Undo the damage
BodyTemple23
Posts: 90 Member
I have a curiosity question:
On days when you overeat fat, how do you balance it off?
For example, I ate a handful of peanuts and some nuts because I got hungry and lunch wasn't ready on time, which added extra fat of 38 gm to my daily goal. I was thinking of doing an extra hour of cardio and resistance training, but I know I won't burn it off.
How do you balance days when you go overboard and can't burn it off the same day? How does one think of this?
On days when you overeat fat, how do you balance it off?
For example, I ate a handful of peanuts and some nuts because I got hungry and lunch wasn't ready on time, which added extra fat of 38 gm to my daily goal. I was thinking of doing an extra hour of cardio and resistance training, but I know I won't burn it off.
How do you balance days when you go overboard and can't burn it off the same day? How does one think of this?
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Replies
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Depends on how much over. If I'm over my goal but still below/at maintenance, I probably won't do anything particular. Over maintenance, it would also depend by how much and what the rest of my week has been like. I keep my eye on the weekly view on top of the daily goal. Frequency matters too: a single 'blip' doesn't require a particular intervention, but if it's more regular it does.
I don't like the 'must exercise to undo overeating' strategy particularly, as a systematic strategy, for the mental implications. It makes exercise a 'punishment' instead of something to do for general health and well-being and because we enjoy it. But I will admit that exercise is definitely part of my strategy to eat more than my base calorie goal. But I prefer the planning ahead strategy: when I know I'll be going to the restaurant, having a larger lunch or dinner, etc. I might adapt my workout schedule in case of unforeseen extra intake, but only if practical and not systematically.
PS: strength training doesn't burn many calories at all, cardio would be a better bet for burning calories (depending on what you do as cardio of course)
Exercise is one part of the calorie equation. Food intake is another. I might eat a bit less the following meal(s) or day(s) but not to the point of feeling deprived: restrict too much and you can push yourself into another overeating incident. But as I said above, it will depend on how much I overate and what my weekly intake looks like.6 -
Fat is not evil. And overeating on the allicated calories just slows you down a tiny bit. Say you overate 500 calories of nuts or whatever and your deficit is 500 calories then you ate at a deficit of zero for that day. So what. Weightliss is a marathon, not a race. A day means nothing in the grand scheme of things. Relax. And don’t feal bad about eating food.11
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Yeah, I over-eat fats from nuts on a regular basis. I need my nuts, and they supply a lot of good nutrients so I'm not going to start worrying about it. They're good fats.
Since you now know that they are mostly fat, you could start choosing some other snack when you find yourself overly hungry. Put them out of sight, for one thing.
I find that a cup of hot tea or an apple or some celery with 5g of cream cheese (2g fat) will do the same trick. There just have to be some go-to snacks when you need them.3 -
I have been maintaining a 50+ lb. weight loss for about 10 years. I go over on calories fairly often. A restaurant meal will almost always put me over. I don't worry about it. I don't do anything drastic to cut my calories and I don't increase my exercise since I already do more than enough. I just start again at the next meal, eating the way I know I should. Years ago I would overeat while trying to lose weight and then I'd tell myself, "Oh well, since I already screwed up, I might as well continue to eat what I want and start over again tomorrow, or maybe next week." That never ended well. So now I just look at it as just another meal. As long as I am within my guidelines most of the time, the occasional extravaganza doesn't matter. I try to limit things like meals out or foods that I have a hard time resisting (like nuts) but I don't restrict myself completely.3
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BodyTemple23 wrote: »I have a curiosity question:
On days when you overeat fat, how do you balance it off?
For example, I ate a handful of peanuts and some nuts because I got hungry and lunch wasn't ready on time, which added extra fat of 38 gm to my daily goal. I was thinking of doing an extra hour of cardio and resistance training, but I know I won't burn it off.
How do you balance days when you go overboard and can't burn it off the same day? How does one think of this?
I'm confused.
Were you over fat goal, but under or near calorie goal? That has no significant effect on weight loss. Some extra monounsaturated/polyunsaturated fats (like in nuts) can even be a good thing nutritionally.
If you were over your calorie goal, then I'd suggest figuring out eating patterns/timing so that you can feel more full more of the time and avoid that situation in future; or always having on hand some snacks that will tide you over but keep you on reasonable track calorie-wise. (When I was losing, I kept shelf-stable protein snacks in my car for just this sort of reason.)
Going over calorie goal on one day, or even over maintenance calories, just delays reaching goal weight by a little bit. Sometimes people catastrophize - maybe even give up! - because of overages so small that it would delay reaching goal weight by mere hours. (When losing a pound a week on average, eating 500 calories over goal just delays reaching goal weight by one day.)
In general, I'm not in favor of day by day "make up for it" thinking. It can be a step on the slippery slope toward disordered thinking about food and eating.
To me, the crucial goal is not just reaching a healthy weight, but staying there long term, ideally permanently. That puts a priority on finding the right relatively-easy eating and activity patterns (habits) that one can continue long term without much stress. I don't know about you, but for me, living the rest of my life in "make up for it" mode would be unworkable and unpleasant.
Food isn't a sin or violation we need to "make up for". It's something we need for energy, health, and general all-round happiness. The idea is to manage it, similar to how we might budget our money or time, to get the right workable mix for our own individual preferences, strengths, lifestyle, challenges, etc. That's about habits and patterns, more than about one day.
Revise you plan going forward to be more realistic/workable/happy/easy, then just let today go. You'll do fine!11 -
In the context of calories, just don't do it 2 days in a row. The average discrepancy in calorie counting is probably worse.0
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I don't worry about it. If anything, I may go YOLO and get any cravings out of the way at the same time. I might also lower the next days calories by a few hundred which is no hardship because I may still feel a bit full from before, and I probably still have plenty of stored glycogen. Other than that, I just log it all and move on.
It's about what you're doing the majority of the time. It's better to be at maintenance or deficit 6 days a week and go way over daily goal on the last day, than be in a surplus every day of the week, even if total calories are the same. I'm not advocating for "cheat days" there, as some would call them, I'm just saying focus on the trend.1 -
I echo the advice already given here of moving away from a “make up for it” mindset. Better to learn from days that don’t represent your ideal and find tactics to improve in the future. I like the saying “Progress over perfection”.
This week I overate - to the point of discomfort - for the first time in a few months. I didn’t log every food individually, but put in a calorie estimate for the overeating that is probably pretty close, and I was over maintenance by about 500 calories for the day. Things I learned (or relearned)
- Even little bites of each food add up when you’re in a potluck situation
- It’s still hard for me to not feel like I need to please others by eating foods they brought. It’s okay for me to ask for a smaller portion and pass on the foods I brought to make room for the social pressure eating calories.
- That feeling of discomfort is a good reminder that I like my new eating habits and no further “punishment” is needed.
- One day of over indulgence is not going to derail me unless I let it. I’ve actually lost right on track this week, even without trying to make up for it by eating less or doing more exercise the rest of the week.
- Not a learning from this incident, but one that might help your current situation… Delayed meals are going to happen and I need to have a strategy for handling it. I used to really struggle (and get resentful/hangry) any time meal delays happened. Now I have go to snacks that are low calorie but enough to keep me from getting hangry for a delay between 1-1.5 hrs. Sugar snap peas and plain cheerios are pretty much always in my house and I tend to eat 1-2 calories per minute delay worth. If the delay is going to be more than 1.5 hrs, I may choose to eat my evening snack during the delay time, since I probably won’t be hungry for it after a later dinner anyways.
Hope this helps. As stated before, this is a marathon that lasts well beyond the weight loss, and learning to balance your thinking about food is key.2 -
It's one day. Pick right back up to routine the next day.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
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Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 35+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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The more important question might be- if this is a habit, how can I break the habit? Because you know dinner is gonna be late again someday. Better way to handle it? Raw prepared vegetables in fridge ready to grab when you get home? Or ?3
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Great tips and insights! Thank you MFP community!
I'm not obsessed, but I was curious about how to deal with such situations. My weight loss has been painfully slow. It took me 8 months to lose 11 pounds. I still have 18 more to go.
The math of calorie deficit is not working for me. I'm not a big eater. I eat very healthy, believe it or not. I exercise daily.
I'm just persisting with eating healthy, exercising as best as I can, and staying on track. Fingers crossed my next 18 pounds will be faster.3 -
BodyTemple23 wrote: »For example, I ate a handful of peanuts and some nuts because I got hungry and lunch wasn't ready on time, which added extra fat of 38 gm to my daily goal. I was thinking of doing an extra hour of cardio and resistance training, but I know I won't burn it off.
The mindset of having to undo damage and adding extra exercise to burn off anything I ate is what lead to my eating disorder. Restricting food and bulimia caused more physical damage than occasionally eating a little extra ever could. Please give yourself some slack and don't get into this mindset.4 -
There is an option on MFP to check your average daily calorie intake over a week. If I know that I've had a day of indulging i.e. went out for a meal and had a couple of drinks, I look at my average for the week and it gives me a good perspective. I think that it isn't necessarily what a person does on ONE day; it's what a person does all the other days. That's what will get us where we need to be.
How to check your daily average: Diary - Pie Chart in Upper Right Corner - Calories - Week View4 -
Afterthought:
I mentioned that "making up for" eating over goal can foster a disordered relationship with food/eating.
In addition, "making up for" by adding exercise has the potential to cast exercise as a punishment for eating over goal, possibly fostering a negative relationship with exercise, too. Exercise IMO should ideally be fun (at least tolerable/practical), and energizing, not punitive.
(@BodyTemple23, I did realize that you checked in since your OP to let us know you were thinking over the replies you'd received.)BodyTemple23 wrote: »(snip)
My weight loss has been painfully slow. It took me 8 months to lose 11 pounds. I still have 18 more to go.
The math of calorie deficit is not working for me. I'm not a big eater. I eat very healthy, believe it or not. I exercise daily.
(snip)
The math of calorie deficit is idiosyncratic, individual. MFP, a calorie "calculator", or even a good fitness tracker is just providing a statistical estimate of calorie needs. Most people will be close the estimates, a few noticeably off (high or low), a rare few quite far off. That's the nature of statistical estimates.
Our own history, once we have many weeks of it, provides a much more useful estimate of our actual calorie needs. If you lost 11 pounds in 8 months, that implies an effective calorie deficit (on average over that whole time) of around 172 calories daily. There's nothing wrong with that: Progress is good.
Hang in there!1 -
Once a month or so, I brew a large pot of chili. That day my total fat intake will show a huge spike, although my total calories for the day remains good. I just enjoy the day and carry on, no changes made to exercise or diet.2
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I take every day one day at a time. Whatever happens today stays on today, and tomorrow I start fresh. I would get way too obsessive if I tried to account for one days' calories, exercise, etc. on another day, when trying to also keep track of that day....
Also I'm over my fat goal almost every single day but I mostly just pay attention to the calorie goal.
I understand your frustration with slow weight loss because I'm right there with you. I try to remind myself that it's moving in the right direction and I'm not doing anything drastic or unsustainable. I've tried a dozen times before and always quit because I didn't want to keep it up long term. This time, I'm trying to do things that don't feel life-changing or restrictive. It is working for me and it is working for you too!3 -
I used to spend a lot of time gnawing on macros.
Now, I just check my 7day average (available via the drop down box until top of the nutrition brrakdown page).
As long as my 7 days average is good, I’m fine.
Takes a lot of the pressure off.4 -
This tells me you didn't learn anything about yourself. The thing is you are going to get incredibly demoralized by trying to work off every extra calorie you consume.
I think the better solution should be "How did this happen. What should I do differently next time"
The thing is you will "over eat" in the future. It is better to decide "what will I do in the future and what is a sustainable change in behavior"
In the future, and you are hungry and feel like knawing your arm off do this:
Pause, take 5 deep breaths and grab something like a carrot or pepper strips to munch on while you wait.
You won't always be able to work off the extra calories. The better habit change is one that takes place in the moment of weakness.
I like to keep carrot "chips" in the fridge for this. Its not actual chips but rather carrots sliced thin to resemble a potato chips. A handful of carrot chips will give you the chewing sensation that tells your body you're eating to chill it will allow you to wait on your lunch.1 -
Nothing is going to happen by overshooting your macro targets. Over eating your fat macro doesn't do any "damage". Overall calories are what matter and you have to look at that over time. There are times when you're going to be over on calories...it happens...but in the grand scheme of things, being over occasionally doesn't do any "damage" that needs to be undone either. In many cases you're still in a deficit, just a smaller one or maybe at maintenance for the day. Big whoop.
Losing weight, maintaining weight, and gaining weight is something that happens over time with relatively consistent calorie intake...consistently in a deficit, you'll lose weight...consistently around maintenance you will maintain...consistently in a surplus you will gain. The human body strives for homeostasis and it takes more than a day here and there to really do "damage"2 -
cwolfman13 wrote: »Nothing is going to happen by overshooting your macro targets. Over eating your fat macro doesn't do any "damage". Overall calories are what matter and you have to look at that over time. There are times when you're going to be over on calories...it happens...but in the grand scheme of things, being over occasionally doesn't do any "damage" that needs to be undone either. In many cases you're still in a deficit, just a smaller one or maybe at maintenance for the day. Big whoop.
Losing weight, maintaining weight, and gaining weight is something that happens over time with relatively consistent calorie intake...consistently in a deficit, you'll lose weight...consistently around maintenance you will maintain...consistently in a surplus you will gain. The human body strives for homeostasis and it takes more than a day here and there to really do "damage"
Macros are calories. If you overshoot your macros, it's likely you'll overshoot your calories.0 -
sollyn23l2 wrote: »cwolfman13 wrote: »Nothing is going to happen by overshooting your macro targets. Over eating your fat macro doesn't do any "damage". Overall calories are what matter and you have to look at that over time. There are times when you're going to be over on calories...it happens...but in the grand scheme of things, being over occasionally doesn't do any "damage" that needs to be undone either. In many cases you're still in a deficit, just a smaller one or maybe at maintenance for the day. Big whoop.
Losing weight, maintaining weight, and gaining weight is something that happens over time with relatively consistent calorie intake...consistently in a deficit, you'll lose weight...consistently around maintenance you will maintain...consistently in a surplus you will gain. The human body strives for homeostasis and it takes more than a day here and there to really do "damage"
Macros are calories. If you overshoot your macros, it's likely you'll overshoot your calories.
Not necessarily. I routinely overshoot protein and fats goals, but stay within calories. (Obviously, I have carbs left.)
OP didn't say whether or not she was over/under calories, protein, or carbs, that I have seen. All she's said is that she is "eating healthy" and "staying on track" and that her "weight loss has been painfully slow". That's not very specific.
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Re: my second post in the same thread - about losing 11 pounds in 8 months:
I was under my calorie count most days. My maintenance is 1650 calories, and I ate about 1400 calories on average. I worked out regularly and didn't eat those calories back.0 -
BodyTemple23 wrote: »Re: my second post in the same thread - about losing 11 pounds in 8 months:
I was under my calorie count most days. My maintenance is 1650 calories, and I ate about 1400 calories on average. I worked out regularly and didn't eat those calories back.
So basically you’re not doing bad. With a deficit of 250 calories you’d lose 1/2 lbs per week or 2lbs per month. You’re short 5lbs over 8 months or 72 calories per day. That’s gotally within the range of ligging error or individual deviation from a population average. Nothing wrong here!2 -
I will make this short and sweet. If your relatively disciplined you may have needed those extra calories. So you may be responding to your intuition. Draw a line under it and do not think about it too much. Just get back on track2
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But...
I didn't eat my exercise calories back, so that should give me a total deficit of 500 calories plus. No?
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BodyTemple23 wrote: »But...
I didn't eat my exercise calories back, so that should give me a total deficit of 500 calories plus. No?
Based on your actual data (not calculated according to statistical averages): 11lbs over 8 months is an effective calorie deficit of 158kcal per day.
Which would make your TDEE 1558kcal per day (including exercise) if you ate 1400 calories per day on average over that period and your food logging was accurate.0 -
BodyTemple23 wrote: »But...
I didn't eat my exercise calories back, so that should give me a total deficit of 500 calories plus. No?Based on your actual data (not calculated according to statistical averages): 11lbs over 8 months is an effective calorie deficit of 158kcal per day.
Which would make your TDEE 1558kcal per day (including exercise) if you ate 1400 calories per day on average over that period and your food logging was accurate.
You can look at this two ways:
1. Your food logging was 100% accurate and your TDEE is lower than average. Calculate your deficit accordingly. Nothing else needs to be done.
2. Your food logging is not accurate, which is the more common scenario. Study after study shows people are not great with calculating their Calories In. If you want us to help you examine this possibility, change your Diary Sharing settings to Public. In the app, go to Settings > Diary Setting > Diary Sharing > and check Public. Desktop: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/diary_settings2 -
Not quite. Depending on how much effort the exercise was, your NEAT may drop during the rest of the day, and that overall is a far bigger source of calories expended than exercise. e.g. if after a tough workout session you spend a lot of time just relaxing on the sofa instead of moving around like you usually would.BodyTemple23 wrote: »But...
I didn't eat my exercise calories back, so that should give me a total deficit of 500 calories plus. No?
You might burn an additional 400 calories working out (compared to not working out, i.e. do not double count the BMR), then by the end of the day you're only 200 up, or 300 up, because your NEAT dropped a little.
That depends on the exercise. HIIT, rucking, heavy weights, you might be more tired than usual and NEAT drops. If it's just walking or cycling at a low intensity, that's probably less of an issue.
Your weight loss over time and calories input logged in the same time, is the best estimate you have for your TDEE, far better than any generic online calculator.1 -
BodyTemple23 wrote: »But...
I didn't eat my exercise calories back, so that should give me a total deficit of 500 calories plus. No?
A calorie calculator, MFP, or a fitness tracker doesn't measure your deficit. It's all estimates. They are imprecise.
Your body measures your deficit.
Your actual weight loss averaged over 4-6 week timespans (or over whole menstrual cycles if you have those) tells you what your actual effective calorie deficit was.
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sollyn23l2 wrote: »cwolfman13 wrote: »Nothing is going to happen by overshooting your macro targets. Over eating your fat macro doesn't do any "damage". Overall calories are what matter and you have to look at that over time. There are times when you're going to be over on calories...it happens...but in the grand scheme of things, being over occasionally doesn't do any "damage" that needs to be undone either. In many cases you're still in a deficit, just a smaller one or maybe at maintenance for the day. Big whoop.
Losing weight, maintaining weight, and gaining weight is something that happens over time with relatively consistent calorie intake...consistently in a deficit, you'll lose weight...consistently around maintenance you will maintain...consistently in a surplus you will gain. The human body strives for homeostasis and it takes more than a day here and there to really do "damage"
Macros are calories. If you overshoot your macros, it's likely you'll overshoot your calories.
I've been on here over a decade, so I'm well aware, but the OP never mentioned overshooting other macros, just fat. People do a bunch of handwringing around here because they don't hit a particular macro bang on and they think the world has somehow come to an end.
I usually overshot protein but undershoot fat and carbs for example...or overshoot protein and hit pretty close to fat and be well under carbs.3
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