What should I do after a bad day?

it was 225, not 2000. It's no biggie. You just go at it again tomorrow.

it was 225, not 2000. It's no biggie. You just go at it again tomorrow.

Exactly...I used to look at my calorie recommendation as just that...a recommendation. If I was a few hundred over or under...it was a good day. I didn't worry until I'd passed my maintenance number...which never really happened. Anything less than maintenance 'is weight loss'.

Now I don't even worry about that.

I agree with Karisbrandes... 225 isn't too bad! Think of it this way... if you were 225 UNDER would you be worried that you'd undereaten dramatically?? Probably not...

Start again today. Stick to your normal routine. Learn from your excess today and try to see how you could have changed it so that you would still be under - like choosing a different option for one of your meals. But honestly, if you enjoyed the day, just accept it and move on.

Don't hold on to it. Tomorrow is a new day. Let go of today, forgive yourself, and start over. One pound is 3500 calories. 225 is 6% of ONE pound. You can totally get over that. I have found that I am much more likely to stick to my eating plan if I let the little things go. If I get mad at myself for it, I'm a lot more likely to throw up my hands and say "to heck with it, I'm never going to stick to it anyway" and the whole thing falls apart. I have been very successful since I started letting go of the bad days.

If you start to find that you are going over your calories consistently, then it's time to reevaluate. Is there something you are depriving yourself of? I have found that I do much better when I let myself splurge. I crave ice cream all summer long, so I found some very low-calorie, small portion sizes that fit within my calorie limits, so I can treat myself without blowing it. If you are craving something, find a healthy way to work it into your eating plan.

I've been reading all sorts of stuff lately that says to zig zag your calories to keep your metabolism from getting used to the way you're eating. So in the grand scheme of things, this wasn't so bad.

I had a long travel day last week and ate 3300 calories on Friday - of FAST FOOD. 2000 over what I was supposed to be eating...that would have made me completely depressed and I would have given up several months ago. Instead, I've made up for it by going cleaner the last few days: low sodium, low sugar, no processed foods, lots of veg. That's how I get back into balance after an overload of crap. And I lost .6 pounds as a reward.

So don't beat yourself up. Get back on the wagon, and it'll all balance out!

If you're trying to lose 1 pound per week, you're eating 500 calories less than maintenance per day. If you eat 500 over, that just means you'll lose less weight that week. You shouldn't gain anything.

Sometimes at the end of the day I'll look at my food diary and ask; what one thing could I have changed to make that better? Could I have reduced my fat by swapping a piece of cheese for some cottage cheese? Is my sugar over because I had a glass of fruit juice?

So use it as a learning tool, and move on.

Oh, and 225 over is nothing to worry about - I know I keep banging on about calories burned and consumed being estimates, but unless you were weighing absolutely everything you ate yesterday, it's probably better to allow a +/- 5-10% on the figures anyway.