So i went to a buffet ...

You did't gain that much weight in fat, it is mostly water. Just get back on track and don't look back!
Happy birthday

amusedmonkey wrote: »

Trust me, it's very unlikely you ate 23k calories. You're just bloated. Give it a few days and it will even out.

Very unlikely however not impossible. As someone who could happily put away 10k in a meal I think it would be possible in a few hours.

But yes I agree, it's likely water/food weight and not bodyfat gain.

Shake it off. No regrets. Look ahead. There's nothing wrong with an occasional splurge. Don't let it mess up your goals.

Happy Birthday!

All restaurant, as well as pre-packaged foods are laced with tons and tons of sodium. There's no real way to log a buffet accurately and it's most likely you probably went over the daily recommended sodium intake by 3-6x as much as normal. Eat normally within your calorie goals for the rest of the week/weekend, drink as much water as you can stand, and re-weigh at the first of the week. Then you will see if you gained any, and my guess is it wasn't much, if any.

When you've been in a deficit for a while, or maintaining for a while, your body does what it normally does.. it either burns the extra calories, or sheds them as waste. Overeating for many days in a row might shift your metabolism back into fat storage mode, but one single meal won't. I've had drinking and pizza nights out with my friends and gone 3-4k over on calories easy and after a few days ended up at the same weight I was before I indulged. I didn't have to do anything special, just drink lots of water, stay within my goals, and not weigh myself for a few days. If you want, you can increase your deficit for a few days to compensate, but I wouldn't do more than an extra 100 calories or so for a few days. No need to starve yourself because you had some fun.

Francl27 wrote: »

People always assume it's water weight, but considering how easy it is to eat 3000+ calories at a buffet, and that 3500 calories is a pound, why do people always shrug it off as water weight? Obviously you didn't gain 3 pounds of fat, but one pound? Not impossible. Not a huge deal though, you could go back to your regular deficit and just lose it in a week...

Because most people are at a deficit of around 1lb on average anyway, that's a weekly deficit of 3500 calories or more. Some of us set that deficit even lower, or push it lower with exercise. So eating an extra 3500 or 7000 calories in one sitting once a week means maybe you end up at maintenance levels or slightly below still. You may not lose any weight that week, but once the sodium is flushed out if you didn't do it several days in a row, you likely will be at the same weight you were. At least that's how it worked for me. I simply didn't allow it to happen every week, nor did I allow it to happen several days in a row and I was fine. Overall I lost weight monthly no matter what and met my goals even with a day or two a month of over indulging.

Sometimes you just have to cut yourself a break and know that it isn't going to be the end of all your hard work.

It's only one meal! And you're allowed to enjoy yourself it'll be mostly water weight, I bet what you ate was carby and saltier than what you're eating usually. Drink lots of water over the next couple of days and get your sweat on with some cardio and it'll drop off in no time.

Don't beat yourself up over this, it's not worth it.

I'll take this in a different direction than the previous responses. Yes, this was your birthday and I'm glad you had a good meal, but it is not likely to be the last time you ever eat at a buffet. Wouldn't it be good to have a plan the next time? One trick I like is to walk up and down and see all the buffet offerings before grabbing a plate. That way you have an idea of what is offered and you don't keep seeing something better, something better, I have to try this. Some people make it a rule to leave some open space on their plate. These are suggestions, but the message is to have a plan.