Cheat meal, weight gain?

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olivia4233
olivia4233 Posts: 5 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Have an off ish plan day today and worried how this is going to effect my weight loss , will I gain weight from this?

Replies

  • SueSueDio
    SueSueDio Posts: 4,796 Member
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    If you weigh daily, and depending on what and how much you eat, you might see a small "gain" due to sodium or just extra food in your system. It'll go away over time. If you're generally keeping within your calories and going over isn't a thing you do every couple of days, it won't affect your progress in the long run.

    I would encourage you to still log everything though, just so that you can see how far over you were. Sometimes our indulgences are less calories than we might have expected, and sometimes they are so high that we have to make a decision on whether (or how often) it's worth having them in future. Information is always good. :)
  • Millicent3015
    Millicent3015 Posts: 374 Member
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    Probably not, unless you're planning to take in a few thousand calories. And you can always eat slightly less calories in the following days. Instead of thinking of it as 'cheating', maybe just eat less calories before and after the high calorie things, or work them into your totals. There's no need to place undue stress on yourself by thinking you're cheating when you're just allowing yourself to have something you enjoy. You can have something you enjoy every day if it's within your totals, and it will negate the need to treat it as something separate or forbidden from the other foods you eat.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
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    Is your cheat meal going to be 3,500 calories over maintenance? 1 pound loss = 3,500 calorie deficit.

    On the other hand a cheat meal may be high in sodium, causing temporary water weight gain.

    A cheat meal could possibly wipe out an entire week's worth of calorie deficit. It's hard to say without knowing the calories in the cheat meal. Calories are most important.....always.

    Instead of "cheat" meals I eat a little less during the week (other people "bank" exercise calories) to have extra calories for the weekend. This way I'm not cheating. I'm staying within goal, it's just not the exact same calorie goal 7 days a week.

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