One day of slightly "bad" food

[CrinklyCraggy]

I had about 10lbs to lose.

It's been gradually dropping off through eating good food at mealtimes. No snacking and no refined sugar, but eating real food until I'm not hungry. I don't pay particular attention to what it is, but usually tend to naturally choose healthy options. All home cooked, lots of veg, not usually fried. I do have carbs with every meal and don't go hungry.

Anyway yesterday, I stuck to the programme. Did a run in the morning. Had my usual porridge at breakfast, lunch of delicious smoked mackrel and hard boiled egg tartare with bread and salad, followed by plain Greek yogurt and berries. For dinner I had a small takeaway (so not that small) vegetarian pizza and a few glasses of red. As I one off I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I've put 2.5 pounds on overnight!!

I'm blaming the pizza. Or is it the wine? I have never cut out carbs, but recognise a whole pizza is a lot of carbs. An overnight thing due to the way carbs retain water in your muscles and all will be back to normal by morning?

@sHREDDIES19

I really think weighing scales should be confined to the kitchen! Imagine living a life where all hopes and dreams are pinned on an arbitrary number? It’s how you feel, your shape, the progress you are making in the mirror over a period of time. And it’s impossible to put on 2.5lbs of actual fat overnight.

I agree, I got rid of my scales a couple years ago, the only time I get in scales are at the doctors. I know I need to diet when my clothes are tight or when my tummy looks bigger 🤣.

@sHREDDIES19

I really think weighing scales should be confined to the kitchen! Imagine living a life where all hopes and dreams are pinned on an arbitrary number? It’s how you feel, your shape, the progress you are making in the mirror over a period of time. And it’s impossible to put on 2.5lbs of actual fat overnight.

I don’t agree. I think weighing occasionally helps you realise when a lot of pounds have gone on so you can take action without it being a major challenge. It’s easy to kid yourself that you’re just a bit more wobbly around the edges when you’ve put on a stone and it’s all going in the wrong direction. Losing a stone vs losing three vs losing six is a totally different prospect.

Over the last year, I have had an injury so haven't been able to run much and the weight crept on. My clothes still fit though. You have to out on quite a lot before you'd notice it in your clothes IMO, especially if you tend to dress "comfortably"

FWIW I want to get the weight off to get back to my racing weight, not for anything to do with appearance.

I agree with @purpledaisies. It's a good idea to weigh once a week or once a fortnight. Much easier to jump on and tackle a few pounds!

don't weigh yourself the day after a long run. I find that water retention due to my body's repair work adds a pound or so.

and yes, your gut can easily store an extra pound or two as well.

and the monthly cycle can add another pound just before the period.

and placing the scales on an a uneven or soft surface can result in differences in weight.

You should weigh yourself frequently to understand the fluctuations. Anyone who says otherwise doesn't understand how to measure things reliably. Plus weight isn't a great indicator of body composition.

Less regular weighing is only an indicator because you don't know if you're on a heavy or a light day because your weight can vary by a few pounds either way for reasons not related to the amount of fat you're carrying, as you have discovered.

Pizza is the perfect combination of fat, carbs and salt to make you retain a lot of fluid.

It takes about 9000 excess calories to gain 2.5 pounds of fat, and clearly you didn't eat that much yesterday.

Op, it’ll just be fluid retention from the salt and alcohol. It should settle back down once it is out of your system.

I weigh myself daily. I’m not obsessive about my weight, I know that it fluctuates and I understand why. For example, I’m usually a couple of lbs heavier before my period. I weigh more after a salty takeaway, etc.

I like to just keep an eye on how things are going, it’s easy to start quietly piling on weight without noticing, by the time your clothes start to get tight, you could have put on a stone. I find that if I’m aware of my weight creeping up, I can do something about it before it becomes unmanageable.

You arent going to have put on 2.5lb of fat over night. Pizza is salty. Smoked mackeral is salty. Barely any veg or fibre in that. You probably need to drink extra water today and eat lots of delicious vegetables and flush it all out.