Today’s I failed at calories…

Nothingfeelsskinny · March 4

I went over 1000.00 cals. I just have to start over tomorrow. Weekends are harder for me. Tomorrow a new start . Well goodnight.

xbowhunter · March 4

Been there done that. lol

All that matters is this moment forward!

claireychn074 · March 4

Personally, I would find “failure and start over again tomorrow” mindset unhelpful - failure is negative and it wouldn’t inspire me to get back on that horse. There are definitely days when I eat a lot more and I will enjoy it - so I will then adjust the rest of the week to hit my maintenance calories over 7 days.

You splurged 1000 calories, so rather than thinking you’ve failed and have to start again, how about thinking “hey I really enjoyed / needed that, and for the next 6 days I’ll just reduce by c150-170 calories each day.” That way you’re bang on target, haven’t failed at all, and have just made a decision to have fun on a weekend but importantly, not to let it derail you or harm your mindset?

jst1986 · March 4

Have you considered adjusting your calories accordingly? Eat less during the week to give yourself some extra at the weekend. Knocking 200cal a day off your Mon-Fri gives you an extra 1000 for the weekend!

cmriverside · March 4

claireychn074 wrote: »

Personally, I would find “failure and start over again tomorrow” mindset unhelpful - failure is negative and it wouldn’t inspire me to get back on that horse. There are definitely days when I eat a lot more and I will enjoy it - so I will then adjust the rest of the week to hit my maintenance calories over 7 days.

You splurged 1000 calories, so rather than thinking you’ve failed and have to start again, how about thinking “hey I really enjoyed / needed that, and for the next 6 days I’ll just reduce by c150-170 calories each day.” That way you’re bang on target, haven’t failed at all, and have just made a decision to have fun on a weekend but importantly, not to let it derail you or harm your mindset?

See, I find even this problematic (the part I bolded.)

To me, a big overage (like 1000 calories) is no reason to try to fix it by eating even less than my goal going forward. The, "Rob Peter To Pay Paul," effect is a good way to start up a bad habit that can in time lead to an eating disorder. Balancing numbers in regards to food hits a lot of anxiety/obsession/perfection triggers.

My suggestion is to simply go back to your recommended calories. Don't try to undercut what you're supposed to eat in order to "pay" for something you did yesterday.

Every day is a new day to me. 1000 calories is a blip. It's not going to cause long term trouble or any lasting weight change. I look at it as, "It's hard to be at a deficit every day. This was a maintenance day, or a little over. All that does is slow my final weight loss date by one or two days. No big deal."

I do agree that if you find this happening often, you may want to just adjust your weight loss goal. If you're set for, "Lose 2 pounds per week," that is going to be difficult to keep up, so change that.

The problem with cutting even more off your calories to make up for the overage, like clairey suggests, is that now you have created an even bigger deficit by doing that. The final result will be another binge because you can't keep running on empty.

I lost 80 pounds in 2007-08. I've kept it off. I've had hundreds of days that I ate more than 1000 calories over.

It's truly not something to beat myself up over. I don't want to do it four times a week, but it does happen. I've never cut back afterward to attempt to make up for it unless I just truly wasn't hungry. Logging all food, even these mini-binges keeps me on track. I do look at the weekly average, but I don't try to make them balance out.

Sufficient unto the day...every day is a new start.

TracyL963 · March 4

jst1986 wrote: »

Have you considered adjusting your calories accordingly? Eat less during the week to give yourself some extra at the weekend. Knocking 200cal a day off your Mon-Fri gives you an extra 1000 for the weekend!

This^

It's called zig-zagging. Weekends are harder for me also, so I give myself a little wiggle room.

One day here, one day there - weekly average is good also.

claireychn074 · March 4

cmriverside wrote: »

claireychn074 wrote: »

Personally, I would find “failure and start over again tomorrow” mindset unhelpful - failure is negative and it wouldn’t inspire me to get back on that horse. There are definitely days when I eat a lot more and I will enjoy it - so I will then adjust the rest of the week to hit my maintenance calories over 7 days.

You splurged 1000 calories, so rather than thinking you’ve failed and have to start again, how about thinking “hey I really enjoyed / needed that, and for the next 6 days I’ll just reduce by c150-170 calories each day.” That way you’re bang on target, haven’t failed at all, and have just made a decision to have fun on a weekend but importantly, not to let it derail you or harm your mindset?

See, I find even this problematic (the part I bolded.)

To me, a big overage (like 1000 calories) is no reason to try to fix it by eating even less than my goal going forward. The, "Rob Peter To Pay Paul," effect is a good way to start up a bad habit that can in time lead to an eating disorder. Balancing numbers in regards to food hits a lot of anxiety/obsession/perfection triggers.

My suggestion is to simply go back to your recommended calories. Don't try to undercut what you're supposed to eat in order to "pay" for something you did yesterday.

Every day is a new day to me. 1000 calories is a blip. It's not going to cause long term trouble or any lasting weight change. I look at it as, "It's hard to be at a deficit every day. This was a maintenance day, or a little over. All that does is slow my final weight loss date by one or two days. No big deal."

I do agree that if you find this happening often, you may want to just adjust your weight loss goal. If you're set for, "Lose 2 pounds per week," that is going to be difficult to keep up, so change that.

The problem with cutting even more off your calories to make up for the overage, like clairey suggests, is that now you have created an even bigger deficit by doing that. The final result will be another binge because you can't keep running on empty.

I lost 80 pounds in 2007-08. I've kept it off. I've had hundreds of days that I ate more than 1000 calories over.

It's truly not something to beat myself up over. I don't want to do it four times a week, but it does happen. I've never cut back afterward to attempt to make up for it unless I just truly wasn't hungry. Logging all food, even these mini-binges keeps me on track. I do look at the weekly average, but I don't try to make them balance out.

Sufficient unto the day...every day is a new start.

Valid point - I was assuming the 1000 cals was over maintenance, so for me personally dropping 170 odd cals per day for a few days is no big deal. Now if I was already running a deficit it would cause me problems.

I still think a weekly calorie total can be useful though, I certainly get more hungry on some days so I try to keep within my weekly limit rather than freaking out about individual days. Again, I can only speak personally, but eating 1000 over and then starting again the next day wouldn’t work for me.

I guess the message for the OP is it happens, don’t get distracted or discouraged, and maybe think of a strategy for if / when this happens again?

edited to add - inserted my daily totals from last week. Just as an honesty check, I don’t log 100% accurately as I’m in maintenance so my calories are probably a couple hundred higher each day. You can see the fluctuations though for days I was hungry.

Lietchi · March 4

1000 calories over goal could still be maintenance if set at losing 2lbs per week.

I don't believe in 'punishing' myself for going over goal. Life happens, festive occasions happen. The key is:
- to keep an eye on the weekly target (as suggested above, you could eat a bit less during the week to have room for an indulgence on the weekend)
- to keep in mind that going over goal is not the same as going over maintenance - a rate of 2lbs per week gives a margin of 1000 kcal per day, 1lb per week is a margin of 500 kcal per day, etc.
- to make sure you don't splurge too frequently if you're really going over maintenance.

Retroguy2000 · March 4

As The Rock says, it doesn't matter. It's about what you do on the majority of days. No need to punish yourself, but do track everything, and do try to learn from it. Is your weekly routine too challenging? Could you have had healthier substitutions to reduce that calorie surplus a bit?

If I've binged more one day I may have a bit less than normal the day after, simply because I'm probably still quite full from the day before so it's easier.

AnnPT77 · March 4

One day is a drop in the ocean of life. The guilt/remorse helps exactly how? (I think it doesn't, and feels icky, so whyyyyy?)

If you'd prefer not to have done it - if it doesn't feel worth the indulgence - then spend a solid 10 minutes thinking about how/why it happened. Consider how you can revise your plan to avoid a repeat, not by beating yourself up about it, by changing some practical bit of your strategy.

Banking calories during the week to eat a bit more on the weekend is one possibility. Planning a fun, active day on the weekend to burn more calories routinely is another possibility. There are lots of possibilities, including strategies for handling specific kinds of events (happy hour with friends, say) more in line with your long-term goals, but still having a good time.

Finally, rehearse that new plan in your head vividly, imagining how it will work in detail a few times, like a mini-movie inside your head.

Then let it go, until it's time to put your revised plan in motion. It's water under the bridge.

I can't even count the number of times I've been 1000 calories over goal, even over maintenance, during a year of loss (from obese to healthy weight) and nearly 8 years of successful maintenance since (after about 30 previous years of overweight/obesity). Sometimes it's worth it (my birthday, special restaurant meal), sometimes it's not (mindless snacking on salty things after a worth-the-calories beer).

Either way, I just get back on plan (revised plan if appropriate) and let it go. Feeling bad burns zero extra calories, feels bad, so why do it? Yes, there will usually be a scale jump the next day or few (from extra water retention/waste in the digestive tract). The long run impact - as long as it's rare - is virtually none. Usually I'm back to my usual weight trend within a week, or a bit over. It's not worth agonizing.

Here's a personal experience thread I wrote about this sort of thing, and it also links to other threads with similar messages:

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

You didn't fail. Your current plan maybe hit a bump, needs a little tweaking. It's useful learning. Take it as such.

Best wishes!

cpereyra831 · March 28

I learned that one way to avoid overeating when you're dieting is to log the food you are planning to have BEFORE you have it. Many times, when you put down 1000 calories in your log, you decide that maybe you are not going to eat that much. I am 79 years old and have struggled with weight and overeating for 55 years. I have been up to 274 and down to 174. Ten years ago I (with MyFitnessPal help) dropped 60 pounds from 240 to 180 and I have kept them off. Whenever I see an upward trend on the scale, I log on to MyFitnessPal and begin tracking my calories and exercise religiously. It works for me.

jasonwhiting2 · April 9

Ur allowed to cheat days a week as long as you get back in the routine on the start of the new week.

mtaratoot · April 9

jasonwhiting2 wrote: »

Ur allowed to cheat days a week as long as you get back in the routine on the start of the new week.

Please explain what you mean by this?

I don't call anything cheating. Who are you cheating? I sometimes call them TREAT days. While not ideal to go totally off the rails, one day won't matter in the long run, and we are all in it for the long run. Don't wait for next week to get back in the routine. Start TODAY. The OP was 1000 calories over for one day. ONE day. That's easy to fix. If that were to last a week, it's two pounds of fat. If in maintenance, that will take a while to get back off unless a person goes back into deficit, intentionally, for a while. At 250 calories per day deficit, it would take a month to "make up" for a "cheat week."

AnnPT77 · April 9

jasonwhiting2 wrote: »

Ur allowed to cheat days a week as long as you get back in the routine on the start of the new week.

Can you the exact subsection where that rule appears in the International Universal Regulations for Weight Loss Programs?

Today’s I failed at calories…

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