Negative feelings when eating more than my calorie allowance

Are we talking way over? Some people will plot out a weekly deficit. They will zig-zag their calories on purpose. That way you get one or two days to be a little lax. If that doesn't work (sound appealing) there is another site that gives you a calorie range to be in. Maybe a range would work for you (Sparkpeople)

other than a cursory swear word.... nope.

it is what it is. My deficit is larger than what mfp says, simply because im WAY more active than the sedentary activity level ive set myself at. even if (and when, because its happened LOL) i go over 200 (average) a day for several days out of the week.... I still lose 2 lbs/ week.

now, for LARGER overages - i try to stay around maintenance (like on vacation or holidays or occasional gatherings with friends) but even then, those are rare occurrences, so if i go over by a ton, its not a big deal. I refuse to 'suffer' and not enjoy gatherings and special occasions and be a 'slave to the number'. One day is not going to undo all my work. Obviously, I'm doing something right, as I've lost 50 pounds in the past 6 months.

For a long time while I was losing the bulk of my weight I would feel bad if I went over. It started small and got worse, especially during times when my weight wasn't moving like I wanted it to. I reached a point where I broke into tears during a family dinner at a local burger joint (I think it was someone's birthday, too) because they were out of quinoa burgers. That's when I started to get an inkling that something was wrong.

If you can, I recommend avoiding that route. It's not fun to resent your food. Sometimes we go over, even if we don't plan to. That's just a fact of life. Very few people have perfect willpower, and you don't need to strive to be one of them. As long as the good days outweigh the bad ones then things will work out.

StaciMarie1974 wrote: »

Easier said than done, I know, but the key is to not have an emotional relationship with food. Its not good or bad, its just fuel. Each day is a series of choices. Make them, own them. It might help to think in mathematical terms.

What does it mean to not have a deficit for today, or to eat over your maintenance level for today? If 1750 calories over maintenance that means an extra .5-2 weeks to reach your goal, depending on your intended deficit.

One day will not break you or make you successful. Its the habits you form that matter.

yasminbower1991 wrote: »

Does anyone else feek like absolute sh...it when they do this? I mean i know i have had a pretty bad day and that is my own fault but i feel i need to compensate for the next week or so?

Ridiculous but there we are

Any thoughts/ opinions on this would be great thanks in advance xx

Yes but I suffered from bulimia for a very long time and know I do not have a healthy relationship with food. Shortly after joining MFP I would binge on cookies in the office at lunch, sending me over my carb allotment by maybe just a few, and then feel horrible and eat close to nothing for the next three days.

Food for me is a daily struggle but something I get better at every day One thing that has helped is packing my lunch for work, preplanning my meals for the week, and knowing when I'm going to go out and might splurge a little. My boyfriend is also a huge help. We cook together, track together, and workout together. I still have rough days. I still go over. I still cry and get down. But I have come so far from where I used to be

Yes, yes and yes. I feel like garbage when I see it go in red, and I feel a sense of almost twisted smug accomplishment when I see it under the calorie "limit" I set for myself. It's unhealthy, very unhealthy and I know that, but unfortunately we've turned weight loss into a competitive 'game' I guess, based on numbers. The very numbers we use to estimate or give some indication of progress and structure has turned into a way to trap and pressurise ourselves to 'conform' rather than use as a guideline.

A way I found to cope with this to not try to "compensate" for 'lost' calories through fasting the next day or severely reducing my intake is to switch it mentally in my head to a weekly calorie limit. So if its 1,200 a day, I change it to 8,400 a week, and then tell myself its okay, I haven't actually gone over my weekly limit - all I need to do is just not drink that additional evening hot chocolate or have my usual glass of wine...or I'll just make it a point mentally to chuck in a little more incidental exercise like walking, through a casual activity which isn't gym time because I don't want to fuel an unhealthy 'gym exercise obsession'.