Under-eating the next day.

If you blow out your calories for the day do you make up for them the following day by restricting your calories a bit more than usual?

Thanks all.

No.  Just get back on track as soon as possible.

I ought to say no, because that's the right thing to do like whipple said.

But I do :(

Or I exercise more.

it depends by how much, if i eat less than about 800 extra i just act normal the next day, if i eat like 800-1000 more i try and reduce them the next day

I do as well.  I look at my calorie accumulation as a 7 day thing.  I usually don't go over by more that 400-500 though.  I find that I am not as hungry the next day anyway...

Nope.  A binge day or going over calories is that 1 day only.  I dont' restrict and I'm doing better at not punishing myself like I used to.  Easiest way for me to relapse is focusing on it later.  Can't change the past so it doesn't matter.  I go back to target the next day and if I'm feeling extra guilty over a really bad one then I add an extra lap or 2 at the track.... that's 1/4 or 1/2 a mile more so it's not very much.  But mentally I feel better.

Stay on track like smwhipple said, always try to eat less calories than you burn. If you fall just get back into routine the next day.

But what if you have two binge days in a row?

for me it also depends on if i went over my "weight loss" calorie limit or my maintenance limit. even if you go a few hundred over your weight loss calories you won't gain if you're still below maintenance.

If it's only a few hundred calories, I would look at like zig-zagging.  There are a couple of rules to follow, like not going below your BMR, and not having more than a 1000 calorie deficit, but other than that it's no biggie. 

But like anything else, one day isn't going to make much of a difference in the long run.  Overeat, undereat, exercise, lay in bed all day...  as long as you don't get into a habit, none of them make a difference, it's what you do "long-term" that is important.

Original Post by crazypotato98:

But what if you have two binge days in a row?

 Then you have a motivation problem and you need to find out the reason you did that.  What's done is done and you can't undo it.

However, it doesn't change the fact that you simply get back on track with the next meal you eat.   From experience I can tell you that trying to adjust by eating less never works - it rebounds instead and you end up doing the yo-yo.

If you mean, cut off all the extra calories you ate from the next day? No. You'll just feel faint, hungry and unmotivated. It can lead you to binge even more. However, I personally look at calorie deficit as a weekly thing. So if I eat 800 too much calorie, I allow cut off a little more through the entire week to make my extra calorie count a tiny bit lower. Like, say, 75 calories less a day. It's not a lot, but at the end of the week, it does bring the count down a bit, and it doesn't make much of  a difference daily. But I don't always do it - even when I eat more, I try to remain under my eat meter, what I've labelled as 'smart binging'. Binging is bad, but if I find myself incredibly hungry, then I allow myself to go closer to my burn meter.

I don't undereat the next day but I usually do exercise a little bit more and drink lots of water due to the bloating I usually feel from overeating.

I don't undereat my calories. But I am usually a little more strict and honest with myself. Better to be honest than to let the calories creep up on me again!

I will often find a new wave of dedication to my workouts to 'push it' a little harder than I usually manage. Nothing insane - but usually I know I actually don't push myself enough so it gives me a little more "ooomph".

I definitely drink a lot of water and herbal tea because most of the time my weight gain from a bad day of eating is salt causing water retention or a dehydration from drinking alcohol. I haven't had a problem yet making up for bad weekends of eating by just getting back on course the following week.

Water and Honesty does wonders!

Original Post by qpie:

If you blow out your calories for the day do you make up for them the following day by restricting your calories a bit more than usual?

 

Thanks all.

It's one thing to do an extra hard workout or run that extra half mile, but the best thing for routine is to get back to your normal diet.  You body gets less confused that way.

This is one of the great things about calorie-count/nutrition tracker software - it averages out your calories (AND nutrients - just as important when it comes to weight maintenance!!!) for 7 days, 1 month, 3 months etc.  

Writing everything I eat down in my softwear (I use mynetdiary.com because it also has an iphone app so I can write as I go) has been the best single thing I've done to maintain my weight for the past year plus (I wasn't significantly overweight before that - maybe 12 lbs - but I was very heavy in college and have battled that 10-18 lbs extra for many years).  

First off, I am RELIGIOUS about writing everything down, HONESTLY.  Even if I eat a 1000 calorie chocolate rabbit (actually chocolate is not a problem for me, thankfully, so I haven't eaten anything like that SINCE college!).  More realistically, if I have a 3500 calorie day, or even two in a row, my program averages out my week.  Therefore, I know about how much I need to reduce my next few days without being crazy to get my averages back to my goal.

In other words, if my maintenance goal is 1800 calories a day, and after a couple days of indulging my averages come to 2200 calories, I just reduce my eating down to 1400-1600 over the next three days till the average comes back to normal.

I also add in a little extra exercise over the next few days.

I have been able to routinely maintain my weight AND indulge in whatever I want from time to time (every couple weeks) by just keeping an eye on my averages.

AND being honest.  That's the key.  I can't help myself if I "fudge" on what I ate...also, being honest makes it more automatic for me to THINK before I eat something caloric, fatty or high carb.  "Do I really want this?" and "Is this worth it?"

I try to forget about past mistakes, whether it be one day or eating badly or ten. Start each day fresh, if you over-restrict you're likely to binge and end up in the horrible binge-restrict cycle. You have the rest of your life ahead of you - one or two days is a drop in the ocean and won't make a huge difference to your weight.

Er, excuse me, I don't think I have a motivation problem. I know exactly why I "binged" two days in a row. I planned to have one day, the first time in five weeks of chocolateless-living, to eat chocolate. The second day, there was still some leftover, and I ate it.

I do not feel an urge to buy more, nor will I buy more for at least another five weeks. My weekly calorie limit is 10,500, and I went over it by eating 11,967 calories last week.

I don't think I'm going to have any problems this week.

Original Post by crazypotato98:

Er, excuse me, I don't think I have a motivation problem. I know exactly why I "binged" two days in a row. I planned to have one day, the first time in five weeks of chocolateless-living, to eat chocolate. The second day, there was still some leftover, and I ate it.

I do not feel an urge to buy more, nor will I buy more for at least another five weeks. My weekly calorie limit is 10,500, and I went over it by eating 11,967 calories last week.

 I feel the exact same way. In fact, your "chocolateless" living is ME. Then Easter came... ooooh chocolate. Well there is still some MnM's and Eggies at my house and the temptation is too great. Not like I can throw them out, they're actually my bf's.

That being said, I too have no desire to buy any more chocolate at all!

Now pizza, on the other hand. . . I haven't had pizza in a long while. And I'm suffering from a mega pizza craving now.

Hi all,

The name is Peter.  This is my first post.  Please allow me to share my opinion.  Thanks.

You should reduce.  It does'nt mean you should reduce by the same amount or that a reduction is even mandatory.  Just keep in mind that you must reduce your calorie intake by 3000 to lose one pound.  If you don't try to reduce it will take longer to lose that pound.  The longer you take to reach your goal the more likely you are to lose your motivation.  When I over eat it is pretty bad.  I try to make up by a 200 reduction a day for a max of three days.  Some times I am successful other times I am not.  Thanks for allowing me to express myself. 

Original Post by crazypotato98:

Er, excuse me, I don't think I have a motivation problem. I know exactly why I "binged" two days in a row. I planned to have one day, the first time in five weeks of chocolateless-living, to eat chocolate. The second day, there was still some leftover, and I ate it.

I do not feel an urge to buy more, nor will I buy more for at least another five weeks. My weekly calorie limit is 10,500, and I went over it by eating 11,967 calories last week.

I don't think I'm going to have any problems this week.

 Well then what you did was not really a binge.  It was simply over-eating.  Bingeing is when someone uncontrollably starts eating.  It's kind of a mindless loss of control where the body just starts to take over and the person feels powerless to stop it.

If that doesn't describe what you did, then you probably won't have a problem.  but you have to realize that when we hear the word "binge" we automatically want to warn the person that they need to try to figure out why they binged so they can figure out how to stop it.  This is why clairelaine said what she did.