You ate too much. Way too much.
“That cheesecake looks. so. good… just… just a little morsel.. to see if it tastes good. hmm. oh, it does taste good. I guess a slice won’t hurt… here it goes down. down into my belly…
Oops. I just ate the whole thing!“
…We’ve all been there.
The ability to recover quickly after a binge is absolutely essential to success in building and maintaining a healthy body (and mind). And once you realize that an occasional binge isn’t the end of the world, you can even use the extra energy to your advantage.
Using these strategies, I limited weight gain to just 2 pounds after (…accidentally) eating like a pig for a 7-day cruise with luxurious desserts that often followed breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
I was easily downing 4000-5000 calories a day for a week straight. But the 2 pounds I gained were gone in a day.
And just one week after I stepped off the boat, we took this picture:
How? I used the excess energy (carbs, mostly) to refill my glycogen stores and fuel some absolutely killer workouts.
But – more importantly, I went back to my normal healthy eating plan the second I stepped off the boat.
And after a full week of binging on desserts, I was glad to have a salad-fest when I returned home. Kale never tasted so swell.
And before you say, “But Abel has perfect genetics and that’s why he can get away with eating like a pig!” remember that I was fat, sick, and broken in my early 20’s. My before picture below is what a calorie-restricted, low-fat, veggie heavy diet combined with 20-30 miles of running a week looks like…
I like my after picture better. But, more importantly, my health has improved more than any of my (ex) doctors would have believed. I feel better, and that’s why I eat and live this way.
Important note: don’t let any of this encourage binging. As Spider Man’s Uncle Ben said, “With great power comes great responsibility.”
These techniques should not be habits but strategic emergency measures for mitigating the negative effects a temporary divergence.
4 Tips to Bounce Back After a Binge
Firstly, understand that overeating every now and again can actually upregulate certain hormones (like leptin) that keep your metabolism working properly, especially if you’ve been restricting your food intake.
Secondly, ditch the guilt. Reflect on why it happened, enjoy the moment, accept it as a temporary divergence, and move on.
No one will remember or care that you ate a cupcake.
You can’t change the past, but you can influence your future. Here’s how:
- #1 – Manage your false hunger: During the 24 hours following a binge, your blood sugar will fluctuate wildly. This will cause false hunger and a powerful desire to eat more sugar and/or carbs. Don’t. Sip on some black coffee or herbal tea. Go for a walk. Do meaningful work. Just keep yourself busy and forget about food.
- #2 – Fast: If fasting is in your wheelhouse, do it. And it’s also a super effective way to negate any extra caloric effects from the overeating as well as shed the extra water weight (and bloating) that accompanies a carb-fest. It doesn’t need to be an extended fast, either – a skipped meal or compressed eating window might just do the trick.
- #3 – Engage in high-intensity exercise: Get out to a field or track and do some wind sprints. Hop in the weight room and lift like a maniac. Jump into a vigorous game of pickup basketball. Do anything to get your heart rate up and have fun. You’ll have a ton of energy to put in a solid workout. Use all that glycogen to your advantage!
- #4 – Resume normal eating habits: This is the fastest way to get back to a ‘happy place’ and leave the binge in the rearview. Don’t sweat it. Just move on. And if inspecting yourself in the mirror causes issues, don’t look in the mirror. It’s simple. As long as your long-term habits are dialed-in, you’ll be back in action in no time.
You Don’t Have to be Perfect
So if you drop the ball and polish off a slice of your boss’ birthday cake, it is fine and even expected from time to time. We’re all human.
That said, if you’re not consistently sticking to healthy habits, make sure you aren’t making excuses. Genetics are not an excuse. The past is not an excuse. Your present condition is not an excuse. You can either make excuses or get results, but you can’t do both.
If you indulge regularly, it’s not really indulging anymore – it’s just poor decision-making and a lack of commitment to success. Make great decisions the majority of the time and you’ll be able to afford the occasional hiccup.
Being lean isn’t about being 100% perfect all of the time. It’s not what you eat from meal-to-meal. It’s how you live your life. Once you know how to avoid binges but handle (as well as enjoy) indulgences when they occur, you can be lean, healthy, and happy. Never give up!
If you need some help knowing what to include in your normal eating habits, or how to enjoy healthy indulgences, check out my online community: The Fat-Burning Tribe. Right now you can try it out for free for your first 7 days.
So what do you guys do when you “accidentally” eat a slice of cheesecake?
Great article, it must have been hell experimenting with all that eating!! Ha ha… I think you’re right, when you fall of the wagon it’s so important to not view it as defeat. Every journey has a bump in the road, all you need to do is negate the effects the best you can and then carry on with your journey. Better still, plan your bump in the road and you can even build muscle in response your cheese cake binge. Win-win
Thanks Ed, glad you dug the article!
Eating a cupcake or slice of cheesecake is not a binge for me. I wish it was. A binge is usually thousands of calories of several pcs of cheesecake AND cupcakeS.
Hi Liz, I hear that. One thing that helps me is only having a little bit around. For example, if it’s a cheesecake you made at home, leave a little in the fridge (a moderate indulgence) and freeze the rest. The more steps you need to take to eat something “bingeworthy,” the less likely you’ll fall off the wagon!
Home ice cream is a workout in itself to make with a hand crank dasher.
Ha, totally.
Good suggestions though! Thanks for posting this. I will keep these things in mind.
You bet! Thanks Liz.
Me and the Mrs like to go to a movie and we get popcorn. But never go back for seconds and I get unsweetened tea to drink. We eat it and move on. I don’t seem to gain weight from it and it use to make me pee out the back end, but that doesn’t happen anymore. So I think some popcorn once a month if that is not so bad.
Popcorn is a good treat every once in a while. Enjoy it!
Popcorn is so great! Love it! I pop my popcorn with very little oil (as in almost no oil) on the stovetop on my castiron pan. I found a lid that fits so I just preheat the pan. Put 2 tbsp of kernels on the hot pan and move it around so that they don’t burn. I get yummy popcorn everytime.
Just out of interest – how often is it ‘exusable’ to have a feast? Many of us seem to have a cheat day per week. Is that too often — and how much of a treat should you allow yourself?
Hey Jonas, it really depends on your body / your metabolism / training regimen / etc., but a feast once a week or two should be acceptable and welcomed, especially if you cycle overeating days with undereating days.
I do the fasting thing. Which ill be doing tomorrow since I pigged out this weekend. (I needed it for my dietary sanity. Everything in moderation. Even moderation)
I took the idea from the HCG protocol. It’s called a “steak day”. Don’t eat anything all day. Moderate exercise is a bonus. Drink TONS of water.
That night, get yourself a monster steak and an apple. Thats it.
Get plenty of sleep.
Typically you’ll wake up.
Pee for 2 minutes straight.
Bam! Back to weight.
Resume normal healthy life.
ha, sweet!
Your post is well timed. My recent binge has been ice-cream for breakfast on and off for the past four weeks, lots of nut butter and to top it off, cakes and sweets – I have been struggling to get back off of the sugar and although I know the consequences of weight gain, water retention and it killing my mood, I haven’t seemed to be able to get off this roller-coaster. However, even before reading your post today, I promised myself that today is the day to stop this ride. Screw the guilt! Here’s to feeling well again. Thanks for the tips!
PS – I so want to try the steak day just to see what a two min pee is like.
Cheers to that! Screw the guilt! Good luck with getting of the darn roller coaster 🙂
– Emily, FBM Team Coach
I’m so glad I stumbled across this article. Honestly I have been on a great streak and was almost finish with a fitness challenge when all of a sudden durung the last week I don’t know what came over me. I broke, gave in and indulged in a whole bunch of junk. Chocolate,, muffins, overdoses on candies & my favorite PB, eating when I’m not hungry and watching all my hard work get smudged away. I kept telling myself oh i have a high metabolism, im at 4%bf what harm can it do. but there is a difference when you binge in a day versus a week and you can totally see and feel the fat slowly creeping on your core. I kept looking at myself in the mirror and realizing how fast you can ruin your progress. But you open my mind to create a positive mindset. I can’t feel down or depressed. Instead I like how you put it all into a way of improving and doing better. Learn from your mistakes and just carry on. Thank you for this. I greatly appreciate your words and knowledge.
Don’t beat yourself up about it! It’s definitely important to keep a positive mindset when it comes to food, it’s not the enemy (even chocolate, muffins & candies). Hope you were able to bounce back and not give it a second thought! 🙂 – Emily, FBM Team Coach
I’ve been experimenting with fasting over the past month or so. It has made a world of difference. I tried a weekly 24-hour fast and moved to a daily 16-hour. I eat clean most of the time and try to stay at least gluten free.
Thanks for the tips, these are great!
Rock on! Keep it up! – Emily, FBM Team
Thank you for this post, I was following keto for the last week after a 4 day water fast but today I binged on thousands of cals, I couldn’t stop thinking of carbs yesterday. I know myself well enough to know it was coming, I have 10 days until my 21st and really want my bloatedness to go and flat stomach to return. I’m going to fast for 36hrs+ and do an immense workout tomorrow, then back on with Keto. Do you think I should do an extended fast, I want to work out but doing a 10 day fast may get me closer to my goal quicker. Any thoughts?
Marie
Binging and restricting are equal and opposite reactions to each other. By fasting again, you are almost guaranteeing another binge. I HIGHLY recommend you reign in your concept of healthy eating and find a BALANCED and sustainable method of eating on a regular basis. THAT is what creates extensive but long-term change and habits. Please think twice about this fast you are considering! – Emily, FBM Team
Thanks! What a great article! I binge on fruits last night. Around 2 kilos of longan. I feel sad. Then after ready this article, I felt better.
No need to dwell on it, just hop back up and keep on moving! – Emily, FBM Team
Thanks for this very inspiring post!
It’s funny every time I’m binging like crazy on “bad ” food (glutenized pastries sodas or dairy), I’m starting an endless research online on tips… and I always land to your blog.
My big problem is that I’m obsessed by eating healthy food, being fit so everytime Im emotionally outofcontrol I binge on banned food and then start this vicious cercle of guiltiness. The worst part is that I’m not losing weight anymore.
I think the best advice then would be to just forget about the previous episode and get back on eating healthy..
ps: I sent an email to join your program.
ChiaPet
I’m so happy I found this article.
I had bubs 7 months ago, have lost 28 kg but still have 6 to go to goal weight. Yesterday had a binge dinner/dessert so decided to do a 24 hr fast and hopefully training sess later. Was still feeling guilty despite fasting until I saw this. So desperate to achieve my goal. Im glad im not the only one who can ‘fail’ sometimes. I can potentially get even better results. Feeling inspired. 🙂
This was written in 2013, and I am just now reading it?!?!?! I should have read this when it was first written, I could have saved a lot of time feeling guilty. Often times we see people who are dedicated to their regime, and think that they NEVER have a hiccup, almost as if they are not human haha!
My birthday was yesterday, obviously, I woke up feeling totally guilty about the amazing food I indulged in last night. I felt so discouraged, and of course went on a Google search to figure out what I should do today about yesterday, and after reading this article, I feel much better about tomorrow. Everyone slips up, move forward, don’t plant your feet in the ground and cry about it!
Hi… This seems all too familiar! I have experienced a few years of this on and off behaviour. A cheat day, a cheat weekend, a cheat week, a cheat month!
All since I actually got in shape!! Before I didn’t care so I never binged I just ate rubbish and ate over my calories and was just plain old fat. I got in shape learnt about the correct nutrion and bang binge cravings landed!
I would say I am not so bad anymore as I am learning to fit foods I enjoy eating in my weekly caloric requirements. But I am still very susceptible to going crazy once ins while. But let me say this I have always got back to where I was or even better no matter how bad you feel! It can be absolutely destroying to those that care about the physical health and well being and lets face it, how they look? But articles like these pop up and just automatically let you know it’s never over until you decide.. Just keep that train moving!! Nothing is impossible to the brave and faithful!!
Love the advice. I just got back from a vacation where I added 11 pounds in 11 days. Thanks to cheese curds, lots of pizza, zero exercise (by design really, I just wanted to relax) and LOADS of craft beers. I considered some juice cleanses, but I think I’ll go more of the natural route and do a lot of green salads and veggies combined with normal strenuous exercise.
Hi, I read your article and I have a question! HOW DO YOU NOT THINK ABOUT FOOD THATS ALL I EVER THINK ABOUT IS FOOD FOOD FOOD. ALL I DO IS EAT. i JUST WANT TO BE HUMAN AND EAT NORMAL.
Arabgirl, I know this is an old post, but have your found your balance…your sanity? I have felt just as you have in this post, and what has worked for me is the Atkins Diet. Not the new one on their website – that is not what Dr. Atkins was about. For me, the diet has removed my mental obsession with food!!! I don’t want to spend a ton of time here discussing it. Maybe you have found something that works for you already. But I would be happy to discuss with you via email if you need it. I’m susaneasterly@gmail.com
Hi,
I start the week of mentally strong and determined to be healthy. I do very well and stay well on Track. I finally start to feel good about myself. All of a sudden I get this overpowering unstoppable craving for sweet food, I then binge massive amounts of junk, to then be left feeling extremely low and depressed. I try my absolute hardest to recover from this the next day, however no matter what I do, or say to myself I seem to be in this destructive cycle. I want to maintain a good body, need help to change my mindset. Many thanks.
Hi, I’m facing the same problem as Lauren above. How do you keep it consistent?
My god, seriously! I’m kind of like in love with baking, but here’s the setback! Just one piece of angel food cake or chocolate fudge (both made on the same day, btw) gets me reaching out for another and then another because I feel like I’ve already over-done it, so might as well slip another piece in! It stinks and I feel like killing myself later on! I forgave my conscience the first day, but the second day, I just couldn’t stand my poor willpower! I hate having to wait TWO whole days later on for getting back to my regular slim figure!
Guess I’m just gonna go do some ab and arm toning workouts from youtube now! Your article really helped me! Comforted me that I’m not the only pig around! And dammit, I’m wasn’t even HUNGRY!
During my efforts of trying to become fit these past few months I’ve been good at staying away from “crap” I even count my calories. I do have my cheat days though where I allow myself to either eat what I want even if it’s pizza or a piece of chocolate brownie while staying within my calorie goal for the day (1300-1600) or I break my calorie count and eat as many calories as I want but only eating healthy foods and snacks. That’s what I did this past sat! I ate healthy foods only, for breakfast I ate granola protein cereal and a banana. A couple hours later I had an egg whites sandwich. For lunch I had a brown rice salad with dried fruits and nuts and about three tablespoons of peanut butter with carrots to dip. Then I had a protein shake, oh wait two protein shakes haha about 200 calories each. Around dinner time I had two meal bars oh god I don’t know what was going on with me but I ate a ton for dinner, I went crazy! Spaghetti, a turkey sandwich, I even ate a little bit of ice cream haha. I tracked my calories for the day and calculated about 5000 calories that day! I had never done that before my journey started! So the day after my huge binge, I decided to fast, only drinking tea and a protein shake for breakfast to fuel my workout that morning. I only drank wAter and had a sip of apple juice. My fasting didn’t end until 2pm the next day, I ate a turkey sandwich with wheat bread and Greek yogurt. My fasting would’ve lasted longer but is that recommended? to fast more than 24hrs? Also what would you say is the best post fasting meal? And how many calories should it be? I try to eat 200-400kcal meals every 3-4 hrs. Should I keep it that way on my first meal post fasting? Also during a fasting day, should I be working out vigorously or should I keep it on the treadmill and save the weights for a non-fasting day? Thank you. This post is very helpful btw! I was very upset at myself for binging like I did 🙁 I couldn’t stop thinking about my wasted efforts so thanks!
Hi Everyone,
For me, binge eating is an emotional matter. When I am happy and all going fine with me at all levels, I stay on my healthy eating and I hit the gym regularly. Once I stayed 6 months without binge easting, and I felt proud of myself. But recently it became every 2 months, where I binge two days on a row (preferably weekdays) because in weekends I will eat double, so I even plan my binge eating. Oh yeah, the feeling of bloating and guilty is over whelming, especially when I start trying my jeans to check if they still fit. I think it is all psychological because I start convincing myself that I gained weight thought in fact it is only water retention. For some emotional reason, I binge ate after 11 days of healthy eating and gym because there was a previous binge eating 11 days ago, but I was back to my healthy eating and I exercised a lot for the bloating to go along with drinking water a lot. Now, I felt guilty because why I binge eating another time after 11 days eating healthy. Maybe because I read an article that binge eating for one day will never make you gain weight; you need to eat an extra 3,500 calories in addition to your daily normal intake in order to gain one pound. Now, and today I am back from yesterday`s binge eating, and today is healthy eating and gym for 4-5 days per week with lots of drinking water to remove the water retention. Thanks for hearing me.
Hi, well i do agree with this guy. Using IF as a lifestyle can benefit you a lot in many aspects ., one of the best benefits you can from it is getting leaner and more leaner. When it comes to pig out , I usually fast for the next 24/ 36 HRS depending on how big the dammage was, however I do eat clean every weekend until i decide when my cheat meal or day will be. Since I started using IF evry day for 16 , my energy levels on the gym had increased a lot making gain some really good gains.
Fasting is the best.
Well, I do agree with this guy. Using IF as a lifestyle can benefit you a lot in many aspects. One of the best benefits you can get from it is getting leaner and more leaner. When it comes to pig out, I usually fast for the next 24/36 HRS depending on how big the damage was. However, I do eat clean every weekend until I decide when my cheat meal or day will be. Since I started using IF every day for 16, my energy levels in the gym had increased a lot, making gain some really good gains. If you’re into showcasing your fitness journey, consider using Cap Cut, a video editor that enhances your content.
Hi. I feel terrible. I binge twice this week out of control. I hate myself when this happens. I only eat chocolate and sweets when i start binging. Afterwards i start panicking and start trying weighing everything I ate. Omword can someone please tell me if binging twice in one week will result in weight gain. I need to loose a further 3 kilos but it seems I’m headed for disaster. Help please I feel terrible and that I let myself down. I need to move forward and be positive. It’s a lifestyle and not a diet.
Hi Denise. It’s okay – you got this.
Everybody binges at one time or another. Binging once a week, some people call this a “cheat day” actually is encouraged by some people in the weight loss community because it can reset certain hormones. That’s the “upside”, but the behavior of binging itself can be damaging.
So, if it happens, don’t get down on yourself. But do your best to plan healthy meals on a regular basis that keep you full and happy and that will definitely help.
Hi able
will I lose weight if I fast and how ofter should I fast in a week? My current weight is 50kg. I would like to loose another 3 and I know I’ll be very happy. This is what my diet consist of every day except the days when I binge . breakfast apple cup of cappuccino snack carrot lunch steamed tuna and broccoli dinner steamed hake and veggies. Every single day. Same routine. I don’t eat wheat gluten and dairy at all except the days when I binge. Then I consume every thing I shouldn’t. Need help please
Hi Denise, getting variety in your diet will be a huge help. Eating the same thing every day can lead to nutrient deficiencies and most importantly, BOREDOM.
So change up your diet, keep it clean, and see how much better you feel.
If you want to check out some of our recipes, we have plenty on the blog. There’s also our cookbooks, like Fat-Burning Chef. Check it out and let us know how it goes!
So happy I read this post. I started Keto about 4 weeks ago and I have been feeling amazing. My weight has been decreasing nicely and my energy has been really high. I finally started seeing some great results. Yesterday was my birthday and my husband took my out for dinner and then cake. I ate it ALL. Today I feel terrible….tired, moody, depressed and 5 lbs heavier. I made sure to be really strict today and hop back on the wagon. How do you feel about fasting and only drinking a bulletproof coffee during the day to get back into keto?
Hi I just read this post and I have been so down because every night for the past 2 weeks I keep snacking after dinner which turns into an mega over indulgence feast on bad foods and sweets! It’s terrible someone can eat that much bad food in one go. While I’m doing it I tell myself oh well or don’t even think about it and then afterwards I start to feel so guilty then I wake up the next morning hating myself and tell myself ok today is the day then come after dinner the cycle comes back again. Anyone have tips to not eat after dinner? I’m really struggling now and need help.
Hey man 🙂
So I’ve fallen victim to almost a 2 day binge where I consumed large amounts of nuts, potatoes, and chicken- I’ve been on an extremely restrictive basically no gluten all protein/ greens diet beforehand- is it possible to work off my binge and get back to shedding ilbs or will my body hold onto all this? P.s When you suggest fasting- does that not come with the risk of my body kicking into starvation mode? Thank you so much!
Hi Layla,
Good questions. Your body should rebound and get back to shedding pounds pretty quickly once you resume your normal clean eating habits, especially if you throw in some high intensity exercise sessions, like sprints and weights. If you want to kickstart the fat-burning, here are a few more tips:
Lemon Water: Drink a glass of purified water with fresh lemon squeezed into it often. Lemon water helps reduce the acidity in your body and reduces inflammation, helps with digestion by loosening toxins in your digestive tract, fights cravings (lemons contain pectin fiber, which assists in fighting hunger cravings), cleanses your system, helping to flush out the toxins in your body by enhancing enzyme function, stimulating your liver. More benefits include, boosting your immune system, fights viral infections, helps reduce anxiety, high in potassium, detoxifying, and good for your skin.
Apple Cider Vinegar Tonic: Apple Cider Vinegar has been shown to improves insulin sensitivity during a high-carb meal by 19-34% and significantly lowers blood glucose and insulin responses and reduces blood sugar by 34% when eating 50 grams of white bread. After your “Free Meal” you can even drink a shot of apple cider vinegar in your water or seltzer, which helps reduce blood glucose. 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar before bedtime can reduce fasting blood sugars by 4%. Numerous other studies, in both rats and humans, show that vinegar can increase insulin sensitivity and significantly lower blood sugar responses during meals. Join the Fat-Burning Tribe to get our Fizzy Apple Cider Vinegar Tonic recipe: http://bit.ly/fbtribe1d
Drink Green Smoothies: Drink a Green Smoothie every day for your first meal (or a big salad or eggs with greens). Green vegetables are detoxifying and alkalizing. If you need some ideas of what to put in them, we have over 20 green smoothie recipes in the Recipe Library in the Fat-Burning Tribe. You can sign up for just $1 for your first month: http://bit.ly/fbtribe1d OR check out this blog post on how to make a fat-burning green smoothie: http://fatburningman.com/fat-burning-green-smoothie/
Drink Homemade Bone Broth: Which will help heal your gut and is a powerhouse of nutrition.
Activated Charcoal: Take directly after a “Free Meal” to help absorb some of the toxins by trapping chemicals and preventing their absorption.
As for fasting, I’m a 31 year old female, and I fast regularly and quite like it. I change it up so my first meal of the day might be at 9AM, or 2PM, or sometimes I don’t eat until 4PM. I feel full of energy. Once you become fat-adapted (instead of relying on sugar and carbs), your body is trained to burn fat as fuel so it becomes easy to go for periods of time without eating. During my morning fast, I usually sip bone broth, or coffee/tea with a bit of fat (coconut milk, mct, butter, or cream). And then I eat my first meal when my energy starts to dip or I feel like I’m losing focus (first meal is usually a green smoothie).
But my body doesn’t seem to be in starvation mode. Hope that helps! If you have any more questions, check out the Tribe: http://bit.ly/fbtribe1d — Abel and I answer questions from members almost every day, and we record a Tribe exclusive Q&A video each month answering questions from members. See you on the inside!
Thanks a bunch. I would like to note that it is so nice to know I am allowed to not eat. Saying this ‘Allowed to not eat’ still sounds a little wrong and has some sort of stigma attached. I speak of fasting with a couple of people and they look at me in worry. I fast 17hrs a day and keep it to myself now. But the benefits are more than just time gained but I feel a sense of life control and energy I have not been able to obtain throughout my life with food ever. Food surrounds all parts of life, the hand to mouth action is strong in everyone in every situation – from alcohol socialzing, to ciggys on break (no calories but not good), to random sugar drinks to just have in hand when out and about just because. Hand to mouth was a constant predicament of mine so I went out seeking knowledge in effort to break the cycle. I have found fasting a great help in this dilemma. Instead of ‘inward actions’- hand to mouth with food/drinks/drugs whatever the case – fasting creates ‘outward actions’ – hand to life. Thanks to you Able, Robb Wolf, Mark Sission, and all your fab guest on all of your podcast, I have learned so much and am still learning. I can’t thank you guys enough for enlighting my curiosity in nutrition and life.
I’m from Australia, just so you know where your good info has gotten too. Thanks again.?
Thanks so much for this!! I’m a 15 yo girl from australia who’s recently gotten into modelling. I’ve been dieting like crazy for nearly two months now, and last night I had a party and ate 3/4 of pizza and then a couple of slices of dessert pizza (tried to be slightly healthy by loading it with banana, but the oreos and m&m’s snuck on). I literally felt sick afterwards I’d eaten so much. Got on the scales this morning and saw I’d gained 1kg, which i think is about 2 pounds. I started moving as soon as I could, and just went for an hr long power walk, and while I’m starting to feel better, I’m pretty nervous because I have a photoshoot coming up next week. My metabolism isn’t great, so I drink a lot of green tea and love blueberries (had about a cup of them as my breakfast).
Sorry, I’ve rambled a bit haha… Do you have any tips for someone like me to quickly lose the weight I gained last night?
Thanks 🙂
Hi! I actually went on a weeklong binge. So I was eating like crap for an entire week, and all I did during that week was eat and sleep. No exercise whatsoever, and I’m pretty sure I couldn’t go for a minute without stuffing something in my mouth. For instance, today, I had 3 pancakes for breakfast, a plate full of scrambled eggs, 4 bowls of rice, 3 plates of steak, 3 bags of Ritz, 1 box of Nilla wafers, 1 package of graham crackers, a few handfuls of nuts, 6 chocolate bars, 3 dumplings, boba, 2 more bowls of rice, soup, fish and sugary meat, donuts, 3 pastries, an entire box of chocolates, and that’s not counting all the snacks I consumed. I just had to get that out there. And that was just the food I ate today… I was eating like this for the past seven days, and I gained 10 pounds, no joke. Is there any way to bounce back from this? Should I really just fast? And do I have to do intense exercise to balance out the effect? I usually don’t exercise much, maybe some light cardio, but should I amp up the intensity? I feel like crap right now.
Wow that’s way more than when I binge, I thought I binged today (2 slices of banana bread with whipped cream, a handful of chocolates, a slice of cornbread, two english muffins, a bag of popcorn… Carbohydrate overload, bummer
Hi Shirlee,
I did the exact same thing, only for 2 weeks. Pretty much copy, cut, and paste the description of the volume and high cal foods you mention above… only I did that for 2 weeks. Weighed myself yesterday – I gained 20lbs.
I am trying to get back in ketosis, eating only fat and protein for 7 days straight, and then integrating veggies into my diet. I’m also restricting daily cal intake to 800 Cals a day, or less.
At this rate,it’s possible to lose about 8 lbs a month… I think this means it will take me about 2.5 months to lose the weight.
I am an emotional eater that binge eats in times of stress, which is what just happened. I’m not sure what your situation is, but I hope this helps.
Kelly
I have a question, with regards to exercise. I currently need my right hip replaced, and also have an Achilles spurs on left foot, so traditional exercise is difficult. What would you suggest for firming up abs and chest?
Thanks
okay so i am keto, and my boyfriend and i do a 24 hour fast every sunday after we have a cheat meal. First question; How often should we bother with a cheat meal? Second, Does it make sense/have the same benefits as a regular 24 hour fast, then after we have a carb filled meal? Ps. LOVE YOUR PODCASTS! Listen to them every morning on my way to work. 🙂
Hey, so I exercise around 5 days a week and usually do hiit/cardio, on these days I eat fairly well. No bread, pasta or bad carbs, mainly protein loads of fruit and veg. Lately though I have been binging every week for 2 maybe 3 days! I have gained 10lbs so far since November 2016 and I just want to get out of this cycle!
I usually always shake it off and get back into working out but yesterday was my third day of eating crap and not moving.
I had a bowl of fruit for breakfast, then 3 slices of pizza, some pasta, 3 jaffa cakes, 3 slices of fruit malt loaf and two low fat rice puddings. That was mediocre compared to the two days before! How can I stop this rediculous cycle which ends up leaving me lying in bed feeling like a lump of lard?
I fast.
This was a great read this time of year. I feel SO MUCH BETTER physically and mentally when I eat well – but I do sneak in an occasional treat sometimes, and sometimes, like Thanksgiving week or Christmas vacation, they can lead to a several day binge. I have found that intermittent fasting works like a charm for my (slower than ever before at age 43) metabolism. As long as I hop right back to my 18/6 eating schedule after a binge, I find that my body drops the added pounds within a few days as well.
This is a useful article, I will definitely have to note some of this. After getting drunk, drinking hot coffee or tea sounds pretty good. great. Thanks for sharing.
Nope. Anyone who has these problems needs to keep food journal—not to lose weight, but for life. It will teach you to understand feeling full and keep the binges to 1 DAY. There is absolutely no excuse not to these days. There are a gazillion nutrition tracking Apps that or free or super cheap that make it absurdly easy.
7 days of binging is too much. It means you have a problem with emotional eating. That is a lifelong medical issue—not a cute funny “normal” thing that goes away with yoyo dieting (something that wrecks metabolisms, adds physical and mental stress, and lands people into higher weight gains).
That fact our society normalizes emotional eating is a large part of why half the US population is obese. Lower your stress (and look into therapy if necessary), regularly track your calories and stop making baloney excuses with “remedies.”
I have been dieting and exercising 5 times a week for almost 2 months now and have lost 7 lbs, then one night of overindulging in Chinese food and cake I gained 2 lbs in 1 night! Why is it so easy to gain weight back so quickly? It’s disheartening when you gain 2 weeks of hard work in just a few hours 🙁