I overeat once a week... how detrimental is it to my diet, if at all?

I am a very health eater (barely eat processed foods), and exercise regularly (30 min of cardio 6-7 days a week). But once a week, I overeat (on healthy foods, but nonetheless, overeat) and go over by several hundred calories (to bring my daily total to 2100 calories). I end up feeling really bloated and pretty down about myself. Is it normal to have one day a week like this? I need some motivation :(

Don't sweat it. That's nothing.

About 3 or 4 times a week, I eat about 1-2000 calories over my daily allotment (sp?), and my weight hasn't changed much.

If you are exercising regularly and sticking to a generally healthy diet then I see no problem. However, if this is interfering with your daily activities and/or causing your weight to creep up, I would make some adjustments. Overall, I don't think it's too big of a deal, though :)

thank :)  yeah i don't think it's causing my weight to creep up, but just keeping me at the same weight (i need 10 more lbs to go! yay!). I guess my problem is just to stop beating myself up about it too much. I am trying my hardest to look at food not as my enemy but as something I should enjoy while maintaining my health. I used to have a really unhealthy relationship with food. I have so far lost 20 lbs, but I have 10 more to go.. and those last 10 are just sooooo hard! :P

It all depends.  Yes, binging one day a week could completely sabatoge your weight loss.  

If those extra calories cause you to eat more than you burn for the week, you'll gain weight that week.  If your deficit for the rest of the week more than makes up for the extra calories, then you'll still lose.  

I try not to binge at all, just because it will make me hit my goal slower.  They will be plenty of time for eating once I get to my goal weight.

If I feel bad about what I've eaten, I get up and exercise. Of course, it isn't feasible for most to go for a jog around the block at 9PM. I am so hyped on the jump rope right now. Jumping rope can easily be done at night time in the home, and 25 minutes burns 200 calories! (I do 20 jumps, walk around the living room for about 10 seconds, then 20 more jumps, alternating like this for 25 --or however many-- minutes.) The bad feelings about going over 200 calories tend to go bye bye if you burn those calories right back off!

I really doubt one day will affect your progess that much. It sounds like more than losing weight, you need to concentrate on thinking of food as a friend. I think that you're overeating once a week can help you do this. As long as you'r enot eating junk like oreo fudge cheesecake, I think you're fine and it should teach you that you can enjoy healthy food at least once a week.

If you are finding it harder to lose the last ten pounds, your diet isn't going to help as much as you're exercise routine. Try building some muscle through free weights to push you through if you haven't already started working on it.

Although, if you are feeling bloated, you might considering trying to teach yourself more to stop eating when you're full instead of overeating just for the fun of it.

It is common for most people trying to lose weight to have a "cheat day". This is because it jumps the metabolism to have more calories than usual and helps in preventing plateaus. I'm not sure if they go over by surpluses as great as 2000, but I think you could afford yourself a cheat day once a week. Just as long as you ultimately have a deficit at the end of the week, you should lose weight. The bloating may be down to sodium content of the foods you eat; to help in bloat and water retention drink plenty of liquids and try peppermint and fennel teas as well as a warm compress or hot water bottle on the bloating.

^ whoops correction! I actually meant 2000 TOTAL, not 2000 extra on top of my daily intake !! lol

o__o 2000 is what a healthy active adult woman would maintain on on average! What is your normal intake, age, height, weight now?

Yeah, if it's 2000 TOTAL don't sweat it AT ALL. That's pretty normal for a cheat day. At least, I know I go up that much frequently and still lose weight. ^^; Maybe not as much as I could, but I don't snack randomly as much either.

I'm 5'4" and 117lbs. I'm at a healthy weight/BMI, but since I have a really small frame, I really need to tone up in certain areas. People actually think I'm heavier than I really am because of my extremely small frame. Yeah~ pretty annoying :/

How old are you if you don't mind me asking?

25 :-)

hi, so rt now youre the lowest you can be in the healthy range for your height.  how much are you eating a day?  with the amount of excercise youre doing youd probably be able to miantain on 2100, maybe more w the excercise,  if you lost weight youd be underweight and at risk for many health probs.

best of luck

Happiness,

I am about the same as you, I diet perfect mon-sat. Sunday I mess up. Usually I work out 6 days a week (3 weight training, 3 cardio). I typically eat 1250-1350cals a day. On sunday I end up bloated and feeling ill bc I eat totally different. Normally I eat every 2-3 hours like clockwork. Sundays? I eat a big fat omelette with my grandmother, who requests that I eat like 2 peices of sourdough; then onto lunch at chevy's with my sister, where we split a shrimp or salmon fajita plate. Then onto dinner which is usually just a protein shake bc I feel so discouraged I ate so many cals & carbs. I usually end up around 1600-1900 cals and I feel ill. I also drink too much coffee on sunday (Italian grandmother loves espressos so I usually have like 4 in the am with her; then suster works at starbucks so...)

Usually the bloat is done and my weight is back down by tues but still it sucks. :/

As Agru said, both you are eating bare minimum. At your height, weight and activity level, you could probably get away with eating that "binge" of 2000-2100 calories and not gain weight. You might see some fluctuation at first but that'd be down to water gain and nothing else.

same here :[
My calorie intake mon-sat is like 1300-1400, but on sundays.. Good Lord.. it goes up to 2600  *although supposely, to mantain I can eat about 2100 cals*  D: and I worry TOO much and feel ashamed and disgusting, but oh well, i'll just have to start all over again on mondays... I'm on the last 10 lbs & haven't weighed myself for the past 2 weeks so I really don't know if it has affected me too much ..hopefully not >.<
:3 good luck

~

i am passing through what u was talking about but ur case is better than mine i sticked to my healthy low calorie eating plan for one month to decrease body fat level ,then i came this day to ruin all the rules by eating choclate,ice cream,a lots of nuts ,all i was craving for...and i was wondering could this day ruin all my hard work for a whole month ??i don't know but defenitelly i ll start over from tomorrow...but honestly that day satisfyed me and gave me a push to continue with high estime..but i am worried about his influence and i really wanna know some answers..how his effect on my diet and my program???

just out of interest, how detrimental would everyone say that going over maintenance by 500-1000 once a week was?

i have a daily defecit of around 500 on all other days, but on fridays it all goes to hell! i feel really bad for doing it, but it's almost impossible to avoid.

Original Post by crunchynut:

just out of interest, how detrimental would everyone say that going over maintenance by 500-1000 once a week was?

i have a daily defecit of around 500 on all other days, but on fridays it all goes to hell! i feel really bad for doing it, but it's almost impossible to avoid.

If your daily deficit is 500, that means your weekly deficit is 3500. If, however, instead of having a deficit on Fridays you go over by 500-100, your weekly deficit will drop to 2000-2500. Which means you should still be losing over half a pound per week. If you're close to your goal, it's probably fine to lose the last few more slowly. Anyway, some people say that eating just over maintenance once a week will speed up your metabolism, so there could be a benefit!

Original Post by cosmographer:

If your daily deficit is 500, that means your weekly deficit is 3500. If, however, instead of having a deficit on Fridays you go over by 500-100, your weekly deficit will drop to 2000-2500. Which means you should still be losing over half a pound per week. If you're close to your goal, it's probably fine to lose the last few more slowly. Anyway, some people say that eating just over maintenance once a week will speed up your metabolism, so there could be a benefit!

 thankyou forclearing that up :) it's (logically) what i thought, but it sounded too good to be true! i suppose i am close to my goal in that i have a maximum of 10lbs left to lose, but i only had 12 to lose in the first place!

i think i'll try to be good as much as possible to speed things up a bit, but i'm not too worried about only half a lb a week. at least then it's coming off slowly, and isn't likely to pile back on!