Serious question, is eating bad sometimes good?

[kikicoates78 220]

I know it sounds crazy but this has been such a roller coaster for me and Although I love the ride... I'm trying to figure out rhyme or reason. 4 months out and I'm still confused!

AND I am NOT complaining before someone puts a snide remark about You've lost how much and your complaining....

I will lose weight 5-8 pounds in a week then I will stall for at lease 2. Sometimes even gaining a pound. Then I lose 5-8 more then yet another stall. I'm assuming it's just my bodies way of weight loss... But I eat healthy I cut all sugar and eat moderate heathy carbs. I hit at least 7-800 calories a day. I don't work out hard but I do my standard Cardio exercise.

I track every calorie, push my Protein and do my best to get my Water in (I still struggle there) I am down 50 pounds so I am THRILLED with my results so far. I'm just confused.

This past week I was so frustrated and had a bad week... I said F it I am not following a diet this week.... I had pizza and snickers ice cream bars and even my favorite cheeses cake! I felt so guilty after 3 days of eating complete crap I was afraid to even look at the scale. Lol BUT I got on and my mouth dropped... How in the world did I lose 5 pounds in 3 days of me eating CRAP!!! lol I'm so confused. No I will not continue to eat poorly. But I wonder if it's good to shake your body up a bit after stalling and keeping everything the same for a while? Anyone else lose in weird ways?

[deangelia 12]

I have not been sleeved yet, but I will say that in the past when I have done that it does seem to help your body to,change things up and then go back to your diet. I can't speak to the sleeved life yet as. I am still on preOp process.

[AvaFern 3,516]

Lol, isn't that funny how that works? Over Christmas I had about 2-3 weeks of eating total junk and I ended up losing a pound in the process. Granted, if I did that all the time I seriously doubt it would work out so well, but as an occassional thing, I do sometimes think that having a few days of junk might be good for you. For me at least, it kills any cravings I had and then I generally don't feel very good afterward and I'm happy to be back on a diet.

[kikicoates78 220]

I started tracking to watch for trends. Like ok this was a great weight loss week what did I eat... Lol well there is no rhyme or reason. Several years ago I went on a big diet and exercise plan and I lost 75 pounds. By doing tracking I found out what was best for me. With my sleeve NOT SO MYCH!! I tell myself just don't get in the scales! But I can't. I weigh daily. Even have an app for daily weights. The only thing I know for sure is when I lose 5-8 pounds the next week i for sure stand still. Doesn't matter what I do.

[woo woo 872]

I have always suspected that varying my calories from from day to day, with some days being high calorie, some low, some middle helps drop weight.

[par1959 470]

What I have learned is there is no rhyme or reason. The math using calories does not work in the short term. However,in the long run they kind of do. I have gone a week or two with nothing then wake up one morning and 5 lbs were gone. Stay on plan and the weight will come off.

[Inner Surfer Girl 12,015]

I am not sleeved yet but after years of dieting I can tell you that our metabolism is complex -- you CANNOT expect to see something you ate or didn't eat to show up immediately on the scale. It drives me crazy when someone equates the inputs and the outputs in real time. We are complex machines with many, many variables. It's a system not a simple in/out equation.

[Seahawkgirl 129]

I take a day off about every 10 days or two weeks. I think it's good to shake things up as long as I get right back to business the next day. Super bowl Sunday here I come!!! : )

[kikicoates78 220]

I read one girls post that had my stats (very short) same weight. She lost 130 pounds, and said she always had a cheat weekend day it worked well for her. I dunno like I said my body loses odd. All has been proportionate and like I said I'm not at all going to start eating badly all the time. But maybe a carefree day a week is what I need. We will see. I will test it out for a month ????

[ualaw08 270]

I have a cheat weekend where I may eat something like pizza or fajitas or M&M's. Sometimes I'll see a drop on the scale after that increase in carbs/ calories.

[kelpimarie 7]

What you eat today and what activity you do today will not reflect today...it doesn't work like that. When you lose you are seeing anywhere from a month or two back, so when you hit your stall think about what you were eating and doing 4-6 weeks ago. The junk your eating will reflect later, and in the same note don't get frustrated when you go to the gym for a week and work your ass off, you'll see that result in a few weeks.

[peki31 37]

What you eat today and what activity you do today will not reflect today...it doesn't work like that. When you lose you are seeing anywhere from a month or two back, so when you hit your stall think about what you were eating and doing 4-6 weeks ago. The junk your eating will reflect later, and in the same note don't get frustrated when you go to the gym for a week and work your ass off, you'll see that result in a few weeks.

Do you have an article or anything to back this up? I don't see how this is possible. For instance I did 2 days on the pre-op diet and lost 7 pounds. Pretty sure I lost that weight from from those 2 days and not from the crap that I ate 4-6 weeks prior.

Maybe eating bad will take a couple of days to catch up to you, but there is no way that it will 4-6 weeks later, unless you eat bad on a regular basis.

[Babbs 14,681]

@@kikicoates78

That is my philosophy also. My weight loss is very similar to yours...lose a little for a couple weeks, stall, lose a little more or gain a pound and stay there...you know the drill. I just think shaking things up and increasing your caloric intake for a day or so usually will do the trick to break the stall. Those are the days I only eat "bad" carbs like bread, crackers, and so forth. You aren't crazy. Obviously it worked for you, and it works for me, so the conclusion is there is something to it.

[JerseyCityGal 231]

I dated a personal trainer for years and he always advised his clients to stagger their calories and keep their metabolism guessing. I'll use 1,000 calories daily average for an example.

M 975

T 850

W 1200

T 975

F 850

S 950

S 1200

[DarkerIncubi 0]

When I'm on a strict diet (as I am with the gastric sleeve) I find it is helpful to cheat 1-3 meals/week, mostly Friday and going into the weekend. Usually one meal is nice, greasy American food such as burgers or pizza or a frappe. Another meal is usually at at a nice restaurant and I don't want to worry about "Protein first", and just pick what I want off the menu. I don't do doggy bags so I don't have to worry about eating poorly during the week. I have to do Portion Control due to the sleeve so I can't very far over to the dark side.

The food diary (myfitnesspal) is helpful because it quantifies the extra calories and provides some perspective on my meal habits. Typically I have a 500 calorie day and if I have a 1000 calorie day every now and then, so what? I still lost weight on the 1000 calorie day. This perspective helps me avoid self defeating thinking such as "I ate poorly yesterday and screwed up. So I'll just eat what I want today, since I already broke things yesterday".