The Fastest Way to Ruin a Fat Loss Phase
What to do, and not to do, if you miss your calorie targets in a fat loss phase!
it happens to everyone
At some point in your calorie deficit, it happens.
You have an unplanned party, mis-track something, or simply eat more than intended. Then you go over your calorie targets: maybe by a little, maybe by a lot.
Your first instinct? Damage control. Cut your food the next day to “even it out,” and make the weekly averages work.
That logic makes sense on paper, but when it comes to actual results and real life? It’s the fast track to spinning your wheels and burning out on your deficit.
Here’s what you should do instead 👉
One of these 3 Happened:
✅ Option 1: You were still in a deficit
Sure, you might have gone over your targets, but if you were below maintenance? All that means is you had a slower fat loss that day than intended, but you’re still progressing overall.
☑️ Option 2: You ate at maintenance.
You just had a non-progress day. Not ideal, but it’s not derailing your deficit; in fact, we often have our clients build in 1-2 maintenance days per month.
❌ Option 3: You ate into a surplus.
If this is a one-off, we treat it the same way as Option 2. But if this is happening frequently, especially with loss of control or binge-like behavior, this is your STOP sign. It tells us the deficit may be too steep, the food quality may be off, or your stress/hunger cues may be waving red flags.
WHat not to do
The knee-jerk response?
"I went over by 300 calories today. I’ll just eat 300 fewer tomorrow to make up for it."
This creates what we call boomerang hunger.
By under-eating to compensate for a “high day,” especially below your set fat loss minimum targets, you crank up hunger hormones, and often end up with another high day the following day.
This creates a yo-yo cycle that makes fat loss phases harder to sustain and eventually has you bailing early from the whiplash.
You are not cinderella
Unlike Cinderella, your body doesn’t reset at midnight.
Your body keeps the score.
Repeated low-high swing cycles can lead to:
Poor biofeedback
Out-of-control cravings
“Binge & restrict” cycles
Collateral fattening (creating a low-adapted maintenance state and having your body start to store body fat aggressively on these high days)
what to do instead:
When these high days happen in a deficit, the best thing we can do is learn from them.
First, Resume Normal Targets Immediately
Whether you were just a bit over or had a full-blown surplus day, go back to your normal targets the next day.
Step 1: Assess why it happened
Was it emotional eating? Stress? Unpreparedness?
Were your meals lacking protein or fiber?
Did you skip meals or try to "save up" for later?
Step 2: Make a Plan for the next time
Eat a full dinner before events.
Frontload protein and fiber earlier in the day.
Don’t “save up” all day to splurge later.
why this works
Progress in a deficit is about consistency over the long haul, and your ability to stay consistent.
One off-plan day will not derail a well-structured deficit, but trying to constantly balance the books by under-eating afterward often leads to bigger setbacks.
It’s better to have one less fat loss day than to compromise multiple days, creating boomerang hunger by chasing perfection.
Three or four inconsistent days per week will stall a deficit far faster than a single non-progress day ever could
