Did I ruin progress?

Stayhard_mfp
Stayhard_mfp Posts: 2 Member
edited December 2020 in Health and Weight Loss
Hey Everyone x
I’m new here
I’m 27 days into my journey
Mfp gave me 1370 cals to lose weight
24/27 days I was consistent with the nutrition. 3 days not so well 😞
I was hitting 1370 cals really well on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday then Wednesday came I had 2369 cals, yesterday I had 1767 cals and today 1882 cals. 🙁 I think my maintenance is around 1800 cals.
I should have just went back to normal yesterday after overeating on Wednesday but instead I fasted the morning then afternoon I had 300 cals of lunch and later on I overate a lot. I was trying to compensate the damage I did on Wednesday. That clearly did not work for me.
Did I ruin progress by a lot?

Replies

  • westrich20940
    westrich20940 Posts: 921 Member
    edited December 2020
    You are not going to do 'damage' to your diet unless you *routinely* eat over your calorie goal. Trying to fast to 'make-up' for a cheat day or whatever, is just going to do what you said --- make you super hungry and unable to control cravings/overeating.

    If your maintenance calories are 1800 (assuming you calculated that in an accurate way...I'd suggest not using MFP to figure that out -- I'd Google a TDEE calculator and use that)...then you should probably set your MFP calorie goal to something like 1500 --- that's less than your maintenance but enough that you shouldn't feel starving and mess up. You've gotta still fuel/nourish your body even if you're trying to lose weight. And it will be more manageable.

    If you have a bad day...everyone does! Don't try to make up for it. Just set yourself up the next day to do better and keep within your goal. When you do that more days than not...you'll eventually see the results. Another tip --- look for non-scale victories as well --- how your clothes fit/face looks, compliments from others....and health-related goals (going longer, farther, or doing more weights, etc.).

    Good Luck! You haven't ruined anything and you can do it!
  • brianpperkins131
    brianpperkins131 Posts: 90 Member
    Trends matter ... individual days don't.
  • Dogmom1978
    Dogmom1978 Posts: 1,580 Member
    Yesterday I skipped dinner and had 2 donuts. I shouldn’t have done that. I’m not beating myself up.

    Today I’m back on track and even managed to walk away from my favorite food: PIZZA! I didn’t plan on pizza today and I can’t work it in. I will plan and work it in on a different day. The “I messed up, now it’s all over” mentality leads to giving up completely.

    We all have off days where we don’t stick to our calorie or macro goals. The key is to NOT try to compensate (you’ll just make it worse as you saw). Don’t compensate, don’t beat yourself up, just get back to tracking consistently.

    As stated above, the deficit you selected might be too high for you. Set yourself to lose a lb a week (or less if you have 15 lbs or less to lose).
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    Stayhard_mfp wrote: »
    Hey Everyone x
    I’m new here
    I’m 27 days into my journey
    Mfp gave me 1370 cals to lose weight
    24/27 days I was consistent with the nutrition. 3 days not so well 😞
    I was hitting 1370 cals really well on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday then Wednesday came I had 2369 cals, yesterday I had 1767 cals and today 1882 cals. 🙁 I think my maintenance is around 1800 cals.
    I should have just went back to normal yesterday after overeating on Wednesday but instead I fasted the morning then afternoon I had 300 cals of lunch and later on I overate a lot. I was trying to compensate the damage I did on Wednesday. That clearly did not work for me.
    Did I ruin progress by a lot?

    Stop beating yourself up.

    If you don't lose weight this week, so what. It's no big deal. Pick yourself up, dust yourself off and CONTINUE. The right mindset is this is a lifelong journey. Step 1 - you lose weight. Step 2 - you maintain it. Maintenance is forever.

    If mid-week (or weekends) are hard you might give some of your weekday calories to your weekend. It's okay to give yourself a maintenance day here and there......just don't let it derail you.
  • Sailor555
    Sailor555 Posts: 45 Member
    My best advice is to forgive yourself and then get right back on the horse. Every morning is a new opportunity to make good choices. We're all human and fall down sometimes. Look at all the progress you've already made with your current habits. You don't have to do perfect to do good. :-)
  • 1poundatax
    1poundatax Posts: 231 Member
    You never ruin your progress as long as you start again the next meal or the next day. This is a process, it doesn't happen over night. And at least for me I know there will nevre be an end- I won't wake up the morning I hit 50 pounds and say "well that's done" and go back to my old eating habits. As others have said accept it, learn from it and move on.
  • AshHeartsJesus
    AshHeartsJesus Posts: 460 Member
    Drink lots of water and move on. The only failure is if you quit. Really it wasn't a huge binge so it would be alright shortly.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,226 Member
    Stayhard_mfp wrote: »
    Hey Everyone x
    I’m new here
    I’m 27 days into my journey
    Mfp gave me 1370 cals to lose weight
    24/27 days I was consistent with the nutrition. 3 days not so well 😞
    I was hitting 1370 cals really well on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday then Wednesday came I had 2369 cals, yesterday I had 1767 cals and today 1882 cals. 🙁 I think my maintenance is around 1800 cals.
    I should have just went back to normal yesterday after overeating on Wednesday but instead I fasted the morning then afternoon I had 300 cals of lunch and later on I overate a lot. I was trying to compensate the damage I did on Wednesday. That clearly did not work for me.
    Did I ruin progress by a lot?

    The math, assuming maintenance is 1800:

    For six days, 6 x 1800 calories = 10,800 calories. Anything less than that is losing for the week.
    Actual days (if I read you right), Su=1370, Mo=1370, Tu=1370, We=2369, Th=1767, Fr=1882. Sum: 10,128.

    Theoretical outcome: 10,800-10,128 = 672 calories below maintenance for the 6 days, which would be about 0.192 pounds (672 calories / roughly 3500 calories per pound).

    Obviously, that's all estimates. But in theory, no, you didn't ruin your progress. You did just a bit better than holding steady. And you had a useful learning experience. I'd call that a win, personally.

    It's quite possible that, as others have recommended, you might find it more sustainable to shoot for slightly more calories in the first place, if it's easier to stick with; or to plan uneven calorie allocations so you can fit in some more indulgent days (don't go to deep deprivation on lower days, though: I think you've learned that that can backfire).

    For example, if you'd gone for 1600 calories on average but were able to stick with it, you'd be at 9600 calories, a deficit of 1200, about a third of a pound loss for the 6 days (0.34, specifically).

    Even if the theoretical loss was correct, it wouldn't necessarily show up on the scale in real time, because water fluctuations make fat loss play peek-a-boo on the scales, but it would be likely to average out pretty close over the long haul . . . assuming you have a good handle on your actual maintenance (which you can get from experience) and your food logging is reasonably accurate.

    Best wishes!
  • Ddsb11
    Ddsb11 Posts: 607 Member
    edited December 2020
    I rarely have the exact same hunger levels everyday due to my hormones, activity level, and schedule changes. As others have mentioned, as long as you’re reaching your weekly goal, then it’s a win. Honestly, you’re doing a great job 👏🏻 ! Keep looking at the big picture, stay the course, and keep learning.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    I think you need to step back and look at the bigger picture....

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