It's all about staying on track after that one day. I take one day a week where I eat a little more 'freely', but within limits. It really helps the craving and binge eating. Even when you are so mad you can eat a whole cow! I've always said pizza is good for you. Has all the food groups if ya order it right, and light cheese. The one you got sounds delicious!

yes I agree...how bothersome the posts are with quotes like "I ate an extra apple today, will I gain 10 pounds?!?!?!" ARG

Anyway...I had a "cheat day" or free eating day as I call it on my birthday a few weeks ago...I approximated 4000 calories, burning only 1872....did it affect my weekly weigh in? NO...is my weigh in the day after? NO haha....am I back on track and have been since then..YES...as I sip on my coffee with one splenda/no creamer :D

The next free eating day is the 4th of July...oooo I cant wait! Grandmas cooking is the best!  The next one after that will probably be Thanksgiving....gives me something to look forward to and motivation to keep on track....

I hear ya. I ate a giant donut, 2 greasy tacos, and a bowl of chilli last Thursday; I weighed myself last night and I found that I still lost a pound. I'm erally believing that it's all about moderation and exercising control. You can consume whatever you want, just be reasonable and you should be fine.

nicksusanchamplu - I completely agree. I love having a day where I don't stress out about how much I'm eating. And now I'm happy because yesterday filled every major craving I have. And the pizza was delicious! I think I'll make it at home some time.

I agree. I ate well within my calories yesterday and then went to a baseball game and had nachos with lots of cheese sauce. And ohmygosh they were worth every calorie. I figured for sure the sodium alone would have me up at least two pounds, which is normal for me with excess sodium. Nope, down half a pound. But the little devil on my shoulder says "would it have been more had you not eaten the nachos?"

davefiredancer19  Happy Late Birthday!  :)   Ya, those posts make me sad.   I feel bad that people are so incredibly concerned with every single calorie.   We all just need to keep things in moderation & have fun once in a while.   And I've had days where it was 4000 calories too.   I still lost weight that week too.   Hurray for coffee with splenda!  I always have a splash (really just a splash) of fat free half & half.  But I could probably do without that.  It's my comfort "food" though.

mortalmonkey - That's it!  Those days & treats have to happen too or it's far too likely you will fail.  And good job on losing too.

fringe1000 - they really are worth every calorie.  I love nachos, especially at baseball, basketball, whatever games.   I usually gain a bunch of weight from sodium too, but not always.  And I would tell the little devil to eat a chip and be quiet.  :)

oh crap now I want nachos :D  my little town actually had a festival yesterday...the healthiest thing I could find was italian ice :D which wasnt as bad as I thought it was....DBF had a pulled pork BBQ sandwhich (HUGE)....there was also funnel cakes, nachos, frozen lemonaid...good lord...the smell alone made me drool.  I could have had something else but I didn't.  Plus we walked there..1 mile each way...

Thanks diyeana! Those 4000 were worth every single calorie (and penny, we had sushi for lunch...the good stuff..tempura, avocado, cream cheese, etc...yum..it was costly :D). I also had margaritas, italian food for dinner, ben and jerrys...I was stuffed haha....and the coffee is chocolate flavored...YUMMOOOO...I thought about putting in a tablespoon of heavy cream but it doesnt need it.

And really, we're just estimating everything anyway ya know? I think people forget that. 

CD...that so figures!!! (no pun intended..hahaha)

Its probably that "metabolism kick in the ass" that people always talk about while trying to reassure the previously mentioned "OMG I ATE AN APPLE" girls

eta: your dress is GORGEOUS! LOVE IT.

davefiredancer19 - Oooo, now I want margaritas!  haha  Maybe I can squeeze one (or three!) in next weekend.  :)   I'm impressed you stayed away from all the tempting food at the festival.  And it's true - it is all estimates.  I'm sure we all are under or over every day.  Unless we only eat pre-packaged foods.  And even THEY are a bit off (i.e. they typically round down...)

cellulitedelight - that's quite a diet plan you have there.   It's too bad it made you LOSE weight.  Is that your wedding dress in the pics you have?  The white flowery one.  It's really pretty one way or another.  And you look great in it.

i had a similar strange experience, after a four day binge of no less than 1700 cals and as much as 2000 (my goal is between 1200 and 1400) i lost three lbs in what seemed like an instant. and i've been losing quickly since!

it must be some freak metabolism thing.

I love this! haha It really helps me want to carry on when I know that I'm allowed to tret myself now and again. I'm having a real power trip over my body atm, but it's only my 4th day, so hopefully I'll settle down and start treating my diet less like a regime and more like a hobby.

I'm looking forward to pizza on sunday now! woo!

yay for yummy weekends!! I had one too, and I've been waiting for a great chance to talk about it!!! Thursday night I convinced my boyfriend to take me out for dinner (really thats a rare occurrence) and I had fried calamari, the good stuff off the salad, a roll WITh butter, half a bottle of chianti AND eggplant parmigiana (but, despite my best efforts, only got about half of it in me, I was stuffed!!). friday was normal then Saturday we went down to the keys and drink beer all day, had a half a bag (it sure felt like half the bag anyway) of salt and vinegar potato chips, a cold slice of everything on it and thick crusted pizza from some chain. then we went out for dinner. ooh, blackened yellow fin tuna medium rare with onion and tartar sauce on a yummy potato roll with some fries. oh gawd, what a lovely lovely weekend. the sun was beauteous, the water was warm and clear. I had a trash book I found that was just totally crappy and worth every second. it was marvelous.

I don't have a scale but my clothes are fitting just fine. it was so worth it.

edit: I forgot the key lime pie I split with the boy.  it was so so good (the real thing!!!!)

I've experienced that too and it's a really weird feeling to know you pigged out and should have a gain number and look at the scale and it's less then prior to eating without restraint (or having a few beers).  I think part of it is I am active and my metablosim is faster then what it had been and I'm diligent with respect to exercising daily and eating healthy. 

I ate a ton of crap today, yet I'm still under my limit. I feel really guilty, but I just hope I can rely on my deficit. I ate 3 oreo cookies, 2 chips ahoy cookies, and a donut. I did play basketball for an hour and a half though, and those cookies essentially replaced my diner so...