Binged today - reassure me ?

[worriedagaln]

Hi everyone,

I'm feeling absolutely awful. I've been calorie counting for 4 weeks straight and been doing brilliantly. I haven't weighed myself since the very first day I started as I find weighing myself can trigger me to binge. I have planned in a weigh day next week as it will be 5 weeks of eating in a deficit along with exercise.

Today I ate horribly and binged. I ate 3-4k calories which is insane. I'm trying to reassure myself this won't make much of a difference. I'm feeling really down. I feel like I've ruined my 4 weeks of progress

Any advice?

I'm terrified I'll now be in a cycle of binging. I'm hoping I can wake up tomorrow and continue calorie counting as normal but I'm scared incase I struggle. I feel terrible when I overeat.

It's one day/one meal. After 28 great days. You don't throw a car out because it gets a flat tyre. Accept it happened, own it, move on. You can't change what happened but you can change was happens next.

You cannot undo 4 weeks of progress in a day. No way.

You might have a smaller loss this week (or even no loss) because your calorie deficit will be less...but your four weeks of loss and progress is ALREADY in the bag.

Drink a shit tonne of water to help you flush out any salt from your food today and prevent water-retention weight gain. And look forward to your weigh in next week!

It probably won't have too much effect as a one off but if you know that then you are likely to repeat it. Is calorie counting the best choice for you?

Don’t try to restrict your intake tomorrow to try to mitigate todays binge as that is a sure fire way to end up in a binge-starve cycle.
Just forget about today and start afresh tomorrow. One binge will not matter.

Please, if you have a binge eating disorder call your GP. I can’t stress enough how important it is to go and get help.

When I binge after restricting I tell myself “well, it’s good for my diet because it will keep my body guessing what’s coming next”. I have no idea if it accurate but it helps me to feel less bad and subsequently keep it up in the long run. TBH it’s totally normal to binge if you believe you’re restricting yourself.

I use to binge but it has stopped.

You have to eat 3,000 calories over your maintenance calories to gain 1b of fat, so what you've eaten will barely make any difference. Tomorrows a new day.

Back on the wagon tomorrow.

Tbh I find a day off can reset your metabolism.

Keep up the good work and don't worry about today!

Try not to fall into the black and white thinking, all is lost mentality.

i have also seen it mentioned in some overeating/binge eating self help books that it helps some people to plan in a mini-binge.

Sadly if you are calorie counting strictly and feeling restricted it can increase the risk of binging.

tomorrow is a new day x

If you are feeling strong cravings for binge eating, perhaps you are eating too little on a daily basis? If your calorie deficit is too high, you can't sustain that for very long.

It’s one day. We all have days like that. Just accept you had an off day and but it behind you.

You’re doing brilliant to have four good weeks! Keep going.