Anyone eat whatever they like for one certain a day?

KarissaChew

Hi all! Would like to seek some advise from all of you. So I have a history of either eating super clean or letting myself go completely. Sick of having such disordered thinking about food I was thinking if it will work if I eat 1500calories a day and just let myself eat whatever I like for dinner. Any successful cases? I'm 158cm and about 59-61kg. Is 1500 too high for me?

kommodevaran

I eat whatever I want, but in appropriate amounts. I have lost 50 pounds and kept them off for 2 years doing that.

1500 sounds about right. Log correctly and weigh yourself regularly. In a month or so, you'll see where you are heading.

courtneyfabulous

You can eat whatever you want as long as you keep within your calorie goal and get more or less the right balance of macros.

I used to try to eat super clean then would eventually "cheat" and eat a few coveted unclean foods once in a while but in large portions... it was exhausting! Now I just eat clean most of the time but fit in things like chocolate, cheese, and ice cream almost every day in reasonable portions.

And yes I am successfully & steadily losing weight.

crzycatlady1

I eat whatever foods I want and have lost 50lbs and am now in maintenance (with excellent health markers as well). The trick is I can eat whatever I want, but I have to make it fit into my calorie allotment for the day/week. I usually pre-plan my days in the morning and I also eat a few less calories during the week and have higher calorie weekends. I eat all sorts of foods and have gotten good at balancing everything-I know that if I'm going to eat out for lunch (which I do several times a week), then I have a smaller calorie supper. If I'm going to eat out for lunch and supper (which usually happens on Fridays), then I don't eat in the morning etc.

Weight loss/gain/maintenance is a numbers game, you just need to get the math sorted out for your goals and you'll be good to go

zyxst

I eat whatever I want, just not the amounts I want. Have lost 180#. Another +1 for pre-planning and logging your days.

Chef_Barbell

KarissaChew wrote: »

Hi all! Would like to seek some advise from all of you. So I have a history of either eating super clean or letting myself go completely. Sick of having such disordered thinking about food I was thinking if it will work if I eat 1500calories a day and just let myself eat whatever I like for dinner. Any successful cases? I'm 158cm and about 59-61kg. Is 1500 too high for me?

You won't know how much you are eating if you only log part of a day.

kermax39

I eat 1350 a day and iv lost 50lbs. Once youv been counting calories for a while u get to know the food that is worth it and the food that isnt. I.dont eat clean, I use up all and more of my fat macros because I find higher fat food is more filling. I stay away from cereal, fruit and yoghurt because im still hungry afterwards so find them a waste of good calories for me. I eat chocolate, crisps....even have a McDonalds wrap for lunch regularly. A calorie is a calorie, I do watch my carb macros though

Machka9

As others have said ... I ate what I liked throughout my weight loss process, only less of it.

I made the decision, when I signed up here, that I would not waste my calories on anything I did not like.

ncfitbit

Lots of great advice here!

I agree with @kommodevaran that 1500 is probably about right, but it really depends on how active you are. Are you asking 1500, plus exercise? Or a daily static goal of 1500? If you are completely sedentary you might maintain at around 1600 so 1500 might be very somewhat slow going, but if you are moderately active your daily expenditure might be closer to 2000 so you'd be able to lose at a decent rate at 1500, but that is without eating too many exercise calories back.

I'm a big fan of moderation and keeping no foods off limits but as others have said planning is important. In particular, eating dinner out without a plan gets me every time. ( I did too much of that over the summer so I'm up about 8 lbs right now from my 28 lb loss). I'm working on this myself, but the truth is it's not terribly hard to plan your dinner first and then work the rest of your day around it. That way you know you can enjoy your preferred foods and not feel like you are depriving yourself of anything. In my experience, feelings of deprivation are what lead me to uncontrolled eating.

ninerbuff

I've eaten whatever I've wanted since my 20's. You just have to be aware of how many calories you're taking in.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

MissusMoon

I eat whatever I like on every given day. The thing is, I weigh and log that food. I tend to save exercise calories as a buffer for eating out. 111.5 down.

cwolfman13

I eat whatever I want any day...I just don't over eat.

kgirlhart

I eat whatever I want every day. I just make sure that I eat amounts that fit my calorie goals.

MarziPanda95

Eat what you want for dinner, sure, but log it - and make sure you don't go over your calories. It's so easy for one meal to take you way over deficit or even over maintenance. It's not so much what you eat (though that's important for health) but how much.

Lounmoun

I eat food I like every single day and fit it in my calorie goal.
I prelog my whole day every morning. I start prelogging with dinner because it is my highest calorie meal then lunch, breakfast and finally snacks.

Aaron_K123

It'll work if you eat at a caloric deficit no matter what you eat (provided you are eating things you find satiating enough)...so yeah, that will work. If you like eating "clean" you can do that, but if you don't like it then you don't have to do that to lose weight.

CattOfTheGarage

bcc2001 wrote: »

Give yourself one cheat meal per week.

This may work for some people and not for others. Some people find that if they eat as much as they want without logging it on one meal a week, they can still lose weight. Others (like me) can eat so much at one meal that they can undo the deficit for the entire week. I do have unlogged days, but they tend to be more like once a month, as I know from experience I can knock back up to 4000 calories in a day if I stop logging (and I do log them inasmuch as I quick-add 4000 calories!).

Best approach, imo, is what others have said, eat whatever you want but keep the portions under control so you stay within your calorie goal. Weight loss isn't about "what", it's about "how much".

cerise_noir

I eat what ever I like every day. Of course, I make room for protein, fiber, fats and micros before I eat that chocolate bar.

Unknown

This content has been removed.

leanjogreen18

Rigid rules around eating cause problems for me.

So I let those go and I started 4 months ago eating what I normally love to eat within my calorie goals. During these 4 months I "played" around with my macros (without strictly watching them) and found out that eating a carb, protein and fat with every meal keeps me satisfied on lower calories.

I also began taking my go to foods like pizza and Mexican and started playing around with making them lower calorie. Eating out I still order pizza or Mexican but I now order a big side salad or work at making it fit in my calorie goal. I stopped bringing home a large bag of potato chips or sweets and when I want them I will buy the small lunch size.

A light bulb went off when I started reading these forums. If I have to eat every day of the rest of my life within a calorie goal to keep my weight off, I want to eat the foods I love!

JoshGouvisis

If your trying to lose weight, as long as your in a deficit it doesnt matter what you eat. However, if you eat bad youll feel bad. If you eat good...you get it.

Depends what your trying to achieve, that determines your next step.

CattOfTheGarage

JoshGouvisis wrote: »

If your trying to lose weight, as long as your in a deficit it doesnt matter what you eat. However, if you eat bad youll feel bad.

In my experience, the thing that makes the biggest difference to feeling good or bad is eating enough fruit and veg. Having treats like crisps or chocolate, or having some deep fried crunchy delight for dinner, does not make me feel grotty if I'm getting enough of the green stuff

Of course you might want to make other adjustments to your diet, like adding more whole grains and protein to reduce hunger, but I would warn you away from strict "healthy eating" rules - a LOT of people find that strict eating behaviour makes binging and quitting more likely - and it's psychologically unhealthy to try and rigidly control any aspect of your life, including food. Life happens - you've got to roll with it.

Francl27

JoshGouvisis wrote: »

If your trying to lose weight, as long as your in a deficit it doesnt matter what you eat. However, if you eat bad youll feel bad. If you eat good...you get it.

Depends what your trying to achieve, that determines your next step.

I never feel physically bad when I go over (well, unless I really overdo it and stuff my face). My workouts are fantastic the next day actually.

OP, fit what you like in your calories, whatever way you see fit.. but the bottom line is that you'll need a calorie deficit to lose. You can eat less all week so you can eat more on week ends. You can have a light dinner to fit in a bigger lunch... whatever works for you.

But you'll need to log everything and be as honest as possible if you really want to keep that deficit - I can easily wipe off a full week of deficit in one meal, personally...