Falling off the Wagon

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Back2runnin
Back2runnin Posts: 2 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I have a fairly simple question... When you are going strong for days on end but have a cheat day where you end up gaining 5 lbs overnight how long does it take to get rid of those 5 lbs again? I understand everyone is different etc... But I would love to hear anyones personal experience with this! It took me a lot of hard work to get those 5 lbs off and now I feel so discouraged.

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  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    I don't do "cheat days," but if I have a day that is higher calorie than usual and see a gain on the scale then it usually comes off over the next 2-8 days. It's not just that everyone is different, it's that even the same person is unlikely to see the exact same thing consistently.

    Honestly, I found working on those feelings of "discouragement" and putting them in context was way better for my peace of mind than thinking about the weight. You know you were on plan, now you're back on plan. You know you didn't gain five pounds of fat in a single day because that's impossible. Right now you've got some extra food in your body and probably some retained water from extra carbohydrates and sodium.
  • ahoy_m8
    ahoy_m8 Posts: 3,052 Member
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    It varies for me. It can be 2 days or 8 days. Sure, it can be unsettling to see the scale jump around. Record your weights so that next time it happens, you can look pack and learn about your own personal patterns.

    Your muscles and liver store glycogen, and if you have been in a deficit for a while, the stored glycogen is somewhat depleted. When you eat in a surplus, your body stores carbs as glycogen, and along with every gram of glycogen, 4 grams of water. This is not bad. This is AWESOME! You will have magnificent workouts. There is nothing at all wrong, ever, with being fully hydrated. Do not stress yourself about water weight. Go out and have a kick *kitten* workout.
  • Maxematics
    Maxematics Posts: 2,287 Member
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    It's water weight, not fat, so it's a temporary false gain. I know it's hard not to but don't feel discouraged. If I eat more than usual, it takes about 3 to 5 days for my weight to return to normal.

    I think the more important question is the cheat day. Are you cutting calories far too much on other days so that on your cheat day you go all out on whatever you want? If so, that may be counterintuitive toward your goals and could result in actual fat gain. If your cheat day is just to maintenance, you should still expect temporary water weight gain from the amount of food or even just the sodium. Maybe don't weigh in for a few days after it since it makes you feel discouraged.
  • steveko89
    steveko89 Posts: 2,216 Member
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    Weight fluctuations are going to happen if you have "cheat" meals/days or not. I took a deep dive on one of my outlying data points in another thread.

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10672255/examination-of-outlying-scale-fluctuation#latest
  • MikePfirrman
    MikePfirrman Posts: 3,307 Member
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    ahoy_m8 wrote: »
    Also, different but relater topic OP, it might be worth asking yourself about the why the cheat day happened. Everyone gets that overeating works against weight loss, but really, under-eating poses just as great a risk to sustained weight loss. Want to save lots of time and frustration? Take a minute, reevaluate whether your calorie goal is appropriate, and adjust it if necessary. Trying to hold onto a deficit that is too steep is a binge waiting to happen. For anybody. Slow and steady for the W.

    I have no idea why someone would flag your post. None. Good advice.
  • HeidiCooksSupper
    HeidiCooksSupper Posts: 3,831 Member
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    The only way to "gain 5 pounds overnight" is through water weight. This can happen through a variety of means but most often it has to do with salt consumption. You will pee away this weight in the next few days. If I eat takeout Chinese, I gain 4 pounds in the next 48 hours and pee it out over the next 72 or so.

    Fundamentally, a pound is equivalent to 3500 calories. To gain 5-pounds of non-water weight, one would have to eat an extra 17,500 calories. No matter how far you fell off the wagon, it's doubtful you consumed an extra 17,500 calories in one day unless you have a serious binge eating disorder. Thus, the likely assumption is that most of your 5 additional pounds is water.

    What to do if one falls off the wagon? Get back on. It's that simple. Simply resume your smarter eating patterns. If anything, contemplate how you will avoid falling off in the future. Most of us fall off or even purposely hop off. I have no intention, for example, of filling out my diary on my birthday. Don't blow one day out of proportion just try not to repeat it too often. Get back on the wagon!
  • teresadannar
    teresadannar Posts: 199 Member
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    @OP, what you described happened to me just last Saturday. 3 weeks lost back in 1 night....but I don't look at it as a cheat day, it was a evening with family; good wine, good food, good times, and this doesn't happen everyday! If we are reaching & maintaining a healthy weight balance, and it should be, no quick fixes last, you & I will both make it up and some.
  • lgfrie
    lgfrie Posts: 1,449 Member
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    Depends on what you ate but in most cases, 4-5 days is what it takes to drain off the water associated with a binge. That is, after 5 days you're back to your normal water retention levels and the scale should be back to what you are accustomed to. Now obviously if you gained fat during the binge, that might continue to show up on the scale, but that's probably not more than a 1/2 lb or a pound unless you went completely berserk.
  • psychod787
    psychod787 Posts: 4,088 Member
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    Diatonic12 wrote: »
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    Go back to the well. Rethink Cheat Days. Cheat Days beget Cheat Weeks, Cheat Months and Cheat Years.
    Perfectly planned clean eating followed by a day of cheating or dirty eating. These can turn into a permission slip for a glorified binge resulting in more patterns of restriction and binge. Eat clean for 6 days and dirty for 1 day.

    Then there's the Cheat Day Metabolism String Theory. Cheat Meals place food in more good and bad categories. All or Nothing. All or Nothing Dieting followed by eating it all back. In the long run they'll only dig you into a much deeper hole with food.

    There is no wagon. There is no first or last rodeo.

    Create your own positive food management plan that you can actually live with for the rest of your life. Incorporate the foods you love and enjoy. We can learn to moderate ourselves with all foods. Managing your portions like a boss is a positive skillset that will take you waaaay into the future without more food discouragement.

    *kitten* right! There is NO wagon. This is life. You either grab yourself by your britches and get moving again. Or, you sit there and wallow in the fact you had a "wibble wobble" as @pinuplove would say. Remember, "Resist and Bite!"
  • Diatonic12
    Diatonic12 Posts: 32,344 Member
    edited August 2020
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    @psychod787 We can't hide behind the protection of wagon wheels or constantly shelter under a thin canopy of canvas. The wheels fell off that wagon a long time ago. When you're no longer the same person you used to be...you've got no business going where you used to go.

    Get off that wagon.

    3eslpdkpsec6.png

  • Back2runnin
    Back2runnin Posts: 2 Member
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    Really regreting using that title now... But thank you for well meaning encouragement:)
  • lgfrie
    lgfrie Posts: 1,449 Member
    edited August 2020
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    Someone mentioned above that drinking water will accelerate the return of the scale to a "normal" reading. Just wanted to second that. Being very well hydrated with lots of water can cut the 5 day up-blip to 2-3 days. At least for me.
  • Diatonic12
    Diatonic12 Posts: 32,344 Member
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    No regrets. We can live without alcohol but we cannot live with without food. We are bent on survival.
  • MeganD1704
    MeganD1704 Posts: 733 Member
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    My fav article to read when this happens: https://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations/

    honestly just drink some more water (to help with any sodium etc) and move a bit. But I agree with others- what lead to the binge/cheat etc?

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