Bad Bad week. How much damage?

goldyray1
goldyray1 Posts: 64 Member
in Motivation and Support
Well, I have had a couple of rough weeks. First of all....Fitness pal went crazy and I couldn't get on. Never knew how much motivation and help My Pal was until I couldn't get on. Then my Garmin wasn't helping me out either. It works fine, but for some reason, it wouldn't calculate my heart rate. I go on two half mile walks on my breaks at work. I want to know what my heart rate was and when and where I need to work on to get the most benefit from my walks. Also, at the end of the day, it doesn't calculate correctly my totals for the day. Depressing. Also, my arthritis flared up and I was in lots of pain. I did not use any prednisone so for several days, no relief from the pain. All that is behind me now. I have over eaten today and most of the week. I am today, monitoring my food intake once again. I didn't think I did that bad today until the calories was added up and it was terrible. I am one that has to see everything in black and white. I have to see a picture I guess before I can function. Anyway, when you mess up one week, how badly does that hurt you or how much does that set you back. I did get down to 167 but now I am up 169. Also depressing. ONE WEEK??? UGh.

Replies

  • RunsWithBees
    RunsWithBees Posts: 1,508 Member
    Go easy on yourself <3 I was very imperfect in my weightloss journey but I was good about 80% of the time and not so good about 20% of the time and I still reached my goal and have maintained for 7+ years… still quite imperfect, but good most of the time ;) Log truthfully about what you are eating and move on to the next day and try to do better. Baby steps are perfectly ok :)
  • Lietchi
    Lietchi Posts: 6,807 Member
    You didn't tell us how much you ate, but if you're only up two lbs, the damage you did is limited.

    First of all, how much were you losing per week before your setback? If you were losing 0.5lbs a week, it's only 4 weeks longer to reach your goal.
    And probably less than that, since part of those 2 lbs will be extra food waste in your system and extra water weight from increased carbs (and perhaps increased salt depending on the foods you ate).
    Heck, I get 2lb fluctuations even when I'm staying within my calorie goal, just from my period for example.

    So relax, it's not 'terrible', just an experience you can learn from. Keep calm and carry on!
  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 8,399 Member
    If your joints are bothering you, it may even be water weight from that.

    I twisted my back in yoga the other evening and have been up several pounds ever since. Had to calm myself down, sit back and mentally go down the list:

    ✖️Period? Not bloody (ha!) likely at this age
    ✖️Salty foods: not so much
    ✖️Stress: None (yay me!)
    ✖️Travel/Flights: none of that, sad to say 😢
    ✖️Overate: a couple days but more than made up for it on the rest. Remember, it takes 3500 extra calories to make an extra pound, although a calorie heavy day still has to move through your system.
    ✔️Sleep: mmmm, OK not great the past few nights.
    ✔️✔️✔️Pain: oh yeahhhhh. There was that deep squatting session with my trainer Monday that I felt for a few days, and then being over exuberant in a twist practice making it hard to move at all ever since.

    Bingo. Source of extra weight explained.

    Just get back to your plan and you’ll be just fine.
  • lmf1012
    lmf1012 Posts: 402 Member
    First, one bad week in the overall scheme is nothing at all. Second, since you like to see in black and white, you can reasonably estimate the so called damage by calculating your weekly maintenance calories and deducting your weekly calories eaten. If you ate more than maintenance, take that overage and divide by 3500 to see how many pounds you can expect to gain. Essentially you’d have to eat 3500 calories over maintenance to gain one pound. How likely is it that you overate by that much? And if you did, it’s one pound. Not a big deal at all.

    Just brush yourself off and get back on the horse.
  • Beverly2Hansen
    Beverly2Hansen Posts: 378 Member
    How much damage can 1 bad week do? If you get back to healthy living 1 bad week in a year is nothing let alone the rest of your life.
  • robertw486
    robertw486 Posts: 2,399 Member
    Agreed with all of the above. Two pounds is less than I fluctuate in a day.

    Surround the occasional week of struggle with many weeks of success, and you will still get where you are going.
  • chocolate_owl
    chocolate_owl Posts: 1,695 Member
    I hit the weights today after having to take a full week off from lifting. I also ate a burger at a restaurant tonight - lots of salt, and more food than normal to process in my system. I will *definitely* be up 2-3 lbs tomorrow. But this is why I weigh every day - after 10 years, I’ve got a ton of data about why my weight might fluctuate unrelated to food. If you’re not currently weighing daily, you may want to start.

    How bad are your numbers? Something like 1000 calories in the red? If you’re set up to lose 1 lb/week, you ate a surplus of 500 calories per day, which would be a 1 lb gain. If you’re set up to lose 2 lbs/week, you ate at maintenance. Oh, fun fact: when you eventually transition to maintenance, you’ll probably gain a couple of lbs from your glycogen stores building back up. My money is on water weight + waste being responsible for the change on your scale, and that the number will go back down quickly after you get back on track.
  • kyndread71
    kyndread71 Posts: 41 Member
    edited June 2021
    You might've had one bad week... but there's 4 weeks in a month. When you fall, the only thing you can do is pick yourself up, dust yourself off, get back up & ride.

    That being said, when you work out, really REALLY pay attention to how you feel. What/How you eat makes a big difference on how you feel during a workout. Let that feeling motivate you to make better decisions in the moment.
  • metaphysicalstudio
    metaphysicalstudio Posts: 293 Member
    I've had many weeks of imperfect eating and moving. Through the years, I've learned that the best thing that I can do for myself in terms of reaching my wellness goals, is to show radical compassion toward myself at all times, no matter what.
  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 8,399 Member
    ^^^ I’m torn between insightful and inspired and like and hug by @Cheesy567 ’s post.

  • nappingcatpress
    nappingcatpress Posts: 4 Member
    Now, I don't know you, but to gain 2 pounds in one week -- assuming activity level are unchanged -- you'd have to consume 1000 calories MORE a day than you were -- actually, more than that if you were on a downward trajectory. Not saying that can't be done, but it's unlikely. My advice is, either keep to the diary OR use the scale, not both. Actually, throw out the scale. Nobody wants to hear this, but your best bet is to go slow -- 1/4#/week. That's a pound a month. You can't see it or feel it, and it's un-instagrammable, but it will be permanent.

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