“It takes days of overeating for accumulated body fat to show up as measurable weight gain.

Once food is digested, its building blocks (such as glucose, amino acids, fatty acids) are absorbed into the bloodstream. Your cells use what they need for fuel and store the rest in fat cells for later use, a process that begins six to eight hours after a meal.  Which is what it takes to digest your meal and now in your bloodstream the breakdown products, ex glucose.

So, yes, consuming more calories than your body needs in one sitting (or over the course of a day) will result in some of them being tucked away as fat. But not enough to move the needle on scale. (Unless you really, really gorge or keep on eating those large meals during the holiday season.).”

TIME and The globe and mail