How much damage can one bad day cause.

2»

Replies

  • NovusDies
    NovusDies Posts: 8,940 Member
    Eating sugar wouldn't be the best option for this experiment, especially for someone who is active or dieting. A good amount would be wasted to replenish glycogen as it's not the preferred macro for fat storage. Fat is more easily stored as body fat, but probably would not be realistic to drink pure oil. The best meal would probably be a made of high fat foods palatable enough for the person to be able to eat a lot, and as low in protein as possible. So I'm thinking would mostly be a mix of fat and carbs, but predominantly fat. Things like cakes and high fat candy bars come to mind.

    Eating a lot at once can affect the ability of the body to absorb calories, so it would definitely need to be more than a 3500 calorie surplus, and any increase in metabolic rate following this meal, if any, should be accounted for too.

    More than definitely possible, though, even without the above considerations for someone who is capable of eating as much as I am.

    You are right. You would need sugar and fat. Sugar to send the signal that all the energy that is needed is present and fat to be converted to body fat. You would still have to keep you blood sugar levels elevated so the fat isn't "wasted" powering the body. Even then you have a percentage that will go undigested so you would probably need to eat over a pound of fat which would likely make you sick and then after some unpleasant toilet visits for a few hours a lot of the fat would still be expelled as waste. This assumes the person has been living a fairly healthy lifestyle and not accustomed to ingesting so much fat over the course of a day.

    So, yes, if you are really determined to gain a pound and you are not made sick by the experience it might be possible.

    It is more likely that falling off the wagon for a day or just doing it by design will result is little to no net difference in actual body fat.

  • lightenup2016
    lightenup2016 Posts: 1,055 Member
    Over Easter weekend I ate something like 5100 and 3800, when my maintenance is 2150. By the 4th day back to eating at my usual deficit, my weight was back down where it was before Easter, and I managed to lose another lb over the course of the week.

    One or two days like that, no big deal. The trick is to get back on track and realize those high days are bound to happen from time to time, cuz life.
  • TonyB0588
    TonyB0588 Posts: 9,520 Member
    IrRevd wrote: »
    Im curious to know much damage can be done by one bad day.

    For example, if soneone was reguarly to eat around 2000 calories and then had one day of eating really badly (4/5000 calories) how much damage could that day realistically cause?

    My secondry question is related I guess but us there a limit as to how much weight you can gain in a day?

    Lot's of answers posted here already, but maybe you need to look at another question. Where does exercise come in to the picture? What I've done in the past is to increase exercise if I knew I ate too much. Seems to work really well for my son. Excess eating does not bother him, as he burns it off at a terrific rate with increased workouts.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,225 Member
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    NovusDies wrote: »
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    Personally, I think I could gain a pound (real weight, not just water weight) fairly easily in one day, but it would be demonically difficult to lose one in the same of time . . . so I think that part is maybe hyperbole for many of us.

    The body is not really that efficient so it may be entirely possible to gain a pound of fat in a day but it would take effort and planning. It would probably require something like eating sugar all day and trying to keep the insulin/glucose absorption window open.

    Eating sugar wouldn't be the best option for this experiment, especially for someone who is active or dieting. A good amount would be wasted to replenish glycogen as it's not the preferred macro for fat storage. Fat is more easily stored as body fat, but probably would not be realistic to drink pure oil. The best meal would probably be a made of high fat foods palatable enough for the person to be able to eat a lot, and as low in protein as possible. So I'm thinking would mostly be a mix of fat and carbs, but predominantly fat. Things like cakes and high fat candy bars come to mind.

    Eating a lot at once can affect the ability of the body to absorb calories, so it would definitely need to be more than a 3500 calorie surplus, and any increase in metabolic rate following this meal, if any, should be accounted for too.

    More than definitely possible, though, even without the above considerations for someone who is capable of eating as much as I am.

    We think alike. I'm not going to do the experiment, but that's the route I'd try if I did. Plus enough adult bevs that impulse control was inhibited, the fat calories would get stored while the alcohol calories were prioritized to be processed out, and I'd be more likely to lay around a lot . . . but not enough to cause nausea. ;) And I'll bet it would be fun. ;););)

    Could also alternate different flavor profiles to avoid sensory-specific satiety, like starting with a blooming onion, then moving to the pecan pie, back to nibbling on chips and dip, then rich ice cream etc..

    Mmm: It's a par-tay, amusedmonkey'n'me! I'll bring the tiramisu, batter-dipped deep-fried potatoes, homemade muffins with good butter, and salted macadamias. ;););)

    Good thought about the sensory-specific satiety: That one often bites me IRL.

    But we digress.

    Can I please join the party?

    I think I have just done the experiment over 14 days of all you can eat and drink.
    Sensory satiety achieved daily.

    Weight difference between when I left the house and when I returned +0.2 lbs (after water weight drop day).

    I am honestly thinking I could up my cals to 1800 or more after this holiday.

    Cheers, h.

    Yay! You're in, for my vote.So fun! Pity about the multi-country thing.

    OP, sorry for the digression. I vote you can join us - it's only fair. ;)
  • thatdesertgirl777
    thatdesertgirl777 Posts: 269 Member
    As most others are saying, probably not too much damage in one day. My problem is one day off the wagon, tuns into the next and the next and the next sometimes. I think it just really depends on your personality.
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    NovusDies wrote: »
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    Personally, I think I could gain a pound (real weight, not just water weight) fairly easily in one day, but it would be demonically difficult to lose one in the same of time . . . so I think that part is maybe hyperbole for many of us.

    The body is not really that efficient so it may be entirely possible to gain a pound of fat in a day but it would take effort and planning. It would probably require something like eating sugar all day and trying to keep the insulin/glucose absorption window open.

    Eating sugar wouldn't be the best option for this experiment, especially for someone who is active or dieting. A good amount would be wasted to replenish glycogen as it's not the preferred macro for fat storage. Fat is more easily stored as body fat, but probably would not be realistic to drink pure oil. The best meal would probably be a made of high fat foods palatable enough for the person to be able to eat a lot, and as low in protein as possible. So I'm thinking would mostly be a mix of fat and carbs, but predominantly fat. Things like cakes and high fat candy bars come to mind.

    Eating a lot at once can affect the ability of the body to absorb calories, so it would definitely need to be more than a 3500 calorie surplus, and any increase in metabolic rate following this meal, if any, should be accounted for too.

    More than definitely possible, though, even without the above considerations for someone who is capable of eating as much as I am.

    We think alike. I'm not going to do the experiment, but that's the route I'd try if I did. Plus enough adult bevs that impulse control was inhibited, the fat calories would get stored while the alcohol calories were prioritized to be processed out, and I'd be more likely to lay around a lot . . . but not enough to cause nausea. ;) And I'll bet it would be fun. ;););)

    Could also alternate different flavor profiles to avoid sensory-specific satiety, like starting with a blooming onion, then moving to the pecan pie, back to nibbling on chips and dip, then rich ice cream etc..

    Mmm: It's a par-tay, amusedmonkey'n'me! I'll bring the tiramisu, batter-dipped deep-fried potatoes, homemade muffins with good butter, and salted macadamias. ;););)

    Good thought about the sensory-specific satiety: That one often bites me IRL.

    But we digress.

    Can I please join the party?

    I think I have just done the experiment over 14 days of all you can eat and drink.
    Sensory satiety achieved daily.

    Weight difference between when I left the house and when I returned +0.2 lbs (after water weight drop day).

    I am honestly thinking I could up my cals to 1800 or more after this holiday.

    Cheers, h.

    You're more than welcome to join us! As a professional eater/weight gainer/food pleasure seeker, it will be a guaranteed no judgment zone. Yes, it does make me wish the world was just a little bit smaller.

    I think sensory satiety is an interesting one. We still have all the sweet Easter goodies and I'm way less interested in them than I was then. In fact, I'm way less interested in anything sweet. I usually give myself semi-free rein for a couple of weeks for Christmass and Easter (a bank of 10k calories over maintenance total to have a lot of freedom but not need more than 2 weeks of disciplined dieting to mitigate). The first few days of the holiday I ate a lot. The most amazing leftovers with all kinds of flavor profiles: savory, fresh, heavy, crunchy, creamy, umami, sweet, semi-sweet and all that jazz. Once we were down to only sweets, my desire for these foods tapered down on its own by a lot. I'm not sure if it's the surplus, sensory-specific satiety, or having guilt-free access to these foods that made them less attractive. Probably a combination.

    For what it's worth, even if I use all of my 10k calories, the actual gain I usually see is usually smaller than what 10k calories would calculate to. Seems like about 3k or more calories disappear on me to less than optimal absorption and probably increased energy expenditure.
  • NovusDies
    NovusDies Posts: 8,940 Member
    Over Easter weekend I ate something like 5100 and 3800, when my maintenance is 2150. By the 4th day back to eating at my usual deficit, my weight was back down where it was before Easter, and I managed to lose another lb over the course of the week.

    One or two days like that, no big deal. The trick is to get back on track and realize those high days are bound to happen from time to time, cuz life.

    Exactly. Despite the myth you cannot wreck your diet in the course of a day, a weekend, or even a week. Not by eating. Not even if you go a week and gain a pound. You can only wreck it by failing to get back to where you should in a timely manner. Eating bad on Friday is not an excuse to finish the weekend in hopes to start again on Monday. From my experience Monday turns into 3+ months a little too easily.
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,423 Member
    It depends on the size of your deficit and how you handle it.

    Look at your weekly calorie intake.
    If your daily calorie goal to lose weight is 2000 calories and you eat 5,000 calories one day that week you may not lose as much or at all that week. You probably won't gain fat unless you are well over your maintenance level. If you go back to eating normally it probably will not be anything noticeable. It is generally best to log it and move on.
    If you are inaccurate in your logging that day then you might have eaten more than 5000 calories and maybe gain a pound from one very high day. It is not much.
    You might weigh yourself the next day and see the scale number bump up a few pounds simply due to extra food/waste or water retention. If you wait a week to weigh that probably won't be an issue.
    If you react to this one high calorie day by exercising a bit more or eating lighter for a few days things could even out and there will be zero "damage" unless you try to punish yourself emotionally for not being perfect.
    If you react by having several more higher calorie days/giving up you could gain more. If you treat yourself like garbage because you overeat it could be damaging to you mentally.

    Just log it and move on.