| | Water Fasting

Super Bowl

Hi All! Super thankful for this community. I started 16:8 at the beginning of January. I’ve lost 5lbs so far. I have always had a relatively “clean” diet due to food intolerances. I think late night snacking and the stress from my job got the best of me and I gained almost 30lbs in the last year. My SW:182lbs CW:177lbs GW: 130lbs. I have completely cut out sugars, eat low carb, and have been strict with my fasting. I have really been ramping up my workouts the past couple weeks to 4 resistance workouts a week and walking at least 2 miles a day burning 400-600cal a day. I am going on vacation in a couple weeks and hope to lose a few more. I am expected to do the Super Bowl spread, as we are hosting. I am keeping everything gluten and dairy free for myself, but it’s definitely going to be a higher cal/carb day. I plan on fasting a bit longer that day and going harder on my workout. My question is, can this one day completely derail/stall my progress? Or can the shock be good to prevent a plateau? I wouldn’t be so concerned if I wasn’t going on vacation in a couple weeks.

Answer

One day is not going to completely derail your progress. Your water weight may go up because of the additional carbs but it’s just water and will go back down, as long as you get right back on track the next day.

Answer

I agree with nobodyshome123. If you jump right in to your routine the next day you shouldn’t have any real lasting repercussions from one day of indulging. I’d skip the scale for the three days afterwards if seeing a brief uptick would discourage or derail your progress.

I tend to think of the increase on the scale from one-day indulgence as “ghost weight”: it can disappear like it’s never been there as long as I immediately return to good habits. It will linger longer (and increase) if I don’t pull myself back after a day or two.

Answer

If you wanted to you could eat 16 ice cream cakes and wash it down with root beer. One day is inconsequential in the long run. Your stomach has likely adjusted to the lower intake so you won’t have room to eat that much anyway. You might feel like crap if you eat a bunch of sugar, but a single cheat day doesn’t really do anything to your journey as a whole.