Just had a horrible food day.

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.

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??

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.

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:

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.

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!

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.

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:

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.

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.

Well, I'm right there with you. Just had a pretty horrible food day myself. I've at least committed to logging it all. I know I can zigzag and burn more later...but the trouble is that I've been quite hungry early in the day lately. Then today, I was exhausted and had a terrible day at work, etc., etc., and I got up to about 1700 or 1800 on a 1200/day cal limit. And this is the second time this week.

I'm trying not to stress over it horribly, but just to log it all and then reflect on why it keeps happening. I have been looking through the diary days. I was trying to eat more protein to feel more full, but on the days I exceeded my recommended protein I didn't necessarily stay under the calorie goal, so perhaps the protein thing isn't helping that much. On days I exercised I was slightly more likely to stay under. The only correlation I see is eating lots of fiber usually leads to going over less. Also, I think getting lots of sleep helps me control my hunger.

I'd say watch the alcohol -- very caloric. And speaking as one youngish party-loving gal to (perhaps) another...if you are drinking alcohol to get a little party "buzz," you won't need to drink as much if you eat less at the party. I'm not suggesting binge drinking on an empty stomach, but it you eat less, then less alcohol will take you further, and you can save calories in both directions.

What I mean by horrible food day is that I probably went a million calories over my goal.

So you had a bad day. There are still 6 more days in the week.

Have a bad week? There are still 3 more weeks in the month.

Just get back on the wagon, it's all good.

You would have to eat 3500 calories over your maintenance to gain 1 actual pound of fat.

so no, you're not likely to destroy your weight loss with one bad day of eating.