Make the most of a crash and burn?

[somebodys_sweet_pea]

Hi there! Hoping someone can give me a little insight...

I am by no means dieting and hate the concept. However, I am trying to strictly alter my eating habbits as a way to maintain my current weight, stay healthy and get into better shape (as my metabolism slowly dies ). Anyway, I have heard that if you're going to "fall off the wagon" so to speak, you may as well go all out as your body can only absorb so many fats and calories per day.

I went out to a (YUMMMMMY ) mexican restaurant last night and got the special along with a HUGE, delicious margarita! Later, before bed, I had a piece of cherry chocolate cheesecake, figuring that if the above logic was true, I might as well (since the dang thing has been teasing me from the fridge for days...). Did I do tripple damage? Is it better to comprimise and say I will get a drink but need a healthy dinner with no desert? Or should I just go buck wild and get it out of my system? It is not hard for me to eat well day to day, but on the days I go "bad" or have an event, it would be nice to just cross that day off if the max cal/fat thing is true.

(I'm staying strong today, and I left the leftovers in the fridge for DH! )
Let me know your thoughts... THANKS!

[Denise!]

Funny Yeah, if I'm going to go out for Mexican food, which is rare, I'm eating a platter full and TWO margaritas We don't dine out a lot. We did go out for Valentine's day and yep, I had the filet mignon and the bleu cheese risotto fritters and didn't feel a minute's worth of guilt. Sundays, we can eat whatever we want, we try to watch what we eat the rest of the week. The very key thing for us? If we do fall off the bike, we get right back on it the next day and have something very healthy for the next few days. Make up eating

[justcallmetoni]

I think the premise may not be true - that your body has some maximum number of calories that it can absorb at a time - so the excess doesn't count.

That said, occasional splurges are really a part of a healthy lifestyle. Being too strict comes at a cost.

Hope the cheesecake was good.

[Houseblend]

This premise is untrue according to any and all classes I've ever taken. There is no "max" calories your body will absorb each day. Your body will attempt to store ALL calories above and beyond what it uses to keep you alive and functioning for that day. I know it may seem more fun to overindulge big if you're going to overindulge at all, but in fact, it is much better to get back on track after overindulging. Better yet- treat yourself occasionally so you don't feel so compelled to overindulge!

[terminatedtrashpile]

"You may as well go all out as your body can only absorb so many fats and calories per day. "

Spews soda all over keyboard.
Wipes keyboard off.

Someone has been camping in Never Never Land with Shrek and the Good fairy I see.

Listen, you eat it, you keep it. You eat 3500 calories extra, you gain a pound [not to speak of what the salt will do to your water retention.] And that fat has 9 calories a gram. You eat more than 3500 extra, you gain more than a pound.

Sorry. The body can process ALL the extra calories and fat you consume. It is a very efficient engine designed to keep you going when food isn't available [famine] and it just doesn't unlearn it because we reached 2010. It's basic Health 101.

And I hate to tell you this but a healthy dinner is NOT going to counteract what you did. Neither is a couple hours exercise. To track the damage use
http://dailyburn.com/
http://www.thedailyplate.com/

to log the food and log what it takes to get it off.

The idea is to balance out during the week but after a large binge of food you buy at the restaurant or preprocessed, you have a much higher price to pay than if you made your own chocolate cake and ate two slices. You get more sodium and some other stuff that is really going to play havoc on your weight.

Make a weekly calorie goal, aim for that and don't make any day cause another day to go under the minimum you MUST have for health. That really does give you a lot to play with.

If your RMR is say 2500 [counting what you burn in daily living] and your maintain this weight is actually 3000 [we are saying you work out a lot because that is 500 calories a day] Then you have 500 calories to play with each day or 3500 a week. You can then add exercise to make up for a splurge over that 3500 or just don't eat more than that.

If you eat more than your body can process in a day... That is right up there with You have to eat Cholesterol to be healthy.