justifying little mini binge

You know what, as long as you've got room in your goal to not be hangry before bed, more power to ya.

I've seen your threads/comments here & there and I relate to your concerns. We both know how weight loss/maintenance works, we know that we don't have to deprive ourselves, but that we just need to use moderation and make sure things fit into our day. But we both have a weakness for sweets. As you've said, you're fine for today, but I definitely don't think you should let it become a habit. The first thing I would do is throw the rest of the candy out. I had taken off 40 lbs & maintained it for a couple of years (still had another 30 or so to go). My hubby started getting into the habit of bringing grocery bags full of marked-down candy home after holidays. A piece here, a piece there, a few pieces earlier in the day that I told myself I would "make up for" later, etc, and now I have put 20 back on. I vote for slippery slope (but wouldn't worry about this one time).

CarvedTones wrote: »

I rolled the overage from yesterday into today and made it even. I will log only part of the exercise this afternoon but probably still end the day even. unless something happens to keep me from paddling (weather is good, no conflicts, have all my gear with me). It still somehow feels wrong because of all the time I have avoided doing this.

Don't waste time feeling bad about it. But do remember that budgeting calories is very much like budgeting money- it's better to plan & save up ahead of time rather than spend now and hope the check gets deposited tomorrow

We can justify anything.

You just took the leap into maintenance. Pay as you go.

The brain whether you consciously know it or not wants you to eat it back. This is where the rubber meets the road. You are more than willing to apply yourself, you can read that in all of your posts. You're true blue and honest with yourself.

You don't want to go backwards, none of us do. You've accomplished a major achievement. Congratulations.

UP your focus until you're clicking and clacking back down the tracks at your optimum setpoint. Cheat meals, mini-binges, splurge meals, "guilty" pleasures, carb nites, beast mode at the gym.

There is more work to do. The brain does not care if you are at the crossroads, the middle and it does not care if you cave in every single day. The brain does not care. The brain doesn't care if you had a textbook weight releasing.

Don't compensate for overeating by undereating. Stripping meals while doing more super intense cardio followed by yet another binge that wants to creep in there is not the way to navigate.

There's more work to do. What you've experienced is mission creep. It's sneaky, it's subtle but it can turn into a roaring lion. UP your laser focus once again.

250 cals is NOT a binge. If you believe in cal banking, it should average out w/in a week.

3-5k cals would be a binge. Hard to average out 2-3 days of food intake in a week but it can be done in 10-14 days as long as you don't binge again w/in that time period.