Should I chuck in the towel for tonight?

deadbeatsummer
deadbeatsummer Posts: 537 Member
edited November 12 in Health and Weight Loss
Ok so I had a slightly unhealthy weekend - i ate pizza - but I was under my 1400 calorie goal. Monday I ate good - after 5 days I'm still at 196 - not a 0.1 difference.
Today my plan was to be as good as gold and not eat anything bad and do exercise. This was going well until I binged on 500 calories of lemon cake - my first unaccountable binge in a month or so. It put my calories at 2300.

I started to try doing Turbofire Fire 60 which is a lot harder than the ones I usually do in a desperate attempt to burn those cals. I already have DOMS (exercise pains in my legs that made me stiff and limpy all day today) today but went for it anyway. After 20 minutes of the hour program I had to shut it off - I never shut it off - I love the workouts. i was in severe pain - probably from eating too much.

Now my calories are netting at 1900 but I know it's going to make me put on a pound overnight and it will ruin my day and threaten to derail my whole weight loss process if I weigh myself in the morning and see that. I know that sounds pathetic but it's how I feel. Im close to tears thinking about that stupid cake. What was I thinking?!

Any thoughts?

Btw I'm 22, female, 5 foor 7 and 196lbs (HW: 208, GW: 126-140) - for the last two weeks ive been exercising 6 days a week (usually i just bother to do 1 a week which is bad)

Replies

  • pretentiouskate
    pretentiouskate Posts: 186
    My thought here is that you need to take a deep breath, listen to your body, and forgive yourself for eating the cake. A pound - a pound comes and goes from water weight/salt retention!

    Maybe take a break from weighing yourself - a week of no scale?
  • deadbeatsummer
    deadbeatsummer Posts: 537 Member
    I weight myself everyday and always have done - find it difficult to put it away as Im scared itll make me not work hard that day.
  • wanderingpilgrim
    wanderingpilgrim Posts: 109 Member
    I'm in exactly the same place. Shooting myself in the foot for bad food choices.

    BUT, we can't go back and undo them....I know I need to focus on having " a good rest of the day", and then do that "one day at a time". When I think of my over-all goal, it's way too overwhelming and I'll think I'll never get there. Then I give up. But really, all we need to focus on is "one pound at a time". Sabotaging ourselves MORE just because we already "blew it" only adds to the guilt and the work to take it off.

    Maybe don't hop on the scale tomorrow- just concentrate on having a good day. You've already done well and have lost 13 lbs...you're on your way!!!

    (PS: Now I gotta take everything I just hoped to encourage you with and apply it to myself!!!) All the best.
  • bethhyg
    bethhyg Posts: 209
    OK, what is done is done. Tomorrow is a new day. Don't beat up yourself too bad. Or you will just throw in the towel completely. Start fresh and anew in the morning. Get on the scale in the morning as usual and move on for your day.
  • natalieg0307
    natalieg0307 Posts: 237 Member
    Today is one day. Tomorrow is a new day. Keep going. One pound is nothing......your ticker shows you've lost 13. Keep going! I never weigh the same two days in a row. I used to weigh every day......up a 1/2 lb, down 1 lb, up 2 lbs, down 1 lb, down 1/2 lb, etc. My clothes are a better judge than the scale.

    You've worked hard....keep going. Put the lemon cake behind you. Tomorrow is a new day.....but don't start tomorrow......start NOW. You can do it. :smile:
  • mamaolden
    mamaolden Posts: 10 Member
    girl, i weigh everyday as well! it helps me stay focused on that days food intake.. or should i say goals! i usually do good everyday until dinner..and then its history! lol Remember tomorrow is a NEW day! :wink:
  • deb83201
    deb83201 Posts: 7 Member
    I think the first thing you should do is change your sign on name to something like BeautifulSummer. You are so pretty. I can't imagine anything being "deadbeat" about you. I did the same thing today only mine was a maple bar, 450 calories! But I am going to eat better tonight and start off fresh tomorrow. I only weigh once a week. The scale can be depressing don't let it get the best of you.
  • cressievargo
    cressievargo Posts: 392 Member
    Seriously? Throw out the scale.
    Not only that, there are a TON of people on here that have "free days" (myself included) and for me, every time I do it - I don't log, it's usually a day where I hang w/ friends and it's a potluck, so I have no clue on calories - and every time I've done this since I started MFP I had a big LOSS after.
    Occasional calorie spikes are actually a good thing. Your obsession with the scale is FAR MORE unhealthy than gaining a pound.
  • robinogue
    robinogue Posts: 1,117 Member
    it's done, we slip..we fall and we get back up. Don't beat yourself up, crap happens! Tomorrow's a new day....
  • wolfchild59
    wolfchild59 Posts: 2,608 Member
    Someone here once made a comparison that I liked about when you make a bad decision on food or otherwise at one point in the day.

    If you were to run a red light on the way to work, would you decide that since you've already run one red light you'll just run all the red lights the rest of the day because you've already broken the law once? No.

    So take the rest of today one step at a time and continue to eat right, work out, relax, whatever you would normally do on a "good" day that didn't have any bad moments. Even if you see a bit on the scale tomorrow, at least you'll have the peace of mind that you didn't make it worse and that you know you're strong enough to do better.

    No one is perfect, so never beat yourself up if you come face to face with your own imperfections every now and again. :)
  • tequila09
    tequila09 Posts: 764 Member
    OK, what is done is done. Tomorrow is a new day. Don't beat up yourself too bad. Or you will just throw in the towel completely. Start fresh and anew in the morning. Get on the scale in the morning as usual and move on for your day.

    This!! And know that you did not gain a whole pound of fat it takes much more for that like someone else mentioned its water weight. Whatever the scale says just use it as motivation to do better that day!! I weigh myself every day as well. On Saturday I weighed in at 151!! Then ate normal and exercised and next day I weighed 152.8, then that day I had way way over my allowance of net 1500 I had somewhere around 2300+ with no exercise!! The next day I weighed 152.8 and yesterday I stuck to net 1500 but probably a little more and this morning weighed 151.8. My point is weight fluctuates and some days you eat more than others but you can't be hard on yourself just accept it and move on!!
  • deadbeatsummer
    deadbeatsummer Posts: 537 Member
    I think the first thing you should do is change your sign on name to something like BeautifulSummer. You are so pretty. I can't imagine anything being "deadbeat" about you. I did the same thing today only mine was a maple bar, 450 calories! But I am going to eat better tonight and start off fresh tomorrow. I only weigh once a week. The scale can be depressing don't let it get the best of you.

    haha aww i love you! it's just the title of a song I like by a band called Neon Indian :)
  • pcousins13Patricia
    pcousins13Patricia Posts: 49 Member
    NO! DO NOT THROW IN THE TOWEL!!! You have come too far and worked to hard to give up now! Don't quit! I promise you that if you keep working out and eat right most of the time (snacks are allowed in moderation!) you will see results soon! It may take a couple more weeks...it may take a month...but those pounds will come off. DON"T GIVE UP!
  • pcousins13Patricia
    pcousins13Patricia Posts: 49 Member
    I have been on a standstill for a few weeks and FINALLY the scale started moving!
  • darrellhenderson
    darrellhenderson Posts: 21
    I can tell you that for myself, I had to lose the "all or nothing" mentality. I don't think anyone can be perfect 100% of the time. I now aim for eating healthy 90% of the time and then allow myself a treat for the other 10%. That way, there is nothing that is entirely off limits for me. I just can't have it every day. This is working much better. I also use to weigh every day but that was disheartening also because everyone varies from day to day, especially women that deal with water weight. I weigh once a week now. I say forgive yourself and go on. Don't aim for perfection. Do what is actually "doable" and maintainable. You're doing great!
  • Littlerunner0514
    Littlerunner0514 Posts: 42 Member
    My thought here is that you need to take a deep breath, listen to your body, and forgive yourself for eating the cake. A pound - a pound comes and goes from water weight/salt retention!

    Maybe take a break from weighing yourself - a week of no scale?

    This is totally true! It is ok to make "mistakes" but really, food shouldn't be your enemy..so if you have cake be happy you ate something yummy..but move on. Weighing yourself everyday doesn't really reflect your true weight..everyday is different. 1 day I weigh 130 the next I could be 5 pounds less..it really just depends. You are doing great!!!
  • hooligansmom
    hooligansmom Posts: 122 Member
    It sounds like you beat yourself up pretty good when you let yourself have an indulgence....after exercising 6 days a week and being good, you can go over for a bit. The problem will be if you let a piece of cake derail the whole process. It is only cake, and as long as you don't tell yourself that you are a failure, then you aren't. I wanted a Shamrock shake the other day, and I had one. I didn't exercise extra and I didn't worry about it. You can have a treat once in a while!
  • bigredhearts
    bigredhearts Posts: 428
    i am 5'7.5" and weigh 185. very close to you and i eat roughly 1700-2000 cals a day depending on exercise. i am sedentary. and i still lose every week. try not to stress about it. :flowerforyou:
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,336 Member
    As has been said over and over again, tomorrow is a new day. I went to http://www.fitnessfrog.com/calculators/tdee-calculator.html to find out you TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) which is the average total calories you would burn including exercise. I assumed your exercise was 3x per week. Guess what the number of calories you likely need to maintain your weight would be? 1600? 1700? 1800? Since you expect to gain a pound of actual fat I would expect you think it is below what you ate by a huge amount? Well according to that calculator you would burn on average every day, 2324 calories. If you workout 4 or 5 days a week then that number goes up to 2620. You may put on weight, but it will be all water weight, with maybe an ounce of fat. Yes, even water weight takes a couple of days to come off, but you certainly did not put on fat. To put on a pound of fat you would have had to eat 5824 calories give of take a couple of hundred, maybe more. Calm down, finish your eating for today, and get back at it tomorrow.
  • kristelpoole
    kristelpoole Posts: 440 Member
    Just don't eat the whole cake later because you feel bad about the one piece. :)

    I'll go ahead and agree with you that I'd probably feel very disappointed in myself if I threw away 500 calories on a slice of cake unless it was the best cake I'd ever had. But that's okay!

    Just because it wasn't the BEST decision doesn't mean it was automatically the WORST decision either.

    If you're in pain, take a bath, ice your joints and bust *kitten* tomorrow. If you're not in a ton of pain later, try working out again.

    (I'd also skip a weigh-in tomorrow if you think it'll derail you to see a higher number.)
  • mrflash222
    mrflash222 Posts: 27 Member
    Absolutely never throw in the towel!!!! This whole thing is a journey. It is full of ups and downs. Hopefully, we learn from the downs and cherish and celebrate the ups. You're the bomb and doing fantastic!!!! Don't sweat it!!!! You've go this!!!!
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,336 Member
    People please read the title more carefully, she is not talking about chucking in the towel permanently, just for tonight, and what exactly that means, I am not sure. I read it in the most positive way I could, that she would stop eating for tonight. I guess it could be taken that she will binge more, but I don't think that is what she meant.
  • billthekill
    billthekill Posts: 90
    Ok so I had a slightly unhealthy weekend - i ate pizza - but I was under my 1400 calorie goal. Monday I ate good - after 5 days

    Good Job. Eating a pizza is perfectly OK.
    I'm still at 196 - not a 0.1 difference.
    If you had a deficit in calories, YOU DID LOSE WEIGHT.
    You have to account for water weight that can vary up/down a few pounds. If you were to drink 2 cups of water right now, you will gain 1lbs on the scale instantly.
    Just learn to trust the system: As long as you have a deficit, you will lose weight even though the scale doesn't show it.
    Today my plan was to be as good as gold and not eat anything bad and do exercise. This was going well until I binged on 500 calories of lemon cake - my first unaccountable binge in a month or so. It put my calories at 2300.
    You ate 2300 calories and call that a "Binge"? You seriously are too hard on yourself.
    I started to try doing Turbofire Fire 60 which is a lot harder than the ones I usually do in a desperate attempt to burn those cals. I already have DOMS (exercise pains in my legs that made me stiff and limpy all day today) today but went for it anyway. After 20 minutes of the hour program I had to shut it off - I never shut it off - I love the workouts. i was in severe pain - probably from eating too much.
    Exerciser is good for you but, not necessary to lose weight. If you are sore or don't feel like working out, take a break. Losing weight is 90% DIET.
    Now my calories are netting at 1900 but I know it's going to make me put on a pound overnight and it will ruin my day and threaten to derail my whole weight loss process if I weigh myself in the morning and see that. I know that sounds pathetic but it's how I feel. Im close to tears thinking about that stupid cake. What was I thinking?!

    For you to gain a pound overnight, you will need to eat about 5,500 calories in one day. If the weight goes up on the scale, trust me, its Water Weight.
  • deadbeatsummer
    deadbeatsummer Posts: 537 Member
    People please read the title more carefully, she is not talking about chucking in the towel permanently, just for tonight, and what exactly that means, I am not sure. I read it in the most positive way I could, that she would stop eating for tonight. I guess it could be taken that she will binge more, but I don't think that is what she meant.

    Apologies if it was unclear - I meant should I give up trying to exercise off that extra 500 calories as I ache so much.
  • Pebble321
    Pebble321 Posts: 6,423 Member
    Yes, stop for today.
    If you're in pain, then exercising is not likely to do you any good.

    Take a deep breath, accept that you didn't have a great day. Then spend a few minutes making a food/exercise plan for tomorrow them go to bed and start fresh tomorrow. Those excess pounds took months or year to grown on you, one day of bad (or good!) eating isn't going to change things dramatically.
    The key thing is not to let this make you give up on everything and don't let it exercise yourself into an injury.
  • crimsontech
    crimsontech Posts: 234 Member
    If you're really not feeling it, it's OK to take the evening off and try again tomorrow. Remember that it takes 3500 calories OVER what you burn to gain one pound of fat. If you didn't go over by that much, the 1 pound gain on the scale is water, and food in your digestive system. It WILL go away again.

    It may help you to have alternative exercises you can do when you're sore in one area. Maybe a nice leisurely walk will loosen you up and still get your heart rate up without hurting so much?
  • beduffbrickie
    beduffbrickie Posts: 642 Member
    I am sorry to be hard, but weighing your self everyday is silly, your setting yourself up for disappointment! your body weight will go up and down every day that this can take your eye off the prize! weigh yourself no more 2 times a week, and start putting more effort into your diet than looking at a scale everyday.
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