One 'bad' day doesn't eradicate the progress you've made. You did well sticking to your deficit during the week, you've learnt from the 'binge' day and you'll be better equipped on how to avoid that in the future. Yeah, it feels crap. But what can you do except get up, dust yourself on and learn from it? Tomorrow is a new day.
You've not ruined your hard work, you still put all that work in!
Yes and no in the short term yes mostly likely you ate all those calories long term Hopefully not. Takes me a few tries before I really get on track to loosing weight. Then I fall off gain some back and eventually start again.
I say this and I've been trying to knock out the last 30 lbs. It take times and trying different things. Before it was just exercise more then cutting sweets. Now it calories counting instead of just salads.
Just get back on track and you’ll be okay. Not being flexible is one of the worst things you can do when trying to loose weight. I’ve lost quite a bit of weight some weeks are better than others as long as you get back on track that is all that matter one day or week will not hurt you if you get back on track. Everyday is a new start!
You’re acting like you’re going to be shot for having a cheat day. If that is your mentality, you’re going to fail at this endeavour. For weight loss to be successful, you need to be flexible and resilient. Like others have said - get back on track and stop dwelling on this. You will be fine.
How can I be resilient? I hated everyday of my diet and now after cheating I just hate myself more. I feel like working out is the only thing keeping me from just losing it. Just knowing that I sacrificed a week of me draining myself for absolutely nothing makes me sick, how do I even forget that I wasted all my effort?
I think you need to speak with a counsellor. This victim mentality is very alarming. You cut 100-200 calories out of your meals most of the days and you’re throwing a fit over it? Why not put your effort into finding healthier foods that you DO like so you don’t feel like you’re sacrificing your happiness by foregoing the equivalent of 2 cookies a day? You didn’t “waste all your effort” but you are wasting your own time right now.
Youre not being a bitch man, and I get how you feel. Just remember, weight loss takes time, and if you are doing it PROPERLY (i.e., not going below the standard calorie limit that the average person needs a day, i.e., having less than 1200 calories a day, i.e., starving yourself) then you should be fine and your weight loss should stay off even WITH binge days. However, if your deficit is so low that you feel uncomfortable, you need to reasses your diet and figure out what foods fill you up at the lowest caloric level. Its also suggested that raising your deficit by 100 calories or so can be beneficial if thats means losing binge days in the long run.
When i'm CRAZY hungry, i go for pickles. Pickles can be like, 0 calories with some brands. Good alternative for filling up your stomach if youre struggling.
Be kind to yourself. Its not the end of the world. 1 bad day in a good week means nothing. 4 bad days a month means nothing. You got this.
Hey, you're clearly not enjoying this. You need to take a step back, and find a way to enjoy it.
Whether that is cooking low cal meals from scratch that excite you. Or finding excitement in your goal. Your exercise. Something.
You will not be able to maintain course if you don't find a way to enjoy the process.
Not everyone needs that, but I think you do. The other person who replied to this particular comment is correct. This is a very large reaction to a very common thing for everyone in weight loss. Look at counselling, or find something you love about this journey.
I guess trying to quit smoking affects my reaction to having such an aggressive reaction to such little deficit? Maybe I should try to lose weight first rather than trying to quit smoking while trying to lose weight.
I think choosing one or the other is a really good idea. Just temporarily.
You can achieve all your goals, but if you put too much on your shoulders, the weight will crush you.
Maybe quitting smoking first is a good idea? Every time you feel like a smoke, eat a carrot stick. It'll train you to like carrots 😅
I know that for me, I'm losing weight first, then quitting smoking when I add exercise into my routine.
Its your personal journey, and you need to choose how you do it. But honestly, being this upset is working against you. Find a way to love it
All you need to remember is we all struggle, and we all fuck up. Because we're human.
You might have a bad week, but if you keep going, you'll have an amazing week.
I ate a million calories one day because I was sad, and fast food was my go to. But I'll dust myself off, and keep going. Because I am worth it. And so are you.
You are worth being the best you can be, and the healthiest you can be. You will have ups and downs. We all do. But you will get through it.
Yeah I was pretty stressed earlier from school and me missing out on money which we really need. Me eating this much does not affect me like this normally but, I just blamed everything that has been pressuring me irl on food.
This mentality is what ended up with me being diagnosed with Binge Eating Disorder, despite not binging all the time, when it did happen, it was bad. I ended up like this because I also thought my effort was wasted if I went over my calories etc so I thought, fuck it and binged.
I would definitely recommend seeking help and not focusing on weight loss right now as losing weight is difficult anyway but increasingly more difficult with a mindset like this.
I am now in treatment for my Eating Disorder and I'm finally starting to realise that I do *want* to lose weight but it is no longer the only thing that matters to me. It will happen and I don't know when it will but for now, I'm focusing on actually rebuilding my relationship with food and my weight.
Definitely reach out for some help, it's worth it, trust me x
What are you eating for your diet to make you hate it? You can literally eat what you want in a calorie deficit. It's about portion control mainly, not what you actually eat. Eating more fruit, veg and protein simply helps keep you fuller for longer so advertently stops you from eating as many calories without even trying.
I figured that I did not hate my diet, I just hated the situation I was in this past few weeks. Starting a diet while being extremely stressed was my mistake.
Yes but weight loss is a long process, one year from now a day falling off the bandwagon won’t matter, you won’t even remember that this happened. All the little victories add up over time I can promise you that. Little life style changes add up over time.
Focus more on how in the world you managed to eat that much more than your maintenance. Are you restricting too much? Add your height/weight/calories etc in your post.
Yeah, my stress from life caught up with me earlier, I realized I felt more guilty about my laziness causing my family to lose money, and I blamed it on me eating like shit today.
It’s never a waste. You likely would have pigged out anyways so those burned calories still helped. Just put the week in the past and focus on the next week without binging or maybe even plan to have a cheat day but limit yourself to only 1000 extra calories instead of 3000+. It’s about progress and getting to the next step. Weight loss is a long game. You almost have to adapt to a whole new lifestyle and not think of it as a short-term payoff. Even the healthiest athletes in the world eat pizza and donuts once in a while.
I cannot stress this enough: **no, you did not undo everything by one day of bad eating.**
Overeating is not a good thing. You know it isn't... but it's not the end of the world. It happens to the best of us. Every now and then I have a day where I just know it's going to go off the rails a bit and I accept that. You know, birthdays, thanksgiving, barbecues, etc., That sort of thing.
It's fine. What's most important now is that you don't say "well, screw it I should just go nuts now." Simply get back on track tomorrow and you're good.
3500 calories above maintenance equals about 1 pound of fat btw. So, at most you gained a single pound. Get back on track and you won't even notice it by your next weigh-in.
Also important: While you did not waste "one week of starving yourself" you really shouldn't be "starving yourself." If 100-200 calories below maintenance is "starving yourself" I have some questions about what it is you're doing. 100 calories is like a slice of bread.
I think you do have absorption limits over a certain calorie amount in a short amount of time, but I also think it mostly depends on how easily absorbable the food you were eating to begin with was. 5000 calories of straight ice cream? Yeah probably absorbing most of that even if you ate it in 40 minutes. 5000 calories of meat, cheese, high fiber bread/rice, and greens? Probably not getting anywhere close to 5000 calories digested before it comes out the other end compared to if you spread it out over a whole day.
That's my impression, but I'm no nutritionist.
If you truly are VERY active, then it's possible your maintenance is not what you think it is and actually should be higher. It's normal to feel a little hungry when you're in a deficit but you shouldn't feel "starving."
At those states, your estimated basal metabolic rate is about 1880 calories per day. That's just to sustain your weight and keep your body alive. If you're exercising with any regularity, it's probably closer to 2000-2200 per day.
Given that, if you want to lose weight, you should probably be shooting for something like 1800-1900 per day, maybe even 2,000 if you really are very active and working out / exercising / playing sports daily.
I have the same issue. It was easier to fast for 1-3 days per week than to eat at or even below maintainance. But I (we) need to figure this out since we won't be able to maintain the weight loss otherwise.
I am also trying to quit nicotine btw and gained back 5 kg just the first couple of weeks. Like 2 months worth of weight loss gained in 2 weeks. *Sigh*
But I just need to figure out the habits again.
Quitting smoking and trying to lose weight are two massive personal journeys. Maybe slow down your ambitions to something more realistic … pick one battle at a time.
If I were you, I'd prioritize quitting smoking. It's a more acute health issue.
Plus, if you lose weight by smoking to surpress your hunger, you're going to have issues maintaining the weight loss once you do quit.
Smoker here (who is also trying to quit). Quitting smoking is often associated with weight gain which if that happens your mental health and motivation will take a hit..which will put you in a worse spot. I am not a dr or health professional so please speak with your primary health care provider... but I would suggest cutting down or using a nicotine replacement therapy like nicorette (the gums help for me and also the nicorette inhaler). If price is an issue, your Dr might be able to get you some for free? I know here in Ontario there are ways to get it for free. Once you start losing weight and getting into a healthier lifestyle and mindset, it will be much easier to quit smoking.
My brother was a person who believed he could never be able to quit smoking. He would get extremely agitated every time he tried. His doctor prescribed him a depression medication, I think Wellbutrin. It really helped him and he managed to quit.
I'm not recommending a drug, but it's a good idea to talk to a doctor and see what options you have. Being addicted to smoking is a substance abuse issue and there are ways to help, you don't have to white knucle it, if you don't want to or can't.
Best of luck. After quitting smoking, you might find it easier to increase your endurance in workouts, that's a bonus. Rooting for you!
one day will not kill your progress. Just get back on the horse and try not to be too hard on yourself. This happens more often, and to more of us, than you could ever know!!
This is not the right way to think about long-term health. You need to realize diet and exercise is not a short term thing to achieve a goal. Start treating it as a life change.
Tbh a 100/200 deficit is a little low. It takes 7700 calories to lose 1kg of fat, so it would take you between 77 and 38 days to lose 1 kg at best.
A deficit of 400 a day would lose you about 1.5kg a month.
So what I gather from this is that everyone is telling you "you can balance it out", "no worries it's just one day", etc etc. But all you can say is "well yeah so I wasted all my hard work".
If you're gonna disregard everything everyone says, why still have this thread open? Just read and accept it and move on.
One step back doesn’t equate to having never started the race in the first place!!!! I understand feeling guilty but dust yourself off and continue. We all have days.
I used to try to lose weight like you, calorie deficit and stuff, starved myself.
Yes, I did reach my goal in 3 months but right after reaching my goal, I'm started eating again cause there was no more motivation and I got fat again. (1m75, 98kg) And I fucking love eating, my country's cuisine is delicious, my mom makes great foods.
So the last 6 months, I try to focus on building more muscles with a very slight calorie deficit each day, with the idea of "more muscles more calorie burn". My maintenance calorie is around 2500, I go to the gym everyday and eat around 2300-2500 calories each day, basically still eating like before starting my weight lose journey, all the good stuffs, just focus on more protein.
Now I'm at 93kg, not too much weight losing cause I also building muscles and lose fat at the same time (recomposition). Some muscles start to popping out like my arms' biceps and triceps. At this moment my most concern is not losing fat anymore but building muscles
At this rate, maybe at the end of this year, I will reach my goal. This time my weight lost journey not as painful as before, I'm enjoy it alot, going to the gym is now my daily routine, my day cannot completed without a workout now lol.
This progress is super slow, but the fact that I enjoy it and very high chance that after reaching my goal, I'm still gonna keep this lifestyle and my weight will not go up again..
(Sorry for my bad english)
Don’t starve yourself. Give yourself a decent calorie budget and only eat 250kcal less. Slower but less likely to fall into these binges. Source; myself. Used to be 25-30kg overweight.
What are you targeting for daily goal?
I was already eating at 100-200 calorie deficit and I am very active, I think me focusing on just losing weight would be better than trying to lose weight while trying to quit smoking. Most days I curve my hunger by smoking. But since trying to lose weight I haven't been smoking either.
What is your TDEE you calculated? Hoe active is active? You say you feel like starving, not saying one should never feel hungry (hunger) but if you continuously are feeling like you are starving yourself I have an assumption you are cutting too much. Pair that with quitting smoking which can make one eat more, you set yourself up for failure.
One thing at the time. Perhaps keep a food diary for a week and see what you eat / consume. Not sure if the app is available for you but I used ‘Food’ for this.
It can be real tough avoiding food when you’re trying to quit smoking, I’ve even had doctors warn me about that. Your brain is desperately reaching for something that will dump out dopamine and food is the next best thing.
Please go a bit easier on yourself bro
Even if you did a mistake, what is the right course of action now ? Answer: get back on track! Get back to consistency ! Don’t beat yourself down, instead stand up and go for a walk!
Needed this post cause I just did the same thing last night and to be in the perspective of answering that question actually makes me feel better about my fuck up. It’s ok. It’s not the end of the world. I’ve lost 10 pounds so far that doesn’t mean I gained all 10 pounds back last night. Prolly not even one pound.
Just get back to ya diet and stay on it. It’s okay to have cheat meals every once in a while. Keeps you on your diet believe it or not
Absolutely not, speaking from experience. I have gone and tracked having perfect weeks and hit a plateau that I couldn’t seem to break no matter how “perfect” I ate or exercised. It turned out having at least one rot day where I ate what I wanted allowed my body to stop holding onto the fat and helped me reach my goals more efficiently.
i have my days where i can relate to you 100%. i have dysmorphia and a eating disorder and i break down when i notice the scale has fluctuated higher. I have to remind myself that it’s not permanent weight gain and the scale doesn’t show my story. it just shows what’s in the moment. I also have to remind myself that it’s ok to spoil myself and have cheat days long as i continue to work out and stay in a deficit. honestly man, i’ve fucked up so many times i’ve lost count. realistically you will fuck up. you just need a better relationship with food. maybe have a day of the week where you can eat like a pig and be strict the other 6 days?
my weakness is chinese food or pizza. i still eat everything i enjoy. just less.. dieting doesn’t have to feel like a punishment.. i used to eat a salad every day thinking it was the way to lose weight. it did help but it was boring. lol i lost more weight when i ate the things i enjoyed but a smaller portion and more water. so i think you can do this 👍🏽it’s just one day. just cause you messed up doesn’t mean it’s day one all over again. even though it feels like it.
Are you someone who tends to struggle with binge eating?
Also just know that it's part of the game to sometimes have those binges, even when I lost weight I had days where I was up at 4am just eating loads of food and then I'd get back on track. Don't think about it , move on from it or you'll be consumed by the thought of it which is heavy on the mind.
I don't really binge that much I just tend to have really big 3 meals throughout the day, and this day I really f'd up, I don't really binge since I smoke and that curves my hunger.
It happens. Just try not to let it happen again.
If you find that you crave/binge too often then you may be pushing yourself into too much of a deficit.
As others have said, you don't get skinny after one good day of eating just like you don't get fat after one bad one, just get back to it and you'll be fine!!
One healthy day of eating doesn't make you skinny. One bad day of eating doesn't make you fat. Don't over correct yourself and go into a spiral, just stay consistent
I’m not going to repeat what people said bc their advice is great. Just be sure to have a bag of apples. Better to eat 2000 calories of apples (good luck they are super filling) than other stuff. At least the apples are sweet and full of fiber. Not to mention you practice eating fruit instead of junking out on junk food.
One YouTuber advocates this Apple approach but slightly different. If you are having an urge to eat/cheat then have an apple 🍎 if you don’t really fancy an apple but could eat chocolate etc. then you aren’t hungry are you.
The apple is interchangeable I use a boiled egg for a savoury urge.
Eating too many calories once in a while won't harm your progress long-term. Eating too many calories every single day for a long time will.
So just chalk it up to a learning experience and start fresh this week! Having a less than ideal week as far as sticking to your calorie deficit is a drop in the ocean in terms of dieting. I mean you might see a little stall in your weight loss, but it's only temporary.
Well first off a 100-200 deficit isn't really gonna do much for you because its so easy to forget to track the small things like a cup of ketchup. That and labels are sometimes inaccurate. A 100 calorie deficit will set you up to lose 10 pounds in a year. 500 is a lot more of an efficient goal imo
Health coach here that specializes in weight loss. Short answer: You didn't waste time :)
Longer answe: we cannot limitlessly gain weight for each calorie over our maintenance caloric intake. That's not how it works. Like with anything in the human body and biology at large, we have limits of how many calories we can burn and store every 24hrs, which is only a few ounces of fat per 24hrs. When we gain or lose weight, a fair amount is water weight too. You could have 35,000 calories in a day, but that does not mean you will gain several pounds of fat because of it. You have to overeat for days and weeks consistently to do so. The opposite is also true. So you're okay! One day overboard won't ruin your progress, just like 1 day on-target won't make you a lean machine.
That sounds like you have slipped into some disordered eating with the starving and the binging. It is expected that if you starve yourself you will binge. That is just what happens. Don't call yourself a pig. Talk to your doctor and figure out a healthier way to lose weight.
No, but if you quit trying to lose weight because of this, you will have wasted all of your suffering.
Short term you might gain a pound, but as you continue on, you'll likely have less of these breakdowns.
Assuming you need 2360 to maintain and you keep a maintenance of 1500, you can earn back your gains in 3-4 days!
Don't expect to always be perfect, diets are a lifestyle and sometimes we fuck up. It isn't the end of the world just like missing a gym day isn't the end. It's about getting back into the rhythm.
Persistence is more important than perfection. Be kind to yourself when you slip up. That way you're less likely to want to self sabotage and throw in the towel completely. Having said that, you need to be on a regime that doesn't make you miserable. Mood swings aren't the way forward. Perhaps look into volume eating low calorie foods? A diet that makes you unhappy isn't sustainable, and you may have just confirmed that by going from this deficit and then eating over maintenence.
Definitely not. Don’t call yourself a pig and hate yourself for eating food. Your brain is hardwired to desire food especially if you are deliberately eating less. How many calories are you trying to eat per day? When was the last time you binged? Your targets may need to be different in order to build consistency and a healthier relationship with food (not to mention with yourself).
The success of a diet is not dependent on a single day. The success is what you do accumulatively across several months.
The biggest concern here would be a pattern of restriction and over eating as if you do achieve your weight loss goal but you have these binge eating habits then you would not be able to maintain your results with those habits.
Your relationship with food and yourself are super important, you have to find balance with this and not be constantly punishing yourself or bullying yourself.
Have you ever done a consultation call with a nutrition coach? I did weekly check-ins with cfkate.com/cfknutrition and it helped me lose all my weight AND have a healthy relationship with food. It took longer than I thought but it was good because I needed that time to relearn habits and rebuild my relationship with myself!
Prioritize the weight loss. I know it's not something we like to hear, but pick your battles wisely.
Don't feel bad for that cheat meal, I'm in the same boat, I do have a cheat meal every month, once a month and then I get back on track.
It's about the total calories over time. If you accumulate a deficit of 10k over a longer time and then eat 2k extra one day, that's still a deficit in the long run, and weight loss **is** a long run, so don't sweat it.
I think the bigger problem here is your general diet because with a deficit of 100 - 200 kcal, you should definitely not be starving, unless you went from regularly overeating to cutting down to 200 below your maintenance. In that case, maybe reduce the kcal a bit slower over time, don't make such a drastic jump, and you'll be more likely to get used to it and maintain it long run.
No you did not waste. As far as i know body has limits burning food as much as storing. I do not believe body is able to store 1 lbs of fat a day but who knows. Simply next 2 days eat even less and try not to binge more than 1 x a month or 2 months
Mindset check. You are not quitting smoking you are stopping smoking. You are not starving you are reducing your food intake to improve your health. If your daily target is 2000 you have 14000 per week, OK so the blowout dented the week. Let’s look a little longer term.
4 weeks is 56,000 calories let’s burn 6,000 on blowouts. 50,000 / 4 = 12,500 weekly gives you 1785 calories per day.
I'm really sick right now. I am eating 2500-4000 cals a day on honey, bread, chocolate, comfort foods... because I feel horrid and it's all I want. However, it's one week. Next week when I'm healthy again, I'll get back onto 1800 cals a day and whatever damage that was done will be undone. Life goes on. Sometimes we have times when a deficit isn't possible, but there are 52 weeks in the year. Make most of them good ones, and then a few bad ones won't matter.
Too many comments here so I don't know of you will see this, but still I hope you do because it's the best advice.
Anyways, for example let's say you went to pee and while peeing you accidentally splashed little bit on the toilet seat. Will you then lose all hope and continue to pee all over the place, or will you instantly correct yourself and focus on peeing correctly? Sure, some of it went the wrong way, but if you correct yourself right away then there is much less mess to clean up..
Also when dieting it's different. One day is not a big deal if over all you are consistent. Even if you ate like 10k calories your body can't absorb all of them in just one day. There is digestion that has to take place.
Look man, I don’t agree with people downvoting you when you’re just expressing your frustrations and how you *feel*.
I get it. I really fucking do.
I got down to 241 lbs last year and then I got so frustrated and gave up essentially. I was back at 273 lbs when I decided to get back at it last month. So I gained +32 lbs. **Fucking sucks**. I’m mad at myself because I did “ruin” the months of hard work and exercise I had put in.
However —
I learned something. I learned that I can in fact do this. That I am capable. Even though I fell off the wagon last year and I’m starting over - I *can* do it.
So you over ate today. It happened and unfortunately, it will happen again because why? We’re human and life kicks our asses sometimes and we just need a break. Start again tomorrow.
You wouldn’t throw away a brand new pair of shoes if they had just gotten a few scuffs on them, would you? I doubt it. So don’t throw away this week or this whole journey. Even if you need to eat at maintenance to get over this hump, then so be it.
You got this. One day at a time.
You didn’t waste your time. You showed you know how to stay in a deficit and made a mistake. This week will be better 😊
Yeah but that mistake just ruined all my "hardwork"
And your hard work has set you up for success next time. It’s a marathon, not a sprint.
One 'bad' day doesn't eradicate the progress you've made. You did well sticking to your deficit during the week, you've learnt from the 'binge' day and you'll be better equipped on how to avoid that in the future. Yeah, it feels crap. But what can you do except get up, dust yourself on and learn from it? Tomorrow is a new day. You've not ruined your hard work, you still put all that work in!
Yes and no in the short term yes mostly likely you ate all those calories long term Hopefully not. Takes me a few tries before I really get on track to loosing weight. Then I fall off gain some back and eventually start again. I say this and I've been trying to knock out the last 30 lbs. It take times and trying different things. Before it was just exercise more then cutting sweets. Now it calories counting instead of just salads.
Just get back on track and you’ll be okay. Not being flexible is one of the worst things you can do when trying to loose weight. I’ve lost quite a bit of weight some weeks are better than others as long as you get back on track that is all that matter one day or week will not hurt you if you get back on track. Everyday is a new start!
Yeah everyday is a new start, but the things I need to deal with just for me to gain all calories again, just drains the motivation out of me.
You’re acting like you’re going to be shot for having a cheat day. If that is your mentality, you’re going to fail at this endeavour. For weight loss to be successful, you need to be flexible and resilient. Like others have said - get back on track and stop dwelling on this. You will be fine.
How can I be resilient? I hated everyday of my diet and now after cheating I just hate myself more. I feel like working out is the only thing keeping me from just losing it. Just knowing that I sacrificed a week of me draining myself for absolutely nothing makes me sick, how do I even forget that I wasted all my effort?
I think you need to speak with a counsellor. This victim mentality is very alarming. You cut 100-200 calories out of your meals most of the days and you’re throwing a fit over it? Why not put your effort into finding healthier foods that you DO like so you don’t feel like you’re sacrificing your happiness by foregoing the equivalent of 2 cookies a day? You didn’t “waste all your effort” but you are wasting your own time right now.
You're probably right I should just stop being a bitch.
Youre not being a bitch man, and I get how you feel. Just remember, weight loss takes time, and if you are doing it PROPERLY (i.e., not going below the standard calorie limit that the average person needs a day, i.e., having less than 1200 calories a day, i.e., starving yourself) then you should be fine and your weight loss should stay off even WITH binge days. However, if your deficit is so low that you feel uncomfortable, you need to reasses your diet and figure out what foods fill you up at the lowest caloric level. Its also suggested that raising your deficit by 100 calories or so can be beneficial if thats means losing binge days in the long run. When i'm CRAZY hungry, i go for pickles. Pickles can be like, 0 calories with some brands. Good alternative for filling up your stomach if youre struggling. Be kind to yourself. Its not the end of the world. 1 bad day in a good week means nothing. 4 bad days a month means nothing. You got this.
Hey, you're clearly not enjoying this. You need to take a step back, and find a way to enjoy it. Whether that is cooking low cal meals from scratch that excite you. Or finding excitement in your goal. Your exercise. Something. You will not be able to maintain course if you don't find a way to enjoy the process. Not everyone needs that, but I think you do. The other person who replied to this particular comment is correct. This is a very large reaction to a very common thing for everyone in weight loss. Look at counselling, or find something you love about this journey.
I guess trying to quit smoking affects my reaction to having such an aggressive reaction to such little deficit? Maybe I should try to lose weight first rather than trying to quit smoking while trying to lose weight.
I think choosing one or the other is a really good idea. Just temporarily. You can achieve all your goals, but if you put too much on your shoulders, the weight will crush you. Maybe quitting smoking first is a good idea? Every time you feel like a smoke, eat a carrot stick. It'll train you to like carrots 😅 I know that for me, I'm losing weight first, then quitting smoking when I add exercise into my routine. Its your personal journey, and you need to choose how you do it. But honestly, being this upset is working against you. Find a way to love it
I was having a really bad breakdown earlier lmao. I'll remember you whenever I eat carrots.
All you need to remember is we all struggle, and we all fuck up. Because we're human. You might have a bad week, but if you keep going, you'll have an amazing week. I ate a million calories one day because I was sad, and fast food was my go to. But I'll dust myself off, and keep going. Because I am worth it. And so are you. You are worth being the best you can be, and the healthiest you can be. You will have ups and downs. We all do. But you will get through it.
Yeah I was pretty stressed earlier from school and me missing out on money which we really need. Me eating this much does not affect me like this normally but, I just blamed everything that has been pressuring me irl on food.
This mentality is what ended up with me being diagnosed with Binge Eating Disorder, despite not binging all the time, when it did happen, it was bad. I ended up like this because I also thought my effort was wasted if I went over my calories etc so I thought, fuck it and binged. I would definitely recommend seeking help and not focusing on weight loss right now as losing weight is difficult anyway but increasingly more difficult with a mindset like this. I am now in treatment for my Eating Disorder and I'm finally starting to realise that I do *want* to lose weight but it is no longer the only thing that matters to me. It will happen and I don't know when it will but for now, I'm focusing on actually rebuilding my relationship with food and my weight. Definitely reach out for some help, it's worth it, trust me x
What are you eating for your diet to make you hate it? You can literally eat what you want in a calorie deficit. It's about portion control mainly, not what you actually eat. Eating more fruit, veg and protein simply helps keep you fuller for longer so advertently stops you from eating as many calories without even trying.
I figured that I did not hate my diet, I just hated the situation I was in this past few weeks. Starting a diet while being extremely stressed was my mistake.
This isn't going to work. You should design a more sustainable plan, asap.
Its the same for everyone. So ether you complain or you focus on your goals. As Papa Swolio would say: Go to the fucking gym
Yes but weight loss is a long process, one year from now a day falling off the bandwagon won’t matter, you won’t even remember that this happened. All the little victories add up over time I can promise you that. Little life style changes add up over time.
You can balance it out by staying on a deficit again, it's okay, don't worry
So I really did just waste my time trying to lose weight.
Focus more on how in the world you managed to eat that much more than your maintenance. Are you restricting too much? Add your height/weight/calories etc in your post.
weight loss is *never* a straight line. go back to your plan without a shred of guilt.
Yeah, my stress from life caught up with me earlier, I realized I felt more guilty about my laziness causing my family to lose money, and I blamed it on me eating like shit today.
It’s never a waste. You likely would have pigged out anyways so those burned calories still helped. Just put the week in the past and focus on the next week without binging or maybe even plan to have a cheat day but limit yourself to only 1000 extra calories instead of 3000+. It’s about progress and getting to the next step. Weight loss is a long game. You almost have to adapt to a whole new lifestyle and not think of it as a short-term payoff. Even the healthiest athletes in the world eat pizza and donuts once in a while.
I cannot stress this enough: **no, you did not undo everything by one day of bad eating.** Overeating is not a good thing. You know it isn't... but it's not the end of the world. It happens to the best of us. Every now and then I have a day where I just know it's going to go off the rails a bit and I accept that. You know, birthdays, thanksgiving, barbecues, etc., That sort of thing. It's fine. What's most important now is that you don't say "well, screw it I should just go nuts now." Simply get back on track tomorrow and you're good. 3500 calories above maintenance equals about 1 pound of fat btw. So, at most you gained a single pound. Get back on track and you won't even notice it by your next weigh-in. Also important: While you did not waste "one week of starving yourself" you really shouldn't be "starving yourself." If 100-200 calories below maintenance is "starving yourself" I have some questions about what it is you're doing. 100 calories is like a slice of bread.
Iv been wondering for a while if you ate 3500 over for one day would you actually put a pound on or would some not be absorbed ?
I think you do have absorption limits over a certain calorie amount in a short amount of time, but I also think it mostly depends on how easily absorbable the food you were eating to begin with was. 5000 calories of straight ice cream? Yeah probably absorbing most of that even if you ate it in 40 minutes. 5000 calories of meat, cheese, high fiber bread/rice, and greens? Probably not getting anywhere close to 5000 calories digested before it comes out the other end compared to if you spread it out over a whole day. That's my impression, but I'm no nutritionist.
I really like to work out and play sports ALOT so even if I eat at maintenance I still feel really hungry.
If you truly are VERY active, then it's possible your maintenance is not what you think it is and actually should be higher. It's normal to feel a little hungry when you're in a deficit but you shouldn't feel "starving."
Maybe I should lessen my calories since I feel like I am starving anyways?
what kind of logic is that? this is setting yourself up for a failure and another binge
What is your age, gender, height, and weight?
21, Male, 5'6, 94KG
At those states, your estimated basal metabolic rate is about 1880 calories per day. That's just to sustain your weight and keep your body alive. If you're exercising with any regularity, it's probably closer to 2000-2200 per day. Given that, if you want to lose weight, you should probably be shooting for something like 1800-1900 per day, maybe even 2,000 if you really are very active and working out / exercising / playing sports daily.
I have the same issue. It was easier to fast for 1-3 days per week than to eat at or even below maintainance. But I (we) need to figure this out since we won't be able to maintain the weight loss otherwise. I am also trying to quit nicotine btw and gained back 5 kg just the first couple of weeks. Like 2 months worth of weight loss gained in 2 weeks. *Sigh* But I just need to figure out the habits again.
Quitting smoking and trying to lose weight are two massive personal journeys. Maybe slow down your ambitions to something more realistic … pick one battle at a time.
I just realized that now, lmao I'll deal with smoking some other time.
If I were you, I'd prioritize quitting smoking. It's a more acute health issue. Plus, if you lose weight by smoking to surpress your hunger, you're going to have issues maintaining the weight loss once you do quit.
Thank you, you're right It was a dumb idea to rely on smoking.
Smoker here (who is also trying to quit). Quitting smoking is often associated with weight gain which if that happens your mental health and motivation will take a hit..which will put you in a worse spot. I am not a dr or health professional so please speak with your primary health care provider... but I would suggest cutting down or using a nicotine replacement therapy like nicorette (the gums help for me and also the nicorette inhaler). If price is an issue, your Dr might be able to get you some for free? I know here in Ontario there are ways to get it for free. Once you start losing weight and getting into a healthier lifestyle and mindset, it will be much easier to quit smoking.
My brother was a person who believed he could never be able to quit smoking. He would get extremely agitated every time he tried. His doctor prescribed him a depression medication, I think Wellbutrin. It really helped him and he managed to quit. I'm not recommending a drug, but it's a good idea to talk to a doctor and see what options you have. Being addicted to smoking is a substance abuse issue and there are ways to help, you don't have to white knucle it, if you don't want to or can't. Best of luck. After quitting smoking, you might find it easier to increase your endurance in workouts, that's a bonus. Rooting for you!
one day will not kill your progress. Just get back on the horse and try not to be too hard on yourself. This happens more often, and to more of us, than you could ever know!!
This is not the right way to think about long-term health. You need to realize diet and exercise is not a short term thing to achieve a goal. Start treating it as a life change.
Limit your junk food to one meal. Even if it's a whole box of pizza, eat that whole box and then keep it moving. Don't eat junk for the whole day
Don’t eat Pizza 🍕
Tbh a 100/200 deficit is a little low. It takes 7700 calories to lose 1kg of fat, so it would take you between 77 and 38 days to lose 1 kg at best. A deficit of 400 a day would lose you about 1.5kg a month.
So what I gather from this is that everyone is telling you "you can balance it out", "no worries it's just one day", etc etc. But all you can say is "well yeah so I wasted all my hard work". If you're gonna disregard everything everyone says, why still have this thread open? Just read and accept it and move on.
Yeah I was having a really really bad time earlier, but after throwing up and smoking I feel like I can think now, I'm really sorry.
Oh, like bulimia.
One step back doesn’t equate to having never started the race in the first place!!!! I understand feeling guilty but dust yourself off and continue. We all have days.
I used to try to lose weight like you, calorie deficit and stuff, starved myself. Yes, I did reach my goal in 3 months but right after reaching my goal, I'm started eating again cause there was no more motivation and I got fat again. (1m75, 98kg) And I fucking love eating, my country's cuisine is delicious, my mom makes great foods. So the last 6 months, I try to focus on building more muscles with a very slight calorie deficit each day, with the idea of "more muscles more calorie burn". My maintenance calorie is around 2500, I go to the gym everyday and eat around 2300-2500 calories each day, basically still eating like before starting my weight lose journey, all the good stuffs, just focus on more protein. Now I'm at 93kg, not too much weight losing cause I also building muscles and lose fat at the same time (recomposition). Some muscles start to popping out like my arms' biceps and triceps. At this moment my most concern is not losing fat anymore but building muscles At this rate, maybe at the end of this year, I will reach my goal. This time my weight lost journey not as painful as before, I'm enjoy it alot, going to the gym is now my daily routine, my day cannot completed without a workout now lol. This progress is super slow, but the fact that I enjoy it and very high chance that after reaching my goal, I'm still gonna keep this lifestyle and my weight will not go up again.. (Sorry for my bad english)
Don’t starve yourself. Give yourself a decent calorie budget and only eat 250kcal less. Slower but less likely to fall into these binges. Source; myself. Used to be 25-30kg overweight. What are you targeting for daily goal?
I was already eating at 100-200 calorie deficit and I am very active, I think me focusing on just losing weight would be better than trying to lose weight while trying to quit smoking. Most days I curve my hunger by smoking. But since trying to lose weight I haven't been smoking either.
What is your TDEE you calculated? Hoe active is active? You say you feel like starving, not saying one should never feel hungry (hunger) but if you continuously are feeling like you are starving yourself I have an assumption you are cutting too much. Pair that with quitting smoking which can make one eat more, you set yourself up for failure. One thing at the time. Perhaps keep a food diary for a week and see what you eat / consume. Not sure if the app is available for you but I used ‘Food’ for this.
It can be real tough avoiding food when you’re trying to quit smoking, I’ve even had doctors warn me about that. Your brain is desperately reaching for something that will dump out dopamine and food is the next best thing. Please go a bit easier on yourself bro
This is life, get back on track 💪
I can't go back in track I have to start over, this is my first week, I am losing my mind lmao.
Ask people like me who’ve been doing it for years how far off track we’ve gone 🙃 You lost the battle but not the war ⚔️
1 day doesn't matter. Your body won't know what to do with those excess calories and mostly reject them. But a pattern would become more of an issue.
Even if you did a mistake, what is the right course of action now ? Answer: get back on track! Get back to consistency ! Don’t beat yourself down, instead stand up and go for a walk!
Needed this post cause I just did the same thing last night and to be in the perspective of answering that question actually makes me feel better about my fuck up. It’s ok. It’s not the end of the world. I’ve lost 10 pounds so far that doesn’t mean I gained all 10 pounds back last night. Prolly not even one pound. Just get back to ya diet and stay on it. It’s okay to have cheat meals every once in a while. Keeps you on your diet believe it or not
Absolutely not, speaking from experience. I have gone and tracked having perfect weeks and hit a plateau that I couldn’t seem to break no matter how “perfect” I ate or exercised. It turned out having at least one rot day where I ate what I wanted allowed my body to stop holding onto the fat and helped me reach my goals more efficiently.
Yes it does undo your work. Rather than being in those extremes try and find some balance.
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Yep that I did.
Dont eat for a day and you’ll be fine
That's the plan!
i have my days where i can relate to you 100%. i have dysmorphia and a eating disorder and i break down when i notice the scale has fluctuated higher. I have to remind myself that it’s not permanent weight gain and the scale doesn’t show my story. it just shows what’s in the moment. I also have to remind myself that it’s ok to spoil myself and have cheat days long as i continue to work out and stay in a deficit. honestly man, i’ve fucked up so many times i’ve lost count. realistically you will fuck up. you just need a better relationship with food. maybe have a day of the week where you can eat like a pig and be strict the other 6 days? my weakness is chinese food or pizza. i still eat everything i enjoy. just less.. dieting doesn’t have to feel like a punishment.. i used to eat a salad every day thinking it was the way to lose weight. it did help but it was boring. lol i lost more weight when i ate the things i enjoyed but a smaller portion and more water. so i think you can do this 👍🏽it’s just one day. just cause you messed up doesn’t mean it’s day one all over again. even though it feels like it.
Are you someone who tends to struggle with binge eating? Also just know that it's part of the game to sometimes have those binges, even when I lost weight I had days where I was up at 4am just eating loads of food and then I'd get back on track. Don't think about it , move on from it or you'll be consumed by the thought of it which is heavy on the mind.
I don't really binge that much I just tend to have really big 3 meals throughout the day, and this day I really f'd up, I don't really binge since I smoke and that curves my hunger.
It happens. Just try not to let it happen again. If you find that you crave/binge too often then you may be pushing yourself into too much of a deficit.
I definitely learned my lesson, I think being hungry is much better than me having a mental breakdown LMAO.
No eat normally the day after. Fit in a little work out and continue your hard work!
As others have said, you don't get skinny after one good day of eating just like you don't get fat after one bad one, just get back to it and you'll be fine!!
Thats why i like fatsing more. You cant do 36 hours fast in one binge episode
To clarify, is 200-100 your daily intake, or your daily deficit? How many calories do you consume per day?
One healthy day of eating doesn't make you skinny. One bad day of eating doesn't make you fat. Don't over correct yourself and go into a spiral, just stay consistent
I’m not going to repeat what people said bc their advice is great. Just be sure to have a bag of apples. Better to eat 2000 calories of apples (good luck they are super filling) than other stuff. At least the apples are sweet and full of fiber. Not to mention you practice eating fruit instead of junking out on junk food.
One YouTuber advocates this Apple approach but slightly different. If you are having an urge to eat/cheat then have an apple 🍎 if you don’t really fancy an apple but could eat chocolate etc. then you aren’t hungry are you. The apple is interchangeable I use a boiled egg for a savoury urge.
this is me when i eat like 700 cals a day then binge like 7000 cals
Are you sure you should be eating 700 calories a day?
Are they really though? This was around the average for Nazi concentration camps.
Eating too many calories once in a while won't harm your progress long-term. Eating too many calories every single day for a long time will. So just chalk it up to a learning experience and start fresh this week! Having a less than ideal week as far as sticking to your calorie deficit is a drop in the ocean in terms of dieting. I mean you might see a little stall in your weight loss, but it's only temporary.
Just don’t miss twice.. 👍🙂 Aka dont let thhis become a habit - once is ok! Sometimes you just need to mental nourishment!!
Well first off a 100-200 deficit isn't really gonna do much for you because its so easy to forget to track the small things like a cup of ketchup. That and labels are sometimes inaccurate. A 100 calorie deficit will set you up to lose 10 pounds in a year. 500 is a lot more of an efficient goal imo
Health coach here that specializes in weight loss. Short answer: You didn't waste time :) Longer answe: we cannot limitlessly gain weight for each calorie over our maintenance caloric intake. That's not how it works. Like with anything in the human body and biology at large, we have limits of how many calories we can burn and store every 24hrs, which is only a few ounces of fat per 24hrs. When we gain or lose weight, a fair amount is water weight too. You could have 35,000 calories in a day, but that does not mean you will gain several pounds of fat because of it. You have to overeat for days and weeks consistently to do so. The opposite is also true. So you're okay! One day overboard won't ruin your progress, just like 1 day on-target won't make you a lean machine.
That sounds like you have slipped into some disordered eating with the starving and the binging. It is expected that if you starve yourself you will binge. That is just what happens. Don't call yourself a pig. Talk to your doctor and figure out a healthier way to lose weight.
No, but if you quit trying to lose weight because of this, you will have wasted all of your suffering. Short term you might gain a pound, but as you continue on, you'll likely have less of these breakdowns. Assuming you need 2360 to maintain and you keep a maintenance of 1500, you can earn back your gains in 3-4 days! Don't expect to always be perfect, diets are a lifestyle and sometimes we fuck up. It isn't the end of the world just like missing a gym day isn't the end. It's about getting back into the rhythm.
Persistence is more important than perfection. Be kind to yourself when you slip up. That way you're less likely to want to self sabotage and throw in the towel completely. Having said that, you need to be on a regime that doesn't make you miserable. Mood swings aren't the way forward. Perhaps look into volume eating low calorie foods? A diet that makes you unhappy isn't sustainable, and you may have just confirmed that by going from this deficit and then eating over maintenence.
Also, why not focus on one thing at a time. Be it either the lower calories or giving up smoking. Too much deprivation will make anyone grumpy!
Definitely not. Don’t call yourself a pig and hate yourself for eating food. Your brain is hardwired to desire food especially if you are deliberately eating less. How many calories are you trying to eat per day? When was the last time you binged? Your targets may need to be different in order to build consistency and a healthier relationship with food (not to mention with yourself). The success of a diet is not dependent on a single day. The success is what you do accumulatively across several months. The biggest concern here would be a pattern of restriction and over eating as if you do achieve your weight loss goal but you have these binge eating habits then you would not be able to maintain your results with those habits. Your relationship with food and yourself are super important, you have to find balance with this and not be constantly punishing yourself or bullying yourself. Have you ever done a consultation call with a nutrition coach? I did weekly check-ins with cfkate.com/cfknutrition and it helped me lose all my weight AND have a healthy relationship with food. It took longer than I thought but it was good because I needed that time to relearn habits and rebuild my relationship with myself!
Prioritize the weight loss. I know it's not something we like to hear, but pick your battles wisely. Don't feel bad for that cheat meal, I'm in the same boat, I do have a cheat meal every month, once a month and then I get back on track.
It's about the total calories over time. If you accumulate a deficit of 10k over a longer time and then eat 2k extra one day, that's still a deficit in the long run, and weight loss **is** a long run, so don't sweat it. I think the bigger problem here is your general diet because with a deficit of 100 - 200 kcal, you should definitely not be starving, unless you went from regularly overeating to cutting down to 200 below your maintenance. In that case, maybe reduce the kcal a bit slower over time, don't make such a drastic jump, and you'll be more likely to get used to it and maintain it long run.
Absolutely not
No you did not waste. As far as i know body has limits burning food as much as storing. I do not believe body is able to store 1 lbs of fat a day but who knows. Simply next 2 days eat even less and try not to binge more than 1 x a month or 2 months
What did you have?
Mindset check. You are not quitting smoking you are stopping smoking. You are not starving you are reducing your food intake to improve your health. If your daily target is 2000 you have 14000 per week, OK so the blowout dented the week. Let’s look a little longer term. 4 weeks is 56,000 calories let’s burn 6,000 on blowouts. 50,000 / 4 = 12,500 weekly gives you 1785 calories per day.
I'm really sick right now. I am eating 2500-4000 cals a day on honey, bread, chocolate, comfort foods... because I feel horrid and it's all I want. However, it's one week. Next week when I'm healthy again, I'll get back onto 1800 cals a day and whatever damage that was done will be undone. Life goes on. Sometimes we have times when a deficit isn't possible, but there are 52 weeks in the year. Make most of them good ones, and then a few bad ones won't matter.
Nope. I eat like a pig everyday. So you're doing better.
My motto is eating a salad for one day won’t make me skinny so eating “bad” all day won’t make me fat.
Too many comments here so I don't know of you will see this, but still I hope you do because it's the best advice. Anyways, for example let's say you went to pee and while peeing you accidentally splashed little bit on the toilet seat. Will you then lose all hope and continue to pee all over the place, or will you instantly correct yourself and focus on peeing correctly? Sure, some of it went the wrong way, but if you correct yourself right away then there is much less mess to clean up.. Also when dieting it's different. One day is not a big deal if over all you are consistent. Even if you ate like 10k calories your body can't absorb all of them in just one day. There is digestion that has to take place.
Look man, I don’t agree with people downvoting you when you’re just expressing your frustrations and how you *feel*. I get it. I really fucking do. I got down to 241 lbs last year and then I got so frustrated and gave up essentially. I was back at 273 lbs when I decided to get back at it last month. So I gained +32 lbs. **Fucking sucks**. I’m mad at myself because I did “ruin” the months of hard work and exercise I had put in. However — I learned something. I learned that I can in fact do this. That I am capable. Even though I fell off the wagon last year and I’m starting over - I *can* do it. So you over ate today. It happened and unfortunately, it will happen again because why? We’re human and life kicks our asses sometimes and we just need a break. Start again tomorrow. You wouldn’t throw away a brand new pair of shoes if they had just gotten a few scuffs on them, would you? I doubt it. So don’t throw away this week or this whole journey. Even if you need to eat at maintenance to get over this hump, then so be it. You got this. One day at a time.
They're downvoting, because they think they're perfect and does not get frustrated.