Post-binge behavior

I just ate 1,020 KCals in one sitting. I have 260 left in my daily allowance. Do I fast until dinner and eat light or do I go burn 500 calories and then eat a normal dinner?

Replies

Jonna13

You can try and burn some calories, or you can eat at maintenance level today and start over again tomorrow. One day won't ruin progress.

distinctlybeautiful

You recognize that you made an unhealthy choice, and you leave it in the past. Go right back to your normal eating without any compensation for the binge. Except, of course, if you're not hungry when you'd usually eat next. But if you are, eat like normal. I was in a terrible cycle of binging and trying to compensate, which just led to more binging. That's where my advice comes from. One binge didn't derail your progress!

TavistockToad

I wouldn't punish yourself by working out to burn 500 cals. However, if today was a workout day then by all means go ahead, but don't have a burn in mind, just do your usual work out.

See how hungry you are later to how much you want to eat - a day at maintenance won't hurt.

Most importantly you need to think about what made you binge so you can avoid it next time?

hiker583

Happens sometimes - I would recommend working out. Works for me, makes me feel better both mentally and physically and then I am less likely to fall off the wagon completely.

vismal

What you do on 1 day is mostly irrelevant. You could burn extra, you could fast and then have a very small dinner, you could eat nothing the rest of the day, or you could eat maintenance or a little above. It really makes such an insignificant difference in the long run it's not worth a lot of thought.

What is extremely relevant is that you identify what caused this to happen in the first place. Are your calories too low? Are you deprived? Is there a psychological trigger? Cravings? It's not so much how you deal with this one binge that makes the difference, rather how you prevent this single event from becoming a recurring pattern.

Springfield1970

Pre binge is where you learn what went wrong. You're in too big a defecit. That's what usually is the culprit

strong_curves

I would eat as I normally I would and try to do better tomorrow. Having 1 bad day shouldn't hinder your long term effort.

Francl27

Whatever you like. Personally, I'd go for a walk to get 200-300 extra calories (I like long walks). But again, I can have a tasty dinner with 260 calories anyway (and 560 calories is more than I usually eat at dinner).

Totally depends on what you binged on though... whether it was filling or not.