When You Go Over Your Daily Calorie Allowance Significantly - How Do You Deal With It?

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  • bellabonbons
    bellabonbons Posts: 705 Member
    I have learned that this is normal and how careful we need to be about letting guilt consume us then derail us. I don't handle cheat days or slipping very well at all. For me it creates a domino effect and I just want to keep eating. When I factor in my calories each day something sweet that I really love, like a single-serving of cold stone ice cream, it works for me. If I deny myself there's no way I can stay strong. Through trial and error you will find what works for you. :)
  • shadows2424
    shadows2424 Posts: 179 Member
    The worst thing possible. Continue to eat since hey i already messed up.
  • yyyy1313
    yyyy1313 Posts: 10 Member
    You can be weird like me and work out an extra hour and a half to indulge for the day.
  • 1brandn
    1brandn Posts: 9 Member
    Sit back in an armchair and enjoy! then get back on track the next day. If its once in a while doesn't seem to make much difference to progress, just don't let it slip into an every other day habit!
  • Orphia
    Orphia Posts: 7,097 Member
    Virkati wrote: »
    I did that yesterday too. Going over on some days and being under on some days is part of the process. It is not possible to hit it perfectly every single day. To be successful at this whole thing, you will have to make some mental changes along the way. One of the biggest hurdles is the guilt. Once you are able to allow yourself mistakes, can grant yourself forgiveness, moving forward will get easier. Here's one way to look at it...if your best friend came to you and was very upset because she had a bad day with her eating plan, what would you say to her? Would you berate her for "failing", inform her that she's wasting her time because she'll never be able to do it? OR would you give her a hug, speak gently and with compassion, tell her it's ok because it's just one day out of so many and that ONE DAY does not determine her entire future? Whatever you would do for your best friend is what you should do for yourself.

    I decided that however I would treat someone else who didn't hit the mark for the day is how I needed to be with myself. I wouldn't beat up another person for making mistakes or poor decisions, so why was it ok to do it to myself? I realized I needed to be my own best friend. The ONLY things I let myself listen to from others is when they congratulate me, tell me I'm an inspiration, tell me I'm looking so wonderful. If it isn't positive, I don't let myself hear it. And now the person who is my best cheerleader, my best support system, my best ally, my best friend, is ME.

    All that to say, it was one day. Letting it go could be one of the best gifts you give to yourself. And one more thing I try very hard to live by is this...emotions are for feeling, food is for eating. They are not the same. They cannot be substituted for each other. Once I put that mantra on a loop in my head, some decisions got easier. And I got a LOT better about standing up for myself. That may not relate to you, but it was a HUGE deal for me. Good luck!!

    @Virkati That is a fantastic post.
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    What is your calorie budget? If , say, your maintenance is 2000 and you are eating 1500 to lose weight going over your target by 700 means eating only 200 calories over your maintenance for one day. That's a gain of about 5% of a pound and is barely significant. When you think about it this way you are less likely to beat yourself up over it. Just move on. One day at your usual deficit will totally wipe that gain and more. You may have to deal with some water/food weight for a few days but that's about it.

    Just log it and move on.
  • 1brandn
    1brandn Posts: 9 Member
    mistakes-are-proof.jpg
  • robs_ready
    robs_ready Posts: 1,488 Member
    Log it, *kitten* it, move on
  • rikuf
    rikuf Posts: 3 Member
    Enjoy the memories of the calories. I hope they were something good. Do the proverbial math and relax: 700 calories is a grand total of 100 grams in the scheme of things (a kilo) and your digital scale isn't even accurate enough to show the 'damage' reliably. The tenths on the scale in any given weighing are just apparent precision.
  • KateTii
    KateTii Posts: 886 Member
    I think about how damn good those calories were. The only time I would feel "guilty" is if I ate things that weren't worth going over. Give it a day or two and i'll be back where I was or closer to my goal than I was. It's not even a "bump in the road" for me anymore.
  • feisty_bucket
    feisty_bucket Posts: 1,047 Member
    People do this regularly, but it's known as calorie cycling. With the banking technique, you just track it, carry over the balance to the next day, and eat less in the future. The are no "mistakes" so much as "eating in advance."
  • MlleKelly
    MlleKelly Posts: 356 Member
    Log it, save it, sigh a little, and move on. The next day I'll focus on more water, more veg, more exercise, but that's about it. We all overindulge sometimes, but don't beat yourself up for going over one day out of seven. Stop thinking of food and exercise as forms of punishment
  • limetree683
    limetree683 Posts: 51 Member
    Log it all. Don't hate myself for it, don't feel guilt (chances are I was eating something I love :smile: ). And resolve to be back on track not the next day/week or month, but remind myself I can make better choices for the next meal that day.

    If I'm surprised by the amount, I might review the diary to see where the bulk of the calories were and how I would handle it next time. For example, if I ate large amounts of a particular dessert throughout the day I would remind myself that next time I should log my one portion for, say, a post dinner dessert, and build the rest of my meals around that, and not eat large portions throughout the day. That way I get to try it but without it ruining my progress.
  • BigBigBertha
    BigBigBertha Posts: 208 Member
    I ate 1,500 calories over on Friday night at a friend's house. It was the end of a very long week and I arrived starving and tired.

    In the past days like this have led to giving up, but this time I have resolved to simply forget it. I have stayed within my goal for the following two days and I'm feeling pretty happy about that. I am also looking forward to challenging myself to act differently next time I'm in a similar situation... If nothing else I will try to learn from it!
  • mygalsal76
    mygalsal76 Posts: 19 Member
    I am new here, but someone made a suggestion on another thread that sounds excellent if one is prone to slipping is to log your food in advance (if possible). Of course, that doesn't account for the occasional binge. But it seems like it may be helpful.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,325 Member
    If I go way over goal, I run the numbers in my head, and that always reduces the stress. It's a minor delay, not a derailment.

    Here's an example: Let's pretend your daily deficit is 500 calories, or half a pound loss per week. So, 700 over goal is 200 over maintenance.

    You've lost nothing on the day you ate beyond goal, because you ate at/over maintenance. That's one day delay in reaching your ultimate goal weight. You ate 200 beyond, so you used up roughly 40% of the next day's contribution to weight loss, too. So, in total, you delayed ultimate goal weight by a whopping 1.4 days.

    Big whoop-tee-doo, right?

    As long as eating beyond goal is only an occasional thing, you'll be fine. The majority of your days determine the majority of your results, pretty much. It's not as if you're going to toe the calorie line every single doggone day for the rest of your life, right?
  • nowNOTthenmylife
    nowNOTthenmylife Posts: 47 Member
    one day messing up is not a deal breaker. make note as to what caused your to overeat and do a better job the next day. The key is to never give up.
  • tracefan
    tracefan Posts: 382 Member
    Never beat yourself up for extending your calorie intake once in a while. Just continue doing what you're doing Tomorrow is another day.
  • robertw486
    robertw486 Posts: 2,401 Member
    I don't even look at daily goals as a blip in the radar. Weekly and longer term goals are much more important to me. Going by daily goals just adds another restriction, and disregards the days you stay under goal. I've found that eating to my natural hunger cues (while remaining mindful that I don't want to just eat everything all the time) makes for below goal and above goal days on a regular basis.

  • dia_nruf
    dia_nruf Posts: 112 Member
    Pick yourself up and dust yourself off and move forward. Put one step in front of the other to get to your weight loss goals. Remember no one is perfect. There will be times when temptation gets the best of any of us. What one does before and/or after the binge fact will make the difference. The choice is yours to make???
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    700 calories is not even one day of deficit if you're set to lose 2 pounds a week... 1.5 day at 1 pound a week. So you lost one day of progress. Big deal...
  • sastacular
    sastacular Posts: 15 Member
    After reading all of your responses I have completely changed my perspective on my thoughts to the original question. I really need to focus on the bigger picture and did as suggested - logged and moved on. I hope this thread can be useful to others feeling the same guilt!
  • niamibunni
    niamibunni Posts: 110 Member
    Unless it becomes a daily thing, don't worry :)
  • yourhiddengem
    yourhiddengem Posts: 171 Member
    Like two weeks ago I had a day where I ate over 1500 more than normal. At first I was kind of upset about it but then I realized nothing bad happened that week. If anything it actually motivated me to do better the next 10 days (until today lol).

    So pretty much just log it, and do better the next day. And pretty soon you'll see that one day in the grand scheme of things doesn't make or break anything.
  • MikeAV8s
    MikeAV8s Posts: 85 Member
    Ha, I ate1700 over today. I knew I would. No big deal. Back at it tomorrow. Probably cut 250 calorie a day for a few days to make up for it. No harm, no foul.
  • lexylondon
    lexylondon Posts: 89 Member
    Orlistat and exercise!
  • elaineamj
    elaineamj Posts: 347 Member
    This past weekend I had 3 social outings in a row... I was well over my normal by almost a 1000 calories. I track on a weekly basis though. I had banked a couple hundred calories on Friday, and today I banked another 400 calories. On top of that, I upped my workouts to 2 hrs a day for 3 days. I ended the week being within my net calorie goal.

    Its been so much better since MFPers recommended tracking weekly net calories and banking my calories for bigger meals.
  • Merkavar
    Merkavar Posts: 3,082 Member
    I forget it and move on. I don't eat less for a week to counteract it or anything like that.

    But I guess it depends on why you went over and how frequently it happens.

    Once in a blue moon, forget it and start a new day with no guilt.

    More frequently but the reason was a special event, Christmas, wedding etc forget it and move on.

    Every month and for no good reason maybe look at the reason or cause of why you over ate and try to fix it but still carry on the next day, you might gain some weight but I can only imagine if you lost control and over ate then cutting your calories to compensate would make you lose control more and over eat more and get into a cycle.

    Your only human, you make mistakes.
  • FitOldMomma
    FitOldMomma Posts: 790 Member
    Give yourself a break. :) I finally realized that giving myself kudos for all my hard work is much,much better than feeling guilty about something I ate. If I really want to eat something and go over my daily calorie allotment I just do it, knowing it's only ONE day and overall-it won't have any impact on me reaching my goal. Seriously- encouraging self talk and thoughts really keep you on track.

    I've lived 50+ years feeling badly about my weight and would think negative thoughts about my lack of self control. Since changing my outlook and deciding once and for all that I'm a decent person who deserves a healthy body and life...life is amazing.
  • getlessheavy
    getlessheavy Posts: 10 Member
    get mad - kick the neighbor's garage door.
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