How much damage does one bad night do?

localgrr wrote: »

To be honest the whole night was a blur and I have no idea! Let's say it was 1000 over maintenance?

Short answer: Pretty much no damage in the long term

Long answer: It's what you do most of the time not all of the time that matters.

1lb of fat is roughly equivalent to 3500 calories, so this is how your calorie goal is worked out.

0.5lb loss per week = 1750 calories/7 days (Calorie Goal = 250 cals per day under Maintenance)
1.0lb loss per week = 3500 calories/7 days (Calorie Goal = 500 cals per day under Maintenance)
1.5lb loss per week = 5250 calories/7 days (Calorie Goal = 750 cals per day under Maintenance)
2.0lb loss per week = 7000 calories/7 days (Calorie Goal = 1000 cals per day under Maintenance)

If you have been in hitting your calorie goal for the rest of the week for loss then your deficit will just be a little smaller. If you were set to 1lb per week for example you'll be in 2000 calorie deficit rather than 3500 calorie deficit, so would expect to lose around 0.6lbs rather than 1.0lbs.

Other things to consider:

• Don't panic if your weight goes up after a night like this for a few days; alcohol, carbs & sodium are most likely going to cause your body to retain water. It's not a bad thing, just your body reacting to the change in your diet.
• Don't be tempted by restricting food intake/increasing exercise as a form of punishment for having an enjoyable night, that can lead to unhealthy cycles of bingeing and restricting and a poor relationship with food.
• Learn from it and plan for these things in future, it's unlikely to be the last time you fancy going out with friends for cocktails and tacos, next time look at your calories over the week rather than the day.