1 day off from counting calories a week?

Anabug81

Yes, on Sunday my rest day!

slava977

I started on the weight loss journey exactly a month ago and I can tell that I won't be able to track calories every day.. there are days when I'm out all day and there is just no way to measure or estimate the amount of calories in something which I buy already prepared.. How do I estimate the amount of calories in a bowl of Hot&Sour soup from a small family restaurant? Or the amount of calories in a home made cabbage roll which I had visiting my friends? Whatever I input would not be accurate - so I'd rather input nothing for that day.

I know some people need to be super strict about tracking every day but I think others are ok to skip one day a week.

slava977

I forgot to add - "others are ok to skip one day a week as long as they are still reaching their goals". Would be a shame to put a lot of effort 6 days a week only to undo everything on day #7. Perhaps track 7 days a week for 1 month and then 6 days a week in the 2nd month - and see if your results are same.

PaulaWallaDingDong

It wouldn't work for me. One trip to my favorite pizza/seafood/chinese/fast food place would mow down my deficit in a heart beat.

almostanangel21

slava977 wrote: »

I started on the weight loss journey exactly a month ago and I can tell that I won't be able to track calories every day.. there are days when I'm out all day and there is just no way to measure or estimate the amount of calories in something which I buy already prepared.. How do I estimate the amount of calories in a bowl of Hot&Sour soup from a small family restaurant? Or the amount of calories in a home made cabbage roll which I had visiting my friends? Whatever I input would not be accurate - so I'd rather input nothing for that day.

I have this problem, too; we tend to go out for brunch and do things like hit the movies or sightsee on Sundays. I text myself with what I've eaten and try to find an equivalent, but I know that it can't be accurate. (E.g. there's no listing for a restaurant-made blueberry waffle. We try to eat/shop locally, but the downside of that is that they often don't have nutrition info.) I still log it though, and that brings me back to OP's question.

I'm just now back on MFP, but from my past go-round, I know that not logging actually tempts me to eat unhealthy things that I normally wouldn't; I have a day off from "confessing," so to speak. It sounds like you're pretty balanced about your eating as a habit, but my concern would be that your brain might trick you into eating more on unlogged days, even if you didn't consciously make that a "cheat day." Everyone's different; maybe try it for a month and see if your progress stalls.

Wolfena

Eventually you will be able to calculate in your head what you are eating and won't NEED to log in the diary.... Some people enjoy it, I think it's a pain in the butt and can't imagine doing it every day for the rest of my life.

Anyway, so long as you aren't using the idea of not logging it in writing to go on a crazy binge, I think it's fine

leanjogreen18

I have a "controlled" cheat day. I eat near maintenance once a week however I do log it and I have 2 lower calorie days during the week so my overall weekly calorie count remains at my deficit. Average calories I eat a week are 1250. This works for me.

Right now I also don't eat my exercise calories (i'm just walking right now) so I have a bank of about 200 per day that should I go over I feel I'm covered. I will eventually eat 50% of my exercise calories but right now I have plenty of energy.

JeromeBarry1

If I didn't count the calories I'd still know how much they were. It's not as if I have a one day to treat myself badly plan.

st476

This wouldn't work for me either because I would get excited about having an off day and probably eat things I don't usually have, which are really high in calories. Eating only 1000 calories extra would already undo 2 days which just doesn't seem worth it to me.

You could maybe consider 5:2? It's where you eat 500 calories 2 days a week and then eat at your TDEE for 5 days. Instead of doing that though, I like to eat 500 one day then add those extra 700 calories onto the next day (since I aim for 1200, which would be 1900). This might help if you want to still lose weight but eat more some days, even though the 500 calorie days are kind of hard

CattOfTheGarage

slava977 wrote: »

Whatever I input would not be accurate - so I'd rather input nothing for that day.

I've seen this said a few times and I don't think I'll ever understand it.

If you eyeball it, there's a chance you might be right (or close enough, which is the same thing in the real world). If you don't log at all, you're guaranteed to be wrong. However many calories were in it, it wasn't zero!

I eyeball 90% of the time, and I am currently losing weight at exactly mfp's predicted rate. If the rate slows, I'll know I'm underestimating and I'll start weighing portions for a bit to get my eye in again, or I'll consciously start increasing my estimates.

Everything is an estimate. Leaving an empty space in your diary because you can't be perfectly accurate is a case of "the perfect is the enemy of the good". It's like saying you won't budget for groceries because you don't know exactly how much they'll cost, or you won't buy socks because they don't exactly match the size of your feet.

Dove0804

I really don't think it's a good idea to be honest. You can (and probably will) easily wipe out any deficit you've created throughout the week. As you lose weight it gets harder and harder to create a deficit, and having a "day off" is going to make it almost impossible to continue to lose. I also don't think giving yourself "days off" prepares anyone well for maintenance. I feel like it kind of creates the mentality that this is a diet and one day it will be over. It's more important I think to find what's sustainable for you on a daily basis, that you don't feel like you have to take breaks from.

I think the "controlled" cheat day mentioned by johunt is a better way to go if you want to have a day where you can eat more. Eat less for a couple days and then allow yourself more calories on a particular day- as long as your weekly count comes out to be the same. Or, if you find that your current daily calorie intake is too restrictive, ease it up a bit and slow down your rate of loss (i.e. to 1 lb per week instead of 2 lbs per week).

CattOfTheGarage

Dove0804 wrote: »

I also don't think giving yourself "days off" prepares anyone well for maintenance. I feel like it kind of creates the mentality that this is a diet and one day it will be over.

This is actually a really good point. Everyone has treat days now and then when they eat more than usual, but have you ever heard of someone who is not losing weight but has a "day off" from normal eating once a week? The concept does suggest your day to day eating is hard to live with and you need a rest from it - not a great attitude for maintenance.

dragon_girl26

For me, I couldn't do it. It's pretty easy to wipe out my deficit at this point because I'm set to .5 lbs a week, with only 15 lbs left to lose. 1750 extra calories would be very easy for me to eat without realizing it. YMMV, though. Luckily it's not an irreversible decision, thoigh, so do what works for you. If you still lose, then it's a winner. If not, then you can readjust as necessary.

minniemoo1972

jennifer_417 wrote: »

For myself, I wouldn't. I could easily demolish a week's calorie deficit in one day.

Me too....

DebSozo

minniemoo1972 wrote: »

jennifer_417 wrote: »

For myself, I wouldn't. I could easily demolish a week's calorie deficit in one day.

Me too....

I could erase the 5 day deficit over a weekend, but I don't like undoing all the work from the weekdays. I'm so close to goal that my deficit is tiny-- maybe 250 calories a day at this point. So I try not to go overboard on any given day or meal.

DebSozo

dragon_girl26 wrote: »

For me, I couldn't do it. It's pretty easy to wipe out my deficit at this point because I'm set to .5 lbs a week, with only 15 lbs left to lose. 1750 extra calories would be very easy for me to eat without realizing it. YMMV, though. Luckily it's not an irreversible decision, thoigh, so do what works for you. If you still lose, then it's a winner. If not, then you can readjust as necessary.

Same here!

heartofplastic

I do this once a week, but only for one meal - not the whole day. If I cheated/binged the whole day, I'd overeat too much and be way behind with my goal. Sunday is my family day so I'll eat the same diet for breakfast and lunch but for dinner I'll "binge" without logging anything. I've heard that cheats days are bad but cheat meals are ok. Maybe you can try that?

Dove0804

heartofplastic wrote: »

I've heard that cheats days are bad but cheat meals are ok. Maybe you can try that?

I would be careful about that-a meal vs. a day is probably better, but I know that I (and most people I know) can easily go to a buffet or party, or go out to eat and consume more than a day's worth of calories in one sitting. I don't think anything is "good" or "bad", but I still think it creates the mentality that what one is doing is unsustainable in the long-run. I personally find it easier to cut back calories some other day of the week in order to accommodate- that's what people typically have to do for maintenance. (Those extra calorie-days add up over the course of a year during maintenance unless you compensate elsewhere). I also find logging even my binges helps keep me accountable for what I'm really eating- after all, you can't fool your body.

But I agree that whatever works, works.
OP, if you want to try it go right ahead but if you reach a point where you are not losing, I would rethink the idea of not logging.

VividVegan

Yes. I take weekends off and switch to intuitive eating. All I do is listen to my body and is hasn't done any damage. Sometimes I'll be craving veggies, sometimes extra protein, sometimes even desserts (although I limit myself). Some of my "off" days I'll be extra hungry while others a lot less hungry (depending on my exercise for that day). Sometimes I would write everything I ate on paper throughout the day and "test" my body's intuition by logging everything onto MFP by the end of the day, and surprisingly I'm still within my calorie range and the nutrients/macros are pretty close. I go with the flow and my body composition has improved (still losing inches), and I've been feeling more energized. The body is an intelligent thing if you truly listen to it. So to answer your question, yes its definitely a good idea to take a day or two off from counting.