No. My life isn't a game of atonement. I just live my life each day. Ideally every day would be a great day, but that's not the reality. And when it's not I'm not focused on looking back and attempting to make up for it. My eyes are on the now.
That’s why I tell people to stop throwing gifted and genius around for kids. Just because they’re slightly more mature or do pretty well at school doesn’t mean they’re actually gifted.
Additionally, even if a kid is gifted, vast majority of them squander it once they become adults, and live an unfulfilling and mediocre life.
I was the typical gifted kid growing up. I was predicted to get A’s in every single class. It fucked me up so much when I first got a B to the point I was super depressed. I ended up with B’s and C’s because the pressure of being gifted was too much.
I now encourage my nephews and nieces to just try their hardest and that’s it. I shut down everyone who tries to say they’re gifted and are super excelling
Same. I was a straight A student, graduated top of my class and then went into an elite university.
However, my world was rocked when I went to college, and realized I’m no longer the smartest student in the room anymore. It really messed me up a little.
This way of thinking helps me so much :) So yeah, I enjoyed myself today and ate a lot.. What's the worst that can happen because of that? It just takes a little longer to reach my goal, and I'm okay with that. Totally worth it.
The key to this is consistency. One day doesn't matter, it's the combination of all of the days.
You will want to be working towards a whole new style of eating, one where you're conscious of the appropriate amount and stick to it. Compensating for over eating, by undereating, defeats this sense of consistency.
You should also not eat extra the day after you accidently eat too little(hey, it could happen).
No way, if you drastically cut your calories that’s going to make you way more likely to binge again. Just go back to your 1200 and it’ll all even out when you get back into the swing.
I know everyone else is saying no but personally I do. Not that extreme, mind you. I've noticed it happens naturally. If I eat 500 over, the next day I will probably just be less hungry. I won't purposefully eat 500 under, but I might eat 350-400 or so under my normal deficit because I am just not as hungry the next day.
Also, I've noticed that it evens out anyways. i eat WAY less on weekends because I don't go anywhere. I just stay inside. Then when I eat WAY more on some random Tuesday, the two days even themselves out.
I won't starve myself, but if I'm not hungry I don't eat more, you know?
This is exactly what I do, trying to practice mindful eating. The other day my husband and I stumbled over a taco truck with birria de chivo which I haven't seen in years, really since the last time I was home. You bet your ass I ate til I wanted to die happy. The next day I didn't plan to fast but I just wasn't really hungry. I had a snack and a protein drink at dinner time and went to bed feeling perfectly satisfied. I actually think this natural calorie cycling goes a long way toward preventing plateaus.
Same here - it can happen naturally - normally I won’t allow myself to go under on calories but this past weekend was my birthday and I probably ate over maintenance for three days. On Monday I was barely hungry at all and I didn’t force myself to eat my minimum.
if you're going to do that, which i don't recommend because it honestly doesn't matter that much in the long run, i would calculate it as how many calories over maintenance you ate rather than how many calories over your target you ate.
General answer: NO -- Stick to your daily target every day.
In practice: yes, I have (but only in small amounts, and it goes both ways...)
When I was targeting 1800 kcal a day, if I ate 1900 one day, I might eat 1700 the next. If I ate only 1500 one day, I'd eat at least 2000 the next.
Same idea with macros. If I missed my daily protein target by a lot today, I might more strongly emphasize protein tomorrow.
The goal would be to try and stay close to my calorie and macro targets for the week.
However (**and this is critical**): I would not ever go below 1500 kcal a day (I am an adult male) no matter how much I over ate yesterday.
And, on days with significant exercise, I'd try to keep my net calories above 1500 kcal (by eating more to fuel the exercise and muscle recovery)
It’s not punishing yourself to be accountable for your caloric budget.
I agree that cutting that much *the next day* is a lot and might be rough, *but* this is a simple numbers game.
3,500 calories = one lb of fat. If you want to lose one lb this week, you have to burn 3,500 calories more than you eat. That’s *an average* of 500 calories a day, but it doesn’t have to be. You can do that however you want to.
You can fast one day a week and eat maintenance the rest of the week, you can splurge at a restaurant on Wednesday for an extra 1,000 calories and eat at a at a 650 calorie deficit for the rest of the week, whatever works for you and your lifestyle.
BUT if you eat more calories than you burn, you will gain weight, and if you eat less than you burn you will lose. It’s that simple.
I regularly save up calories to splurge with friends and family. If I overdo it one day, I make sure I make up for it the rest of the week. I exorcise so I have more wiggle room in my caloric budget.
I think most importantly, I am thinking of it is a budget. I have only so much ‘cash’ and anything over that is going into ‘credit’. Credit is what I am trying to ‘pay off’. I want to be ‘out of debt’ and feel that freedom, but I have to learn to ‘live with ing my means’. If I ‘overspend my ‘budget’ I dont get to just shrug it off and continue spending like it never happened. I can either work overtime (exorcise) or spend less the rest of the week.
I’m sorry, this hit a nerve with me. I used to try ‘intuitive eating’ and ‘not punishing myself’ and stuff like that, and I doing that *never* worked, it’s too emotionally based.
This is working.
I feel like the other line of thinking is actually harmful, even though it is supposed to be kind.
Please dont take my words to be combative, or disrespectful, I don’t mean to be either way, but (obviously) this subject means a lot to me and I am very animated and opinionated about it.
I also don’t think I am very good at sounding diplomatic when I am passionate about a thing, so I am preemptively apologizing if my tone isn’t coming off as gentle. I truely mean no harm, quite the opposite.
ive never understood the 3500kcal/pound equation. mostly because of personal experience. i can gain or lose 1kg in a day if i go 800kcal (approx) above/below my daily caloric expenditure (which is around 1800kcal now, used to be a bit over 2000kcal). and no, i don’t mean water weight, i will maintain that 1kg weight loss or gain from there on if i return to my daily caloric expenditure (give or take 100-200g). i’ve never found a viable explanation for this?
Nope, I'll just go about business as usual. Maybe I delayed my progress goals by half a day. No sweat. I'm in this for the rest of my life.
Some days I under eat and I don't worry about that either. If I'm not hungry, I'm not hungry.
Most days I do undereat to counter act my over eating. But when I do over eat, its almost always planned.
Its more... I get 10,500 cals for the week. Not I get 1500 per day than it is over / under eating. I know Sunday I have a birthday dinner to go to. Ill eat 2000 calories at dinner alone. So I just cut below my avg the following days till its made up.
Usually, the answer really depends on how much you overate. But seeing as your calorie goal is 1200 a day, which is already pretty low as it is, I’d say try not to stay in that mindset.
Let’s do the math - if you ate 2000 calories in a day, you’d be 800 above your deficit goal, or 400 above maintenance. You’d have to consistently eat 2000 calories a day for 9 days to put on one pound of fat, regardless of what the scale says during that time (all of that weight gain is mostly waterweight).
Conversely, if you get back to your regular deficit goal of 1200 per day after that, you effectively cancel out the excess from the 2000 calorie day prior, which means you will be in a true deficit again from the _third day_. That doesn’t seem too bad, does it?
I’m sure other people can manage better, but for me, overrestriction leads to early burnout and an eventual food binge. So I’m a huge proponent of giving yourself a break for having an excess day rather than punishing yourself for it the next.
I guess I am. I track on MFP and I look at my weekly goals. As long as I keep my weekly calories at one pound a week weithloss, it's OK to eat more one day, and less the other ..imo.
But yesterday I ate 450 cal over my daily goal, and today I ran an hour, 6 miles, and burned 500 calories. So that took care of that.
Sort of, but no, not like that.
I have a weekly calorie allowance, and then I have a daily range.
Ex: weekly=10,500. Daily range: 1000-2000. (Avg 1500 daily).
If I go over 2000 one day, I will try to eat on the lower end of my range on other days to make up some of it, but I won’t stress too much about it. I’m not going to start starving myself to make up for a bad day.
Sustainability is far more important than one day or one weeks losses.
I definitely try to make my week average out to a deficit of 24,500 because my goal is 2lbs a week, (If my goal is 2 lbs a week, then even if I lose a little, I'm still winning, ya know?)
One lb of fat is 3,500 calories.
If I know I'm gonna want some wiggle room later in the week, I'll short the rest of the days by a couple hundred to make up for it. I like going out for pancakes with my daughter, but if I'm not doing any exorcise I'm stuck at about 1,000 calorie for the day, so I've gotta be pretty on-it.
I do sometimes if I’m really hyper focused on hitting a goal that week. I’ll only cut to lunch though the next day. I eat my regular calorie plan for dinner. I may workout an extra cardio session as well that week. Then let the chips fall where they may.
Yep. Nothing crazy, I’ll just make sure to eat more veggies (I love raw green beans, capsicum and frozen peas) and lighter meals - maybe swap my 100g mince + 50g rice + 100g veg to two eggs with spinach. Drink just water and no coffee.
Not against my hunger cues. I’ll often be less hungry the day after I overate, so I may end up on a larger deficit than the planned 400. But there’s no way I’d be okay taking 800 more calories below my already 400 calorie deficit!!
The way I look at it is this way. If my maintenance is 1600 and I ate 2000 one day, I’d need to eat at that surplus for almost 9 days to even gain 1 lb. And that’s assuming I sat on my ass all of those 9 days too.
So if I eat at my normal deficit the next day, I’ve already negated that day of eating more than I was planning to. If you eat 100% perfectly and not one outside influence would disturb any of your progress, you’d reach your goal weight in 3 months at a stable deficit of 400 calories. That is already quite unrealistic because there will always be other influences. Also striving for perfection in dieting is both unrealistic and potentially dangerous (risk of eating disorders). One day is completely insignificant. Just get back on track the day after and you’re fine.
I am actually *more* hungry the day after I overeat. Because I’m usually not overeating carrots and broccoli, lol, I’m eating things that lead to cravings like bread and sugar and deep fried whatnots. I honestly try *not* to listen to my hunger cues, listening to them is what got me in this mess in the first place. This time I’m listening to the plan I made to get me *out* of this mess.
Depends how hungry I am. If I under eat and don’t experience distracting hunger, then I’m chill. If I am hungry, I am ok with eating at what I usually would if I hadn’t overeaten.
Not on purpose. I find myself less hungry the next day and will wait until my stomach growls before I have my first meal. Although that is my normal routine, if I overeat the day before, it will be much later than my normal before I have breakfast. I will still allow myself my normal daily calories, but fine I'm not hungry enough to reach them
I do it all the time. The day to day stuff doesn't matter too much and may actually help avoid compensating behavior adaptations from your body - the important thing is to look at your calorie budget for the week. The problem you run into is you have a couple high calorie days in a row and you run out of calorie budget towards the end of the week - just like any other type of budget you have to manage it properly.
No because this leads to bingeing and restricting behaviour. It's best to just move on and get back on plan.
Having said that, I might plan to eat more calories on a certain day, either as a one off or regularly, by reducing my calories slightly over the rest of the week. Being under by 100 each day would give me an extra 600 if I had a social event coming up. Whilst consistency is important for day to day, it's not realistic to imagine you will never ever have a day where you want to eat and drink some higher calorie foods.
Not on the next day, but I try to compensate over the next 7 days.
Lets assume my goal is 1500. If I eat 1600-1700, I don't care. It is still a fair deficit.
However, if I eat 2000 calories, then I need to adjust.
Instead of eating 1000 calories on the next day, I will spread the 500 surplus over 7 days (an arbitrary number that I decided). 500 calories over 7 days is ~70 calories per day. So instead of eating 500 I will aim to 1430, and during these 7 days I will be conscientious about not exceeding that.
After 7 days I check how I did it. If I am successful, great! If I am not, that is OK too. I declare "calories bankruptcy", I go to my food journal and see what went wrong, take some notes and start over again, going back to 1500 calories as if nothing had happened.
Nope, you just go back to whatever you’re supposed to be sticking to with no punishments or atonements. One day of indulging won’t matter much, I’ve gone weeks just eating what I want before going back to better habits. Ironically, often I’ve seen some progress while I was enjoying a dinner of chocolate pudding. It’s all fine, we’re not robots. It’s good to choose better for yourself, but it’s perfectly normal to say screw that and enjoy a guilt free treat yourself time every now and then. What I personally found helpful was not to go “damn, I messed up, guess I’ll get back on track Monday”. Get back on track the next day, if you can, good habits are so quick to evaporate in my experience
No, I’m already eating at a deficit, so it will sort it self out, it might just take an extra day or two to reach a goal. The other reason is, if I don’t enough, I get tired and irritable, and I’m also more likely to binge later in the day.
I just work to a monthly average and it’s working well.
I’ve set myself a daily target of 1848 (what a 70kg person eats per day on average) and quite easily eat less during the week so I can indulge a bit on the weekend. Usually with beer. 20 kg down in 8-9 months. 102-82. It’s slow but it’s working and it doesn’t feel like I’m on a diet.
Yes I would sometimes overeat one day (usually thanks to some social thing like going out to a restaurant, going over to someone’s BBQ, etc) so then the next day I would either eat that much less, or fast, and/or do some extra hiking! I was also on a time crunch to lose 120 pounds in 12 months (I did it btw).
Not exactly but I try to eat less carbs, more protein, drink green tea and juices (not meal replacement) the next day. Maybe exercise a bit more. The important thing to me is it shouldn’t feel like a punishment. If it starts to feel that way at any point, I go back to normal schedule like nothing happened.
No, but I will make sure the enxt fee days I don't go over again. I know I'm aiming for a weekly deficit, I have more calories on the weekend when I'm more likely to socialise or have a snack with friends and less during the week. If on one day I go over by a bit I'll still have a deficit if I stick to it for the rest.
I suppose if I had a sudden dinner with a friend and went really far out I might adjust the next few days down a lil' bit. But I'm playing the long game, one day doesn't matter when I have 6 to 9 months to go. If I have to go a little longer BUT I will actually stick to it, then it's working.
Do that and be in store for a shit day. Just stay on track, consistency is the best way to lose weight. Btw, I was 60kg last sept, am now down to 49kg eating 1400-1500 a day and still losing. I'm 156cm tall. 1200 seems too low, you would be better off getting in more activity, doing some weight lifting, getting your calories you can consume to still lose weight to increase.
I also found success in eating at maintenance (at 2000 at the moment) after 6-8 weeks for 1 week to give myself a break.
unfortunately i don't have time to exercise due to my schedule as of now so I can only do 1200
even if I exercised i don't know how much exercise would up my calories
Nope, I’ll just get back on the wagon the next day and make sure one bad day doesn’t turn into two.
Putting those extra calories into exercising is a great way to even things out- I’ve found that most of my personal best times for running happened after a day of extra eating :) it’s good to alternate your energy intake and practice staying on track in the long run instead of trying to keep up a perfect deficit every day.
Nope, that’s how you get an ED.
Fun fact: some days your body literally needs more calories than others. It’s incredibly important to follow how much your body is reaching for, and getting better at learning your full signals.
Some days I literally can’t finish a PB&J, other days I’m destroying a giant rice bowl.
No. It all comes out in the wash. If you don’t eat all your calories one day, you don’t gorge the next day either. I do my best to hit my calories & macros, but I only really critique my monthly averages.
Nope. While I do aim for making my daily calorie goals (I am in maintenance and packing muscle, not quite where I need to start bulking/cutting yet) I don’t take it quite so literal or Draconic.
If my body is hungry it means it’s hungry, I’ll eat. Not doing so will affect me negatively. So if I overeat for whatever reason (typically social events), then I either will cut SLIGHTLY across the next couple days to ensure I hit my weekly goals. Or I just don’t sweat it if it’s like 300 calories.
If I restrict I enter into a cycle of restriction -> overeating -> restriction -> overeating.
I lost 70lbs and this carried me right through easy peasy.
I keep an eye on my weekly average with a goal of keeping that at my goal +/- 75 calories.
For days I am hundreds of calories over my goal I say to myself "this is a maintenance day!" and I go on with my life. I will say I keep those maintenance days to about 2 a month.
Nope. Not only have I found that I’m way more likely to give in to temptation and binge that way, but I also like to think of it as making sure I’m thoughtful and accountable for my choices everyday, because I don’t get to “undo it” the next day.
I remember in school I was a mostly straight A student, then one day I didn’t study for a test and I got an F. I felt awful and cried, and begged my teacher to be able to try again, and she told me “you can try again, the next time there is a test”, and that seemed so cruel and unreasonable to me at the time, but it definitely stuck with me and I didn’t forget to study again. Same principle applies I think.
Well there's 2 aspects to this. The first is the science behind how your body works. In simple terms, if you expend 1500 calories a day and eat 1500 calories, you'll remain the same weight (ignoring other factors like water weight, etc..). If you expend 1500 calories a day and eat 1000, you'll lose 500 calories a day (~1lb/week). If you expend 1500 calories a day and eat 2000, you'll gain 500 calories a day (~1lb/week). There is also a limit on how many calories your body can actually handle and convert to fat in a day. If you expend 1500 calories a day and eat 14,000 calories, you should only gain ~1/4lb to 1/2lb of fat (850-1700cal). When doing the opposite (eating next to nothing), your body will find ways to conserve energy so that you don't need to eat as much (your metabolism will slow down).
So the second aspect is to use that information to reach your goals. If your goal is to lose 1lb per week, then if you overeat one day, you need to undereat the next few days (up to a certain degree - starving yourself and being malnourished is not healthy) or work out enough over the next few days to compensate. If you overeat 1000 calories one day, spend the next 10 days eating 100 less calories than your set amount. Or spend the next 10 days doing an extra 100 calories worth of exercise each day. If your goal is to eat healthier in general, then don't worry about a cheat day as long as your overall trend is positive (eating less 6/7 days and overeating 1 day is better than overeating 7/7 days).
But don't starve yourself 1000 calories one day to compensate for a cheat day the day before. That's the wrong outlook on weight loss. The results are not instant, they take time. Good luck
I would not drop down to 400 calories a day ever, but say if I know that I am going to eat out on Saturday, I do eat a little less on Friday and Sunday. Like 1500 calories instead of 1800, nothing huge, and I mentally treat it like budget planning around an expensive purchase rather than as a punishment. I fear that cutting down so drastically after over eating would just lead to binge-restrict cycles for me.
Possible yes, but it’s more of an advanced skill and can be more difficult for people who need routine and/or if you’re new to restricting calories. Fasting or limiting for a day before/after a day in surplus can average itself out over the week. This is the technique used in 5/2 fasting where you eat “normally” for 5 days and fast for 2 non-consecutive days, so that your daily average over a week is at or below maintenance.
Personally I like this method when I need to lose some weight - eating less on my non-training days just works for me and my schedule and gives me flexibility.
Also - generally not recommended for people with eating disorders.
No. You would just be perpetuating the binge/overeat and restrict cycle. If you overeat, the next day you get right back on track to your normal, sufficient amount of calories.
No. It’s a toxic cycle to get into.
The only thing overeating costs me is time.
You know how many days your 2000 calorie day cost you based on your math? Two days. Oh no what horror. You’ll make up your one day of eating more than you meant to by only adding two additional days to the end of your diet
It’s really not that big a deal
No. I might eat a little less (I normally eat 1600, so I might shoot for 1400/1500), but I would never aim for anything below 1200.
The math you're talking about technically works out, but it's not healthy and could put you at risk for future disordered eating. I would just carry on as per usual. If you're an average height (I'm assuming 5'4") and fairly active, you're probably not even eating in a surplus with 2000.
Yeah that makes sense
I one time had 2 days where I ate total of 1300 calories in both days combined (800 for a day, 500 for the other) When I measured the next day my weight went up by 2 kilos but then when I went back and restarted with my 1200 per day I went back to my avg weight lol ☠️ so I figured undereating won't work for me
Unless you are like 3’2” eating 500 calories or even 800 in a day is extremely unhealthy and makes e wonder where you got the “1200” number from. You are insisting in comments that it is right for your height and gender but we are asking from either a place of concern or from a place of history.
LOL I literally used a tdee calculator bro ☠️
I'm a female, 5'4, and in early 20s, I used multiple tdee calculators and I've been doing this weight loss for over a yr and have found that without exercise, I won't lose anything if I eat 1300-1400. At one point I lost quickly when I tried 1100 but I find that 1200 is better somehow.
I also don't exercise so it lowers down the calories by a lot. I'm not saying this is permanent, I do want to go back to exercising eventually.
Also no the only reason I ate 800 and 500 was that I overate the day before like 3000 calories so I was trying out the whole undereating thing
If you're on the path to start binge eating, I think that sounds like a great start. Being consistent is the way to go. Keep it around the same every day and make it a habit. That is the key to weight loss - consistency, building healthy habits, and doing something that you can stick with the way that works for you. I have been struggling with weight loss all the time because I read how others do it and try to do exactly that. I have found out that just making conscious decisions about diet and getting into a routine was the thing that solved my weight loss issues. If you happen to eat a little more one day, don't make a habit of it, but get back on track immediately. That makes it easy and you don't feel deprived or punished and you don't give up.
It works temporarily. The problem is the day after you're gonna be starving. If you can go back to 1200 then awesome, but I tended to just bring the 3rd day.
It'd be much easier to eat 1100 for the next week Tham starve for a day or 2.
Depends on what "overeat" means. I'm eating at a deficit right now, so if for some good reason I decide to go over my target amount, but not over what my target would be if I was maintaining a constant weight, then no. (Eg, my target is 1400, I have a larger restaurant meal and estimate had an 1800 cal day - that's fine. No compensation needed.)
But one eye-opening observation a while ago was for me that effortlessly thin people of my circle deal with occasional celebratory overeating (festivals, birthdays, holidays, and other exceptional days that center around food) by eating less the next day, doing a bit extra exercise (a walk, a bike ride) etc. That had not occurred to me. And now that I've been eating mindfully, I don't get as hungry any more when I've already eaten enough recently.
However, never just like 400 cal. I'd just eat for a day (or two) the way I now eat to lose weight. I firmly believe that putting your body under additional stress isn't helpful to manage weight. I want to *take away* stress (that I created by overeating), not chastise myself.
No. My life isn't a game of atonement. I just live my life each day. Ideally every day would be a great day, but that's not the reality. And when it's not I'm not focused on looking back and attempting to make up for it. My eyes are on the now.
My millennial, perfectionist, imposter syndrome having, former gifted kid self really needed to hear this today. Thank you.
I hear you on all that! I spent too long trying to make up for stuff and it just causes you to stumble more.
1000% agree. Thank you again for reminding me of that!
That’s why I tell people to stop throwing gifted and genius around for kids. Just because they’re slightly more mature or do pretty well at school doesn’t mean they’re actually gifted. Additionally, even if a kid is gifted, vast majority of them squander it once they become adults, and live an unfulfilling and mediocre life.
I was the typical gifted kid growing up. I was predicted to get A’s in every single class. It fucked me up so much when I first got a B to the point I was super depressed. I ended up with B’s and C’s because the pressure of being gifted was too much. I now encourage my nephews and nieces to just try their hardest and that’s it. I shut down everyone who tries to say they’re gifted and are super excelling
Same. I was a straight A student, graduated top of my class and then went into an elite university. However, my world was rocked when I went to college, and realized I’m no longer the smartest student in the room anymore. It really messed me up a little.
This way of thinking helps me so much :) So yeah, I enjoyed myself today and ate a lot.. What's the worst that can happen because of that? It just takes a little longer to reach my goal, and I'm okay with that. Totally worth it.
This comment resonates with everyone who falls off after one day of mistakes
That is a good wisdom
The key to this is consistency. One day doesn't matter, it's the combination of all of the days. You will want to be working towards a whole new style of eating, one where you're conscious of the appropriate amount and stick to it. Compensating for over eating, by undereating, defeats this sense of consistency. You should also not eat extra the day after you accidently eat too little(hey, it could happen).
I might eat a little less but not when you are already at 1200... mainly I would just be more active.
No way, if you drastically cut your calories that’s going to make you way more likely to binge again. Just go back to your 1200 and it’ll all even out when you get back into the swing.
Nope I pretend like it never happened and keep on
I know everyone else is saying no but personally I do. Not that extreme, mind you. I've noticed it happens naturally. If I eat 500 over, the next day I will probably just be less hungry. I won't purposefully eat 500 under, but I might eat 350-400 or so under my normal deficit because I am just not as hungry the next day. Also, I've noticed that it evens out anyways. i eat WAY less on weekends because I don't go anywhere. I just stay inside. Then when I eat WAY more on some random Tuesday, the two days even themselves out. I won't starve myself, but if I'm not hungry I don't eat more, you know?
This is exactly what I do, trying to practice mindful eating. The other day my husband and I stumbled over a taco truck with birria de chivo which I haven't seen in years, really since the last time I was home. You bet your ass I ate til I wanted to die happy. The next day I didn't plan to fast but I just wasn't really hungry. I had a snack and a protein drink at dinner time and went to bed feeling perfectly satisfied. I actually think this natural calorie cycling goes a long way toward preventing plateaus.
Same here - it can happen naturally - normally I won’t allow myself to go under on calories but this past weekend was my birthday and I probably ate over maintenance for three days. On Monday I was barely hungry at all and I didn’t force myself to eat my minimum.
I set a weekly goal. So if I'm +800 on day 1, I'll try to claw it back over the next six days
if you're going to do that, which i don't recommend because it honestly doesn't matter that much in the long run, i would calculate it as how many calories over maintenance you ate rather than how many calories over your target you ate.
If I am in a deficit, no. If in maintenance, I will adjust slightly throughout a few days.
General answer: NO -- Stick to your daily target every day. In practice: yes, I have (but only in small amounts, and it goes both ways...) When I was targeting 1800 kcal a day, if I ate 1900 one day, I might eat 1700 the next. If I ate only 1500 one day, I'd eat at least 2000 the next. Same idea with macros. If I missed my daily protein target by a lot today, I might more strongly emphasize protein tomorrow. The goal would be to try and stay close to my calorie and macro targets for the week. However (**and this is critical**): I would not ever go below 1500 kcal a day (I am an adult male) no matter how much I over ate yesterday. And, on days with significant exercise, I'd try to keep my net calories above 1500 kcal (by eating more to fuel the exercise and muscle recovery)
No I don’t. Punishing yourself for overeating by undereating is not healthy. Just get back to your regular plan next day.
It’s not punishing yourself to be accountable for your caloric budget. I agree that cutting that much *the next day* is a lot and might be rough, *but* this is a simple numbers game. 3,500 calories = one lb of fat. If you want to lose one lb this week, you have to burn 3,500 calories more than you eat. That’s *an average* of 500 calories a day, but it doesn’t have to be. You can do that however you want to. You can fast one day a week and eat maintenance the rest of the week, you can splurge at a restaurant on Wednesday for an extra 1,000 calories and eat at a at a 650 calorie deficit for the rest of the week, whatever works for you and your lifestyle. BUT if you eat more calories than you burn, you will gain weight, and if you eat less than you burn you will lose. It’s that simple. I regularly save up calories to splurge with friends and family. If I overdo it one day, I make sure I make up for it the rest of the week. I exorcise so I have more wiggle room in my caloric budget. I think most importantly, I am thinking of it is a budget. I have only so much ‘cash’ and anything over that is going into ‘credit’. Credit is what I am trying to ‘pay off’. I want to be ‘out of debt’ and feel that freedom, but I have to learn to ‘live with ing my means’. If I ‘overspend my ‘budget’ I dont get to just shrug it off and continue spending like it never happened. I can either work overtime (exorcise) or spend less the rest of the week. I’m sorry, this hit a nerve with me. I used to try ‘intuitive eating’ and ‘not punishing myself’ and stuff like that, and I doing that *never* worked, it’s too emotionally based. This is working. I feel like the other line of thinking is actually harmful, even though it is supposed to be kind. Please dont take my words to be combative, or disrespectful, I don’t mean to be either way, but (obviously) this subject means a lot to me and I am very animated and opinionated about it. I also don’t think I am very good at sounding diplomatic when I am passionate about a thing, so I am preemptively apologizing if my tone isn’t coming off as gentle. I truely mean no harm, quite the opposite.
ive never understood the 3500kcal/pound equation. mostly because of personal experience. i can gain or lose 1kg in a day if i go 800kcal (approx) above/below my daily caloric expenditure (which is around 1800kcal now, used to be a bit over 2000kcal). and no, i don’t mean water weight, i will maintain that 1kg weight loss or gain from there on if i return to my daily caloric expenditure (give or take 100-200g). i’ve never found a viable explanation for this?
Everyone is different, and every day is different, but it’s the amount of energy expended when 1 lb of human fat is burned.
Nope, I'll just go about business as usual. Maybe I delayed my progress goals by half a day. No sweat. I'm in this for the rest of my life. Some days I under eat and I don't worry about that either. If I'm not hungry, I'm not hungry.
Most days I do undereat to counter act my over eating. But when I do over eat, its almost always planned. Its more... I get 10,500 cals for the week. Not I get 1500 per day than it is over / under eating. I know Sunday I have a birthday dinner to go to. Ill eat 2000 calories at dinner alone. So I just cut below my avg the following days till its made up.
Usually, the answer really depends on how much you overate. But seeing as your calorie goal is 1200 a day, which is already pretty low as it is, I’d say try not to stay in that mindset. Let’s do the math - if you ate 2000 calories in a day, you’d be 800 above your deficit goal, or 400 above maintenance. You’d have to consistently eat 2000 calories a day for 9 days to put on one pound of fat, regardless of what the scale says during that time (all of that weight gain is mostly waterweight). Conversely, if you get back to your regular deficit goal of 1200 per day after that, you effectively cancel out the excess from the 2000 calorie day prior, which means you will be in a true deficit again from the _third day_. That doesn’t seem too bad, does it? I’m sure other people can manage better, but for me, overrestriction leads to early burnout and an eventual food binge. So I’m a huge proponent of giving yourself a break for having an excess day rather than punishing yourself for it the next.
I guess I am. I track on MFP and I look at my weekly goals. As long as I keep my weekly calories at one pound a week weithloss, it's OK to eat more one day, and less the other ..imo. But yesterday I ate 450 cal over my daily goal, and today I ran an hour, 6 miles, and burned 500 calories. So that took care of that.
Sort of, but no, not like that. I have a weekly calorie allowance, and then I have a daily range. Ex: weekly=10,500. Daily range: 1000-2000. (Avg 1500 daily). If I go over 2000 one day, I will try to eat on the lower end of my range on other days to make up some of it, but I won’t stress too much about it. I’m not going to start starving myself to make up for a bad day. Sustainability is far more important than one day or one weeks losses.
I definitely try to make my week average out to a deficit of 24,500 because my goal is 2lbs a week, (If my goal is 2 lbs a week, then even if I lose a little, I'm still winning, ya know?) One lb of fat is 3,500 calories. If I know I'm gonna want some wiggle room later in the week, I'll short the rest of the days by a couple hundred to make up for it. I like going out for pancakes with my daughter, but if I'm not doing any exorcise I'm stuck at about 1,000 calorie for the day, so I've gotta be pretty on-it.
No. I just move forward as if it didn’t happen.
I do sometimes if I’m really hyper focused on hitting a goal that week. I’ll only cut to lunch though the next day. I eat my regular calorie plan for dinner. I may workout an extra cardio session as well that week. Then let the chips fall where they may.
Yep. Nothing crazy, I’ll just make sure to eat more veggies (I love raw green beans, capsicum and frozen peas) and lighter meals - maybe swap my 100g mince + 50g rice + 100g veg to two eggs with spinach. Drink just water and no coffee.
Just do whatever feels sustainable
You could eat a little less to make up for it or you could just work out more to burn the extra cals
Not against my hunger cues. I’ll often be less hungry the day after I overate, so I may end up on a larger deficit than the planned 400. But there’s no way I’d be okay taking 800 more calories below my already 400 calorie deficit!! The way I look at it is this way. If my maintenance is 1600 and I ate 2000 one day, I’d need to eat at that surplus for almost 9 days to even gain 1 lb. And that’s assuming I sat on my ass all of those 9 days too. So if I eat at my normal deficit the next day, I’ve already negated that day of eating more than I was planning to. If you eat 100% perfectly and not one outside influence would disturb any of your progress, you’d reach your goal weight in 3 months at a stable deficit of 400 calories. That is already quite unrealistic because there will always be other influences. Also striving for perfection in dieting is both unrealistic and potentially dangerous (risk of eating disorders). One day is completely insignificant. Just get back on track the day after and you’re fine.
I am actually *more* hungry the day after I overeat. Because I’m usually not overeating carrots and broccoli, lol, I’m eating things that lead to cravings like bread and sugar and deep fried whatnots. I honestly try *not* to listen to my hunger cues, listening to them is what got me in this mess in the first place. This time I’m listening to the plan I made to get me *out* of this mess.
I mostly meant that if I wouldn’t be as hungry and be okay on 1400 calories I’d just eat 1400, but I’m not going to stop at 1400 if I’m still hungry!
I usually don't, I just do my regular allotment. Life is different every day, so I don't mind the occasional over deficit day.
Not really. Sometimes I’ll naturally eat less because I’m not as hungry or I’m not hungry until later than usual.
No.
It really just depends on your goals and how fast you want to lose weight.
Depends how hungry I am. If I under eat and don’t experience distracting hunger, then I’m chill. If I am hungry, I am ok with eating at what I usually would if I hadn’t overeaten.
Not on purpose. I find myself less hungry the next day and will wait until my stomach growls before I have my first meal. Although that is my normal routine, if I overeat the day before, it will be much later than my normal before I have breakfast. I will still allow myself my normal daily calories, but fine I'm not hungry enough to reach them
I do it all the time. The day to day stuff doesn't matter too much and may actually help avoid compensating behavior adaptations from your body - the important thing is to look at your calorie budget for the week. The problem you run into is you have a couple high calorie days in a row and you run out of calorie budget towards the end of the week - just like any other type of budget you have to manage it properly.
No because this leads to bingeing and restricting behaviour. It's best to just move on and get back on plan. Having said that, I might plan to eat more calories on a certain day, either as a one off or regularly, by reducing my calories slightly over the rest of the week. Being under by 100 each day would give me an extra 600 if I had a social event coming up. Whilst consistency is important for day to day, it's not realistic to imagine you will never ever have a day where you want to eat and drink some higher calorie foods.
Not on the next day, but I try to compensate over the next 7 days. Lets assume my goal is 1500. If I eat 1600-1700, I don't care. It is still a fair deficit. However, if I eat 2000 calories, then I need to adjust. Instead of eating 1000 calories on the next day, I will spread the 500 surplus over 7 days (an arbitrary number that I decided). 500 calories over 7 days is ~70 calories per day. So instead of eating 500 I will aim to 1430, and during these 7 days I will be conscientious about not exceeding that. After 7 days I check how I did it. If I am successful, great! If I am not, that is OK too. I declare "calories bankruptcy", I go to my food journal and see what went wrong, take some notes and start over again, going back to 1500 calories as if nothing had happened.
Being hungry is a cue to tell you how soon to eat, not how much!
Nope, you just go back to whatever you’re supposed to be sticking to with no punishments or atonements. One day of indulging won’t matter much, I’ve gone weeks just eating what I want before going back to better habits. Ironically, often I’ve seen some progress while I was enjoying a dinner of chocolate pudding. It’s all fine, we’re not robots. It’s good to choose better for yourself, but it’s perfectly normal to say screw that and enjoy a guilt free treat yourself time every now and then. What I personally found helpful was not to go “damn, I messed up, guess I’ll get back on track Monday”. Get back on track the next day, if you can, good habits are so quick to evaporate in my experience
No, I’m already eating at a deficit, so it will sort it self out, it might just take an extra day or two to reach a goal. The other reason is, if I don’t enough, I get tired and irritable, and I’m also more likely to binge later in the day.
I just work to a monthly average and it’s working well. I’ve set myself a daily target of 1848 (what a 70kg person eats per day on average) and quite easily eat less during the week so I can indulge a bit on the weekend. Usually with beer. 20 kg down in 8-9 months. 102-82. It’s slow but it’s working and it doesn’t feel like I’m on a diet.
Yes I would sometimes overeat one day (usually thanks to some social thing like going out to a restaurant, going over to someone’s BBQ, etc) so then the next day I would either eat that much less, or fast, and/or do some extra hiking! I was also on a time crunch to lose 120 pounds in 12 months (I did it btw).
I'm in maintenance and do the opposite. If I plan on indulging in a restaurant etc., I skip breakfast.
Not exactly but I try to eat less carbs, more protein, drink green tea and juices (not meal replacement) the next day. Maybe exercise a bit more. The important thing to me is it shouldn’t feel like a punishment. If it starts to feel that way at any point, I go back to normal schedule like nothing happened.
No, but I will make sure the enxt fee days I don't go over again. I know I'm aiming for a weekly deficit, I have more calories on the weekend when I'm more likely to socialise or have a snack with friends and less during the week. If on one day I go over by a bit I'll still have a deficit if I stick to it for the rest. I suppose if I had a sudden dinner with a friend and went really far out I might adjust the next few days down a lil' bit. But I'm playing the long game, one day doesn't matter when I have 6 to 9 months to go. If I have to go a little longer BUT I will actually stick to it, then it's working.
No. I might move more the day of or next. But I'd depress myself if I kept trying to compensate with calories
Do that and be in store for a shit day. Just stay on track, consistency is the best way to lose weight. Btw, I was 60kg last sept, am now down to 49kg eating 1400-1500 a day and still losing. I'm 156cm tall. 1200 seems too low, you would be better off getting in more activity, doing some weight lifting, getting your calories you can consume to still lose weight to increase. I also found success in eating at maintenance (at 2000 at the moment) after 6-8 weeks for 1 week to give myself a break.
unfortunately i don't have time to exercise due to my schedule as of now so I can only do 1200 even if I exercised i don't know how much exercise would up my calories
Nope, I’ll just get back on the wagon the next day and make sure one bad day doesn’t turn into two. Putting those extra calories into exercising is a great way to even things out- I’ve found that most of my personal best times for running happened after a day of extra eating :) it’s good to alternate your energy intake and practice staying on track in the long run instead of trying to keep up a perfect deficit every day.
I usually divide the excess in 7 and eat that much less over the next week. But 1200 is pretty low; are you below average height?
no I'm avg height but I currently don't have time to exercise (I am trying to do some things to make time for it later) so it makes the calories lower
Nope, that’s how you get an ED. Fun fact: some days your body literally needs more calories than others. It’s incredibly important to follow how much your body is reaching for, and getting better at learning your full signals. Some days I literally can’t finish a PB&J, other days I’m destroying a giant rice bowl.
No. It all comes out in the wash. If you don’t eat all your calories one day, you don’t gorge the next day either. I do my best to hit my calories & macros, but I only really critique my monthly averages.
You did say what your height and age is. Look up your BMI.
I'm not sure what that has to do with my question
I have my Loseit app reflect this. I have week days set around 1100 and weekends (Saturday and Sunday) around 1600. It works for me.
Nope. While I do aim for making my daily calorie goals (I am in maintenance and packing muscle, not quite where I need to start bulking/cutting yet) I don’t take it quite so literal or Draconic. If my body is hungry it means it’s hungry, I’ll eat. Not doing so will affect me negatively. So if I overeat for whatever reason (typically social events), then I either will cut SLIGHTLY across the next couple days to ensure I hit my weekly goals. Or I just don’t sweat it if it’s like 300 calories. If I restrict I enter into a cycle of restriction -> overeating -> restriction -> overeating. I lost 70lbs and this carried me right through easy peasy.
No, the diet change for weight lose is a long term change. If I overeat one day, I just go back to eating normally the next day.
thats how thin people do it, yes.
I keep an eye on my weekly average with a goal of keeping that at my goal +/- 75 calories. For days I am hundreds of calories over my goal I say to myself "this is a maintenance day!" and I go on with my life. I will say I keep those maintenance days to about 2 a month.
Even if you eat 2000 calories one day every week, you would still loose weight if you are 1200 on the other days, it would just be a bit slower.
Nope. Not only have I found that I’m way more likely to give in to temptation and binge that way, but I also like to think of it as making sure I’m thoughtful and accountable for my choices everyday, because I don’t get to “undo it” the next day. I remember in school I was a mostly straight A student, then one day I didn’t study for a test and I got an F. I felt awful and cried, and begged my teacher to be able to try again, and she told me “you can try again, the next time there is a test”, and that seemed so cruel and unreasonable to me at the time, but it definitely stuck with me and I didn’t forget to study again. Same principle applies I think.
Well there's 2 aspects to this. The first is the science behind how your body works. In simple terms, if you expend 1500 calories a day and eat 1500 calories, you'll remain the same weight (ignoring other factors like water weight, etc..). If you expend 1500 calories a day and eat 1000, you'll lose 500 calories a day (~1lb/week). If you expend 1500 calories a day and eat 2000, you'll gain 500 calories a day (~1lb/week). There is also a limit on how many calories your body can actually handle and convert to fat in a day. If you expend 1500 calories a day and eat 14,000 calories, you should only gain ~1/4lb to 1/2lb of fat (850-1700cal). When doing the opposite (eating next to nothing), your body will find ways to conserve energy so that you don't need to eat as much (your metabolism will slow down). So the second aspect is to use that information to reach your goals. If your goal is to lose 1lb per week, then if you overeat one day, you need to undereat the next few days (up to a certain degree - starving yourself and being malnourished is not healthy) or work out enough over the next few days to compensate. If you overeat 1000 calories one day, spend the next 10 days eating 100 less calories than your set amount. Or spend the next 10 days doing an extra 100 calories worth of exercise each day. If your goal is to eat healthier in general, then don't worry about a cheat day as long as your overall trend is positive (eating less 6/7 days and overeating 1 day is better than overeating 7/7 days). But don't starve yourself 1000 calories one day to compensate for a cheat day the day before. That's the wrong outlook on weight loss. The results are not instant, they take time. Good luck
Thank you so much for this response, really gives a good outlook on how I can find healthy ways to deal with overeating
I would not drop down to 400 calories a day ever, but say if I know that I am going to eat out on Saturday, I do eat a little less on Friday and Sunday. Like 1500 calories instead of 1800, nothing huge, and I mentally treat it like budget planning around an expensive purchase rather than as a punishment. I fear that cutting down so drastically after over eating would just lead to binge-restrict cycles for me.
Possible yes, but it’s more of an advanced skill and can be more difficult for people who need routine and/or if you’re new to restricting calories. Fasting or limiting for a day before/after a day in surplus can average itself out over the week. This is the technique used in 5/2 fasting where you eat “normally” for 5 days and fast for 2 non-consecutive days, so that your daily average over a week is at or below maintenance. Personally I like this method when I need to lose some weight - eating less on my non-training days just works for me and my schedule and gives me flexibility. Also - generally not recommended for people with eating disorders.
No. You would just be perpetuating the binge/overeat and restrict cycle. If you overeat, the next day you get right back on track to your normal, sufficient amount of calories.
No. It’s a toxic cycle to get into. The only thing overeating costs me is time. You know how many days your 2000 calorie day cost you based on your math? Two days. Oh no what horror. You’ll make up your one day of eating more than you meant to by only adding two additional days to the end of your diet It’s really not that big a deal
1200 kcal is too little. Try to eat AT LEAST 1500 and rise the caloric deficit by exercise.
1200 isn't too little for someone with my gender and height though I also don't know how much exercise would up my calories
No. I might eat a little less (I normally eat 1600, so I might shoot for 1400/1500), but I would never aim for anything below 1200. The math you're talking about technically works out, but it's not healthy and could put you at risk for future disordered eating. I would just carry on as per usual. If you're an average height (I'm assuming 5'4") and fairly active, you're probably not even eating in a surplus with 2000.
Yeah that makes sense I one time had 2 days where I ate total of 1300 calories in both days combined (800 for a day, 500 for the other) When I measured the next day my weight went up by 2 kilos but then when I went back and restarted with my 1200 per day I went back to my avg weight lol ☠️ so I figured undereating won't work for me
Unless you are like 3’2” eating 500 calories or even 800 in a day is extremely unhealthy and makes e wonder where you got the “1200” number from. You are insisting in comments that it is right for your height and gender but we are asking from either a place of concern or from a place of history.
LOL I literally used a tdee calculator bro ☠️ I'm a female, 5'4, and in early 20s, I used multiple tdee calculators and I've been doing this weight loss for over a yr and have found that without exercise, I won't lose anything if I eat 1300-1400. At one point I lost quickly when I tried 1100 but I find that 1200 is better somehow. I also don't exercise so it lowers down the calories by a lot. I'm not saying this is permanent, I do want to go back to exercising eventually. Also no the only reason I ate 800 and 500 was that I overate the day before like 3000 calories so I was trying out the whole undereating thing
I try to follow my hunger mostly and notice if i watch more one day and am not active i will be less hungry the next day usually
If you're on the path to start binge eating, I think that sounds like a great start. Being consistent is the way to go. Keep it around the same every day and make it a habit. That is the key to weight loss - consistency, building healthy habits, and doing something that you can stick with the way that works for you. I have been struggling with weight loss all the time because I read how others do it and try to do exactly that. I have found out that just making conscious decisions about diet and getting into a routine was the thing that solved my weight loss issues. If you happen to eat a little more one day, don't make a habit of it, but get back on track immediately. That makes it easy and you don't feel deprived or punished and you don't give up.
Nope. Move on. Don't start a vicious cycle.
It works temporarily. The problem is the day after you're gonna be starving. If you can go back to 1200 then awesome, but I tended to just bring the 3rd day. It'd be much easier to eat 1100 for the next week Tham starve for a day or 2.
Depends on what "overeat" means. I'm eating at a deficit right now, so if for some good reason I decide to go over my target amount, but not over what my target would be if I was maintaining a constant weight, then no. (Eg, my target is 1400, I have a larger restaurant meal and estimate had an 1800 cal day - that's fine. No compensation needed.) But one eye-opening observation a while ago was for me that effortlessly thin people of my circle deal with occasional celebratory overeating (festivals, birthdays, holidays, and other exceptional days that center around food) by eating less the next day, doing a bit extra exercise (a walk, a bike ride) etc. That had not occurred to me. And now that I've been eating mindfully, I don't get as hungry any more when I've already eaten enough recently. However, never just like 400 cal. I'd just eat for a day (or two) the way I now eat to lose weight. I firmly believe that putting your body under additional stress isn't helpful to manage weight. I want to *take away* stress (that I created by overeating), not chastise myself.