I just want to see if anyone has any other hints or tips because I feel like I'm getting disheartened and scared of going off track. My typical routine is this..45-60 mins cardio min 500 cal burn, eat carbs til lunch (although I don't eat bread, pasta, potatoes, peas or corn) protein with each meal, 5 or 6x meals daily, late afternoon I'll do weight training 5x a week (following legion training program), I'll have a protein shake usually as afternoon snack and dinner is lean meat/chicken/fish and salad or veges. I have one day a week full rest with no cardio or weights, cardio 6 days. My results have been what I think slow for the amount of effort I feel I put in but that's ok, I'm getting there slowly. I still weigh my food as much as possible. I'm eating around 1200-1400 daily and not eating back any exercise calories usually. (I'm only 5'2) but going by the TDEE - 25% it says I should eat around 1660 or so. If I change to this now after eating at the lower for months, would this make me put on some of what I have lost? Which is the better method to go by? I started at 93.8kg and currently 77.6kg...aiming to get to 60kg but it seems so far away!! Any advice appreciated, thanks so much

More isn't always better. We have a variety of hormones that get out of balance anyway when we diet. Adding in a bunch of cardio and strength training on top of not fueling your body is going to cause an imbalance in leptin and cortisol. Drop some of the cardio and increase your calories. There's nothing wrong with bread, pasta, potatoes, peas or corn. Carbs are actually one of the things that help keep our leptin levels close to normal.

Even at 5'2", with your activity level you should be eating at least 1600 calories. Possibly even more. Try it out for a month. You may see a small spike on the scale initially, but it won't last.