IS IT OK?

johnford68

During the week I am really good with my diet. I'm eating less but often. At weekend I just stuck to 3 meals. On Saturdays I sack my diet off and eat what I want drink what I want but I feel really guilty. I've lost 5lb so far but need to lose a further 2 stone. Am I ok carrying on doing this or will it affect me?

malibu927

Just make sure you log it so you know how much you're eating. Cheat days can wipe out a person's entire deficit if they aren't careful. Personally, I just work everything into my goals.

lorrpb

Guilt does not stall weight loss. It depends on what your total CICO is for the week. 5 lbs and 1-2 weeks is Too soon to say since the losses likely water weight. I could not be successful on your plan. You will just have to watch it for awhile and be prepared to make gradual chNges if needed.

johnford68

I do count my calories and I'm 11 over my allowance. Usually during the week I'm short by anything between 600 and 1000 calories

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Kalikel

Log everything. Even on the "Eat and drink whatever I want" days, log everything.

You'll be able to see if it's helping or hurting when you take a look at your weeks and months.

ncboiler89

Kalikel wrote: »

Log everything. Even on the "Eat and drink whatever I want" days, log everything.

You'll be able to see if it's helping or hurting when you take a look at your weeks and months.

Absolutely this.

kelieghjane

I've done this before and it will eventually stall your weight loss. Instead of a cheat day how about a cheat meal?

johnford68

Isn't it really just a cheat meal as I'm having the same breakfast as usual juat not having the other meals I usually have during my main meals? I have a pizza from asda and a few beers. Surely if my calorie intake is under for 5 days out of 7 shouldn't I still lose the weight? I am going to the gym 3/4 times a week as well

misskarne

Can I ask how many calories you're eating during the week?

middlehaitch

Work out your weekly calorie intake and aim for that instead of a daily intake. Don't go below 1200 cals a day as it may do you more harm than good in the long run.

Weigh and log everything. Yup, I have had days where the alcohol has been scarey, I log them anyway. Luckily they are far and few between.

Cheers, h.

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becbo22

What I prefer to do is have a day where I eat to maintenance calories. For one day I will set MFP to "maintain current weight" and that usually gives me plenty of wiggle room for treats. Plus, you won't undo all of the hard work you put in during the week. I only recently started with these maintenance days and only plan to use them when I feel like I really need it.

barryplumber

If you must but it's not a good idea and like everyone said log it all, so you will know what to blame it on when you gain or just stop losing.

You need to teach your body that you don't want or need all those extra calories. Cheat days as people call them can do nothing more then teach you to fail. You are beginning a new life style, the sooner your body excepts this the easier it gets.

lynn_glenmont

johnford68 wrote: »

I do count my calories and I'm 11 over my allowance. Usually during the week I'm short by anything between 600 and 1000 calories

Seems like everybody has read right past this. If "my allowance" means the goal MFP set for you (and you told MFP you wanted to lose weight), that means that one day out of the week you're actually eating as much as you're supposed to, and eating below your goal by 600 to 1000 calories a day on the other five or six days (it's not clear from your post what you're doing on Sundays). So, assuming you're logging accurately, you should lose one to two pounds a week more than you told MFP you wanted to lose.

kgeyser

johnford68 wrote: »

I do count my calories and I'm 11 over my allowance. Usually during the week I'm short by anything between 600 and 1000 calories

600 to 1000 calories under your goal each day is a quite a lot. Some people save up a hundred calories here and there so they can eat more on a weekend, but with the numbers you're giving, I have concerns that you might be creating an undereating/binge cycle, and since you say you feel guilty…that's really not a good thing. And if you're not tracking your food on weekends, it's really not a good thing, as you could be undoing your progress by overeating.

I would recommend eating closer to your calorie goal during the week, and maybe banking a few hundred extra calories for the weekend if you like to have a little more flexibility on those days. Since your diary is closed, I can't see what you are eating, but 600-1000 is more than enough to work some of the foods that you're "saving for the weekend" into your week if that's something that would work for you and help you stay on track. If it's a matter of portion control with those foods, then your plan of limiting the frequency can be helpful in sticking to your calorie deficit, but perhaps you just bank a few extra calories so you can have one treat on the weekend versus all the treats.

lynn_glenmont

kgeyser wrote: »

johnford68 wrote: »

I do count my calories and I'm 11 over my allowance. Usually during the week I'm short by anything between 600 and 1000 calories

600 to 1000 calories under your goal each day is a quite a lot. Some people save up a hundred calories here and there so they can eat more on a weekend, but with the numbers you're giving, I have concerns that you might be creating an undereating/binge cycle, and since you say you feel guilty…that's really not a good thing. And if you're not tracking your food on weekends, it's really not a good thing, as you could be undoing your progress by overeating.

I would recommend eating closer to your calorie goal during the week, and maybe banking a few hundred extra calories for the weekend if you like to have a little more flexibility on those days. Since your diary is closed, I can't see what you are eating, but 600-1000 is more than enough to work some of the foods that you're "saving for the weekend" into your week if that's something that would work for you and help you stay on track. If it's a matter of portion control with those foods, then your plan of limiting the frequency can be helpful in sticking to your calorie deficit, but perhaps you just bank a few extra calories so you can have one treat on the weekend versus all the treats.

How is 11 calories over goal a binge? And OP is already fitting his treats into his calorie allotment (11 calories over goal is meaningless; everyone's logging has a larger daily margin of error than 11 calories).

atypicalsmith

What is this post asking for? I'm clueless here.

RodaRose

johnford68 wrote: »

During the week I am really good with my diet. I'm eating less but often. At weekend I just stuck to 3 meals. On Saturdays I sack my diet off and eat what I want drink what I want but I feel really guilty. I've lost 5lb so far but need to lose a further 2 stone. Am I ok carrying on doing this or will it affect me?

There is no "guilt" involved in eating more on the weekends. More is just "more." If your eating plan works for you, keep doing it, if not make some changes. If you make changes, do so because you want to adjust the plan.

azulvioleta6

It will probably slow your progress a little, but if it works for you...why not?

Your eating habits are your own choice.

MysticRealm

It depends on how little you are eating during the week if it's ok. If your cal goal per day is 1500 and you are eating under that by 600-1000 cals then that's not good. You need to eat more to fuel your body. If your cal goal is 2500 a day then you could get away with it, but if you still don't want to create a major deficit during the week as your body needs cals to have energy and nutrition. I would instead try to eat under my cals by 200 to 500 at most (staying above 1500 cals a day as that is generally considered the lowest men should ever go).
That still gives you plenty to have fun with on the weekend. Do be aware that you may have water weight gains after the weekend since your sodium, carbs, and food weight will be more.