fellow food journalist, just curious....

G

getnfit@38

Cathlete
Hi all and Happy Thanksgiving! :)

I was just curious about a statement many of us have made, and I thought I'd ask. (although I have a feeling I'm going to be sorry I did!) :)

When we're checking in on the weight loss check-in or just anytime really and one of us says, "I've had a bad eating week, I went off track, etc." Just how bad are most of you talking?

Cause when I report a "bad eating week" I can assure you I'm clearly talking about missing my mark by more than a hundred calories or so! Some weeks my mark isn't even still on this planet! It's floating out there in space somewhere, too far to bring it back that week!

So I was thinking about this and said to myself, "won't you feel like a complete jacka** if everyone else is only talking about going over by 100 calories and you're talking like 1000? (and I'm still being conservative, because I've done WAY worse some weeks!)

Soooooo, when you guys say you went over, or ate poorly, about how many calories over ARE you talking about? (and don't be shy about it, whatever you've done, I BET I can top!)(not that THAT is something to brag about!)

Donna

Fitness~ it's a journey, not a race!
 
Sometimes I go off track when it's not a designed pig-out day, but I usually don't go off track like I would on one of these designated days.

For example, if there's a partial carton of ice cream in the freezer, I'll finish it. Then if there is candy corn around, I'll finish that, but that's about it. If I go off track, it's with a low fat version of whatever, which is not good, but could be worse.

THIS IS WHY I DON'T KEEP A LOT OF DAMAGING JUNK FOOD AROUND THE HOUSE, BECAUSE IF IT AIN'T THERE I CAN'T EAT IT!

I try to think of how I'll feel in the morning, and sometimes that is enough to stop.

This is where the extra tub of fat free Cool Whip comes in handy - it's stickening sweet, and just enough like ice cream to satify me. An 8 oz. tub is only 375 calories, so that's not a lot. That stuff has saved me lots of times.

So, I guess the answer to your question is - I go off track, but by hundreds of calories - maybe 375-700 or so, if I try to put a number on it.

Was that what you were after?

Just Do It! :)
 
Hi Donna,

If I have had a bad eating day, it means I have maybe gone over my allotted calories by 300-500. If it has been a bad eating week, it means I have paid little attention to what I have shoved into myself, and blown out on crap food, despite keeping up my exercise !

Anna :)
 
It varies - usually it's probably about 500 calories. Rarely, I'll go on an all out binge and consume everything in sight and I don't even want to guess how many calories I'm consuming then. During those times, I will eat foods I don't even like that much - I just have an overwhelming urge to stuff my face.
Erica
 
hey Donna! and all :)

Well i must confess .. when i do have a out of control bad eating day i would have to admit its about 1000 cals over my regular daily intake.. sometimes more. I know its terrible.. but its true.. and if its only by 100 or so.. i don't even sweat it :)

Happy Turkey Day!!
Candy
 
Okay, yeah, now I'm feeling better! To hear one of my mentors (HB) say she can down a tub of cool whip makes me feel really normal here! :)

And Candy, please tell me you live no where near PA because we seem to be on the same wave length with "going over!" I'd hate to see the damage we could do together! :)

But everyone seems to be at around where my usual "falling off" happens. Anywhere from 300-700 cal worth of damage. Funny how those calories add up so quickly!

Donna

p.s. Honeybunch: as an ice cream connoisseur (I had to look that word up!) I can assure you that cool whip will NEVER be even remotely like ice cream~but if that helps you sleep at night, we'll let it go! :)
Fitness~ it's a journey, not a race!
 
I understand what you're thinking about people's versions of having a bad eating day. Sometimes my friends will say they'll say they were pigs so I'll ask what they ate. They'll say they had a bowl of ice cream or something- half the time it's not even real ice cream. I want to laugh cause for me, that is NOT considered bad eating. If I have 2 bowls of real ice cream and a few cookies a day, and don't workout, that may be bad. If I do that a few days in a row, then I start feeling bloated and gross.

If it seems like I've eaten more junk than good stuff and been lazy, then it's bad. Around this time of year, it's hard because there are so many baked goods around! I was sent home with 5 different desserts today! Just try to eat well as much as you can and workout like normal, but have fun around the holidays too. After a binge, just start working out and cut back on the junk- you'll feel better almost instantly!
 
You are so right, my dear, BUT a tub of Fat Free Cool Whip is a lot less calories than the amount of ice cream it would take to satisfy me, plus it's portions control - the portion being the 8 oz. carton - so it's the lesser of two evils.

It's a mind game, strictly. I was sort of dumb and have 2 unopened half gallons of sugar free low fat chocolate ice cream (Pierre's, all you northeast Ohio folks)that I bought because it was "buy one get one free", but the Cool Whip will win if I get an urge because it's 375 calories and a quart of the ice cream (which EVERYONE knows is a "portion") is 720. See, the lesser of two evils.

Just Do It! :)
 
Just to add my two cents. Calories are not how I measure a good or bad eating day.

Some days I am hungrier than others. If I make good food choices (such as extra fruit, salad, glass of milk) and maintain control over portions and what I am eating, I still feel I had a "good" day even though I ate more. However, if I find myself making bad food choices, eating though I am not hungry, and uncontrollably stuffing my face---it a bad day. If I decide to eat foods which are higher in calories such as chocolate, ice cream, fried items...and I eat a reasonable portion, thoroughly enjoy myself, and do not do this frequently--it is still a good day.

I hope this makes sense.
 
For me, a bad eating day is if I eat between 500-1,000 calories more than I should. If I go 100-200 calories over, I don't consider it that big of a deal because that's not gonna make a big difference in my bottom line.

Hope this helps.
 
I agree with Kay. If I go over 100 or so, who cares? I mean, granted 200-300 over is a cardio workout, but maybe my body needed more. A bad day for some might be eating a Little Debbie snack cake. A bad day for me would be eating two boxes of them, plus 3 meals. But lately I have really keyed into WHY I binge. This has helped me immensely. Don't fret Donna. Cathe once posted that on a treat day (I hate the term 'cheat day') she had 2 pieces of coffee cake and some Devil Dogs. It's all about balance. Some days you go over, some days you don't.
 
jilly, gotta love ya!

Your post made me laugh out loud! :)

I don't know how many of us here can truly appreciate the "reality" of your post! Now, THAT is what I was talking about! A bad eating day would be the 3 meals + the 2 boxes of Little Debbie's! Or in my case, NOT RECENTLY, but in the not so long ago past, I downed an entire 25 piece Munchkin donut holes with coffee one morning! Da-n that Dunkin Donuts! But it was also while I was in withdrawal from my ice cream thing! That was a good excuse right!? :)

Donna

Fitness~ it's a journey, not a race!
 
Yes, lemoncustard, it makes perfect sense. I gauge the same way but when I really do binge I start to estimate the calories consumed and I easily chow down an extra 1000-2000.

So, Donna, here is my tally (pretty typical)Cookies are my worst problem. One day when I was a little out of control I walked across the street to the 7-11 and bought 2 candy bars - one snickers and one of the big block hersheys. I also bought 6 of their big cookies. I ate 4 cookies, 1/2 the hershey's and 1/2 the snickers. I figure at least 800 calories right there. Now this was after dinner that was about 400 calories excessive (Italian bread and butter) and dinner was after attacking the jalapeno bite potato chips, spicy chex mix and redskin peanuts (the greasy ones in the can) which I figure was another 600 bad calories.

Grand total - 1800 really really bad calories.

What really gets me on these days is how totally out of control I get!
oh the guilt.
-joy
 
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