What to do after a binge/eating a lot?

Ducks47
Ducks47 Posts: 131 Member
in Food and Nutrition
What should I do? I went with friends last night and consumed about 3000 calories in food and alcohol during the day. My maintenance is 2000. Do I eat a normal amount of calories or try to “make up” for it? I woke up in the afternoon...

Replies

  • nowine4me
    nowine4me Posts: 3,985 Member
    If it were me, I’d pick up as normal with the next meal. Since you slept through breakfast, have your normal calories for lunch and dinner.
  • Ducks47
    Ducks47 Posts: 131 Member
    nowine4me wrote: »
    If it were me, I’d pick up as normal with the next meal. Since you slept through breakfast, have your normal calories for lunch and dinner.

    Normal for whole day (1500) or 1000 (two meals)?

  • Tyrnis
    Tyrnis Posts: 5 Member
    If I know I'm going to do a big splurge like that, I'll generally eat 100-200 calories less for the few days leading up to it or for the few days after. The goal is to make up some or all of the excess calories, but not in a way that leaves me feeling hungry on the lighter days. Mind you, I'm on maintenance, and it's not that uncommon for me to come in a little under my maintenance level in a normal day, so if I've been pretty good for a while, then I may just call it a splurge day and return to normal with no extra action taken, too.
  • Rocknut53
    Rocknut53 Posts: 1,794 Member
    Forget it and move on. 3000 calories is not going matter in the long term. If I did that, the alcohol would give me a temporary "weight gain" that would go away as soon as I got back on track.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,223 Member
    My advice: If (and only if) you're less hungry than usual, eat a little less than usual. If you're about the same as always, just eat your normal way. It won't matter in the long run.

    Spend no more than 5 minutes thinking about the over-goal eating: Was it worth it? (If so, forget it, and go on.) If it' doesn't now seem like it was worth it, think about why it happened, make a plan for how you'd handle a similar situation differently in the future. Rehearse that new approach in your head a few times, then just go on with your day as normal. No more than 5 minutes on this thought process, and no self-recrimination! ;)

    Next time, under similar circumstances, if relevant, test drive your new plan with conviction.

    It'll be fine.

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