Days off dieting

oremus1

Normally my diet and sport is fairly strict, but when I have a day off and don't count cals and just eat whatever I like, I usually drop a few pounds right the day after. really helps when I hit a plateau. how on earth does this work?

Just to be clear, on my days off I am not eating cakes all day - but I might have a pastry for breakfast, go to a restaurant for lunch or a pizza, and have a healthy pasta dinner. I might have a chocolate bar if I fancy it. calorie wise it is probably high, carb wise it is crazy. but the weight I am AFTER this day is always my lowest

HeySwoleSister

Day to day fluctuations won't reflect fat gain or loss, it almost completely water retention.

Consider logging the "days off" and think of them as just ordinary days. You may be surprised at how your nutrition profile for the week plays out. You might even find that loosening up your restriction is helping you because you feel more satisfied getting to enjoy moderate servings of your treats, and/or your workouts may have better energy backing them up with a slight rise in calories.

TimothyFish

I think it is more of a physical thing than a chemical thing. By adding more food than normal, you put more pressure in your digestive tract and your body releases the undigested food more quickly. By weight, it releases more food than you consume, so the scale weight goes down.

jemhh

EWJLang wrote: »

Day to day fluctuations won't reflect fat gain or loss, it almost completely water retention.

Consider logging the "days off" and think of them as just ordinary days. You may be surprised at how your nutrition profile for the week plays out. You might even find that loosening up your restriction is helping you because you feel more satisfied getting to enjoy moderate servings of your treats, and/or your workouts may have better energy backing them up with a slight rise in calories.

TimothyFish wrote: »

I think it is more of a physical thing than a chemical thing. By adding more food than normal, you put more pressure in your digestive tract and your body releases the undigested food more quickly. By weight, it releases more food than you consume, so the scale weight goes down.

All of this. Plus, you may lose some water weight on a non-exercise day. I usually will go down a slight bit after a rest day. And on the rare day when I don't log, if I go back and calculate my calories, I usually find that I didn't eat as crazy as I thought. Once you have been measuring and logging and paying attention to your food, it becomes part of your habits so you are more likely to give yourself normal servings and self-regulate better. I notice this kind of thing when we go to The Cheesecake Factory and I get a dinner salad and a piece of cheesecake and end up not wanting to eat the whole piece of cheesecake because I feel full. That never would have happened 18 months ago.