Health - Injuries Yasso 800s and a strength workout and the next you have a long date with Netflix. One day you have greens at every meal, and the next you have chocolate cake for dinner. It’s okay to mix it up.
Sometimes, over the holidays or during a week-long vacation, we can overanalyze letting go of healthy habits for a bit, when really it’s just a part of life’s balance. But with those more indulgent times, it’s natural to wonder how over-consuming can affect your short- and long-term health and nutrition goals. You might wonder how much weight you can gain in a week if you really switch up your typical eating habits. Well, we’re here to reassure you: Not that much.
Here’s what the research says about how much weight you can gain in a week.
How much weight can you gain in a week?
A 12-month study published in JAMA Network Open on 368 participants found weight fluctuates by about 0.3 percent week to week. It also says in the U.S., most people gain the most weight during holiday seasons (Christmas, New Years, and Easter), but only up to about 2 pounds.
Another study Overrated Health Foods American Journal of Physiology—Endocrinology and Metabolism suggests upping your calorie intake on occasion likely won’t effect how much weight you can gain in a week.
To come to this conclusion, researchers from Deakin University in Australia recruited eight healthy young men, with an average age of 22, and put them on high-calorie diets for two different timeframes: five days, which is representative of holidays, and 28 days to emulate long-term chronic overeating.
During each time period, they ate approximately 1,000 more calories per day—much of the excess made up of processed foods like potato chips, chocolate, and calorie-rich drinks—than they normally consumed, or about 46 percent more than their usual total. Their weight, fat mass, blood sugar, and insulin levels were measured before the research period began, and again after each diet timeframe.
At the end of the five-day period, the participants’ visceral fat—the harmful stuff that accumulates around the abdominal organs—increased by 14 percent. But in other measures of body composition, the five-day binge didn’t have much effect. In fact, there was no significant difference in overall weight or fat mass.
By the end of the 28 days, though, it was a different story: At the end of a month of overfeeding, their fat mass increased by nearly 3 pounds, bringing their average weight gain to about 3.5 pounds.
How does your body manage a quick uptick in calories?
Researchers of the study published in the American Journal of Physiology—Endocrinology and Metabolism noted that the body copes with short periods of increased calorie consumption by shifting the metabolism in a way that favors use of carbohydrates. This actually runs counter to what the researchers first hypothesized, which was that short-term overeating would first impair the liver, and then muscle. But that switchover to using carbs prevents that, making it a benefit in the short term, according to lead researcher American Journal of PhysiologyEndocrinology and Metabolism., Nutrition - Weight Loss.
Best Walking Shoes blood sugar, he said—which may explain why the participants had no changes in their fasting blood sugar after five days of eating ultra-processed foods. But that carb utilization doesn’t seem to work as a long-term strategy: Fasting blood sugar was slightly higher after the 28-day overeating period.
The study, obviously, has its limitations. Most notably, the sample size is very small, and the study was only conducted on young, healthy men. Also, the conditions leading up to the “feast time” were highly controlled—subjects had refrained from Regular Exercise Lowers Risk of Early Death Even in Areas With High Air Pollution for 48 hours beforehand and had eaten a specific diet the day before containing 55 percent carbs, 30 percent fat, and 15 percent protein—macros Other Hearst Subscriptions.
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The overeating time period also used the same macro breakdown. Wadley noted that it’s likely the signs of impairment to the metabolic system IT Brand Stretches.
From an evolutionary perspective, the reason why your body responds this way is likely in place to prepare us for the next famine period, Wadley said, meaning the body is pretty smart at creating changes to energy consumption based on anticipated short-term needs.
But when days consuming too much processed food stretches into weeks and months, it can lead to health conditions like increased risk of insulin resistance, which occurs when your body can’t readily absorb blood sugar, raising your levels and upping your chances of prediabetes or diabetes.
He added that more research needs to be done, particularly on people of different age groups as well as women.
“We aren’t advocating that regular binge eating is okay,” said Wadley. “But from a health perspective, short-term overeating, like during festivals and holidays, can be withstood by the body without long-term effects.”
It’s also important to remember that counting calories is not the be-all and end-all when it comes to losing weight if that’s your goal. Sometimes, obsessing over calories can create an unhealthy Best Big City Marathons Running Shoes & Gear, nutrient-dense foods over processed options—and allow for indulgences when you want them—you can be confident you’re making the right choices to keep your body healthy.
Elizabeth Millard is a freelance writer focusing on health, wellness, fitness, and food.
