How do I get back on track?

Janellew86 wrote: »

Since Thanksgiving through to today I am destined to gain almost a pound. There's Thanksgiving leftovers around and a whole cake leftover. I went for a walk today..

What makes you say you're destined to gain a pound? I'm assuming you mean you've done the math, are logging, and think you've eaten/will eat cumulatively about 3500 calories above your estimated maintenance calories (not just above your weight loss calorie goal). Is that assumption correct?

What I'd suggest is not to catastrophize or stress or beat yourself up about it. That serves no useful purpose.

Just get back to your healthy routine as soon as you can commit to the decision to do that.

If you can spread out your consumption of the leftovers (fit it in to something close to goal), or moderate portions, do that. (Most cakes freeze quite nicely, for example.) Is there anyone you can share them with responsibly? That sort of thing.

Are you still (in general) in the weight loss phase? If so, how fast have you been losing up to this point? Someone losing a pound a week who eats that 3500 extra calories has delayed reaching goal weight by one week. How much stress is that delay worth? (In my world, the answer is "not much". Sure, keep that sort of thing rare. But celebrations will occasionally happen.)

There are some reasons to believe that for at least some people, a relatively rare but major calorie overage won't have the scale impact one might expect from the pure calorie math. I'll put a video link in a spoiler that explains the science behind some of that possibility. There aren't guarantees, but it's a consideration. The net effect may be less than you anticipate.

I describe a personal example in this thread, where other MFP-ers describe similar experiences:

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10603949/big-overfeed-ruins-everything-nope/p1

Almost certainly, you'll see a jump on the scale today/tomorrow (i.e., after the days of extra eating). That may be alarming. Wait it out. I predict most of it will be gone in a few days, up to maybe a couple of weeks. That's because a fair fraction of it will be water retention and extra food residue in the digestive tract that will become waste. That takes multiple days to sort out.

Stress, regret, self-recrimination: None of that burns any extra calories. It feels icky. On top of that, stress can increase cortisol which may increase water retention so increase scale weight (or mask fat loss on the scale: Totally counterproductive.

Personally, I'm in year 7+ of maintaining a healthy weight after losing from class 1 obese, after being overweight/obese for around 30 years before that. I eat indulgently sometimes. I'm talking literally thousands above my maintenance calories on one day or a couple of days. I don't do some extreme "make up for it" thing. I've learned it's not necessary, as long as I don't make a habit of it. I've relaxed a bunch about this compared to when I was losing and first maintaining. I've seen this stuff play out multiple times by now, and honestly I don't think it has to be a big deal psychologically.

TL; DR: Think about strategies you can use now and next time to enjoy the holiday, but maybe make moderation more realistic the next time a food-centric holiday rolls around. Also, don't stress about it. If you gain a pound, you know how to lose a pound. It'll be OK. It's just a delay. Sometimes a delay is worth it, in my opinion, honestly.

The holiday eating itself is less a problem as a practical thing than discouragement/stress about it that can lead us to feel like we've blown it and might as well keep eating, or give up altogether. As soon as you're able, get back to your regular routine, and see what happens. I suspect it won't be as bad as you're assuming, long term.

Best wishes!

The freezer is your friend. Wrap, put in containers, label and don't forget to date them.
Slice the cake and freeze individual pieces. You can also freeze slices of turkey for further use in sandwich, salads, soups. Sweet potatoes also freeze well. Think that the left overs are future meals, and you don't have to eat them all at once.