How you guys overcome post-cheat day?🤔

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Fluffycat007
Fluffycat007 Posts: 14 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi guys so ive been in a steady weight loss program lately, and 2 days ago i decided to have cheat day after a long time. I consume more calories than i needed that day. Honestly after a cheat day my stomach didnt feeling well, i got a slight stomachache. And this morning (2 days after cheat day) i weighted myself and the scale is up to 1kg! Im shocked😭 Any suggestion what to do?

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  • SeanD2407
    SeanD2407 Posts: 139 Member
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    Dont over think it and avoid the scale for 2-3 days, if you cant help yourself know the higher number is temporary.
  • RepswithRyan
    RepswithRyan Posts: 171 Member
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    Forgive and forget about it with the knowledge that you are only human and don’t obsess about the scales.
  • Shortgirlrunning
    Shortgirlrunning Posts: 1,020 Member
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    You just get back to your regular routine.

    You did not gain 2kg of fat in one day. It’s water weight, it will come off in a few days.
  • richardgavel
    richardgavel Posts: 1,001 Member
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    Echoing everyone else that says don't worry. You're losing weight so you're already in a deficit. Let's assume 1 lb/week. That's 500 calories a day. So let's assume your cheat was 500 above plan. That doesn't even get you to the point of gaining weight, just to the point that you didn't lose. Let's double that, 1000 calories. That's still only a gain of 1/7th of a pound.

    End result, most if not all of your gain is transitory. The key is not yesterday's cheat. It's making sure 1 cheat doesn't turn into 2 and 3 cheats and turn into falling off plan entirely.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    As is frequently the case, I was going to tell you some stuff but I see that @AnnPT77 already wrote it.

    It's really that simple. It happened, you've got some extra water weight, use the experience to figure out what happened, and be kind to yourself. Going over your calories is something virtually all of us choose to do from time to time, the key is making sure you're regularly meeting your goals.
  • HeidiCooksSupper
    HeidiCooksSupper Posts: 3,831 Member
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    I ate too much last night. It started with a cobb salad that I was too lazy to try to log and then I threw caution to the wind ending up with an old habit that involved a jar of peanut butter and a spoon. Naughty me. The scale, which has been dancing around on a plateau "rewarded" me with a pound up overnight. Some of it's water but some of it is peanut butter and mixed nuts and lorna doones and chocolate pudding and ...

    Oh, what to do!?!? Gnashing of teeth and renting of clothing ensues. And then I just eat a normal breakfast, resume logging, and in a few minutes I head to the fitness center for my scheduled time on the weigh circuit. Yup, that's right. Just get back on the wagon. Remind myself that it wasn't as much fun as losing weight is. Also, it means having to reorder groceries more often which costs money.

    I'm in this for the long haul. What about you?
  • lgfrie
    lgfrie Posts: 1,449 Member
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    Log it, forget it, and move on.

    Most important thing is to reengage with your diet as soon as possible, ideally as soon as you wake up.

    For me, that's: feet on scale, butt on exercise bike, MFP open.

    Water weight drains off. The most damage you can do to a diet, for most people, in most circumstances, is 1/2 to 1 lb of new fat. And that's the WORST case scenario; it probably wasn't even that bad. At most, it'll take you a few days to get back to even.

    Cheat/binge/off days aren't the problem. It's what happens the next day. Nobody ever got obese or gained it all back by having a high calorie day. It is ALWAYS what happens after that high calorie day that sets your fate. Get back into your routine.
  • psychod787
    psychod787 Posts: 4,088 Member
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    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    Just get back on your healthy routine, and learn what you can from the experience. You're probably still seeing some water weight effects, not fat regain.

    You'd have to eat roughly 7700 calories above your maintenance calories (not just above your calorie goal) to gain a kg of fat. While it's possible to eat that much in a day, it's probable that it wasn't that much.

    As far as learning from it: Was it worth it? Did the enjoyment of the food feel more worthwhile than the stomach upset & aftermath felt bad? If not, what would you do differently in the future? It can be fine to indulge now and then, but only if it's a good thing, on net.

    If there was a social situation that triggered it (I tend to break down at potlucks 😆), is there some way in future you could enjoy the social situation, but moderate the food in order to indulge a bit but not feel sick and have such an aftermath to deal with?

    If you've been denying yourself certain foods, with the thought that they're "bad" and you shouldn't eat them, are there ways you could work reasonable portions of those into your eating more often, within (or close to) calorie goal, so you don't feel deprived an overindulge?

    Is your calorie deficit so extreme that major cravings were a factor? (If so, maybe go with a bit slower loss that's easier to stick with.)

    Was there some emotional or stress trigger involved in the eating, or inadequate sleep, boredom - anything that isn't really about food? If so, how could you deal with the real situation, without using food?

    . . . and so forth.

    Spend no more than like 10-15 minutes thinking about that stuff. If it was worth it, and you did gain a little fat, you have to re-lose it, and that can be OK, too. It will still be a few days to know what the regain really was.

    If it wasn't worth it, make a plan for how to avoid repeats in future, and rehearse it vividly in your head, like a mini-movie. That will help the new plan kick in, when a similar situation happens.

    Other than that, don't beat yourself up, don't try to make up for it. If you haven't, try to log it, even if you need to estimate. That will let you gauge the impact.

    Often, people don't realize how small the impact is. For example, if you've been losing half a kg a week (550 calorie daily deficit), and ate around 1500 calories above your current calorie goal, you've lost a little less than 3 days progress and will reach goal weight around 3 days later. Now, obviously, you can't keep repeating that every few days, and reach goal weight in finite time, but if it's a rare thing, it's not the end of the world. If it was overall worth it, with that in mind, that's fine. (Keep in mind that once you reach goal weight, and are eating maintenance calories, it would be a re-loss thing for sure, not just "go back to your deficit".)

    It'll be fine, really.

    P.S. I'm saying this from the perspective of nearly 5 years so far maintaining a healthy weight, after around 3 decades previously of obesity, just so you know.

    Best wishes!

    A philosophical answer. What cheat day? Do cheat days even exist?

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