Birthday Week Binge

hollyfoord
hollyfoord Posts: 30 Member
edited November 18 in Health and Weight Loss
So it's my birthday week & this means I have multiple parties & dinners out. Even with pre-planning/logging and trying to proactively look at menus my calorie goals are essentially shattered or taken up by one meal so that I would basically have to starve myself to make it even CLOSE to staying within my calorie goals. I exercise every day for at least an hour total, but I still find I'm going over. Limiting myself only makes me want more as its not satisfying to only have one bite. How much damage can a week of less than stellar eating do? Should I feel guilty or just write this week off as one in the grand scheme of things and enjoy myself knowing that if I gain I can work the weight off later because I've already lost 100 lbs over the last year. I feel like I'm going crazy & ruining my birthday by obsessing over calorie counts...Advice? Thoughts?

Replies

  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,562 Member
    100 pounds in a year is AMAZING! Take a diet break this week and enjoy yourself without worrying about being in a deficit.
  • CasperNaegle
    CasperNaegle Posts: 936 Member
    Second it, enjoy the week and get back on track next week.. You will be fine!
  • RelCanonical
    RelCanonical Posts: 3,882 Member
    If you are out enjoying yourself and it hasn't been overly difficult for you to get back on track after lots of celebratory food, go for it! (: I cannot do things like that because it is a trigger for my binge eating, but not everyone has that problem and I say, if you can, do it and enjoy your birthday!
  • YalithKBK
    YalithKBK Posts: 317 Member
    I just graduated from college for the second time (whoo!). This weekend was full of booze, greasy food, and not a whole lot of moving. I'm not sorry and I'm not worried. It was planned for, it happened. Now I'm going right back to how I was eating before the weekend.

    Don't worry about it and don't hang on it. Log and move on.
  • sahdlosingit
    sahdlosingit Posts: 8 Member
    I think as long as you're still tracking and staying accountable, you're not going to mess up your goals. It's when you walk away and decide not to track that some people decide never to start again (because it's "easier" not to). That's speaking from experience, though.
  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,439 Member
    Happy birthday! Between the birthday and surgery, I vote "diet break." Set calories to maintenance after surgery until you feel you are ready to restart your weight loss.
  • Jthanmyfitnesspal
    Jthanmyfitnesspal Posts: 3,522 Member
    I congratulate you and so should your friends and family!

    Ask everyone to be sensitive to your dietary needs. Request sweets with lower calories, but great flavor. My wife knows that I prefer a sponge cake with (spiked) whipped cream and strawberries. Tastes great and less filling!

    For gifts, request that people join you on a walk or whatever activity you like. (Gardening is good exercise.) This is great for tween/teen gifts to mom.
  • Penthesilea514
    Penthesilea514 Posts: 1,189 Member
    Enjoy your week- log what you eat and get back on track the week after :) These weeks will come up from time to time in your life (holidays, vacations, etc) and so keep your logging up and you will learn how best to deal with them.

    Congratulations on your weight loss so far- that is amazing!
  • missmagnoliablossom
    missmagnoliablossom Posts: 240 Member
    RelCanonical wrote: »
    If... it hasn't been overly difficult for you to get back on track after lots of celebratory food, go for it!!

    Point of distinction. OP, can you eat over your goal for special occasions and get right back to it? Or will it cause you to backslide?
  • hdrenollet
    hdrenollet Posts: 147 Member
    missmagnoliablossom wrote: »
    RelCanonical wrote: »
    If... it hasn't been overly difficult for you to get back on track after lots of celebratory food, go for it!!

    Point of distinction. OP, can you eat over your goal for special occasions and get right back to it? Or will it cause you to backslide?

    Agreed! Sometimes these binges can cause a relapse effect and people can find it difficult to get back on track afterwards. It's happened to me twice now...
  • leejoyce31
    leejoyce31 Posts: 794 Member
    hdrenollet wrote: »
    missmagnoliablossom wrote: »
    RelCanonical wrote: »
    If... it hasn't been overly difficult for you to get back on track after lots of celebratory food, go for it!!

    Point of distinction. OP, can you eat over your goal for special occasions and get right back to it? Or will it cause you to backslide?

    Agreed! Sometimes these binges can cause a relapse effect and people can find it difficult to get back on track afterwards. It's happened to me twice now...

    Very true for some people. I have read so many posts where this happened. But the lucky ones can get right back on. The most days I've had off track was 3 and then I got back on, but it is really hard.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    I would just enjoy myself, but I tend to take a big picture view on most things and I don't generally have any issues getting back to my normal routines and dietary habits after a vacation or special kind of week or weekend, etc.
  • Ironandwine69
    Ironandwine69 Posts: 2,432 Member
    It's my birthday week too!!
    Happy birthday
  • getupforchange
    getupforchange Posts: 86 Member
    If you know the week won't turn into a birthday fortnight or birthday month then I'd say go for it. If you have been eating a certain way for a long time you will probably find that some of the "other" foods and meals won't taste as nice anymore anyway, haha.
  • runningkel
    runningkel Posts: 53 Member
    Happy Birthday! Maybe you could try eating 2 healthier/on-track meals a day and just splurging with one meal/party per day. That way you're not just going totally off for a whole week and it could make it easier to get back on track once your week is over.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    I don't see where the binge is?

    Eat at maintenance for the week.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,204 Member
    I turned 60 while losing weight, and freely ate all the foodz and drank the drinks at my birthday meals. In between those special meals/events, I stuck to my weight-loss routine, except for eating more lightly at breakfast/lunch on the day of a birthday dinner (for example). When it sounded fun and fit in my schedule, I added some extra activity (like walks or bike rides).

    This was back in 2015, but I still have my weight data in Libra. Clearly, there were daily ups and downs as always, but I'll pull out some milestones.

    Before my birthday, my low point was 128.6 pounds (I was getting close to goal). Midway through the period of festivities, I hit a high of 132.2. By about a week after the celebrations, I was back down to 128.8. (Thanksgiving then intervened, and a bit more bouncing around happened. ;).) By about a month post-birthday, which also included the Thanksgiving Day dinner & its recovery, I hit a new low of 127.0.

    I was trying to lose pretty slowly at that point, maybe 0.5lb/week, so this is pretty close to low/no impact.

    I agree with others that it's relevant whether you tend to be a person who, if you give yourself permission to go over goal, tends to repeat it. If you're not, I see no reason to worry.

    I'd predict a big-ish scale jump from extra sodium and carbs, augmented by extra digestive-system contents, that will take a couple of days after any big eating event before it drops off (but it's not fat gain).

    If you're tracking what you eat (even if you have to estimate), you'll have a pretty good estimate of how many calories over maintenance calories you ate, and you can estimate any fat gain (calories above maintenance divided by 3500), then consider how long it takes you to lose that gain.

    For me, it was worth it. I'm not going to go through life refusing celebratory food permanently. This was a good opportunity to practice handling it. ;)

    Happy birthday!
  • Timshel_
    Timshel_ Posts: 22,834 Member
    hollyfoord wrote: »
    I feel like I'm going crazy & ruining my birthday by obsessing over calorie counts...Advice? Thoughts?

    You are going crazy and obesessing too much. You will not gain a ton of weight over a few days, just like you don't lose it that quick. So enjoy as much as you want with some calorie splurging, moderate a bit here and there when you can (don't be completely mindless), and take a few pounds of fun on at the worst. You can lose it right back in the next week.

    Just did it for my Bday this last four days. Well worth it and not a bit of guilt.

  • ccsernica
    ccsernica Posts: 1,040 Member
    Happy birthday, and just have fun! You not only have the b-day to celebrate, but 100 lbs in a year is a MAJOR achievement! Even if you put on a pound or two, so what? You'll lose them again in a week or so. Surely that's worth the good times you've been having with family and friends.

    It's when we eat like this all the time that it becomes a problem.
  • hollyfoord
    hollyfoord Posts: 30 Member
    Thanks everyone - some very good points raised and they are noted! But now I don't feel so bad about my 'breakfast cake'...
  • nowine4me
    nowine4me Posts: 3,985 Member
    Happy Birthday. If it was me, I'd get up super early and walk or run for an hour to bank 400 or so calories each day, then eat at maintenance for the week. You'll be tired from getting up earlier, so call a night sooner. Yummy, cake!
  • trigden1991
    trigden1991 Posts: 4,658 Member
    Birthdays are one of a few days/weekends in the year where I don't pay a single ounce of attention to calories or macros.

    But because I love it, I do still train and try to be active where possible.
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