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Originally Posted by James Newman
Now that I think about it, a thread on Damage Control Strategies might be fun. We have posted some ideas to help prevent tough situations and a few ideas about what to do when we find ourselves in difficult eating/training situations....but I know this group is a gold mine in this area...
Newman
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First, I want everyone posting in here to know how touched and inspired I am from some of your posts. You may not think so, as my past few years have been spent trying to "fine tune" myself and actually put on some good weight, but I'm constantly challenged.
I lost most of my weight several years ago, but I'm still not satisfied. I'm happy with myself, and happy that I lost the fat, but when you get complacent... Well, just don't get complacent, okay?
In the "how much have you lost?" thread, Newman suggested starting another thread on damage control. So, here we go! (I get to be first, so there!)
Obviously, the best way to control damage is to avoid the situation, but that's a cop out. We all get in a dietary pickle, periodically. How do we drag our sorry butts out of it? This is my number one tip.
Every meal stands alone
You just blew it at breakfast. The rest of the day is not ruined unless you choose to ruin it. So don't throw in the towel and plan to start fresh tomorrow. Start fresh now and three hours or so later, eat your normal meal or snack, as scheduled.
Then, don't look back
except to tell yourself that you don't want to blow it again. Remember that overcompensating by starving yourself can lead to a binge, as starving yourself will just result in more intense feelings of hunger. It's too risky.
Now, if you're truly not hungry enough for a full meal or snack, by all means postpone it a little bit or tailor it down. But, it's important to get back onto your schedule.
You might be thinking that this little mantra of "each meal stands alone" is just words, but it's not. What's magical about keeping under your 2000 calorie limit in a 24 hour period? Nothing. 24 hours is an arbitrary amount of time as far as your diet is concerned. We segment our lives into hours and 24 hour days, but as far as your food and fat loss goes, it's arbitrary.
At any given period of time, you are in a caloric surplus or deficit. If you eat too much, after 5 or 6 hours, that food is basically done. Your body is onto the next meal. Your job is to keep your metabolism stoked by giving it just enough steady calories to keep steadily losing fat. Starving your body punishes your mind and teaches your nothing. It makes you hungrier than you need to be and slows your metabolism (exactly what you don't want when you're trying to get back into the swing of things).
Realizing that "every meal stands alone" has helped me many times after a binge, or even after one of those "free lunches" that you just couldn't turn down. The key is to remember the tip.