Weekend eating ruining my progress?

SomersetCharlie
SomersetCharlie Posts: 42 Member
edited November 27 in Food and Nutrition
Hi, just wanted your thoughts on whether a two day eating binge can offset 5 straight days of great nutrition and exercise?.

I am currently sitting above 200lbs losing (in theory) 2lbs a weak eating at a daily caloric deficit of 1900 calories per day Monday-Friday. I work out Every one of those days too.
The food I am consuming in the week is good consisting mainly off chicken, rice, brown pasta, Tuna, sweet potato, protein pancakes and protein shakes.
HOWEVER, the weekends is my days off currently and is my time to relax and induldge, admittidely i do go overboard at times, mainly on sweets and fastfoods, but id say on these days I am getting anywhere from 3000-4000 calories, of the bad kind at that.
I try to be a little better on Sundays but most of the time eating a similar quantity.

Once my training at work is done my working days will change and will be limited to just one cheat day to enjoy lifes finer things.

However as for my question, do you think these 2 days of over indulging is ruining the progress I am making? Can it completely reset all the hard work in the week or will it merely slow me down but not stop progression?

Any feedback will be greatly welcome!! Thank yous!

Replies

  • livingleanlivingclean
    livingleanlivingclean Posts: 11,751 Member
    Do you log these days? You should, and then check out your weekly calories - do they show you're still in a deficit, or are you at maintenance or even a surplus?

    If you haven't been logging, be honest with yourself - have you been losing weight? Is it at the rate you expect?

    If high calorie days made no difference we wouldn't have an obesity problem!
  • deannalfisher
    deannalfisher Posts: 5,600 Member
    So if 1900cal is your loose 2lbs a week goal it means maintenance is roughly 2900cal (1000cal deficit a day for 7000 cal a week)

    But 2 of those days you are eating at/above maintenance by 1000cal - so subtract 2-4000 depending on how far you go over - do you could still be in a deficit of 3-5000 a week which is approx: .85-1.45lbs lost a week

    However if you are binging like that consider your activity level and rate of loss - it may be too steep which is why you are binging
  • fb47
    fb47 Posts: 1,058 Member
    It's hard to say if it affects your weight loss. I mean, do you weigh yourself once a week or every day? Are you still losing weight or has it stalled. If you've been gaining weight, you just answered your own question, the weekend would be the problem combined with very low calories throughout the rest of the week which gives you then a huge appetite on the weekend. Most of the time, aggressive weight loss isn't always the best solution long term.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    What's your height and goal weight? You are probably creating a too aggressive calorie deficit during the week, which is encouraging you to overeat on the weekends.

    2 days of over indulging can definitely wipe out the progress you made during the week, but to know for sure you have to log accurately those days as well. Sound like you're just guessing, at that means it is probably more than 3-4000 calories.
  • SomersetCharlie
    SomersetCharlie Posts: 42 Member

    livingleanlivingclean wrote: »
    Do you log these days? You should, and then check out your weekly calories - do they show you're still in a deficit, or are you at maintenance or even a surplus?

    If you haven't been logging, be honest with yourself - have you been losing weight? Is it at the rate you expect?

    If high calorie days made no difference we wouldn't have an obesity problem!

    Good idea, I’ll be honest I have not thought to check accurately my intake on weekends, i guess since i see it as my days off, that means off from checking also. Lol
    I have been losing weight, just not at the rate I have been hoping so you are probably correct.
  • pinuplove
    pinuplove Posts: 12,871 Member
    SomersetCharlie wrote: »
    livingleanlivingclean wrote: »
    Do you log these days? You should, and then check out your weekly calories - do they show you're still in a deficit, or are you at maintenance or even a surplus?

    If you haven't been logging, be honest with yourself - have you been losing weight? Is it at the rate you expect?

    If high calorie days made no difference we wouldn't have an obesity problem!

    Good idea, I’ll be honest I have not thought to check accurately my intake on weekends, i guess since i see it as my days off, that means off from checking also. Lol
    I have been losing weight, just not at the rate I have been hoping so you are probably correct.

    Whether or not you count it, your body is :smile: I can easily out-eat my deficit on the weekend if I say *kitten* it and go nuts.
  • SomersetCharlie
    SomersetCharlie Posts: 42 Member
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    What's your height and goal weight? You are probably creating a too aggressive calorie deficit during the week, which is encouraging you to overeat on the weekends.

    2 days of over indulging can definitely wipe out the progress you made during the week, but to know for sure you have to log accurately those days as well. Sound like you're just guessing, at that means it is probably more than 3-4000 calories.

    I am 6ft looking to get down to anywhere between 175-180. It could easily be more than 3-4000 on a weekend, you are right
  • Duck_Puddle
    Duck_Puddle Posts: 3,237 Member
    Yes. Your weekends “off” could easily be destroying your weekly calorie deficit.

    I would suggest logging your intake on the weekends so you know how much you’re actually eating.

    I would also strongly suggest not classifying food as “good” and “bad” since food is food and has no moral qualifications. Some of it is more nutrient dense than others. That might seem like semantics, but it’s important. Try to find a way to include the foods you like regularly. That might work better than calling them “bad” and binging on them on “off” days. As has been mentioned-your body doesn’t have “off” days-it’s just a day. Your body doesn’t treat that cupcake any differently because it’s a weekend vs a Tuesday afternoon.

    It’s also ok to have days with higher calorie intake and days with lower calorie intake. I have one day that is quite a bit higher. But I log everything and have lower intake days so that my weekly calorie goals are met.
  • SomersetCharlie
    SomersetCharlie Posts: 42 Member
    Duck_Puddle wrote: »
    Yes. Your weekends “off” could easily be destroying your weekly calorie deficit.

    I would suggest logging your intake on the weekends so you know how much you’re actually eating.

    I would also strongly suggest not classifying food as “good” and “bad” since food is food and has no moral qualifications. Some of it is more nutrient dense than others. That might seem like semantics, but it’s important. Try to find a way to include the foods you like regularly. That might work better than calling them “bad” and binging on them on “off” days. As has been mentioned-your body doesn’t have “off” days-it’s just a day. Your body doesn’t treat that cupcake any differently because it’s a weekend vs a Tuesday afternoon.

    It’s also ok to have days with higher calorie intake and days with lower calorie intake. I have one day that is quite a bit higher. But I log everything and have lower intake days so that my weekly calorie goals are met.

    Thank you for the insight! :) i shall take that on board.
  • CarvedTones
    CarvedTones Posts: 2,340 Member
    Yep, log, log, log as accurately as you can. Decide whether it is important to you to lose weight and if it is, exercise some discipline.
  • ballerbryan
    ballerbryan Posts: 24 Member
    It's definitely slowing down your progress and depending on how many calories you actually go overboard then you might not lose anything.

    A pound of fat is roughly 3,500 calories.

    So for example, let's say you're in a daily caloric deficit of 500 calories.

    If you're consistently in a 500 calorie deficit then by one full week you'll lose a pound (500 calories x 7 days = 3,5000)

    However, you'll only consistent for 5 days. So after 5 days you'd be in a deficit of 2,500 calories which is roughly 2/3 of a pound which is great!

    BUT!

    In the weekend if you go too overboard with your calories and let's say instead of being in a deficit you end up being in a surplus of 1,000 calories, right?

    For that week you'd be in a caloric deficit of only 1,500 calories which brings your total progress to less than 1/2 pound of fat

    If you were to be consistent for 6 days at a 500 calorie deficit then having a cheat day on day 7 wouldn't necessarily be as bad. also, if you monitor yourself and make sure you're not into big of a surplus you would see much better results
  • SomersetCharlie
    SomersetCharlie Posts: 42 Member
    ballerbryan wrote: »
    It's definitely slowing down your progress and depending on how many calories you actually go overboard then you might not lose anything.

    A pound of fat is roughly 3,500 calories.

    So for example, let's say you're in a daily caloric deficit of 500 calories.

    If you're consistently in a 500 calorie deficit then by one full week you'll lose a pound (500 calories x 7 days = 3,5000)

    However, you'll only consistent for 5 days. So after 5 days you'd be in a deficit of 2,500 calories which is roughly 2/3 of a pound which is great!

    BUT!

    In the weekend if you go too overboard with your calories and let's say instead of being in a deficit you end up being in a surplus of 1,000 calories, right?

    For that week you'd be in a caloric deficit of only 1,500 calories which brings your total progress to less than 1/2 pound of fat

    If you were to be consistent for 6 days at a 500 calorie deficit then having a cheat day on day 7 wouldn't necessarily be as bad. also, if you monitor yourself and make sure you're not into big of a surplus you would see much better results

    Dude, this reply was fantastic! Really well written and easy to dijest! (Pun not intended) :) thank you! I have been progressing well since posting this and have recognised that my weekend surplus is slowing me down. But progress is progress none the less. I shall refer back to this reply at the weekend. Thanks again.
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