Day after a binge

I'm dealing with this same exact thing today! Birthday party for my niece last night and we went out to eat. Ate cheesecake AND ice cream. I was planning on having a teeny bit of the cheesecake and no ice cream. =(

I'm not sure what to do here either...The least I will be doing is to eat as I normally would. I wish I could reduce my calories even further but I'm barely staying at my calorie deficit as is.

I'd love to hear what others say too..

Just go back to your healthy routine. Consider getting a little more activity in your day, if you have time & it feels good, not necessarily anything extreme.

I'd be cautious of cutting your eating to make it up, especially if you're already at a substantial calorie deficit. It can risk setting you up for a cycle of deprivation followed by over-eating.

If any over-goals days are rare, and you go right back to your healthy habits, you'll see little impact on your overall progress. There'll be a temporary blip of water weight, then you'll lose any tiny extra amount you may've gained, just like you've been losing all along. (Remind yourself: You'd have to eat around 3500 calories above your maintenance calorie level to gain a pound. Master the weight-loss math so you can estimate it in your head, and put things in perspective: If you eat 1000 calories over maintenance - not just over goal - one day, and are at a 500 calorie daily deficit, that excess is gone in two days. The related water weight shouldn't be much slower to go.)

If you have an over-goal meal, just get back on track for the rest of the day, and the following days, and stay there. You'll be fine.

I've lost 1/3 of my bodyweight (65 pounds) over the past year, and am at goal weight. There have been probably a dozen days during the process that I ate way over calorie goal (I'm talking up to 2000 or more over maintenance!). When I could plan for it (like parties), I would bank a few calories in advance via extra exercise, maybe a 100/day cut for a just a few days in advance, and I'd eat more lightly at other meals on the day of the event. Otherwise, I just went back to my healthy routine afterward.

Just keep it rare. And don't beat yourself up about it.

Just resume normal eating.

One thing that I find helpful when I feel like falling off the wagon is to really REALLY savor the fantasy. That is, if I'm going to eat pizza, I want the best I can find. I wouldn't settle for crap like Domino's or Papa John's. I would go for a great Italian pizzeria here in Queens or Brooklyn, and get meatball, sausage, black olive, onion, mushroom, extra cheese. A really great crust, crispy at the edge, chewy and melt in your mouth. Phenomenal sauce, fresh ripe Roma tomatoes, good olive oil, heavy garlic.

Really fantasize about it! The best slice of pizza on earth!

A lot of times, when I get that urge, by the time I finish fantasizing about it, I can move past it without actually ordering it or driving to get it.

Works for me...

If I actually find myself confronted with the opportunity and can't resist, I make sure I enjoy it fully, and realize that I am eating either too much or something off-plan. AND...I log it in MFP. Then I say, "Whew! Glad that's over!" and go back to eating the way I do the rest of the month.

Good luck everybody! I know it ain't easy sometimes, but as a dear friend used to tell me when she was struggling to lose 50 lbs., "Nothing tastes as good as being fit feels."

I did the same thing but ate a crap load of cake! I felt like crap afterwards but today I woke up and ate my eggs for breakfast and told myself I'd never do that again. Although I probably will once in a while, so long as it's not often....you will be ok.

No need to punish yourself and further reduce your plan's calories. What's done is done, and it doesn't change the nutrition you need on a day to day basis.

Just follow the plan you were already on and having success with, and use the experience to help keep you on track in the future. Next time you consider calling the pizza place, keep in mind how bloated and guilty you felt after last time.

vikinglander wrote: »

One thing that I find helpful when I feel like falling off the wagon is to really REALLY savor the fantasy. That is, if I'm going to eat pizza, I want the best I can find. I wouldn't settle for crap like Domino's or Papa John's. I would go for a great Italian pizzeria here in Queens or Brooklyn, and get meatball, sausage, black olive, onion, mushroom, extra cheese. A really great crust, crispy at the edge, chewy and melt in your mouth. Phenomenal sauce, fresh ripe Roma tomatoes, good olive oil, heavy garlic.

Really fantasize about it! The best slice of pizza on earth!

A lot of times, when I get that urge, by the time I finish fantasizing about it, I can move past it without actually ordering it or driving to get it.

Works for me...

If I actually find myself confronted with the opportunity and can't resist, I make sure I enjoy it fully, and realize that I am eating either too much or something off-plan. AND...I log it in MFP. Then I say, "Whew! Glad that's over!" and go back to eating the way I do the rest of the month.

Good luck everybody! I know it ain't easy sometimes, but as a dear friend used to tell me when she was struggling to lose 50 lbs., "Nothing tastes as good as being fit feels."

I'm doing same thing. Sometimes I think it's too much obsessing but it helps me. If I want something - most of the time it's pizza- I think about best pizza possible. Double cheese, delicious sauce and perfect crust... After that food porn in my head i won't settle down for dominos, so I just enjoy fantasy.