Fashionable nutrition myths: One bad meal ruins everything

The ‘one bad meal’ myth

This is one I hear all the time from well-intentioned dieters. They've been really disciplined for a while on their nutrition plan, and then have a slice of cake or a plate of nachos (or both) and then think that they will immediately gain weight.

What makes it worse is that they get on the scale the following day, and sure enough, they have added a kilo or two!

So can one bad meal really make you fatter?

NO! If it's really just one bad meal amongst a general trend of good ones, then you will not get fatter from that one meal.

Your body works with averages across time.  This is why you can't see yourself getting thinner when you eat a salad.

This is why you can't see yourself getting thinner when you eat a salad.

What DOES happen when you eat the bad meal is that you gain some extra water weight and (most likely) get bloated, causing you to look more puffy and appear heavier on the scale too.

Two days later after return to disciplined eating, and you'll be back to normal.

All you need to do is avoid getting demoralised by your 'weight gain' from the bad meal and begin a downward spiral of bad eating because you've messed up. THAT will make you fatter.

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