Just had a horrible food day.

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What I mean by horrible food day is that I probably went a million calories over my goal. I plan on going even more over tonight, because of a party. I decided I wouldn't count today's calories. What I want to know is: does 1 day of extreme calorie eating (lots of dessert, chips, and alcohol) affect weight a lot? Let's assume I don't do that more than once every two months. Will I gain weight from this one day?
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  • LPS1986
    LPS1986 Posts: 104
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    What I mean by horrible food day is that I probably went a million calories over my goal. I plan on going even more over tonight, because of a party. I decided I wouldn't count today's calories. What I want to know is: does 1 day of extreme calorie eating (lots of dessert, chips, and alcohol) affect weight a lot? Let's assume I don't do that more than once every two months. Will I gain weight from this one day?

    I think that you should try not to drink alcohol as it slows the metabolism down quite a bit. Though, I think one day won't hurt you once in awhile. I freak out since I am watching my glucose super carefully but generally, I feel like a bad day doesn't hurt me weight wise.
  • Jen0414
    Jen0414 Posts: 466 Member
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    Potentialy you could yes.
  • MyaPapaya75
    MyaPapaya75 Posts: 3,143 Member
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    I think you could gain and its prob due to not logging...i suggest logging food even when its not your strict day...so you can stay accountable...im not sure its really good to have an all out binge day though....once every two months isnt bad..just depends if your in it for weight loss or health benefits...How are you drinking alcohol at 18?...non USA?....ack 4 bottles of Bacardi Breezer??
  • PoisonIvy914
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    If you have over 3500 cals or just loads of fat. Yes. 3500 cals = one pound
  • Metsfn4life
    Metsfn4life Posts: 125 Member
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    Everyone is different, but from my personal experience, a really bad spike in caloric intake won't do much damage. I had 3 days last month where I went over by 2,000 calories and I still lost weight. I think I shocked my body by eating so much. Just don't make it a habit or, obviously, you will start to see the effects of it.
  • lawtechie
    lawtechie Posts: 708 Member
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    I'd suggest you track. Yea it looks bad but then you'll know what you did and how much work (if any!) you need to do to make up for it.

    Let's say you document 3/4 of what you ate/drank today and it turns out to be 3,000 calories. Assuming you're normal goal is 1,500 - that's 1/2 lb extra you ate, or 2 extra days of eating -- NOT that big a deal in the long run.

    Now if you repeat that every month, you're losing 2 days out of month of the hard work you do for the rest of the month.

    Balance accordingly.
  • jazzalea
    jazzalea Posts: 412 Member
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    I have NEVER found that ONE day of over eating affects my WEEKLY weight loss..... where I run into trouble is continuing on the next day cuz heck I'm already in trouble anyway.... avoid that and ENJOY yourself!.... :drinker:
  • MiaRabago
    MiaRabago Posts: 12 Member
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    Remember- 3500 calories is 1lb.
  • delineated
    delineated Posts: 24 Member
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    Some people say its good to do that to throw a curve ball to your metabolism once in a while. Keep it on its toes. lol.
  • lgraham92
    lgraham92 Posts: 7 Member
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    Yes. Depending how far over you go, you can effectively ruin 1-2 weeks of solid dieting EASILY.

    Say you are eating at a 500 calorie deficit per day, that equates to 3500 calories/week, which translates to 1lb (1Lb loss is 3500calories).

    If you consume a ton of fatty food/alcohol (Which will then lead to more bad food choices because you have drunken munchies), you can effectively take in your entire weeks (or more) deficit in 1 night by going over.

    Ultimately it comes down to weighing your options, is 1 night of "Fun" or "bad eating" really worth throwing away 1+ Week of STRICT dieting for? Personally I don't feel it is, but everybody has their own opinions on that.
  • JennBrown83
    JennBrown83 Posts: 131 Member
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    What I mean by horrible food day is that I probably went a million calories over my goal. I plan on going even more over tonight, because of a party. I decided I wouldn't count today's calories. What I want to know is: does 1 day of extreme calorie eating (lots of dessert, chips, and alcohol) affect weight a lot? Let's assume I don't do that more than once every two months. Will I gain weight from this one day?

    3,500 cals equal 1 pound so unless you eat 4000- 5000 calories it's safe bet you won't gain any "permenant" weight. That being said, chips have a lot of sodium so they can cause you to retain water which may show up on the scale as extra weight but it's only water weight so if you drink lots of water the next couple of days and stay under your calories... I can't see it being that big a deal if you only doing it once every couple of months. Also there are some diet plans that call for a "spike day" where one day a week or every couple of weeks you eat double your "alloted" calories to keep your metabolism guessing. Hope that helps!
  • cHaRlIe0411
    cHaRlIe0411 Posts: 137 Member
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    I think you could gain and its prob due to not logging...i suggest logging food even when its not your strict day...so you can stay accountable...im not sure its really good to have an all out binge day though....once every two months isnt bad..just depends if your in it for weight loss or health benefits...How are you drinking alcohol at 18?...non USA?....ack 4 bottles of Bacardi Breezer??

    Yes, I live in Québec so drinking age starts at 18. :)
    And I was planning on logging the food, I just lost count of how much I ate when I went shopping.... :(
  • thepetiterunner
    thepetiterunner Posts: 1,238 Member
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    Depends on just how wild you get on that ONE day. If you consume 3500 calories, that's the same as putting a pound back on yourself. Not to mention the hangover you'll have from eating poorly that day that might discourage you or bleed into the next day, or two or the next week.

    I'm not saying cheat days are bad, I'm just saying giving yourself free license to do whatever you please sans moderation might be more sabotaging mentally than physically.
  • cHaRlIe0411
    cHaRlIe0411 Posts: 137 Member
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    I think I'll follow everyone's advice and try to log approximately what I ate.. and what I will eat :P
    And also work out more this weekend. :)
  • Hayesgang
    Hayesgang Posts: 624
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    I don't understand why you don't log it - Just because you don't log it doesn't mean it didn't happen.

    Maybe if you see the calories you've consumed for the day, you may rethink tonight. You have choices!!

    For me this site is about being accountable.

    Good Luck :flowerforyou:
  • JacksMom12
    JacksMom12 Posts: 1,044 Member
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    Depends on just how wild you get on that ONE day. If you consume 3500 calories, that's the same as putting a pound back on yourself. Not to mention the hangover you'll have from eating poorly that day that might discourage you or bleed into the next day, or two or the next week.

    I'm not saying cheat days are bad, I'm just saying giving yourself free license to do whatever you please sans moderation might be more sabotaging mentally than physically.

    You'd have to consume 3500 ABOVE maintenance, not 3,500 by itself. Say your maintenance is 1800 calories .. You'd have to consume 3,500 on top of the 1800 to gain a pound. Just clarifying a little.
  • gregpack
    gregpack Posts: 426 Member
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    If you have a long term perspective and it doesn't discourage you into giving up, no permanent harm done.

    You will likely weigh more tomorrow than the fat you have truly gained. When your body stores 1 g of glycogen I believe it stores 3 gs of water. You will lose this water weight when you burn off that glycogen surplus. When I've had a calorie heavy day I'm usually back to where I started in just a few days, sometimes even less.

    Keep in mind for next time that for a planned evening party, you can minimize the damage by being extra good that morning. And it's not too late to enjoy responsibly tonight. Share that plate of desserts with a friend.
  • lgraham92
    lgraham92 Posts: 7 Member
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    I think I'll follow everyone's advice and try to log approximately what I ate.. and what I will eat :P
    And also work out more this weekend. :)

    Completely your choice, but you cant outwork a bad diet. Weight loss is 90% diet 10% training. Keep yourself accountable by logging, also see my last post for how you could negatively affect your losses.
  • jennetters
    jennetters Posts: 16 Member
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    i do'nt think one day is going to be bad. i haven't been on thie site very long but over xmas we let ourselves eat whatever over the three days. we gained a pound or two but for the most part we just didn't feel good. our bodies were used to eating well and not crappy. so i learned for new years to eat well all day up until the party. then back to the regular food the next day. i felt a lot better. then i decided when i go over i still want to log everything. so at the end i hit that button and it tells me if i ate that way everyday i'd gain all my weigh back in 5 weeks!!! good thing i don't eat that way every day. it is more of a habit now to log my food. but if i didn't have "cheat days" i think i'd go crazy.
  • ThinningDownChick
    ThinningDownChick Posts: 95 Member
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    I think it depends on how much you actually eat. I know from experience that one "binge day" CAN AND DOES set my weight loss back.