taking a day to eat whatever you want and not count calories

brenn24179

it seems like once a month or two I take a day and eat whatever I want, I don't know if this is binging or just giving myself a break. It could even be I try to be perfect for so long. It seems to be ok as long as I get back on track but I do feel guilty.

I know skinny people overeat sometimes also. Well this weekend I had a day like that so I am off to the gym. Do you sometimes just take a day off and eat what you want.

kaizaku

Yea, a month or two. That's too long for me lol

sijomial

I don't strive for perfection, I never feel guilty - maybe the two things are linked?

dfranch

I may surpass my goals once in a while, but I always try to log as best I can. Got to keep up my 1128 day streak.

healthypelican

I did this yesterday. Not because I wanted to, but because I was tired of tracking. I made chocolate icing (had a few heaps teaspoons of icing sugar, with butter and cocoa), 3 pieces of bread with ketsup and cheese, some crackers and dinner. I am actually terrified of tracking what I ate, because I won't get an accurate amount and I'm terrified I ruined my week. I guess I'll just stick to my limit the rest of the week and pray for the best. I need to start preparing food before I get hungry, once I am hungry I lose my patience.

Machka9

Quite frequently I take a day where I just eat as much as I want of whatever I want.

Co-incidentally, those days are usually the same days I cycle long, long distances.

But sometimes they're a special occasion like a weekend away or a birthday or something.

Because I exercise a lot, I can eat whatever I want to eat ... within reason ... every day. So for me, it's not a matter of striving to be perfect, it's just a matter of staying withing quite a reasonable calorie limit. And then some days I just don't bother to count.

Machka9

dfranch wrote: »

I may surpass my goals once in a while, but I always try to log as best I can. Got to keep up my 1128 day streak.

You don't have to log food to maintain your streak ... you just have to log into MFP.

WinoGelato

brenn24179 wrote: »

it seems like once a month or two I take a day and eat whatever I want, I don't know if this is binging or just giving myself a break. It could even be I try to be perfect for so long. It seems to be ok as long as I get back on track but I do feel guilty.

I know skinny people overeat sometimes also. Well this weekend I had a day like that so I am off to the gym. Do you sometimes just take a day off and eat what you want.

Often times posts like this are a sign that you may be being overly restrictive with your day to day approach - either too aggressive of a deficit, or having cut out foods you really enjoy in order to achieve your goals.

While many people do incorporate a "cheat meal/day" into their plans with success, it is also possible that days of complete abandonment and indulgence can derail progress if a person:
1. Counteracts their deficit for the week
2. Can't get back on track
3. Eats foods that may trigger binges or other negative eating patterns

Many others (myself included) prefer to just go for a more moderate deficit while losing (I'm currently in maintenance) and incorporating the foods we love on a regular basis so that you never feel like you are deprived. That's not to say that I never indulge or go to excess... I often bank calories during the week so that I can have higher calorie meals on the weekend. This weekend in fact was an out of town trip and I pretty much ate all the foods on Sunday at a family party. I don't do it often, and though I was over goal by a lot for the day and a little for the week, I'm not stressed and don't feel the need to hit the gym hard or make cut backs today. It's just part of the overall cycle, no big deal.

kommodevaran

I think you should give yourself a break and not try to be perfect.

I think you should find out why eating makes you feel guilty, and make an effort to improve your relationship with food.

I think you should find a plan you want to stick to, not go on and off track.

I think you can and should eat what you want every day. But you can't eat all of it or everything at once or all the time and expect to lose/maintain weight.

"Skinny" people do overeat, occasionally.

Don't try to "make up for" (real or perceived) overeating with exercise. Exercise to feel good, to be strong and healthy, to destress and have fun.

Unknown

This content has been removed.

zyxst

I have an IDGAF day 4 times a year, works out around every 3 months though the first 2 of the year are further apart than the last 2. I eat what I want in amounts I want and I track it. For me, it's a mental break where my little lizard brain can be in charge for once.

perkymommy

brenn24179 wrote: »

it seems like once a month or two I take a day and eat whatever I want, I don't know if this is binging or just giving myself a break. It could even be I try to be perfect for so long. It seems to be ok as long as I get back on track but I do feel guilty.

I know skinny people overeat sometimes also. Well this weekend I had a day like that so I am off to the gym. Do you sometimes just take a day off and eat what you want.

Yes. It actually helps with my weight loss if I do this every now and then. But I have a habit of falling off the wagon too so I don't plan to do it often this go round until I've had a good loss first. Last year I had some cheat days (as people call it) and they were spread out at first which was fine and then it started being every weekend and a couple days during the week until I regained the 25 lbs I lost last year. Now here I am back again.

brenn24179

I know when I couldn't get that last 10 lbs off I would eat something different like sausage buiscuit or hamburger and it seem to shock my system or something so I think sometimes changing things up helps. The main thing for me is to get back on track ASAP.

dawn_h_d

Saturday I indulged. And tracked. And regretted - not the numbers on MFP, but the fact that I felt so bloated and overly full. My birthday is today, and we went for a big weekend lunch to celebrate. Although 1.5 Root Beer Floats and 2 Sides with my lunch from Red Robin looked appealing at the time, I think I will remember how I felt afterwards, and never do it again........ (I don't remember the last time I had a 3000 calorie day, and I don't think I want to do it again any time soon)

kgirlhart

I always eat whatever I want, but not in unlimited amounts. Sometimes I go over my calories, most days I don't. I still log everything as best I can. I think it is fine to have an occasional day over as long as that is the exception, not the rule. If what you are doing is working for you then I wouldn't worry about having a IDGAF day every few months. But you shouldn't be feeling guilty about it.

mlbish624

I don't track or worry about what I eat on special occasion days like holidays or trips. However, now that I have changed my eating habits, I have a lot better idea of how much I *should* eat, and I get full a lot faster, so even a blow off day is nothing like what it would have been for the "old me!"

Even if I am not tracking, I try not to go crazy and listen to my body, stopping when I should.

fitRTs

I do this too. On weekends, I take one day where I don't track and allow myself to eat out or order in. I do try to be generally better than I used to be, though. Weekends used to be a kind of binge-fest for us. I also make sure to be way more active than I used to be in the past. So far this is working for me. I've stuck with this "diet" much longer than any other in the past and I've seen more results.

cnbbnc

I used to but I'm working on getting over that. I've been maintaining for a year now. This is the first time I've ever managed to keep weight off of me, and the thought of loosening up was pretty scary.

Now I let myself have a day here and there where I eat whatever I want. Yeah...the scale jumps up a bit because of the extra food and water, but if I get right back to my usual way of eating it falls back off easily.

To me this is part of the learning process. Learning to take care of my body and give it what it needs, but still give myself permission to enjoy myself.

SteadyDoinIt281

Don't beat yourself up. Although I can't cite them, studies show that eating more (or more often) 2x per week or less does not negatively impact your overall plan. I've consistently gone over my goal 2x per week since I started 2.5 months ago, usually Friday and Saturday or Saturday and Sunday, and I've lost 10# over that stretch.

breannemarie1993

I log Monday-Friday.. on the weekend I still eat how I would during the week with maybe an exception of something I've really been wanting but I don't log Saturday or Sunday.

rainbow198

If I want something I plan for it and work it into my day. It's never unlimited eating though.

Sometimes my brain wants to overeat, but physically I can't do it anymore.

If it works for you I wouldn't feel guilty about it though. Just get back on track the next day.

fiddletime

I've also derailed twice before by thinking I could eat whatever I wanted. First it was one day every month or so, then once every week or two, then a glass of wine with dinner, and before I knew it I was back up 25 pounds.

I am working on stopping eating when I'm no longer hungry. I recently went away for a weekend with 3 served meals a day and no internet. I didn't eat breads and for the rest, I ate slowly and stopped when I was satisfied. Even with wine, I lost half a pound that weekend. That was a real eye opener.

As a 5'2" older person who maintains on 1350 cal I could happily eat more any day of the week.

jilldina

I think the daily message of "if every day was like today" keeps us on the straight and narrow. When you have a bad day and MFP tells you that if every day were like today in 5 weeks you would weigh ???. That's enough to get me back on track after a "bad day".

alondrakayy

I had a day like that yesterday and I knew it was coming. I wasn't going to be home all day. I had to eat at my moms, then it was date night with my husband. I enjoyed myself and kept a mental note of everything I ate and made sure to input it into MFP late at night. I went about 800 cals over, but it was worth it.

healthypelican

Update: Yesterday I went onto my food diary and updated it with what I thought I might have eaten. They were guessimates. I was about 1200 calories over my goal.

Anyway, this morning I weighed myself, and I have lost 400g since my last recorded weigh in, or 1kg since yesterday! (my weight had gone up due to sodium). I was shocked and delighted. So the most important thing is, write down what you eat, you may not have done as badly as you thought.

I thought the chocolate icing was going to be over 1000 calories, but I measured out the icing sugar and the butter and it wasn't even 300 calories. I sure felt silly after that!

triciab79

In all things balance. If you over eat one day you have to either accept that you will gain weight or use a combination of diet and exercise to compensate for that decision. No one says you have to feel guilt but you will have to pay whether you like it or not. Not knowing how much the bill is doesn't mean you don't owe it. Its like walking into a store and grabbing a bunch of stuff and putting it on a credit card without looking at the tags or totals. Sure you can do that and it feels great but the bill will still come at some point.

JeromeBarry1

I lost weight all last year accidentally blowing through my calorie target once a month. Then when I decided that once a month was ok I quit doing that. I tried doing that yesterday and failed.

shandy82165

I haven't had one of those days yet, but i have had a couple of days where i've gone over by maybe 100 cals.

But what's helped me is I try to save room for a treat/dessert every night. Just 100-200 cals for some popcorn, ice cream, chocolate, cookie, whatever strikes me. I also try to remind myself that on those days I do go over by maybe 50-100 calories, it's still not enough to gain since i'm already eating at a deficit. At most it would be close to eating my maintenance cals for the week. (my setting is for .5/week loss)

BeChill73

I did yesterday. Have only been logging for 2 weeks but struggling with some other health issues and woke up depressed yesterday, skipped breakfast and lunch, scoffed some white chocolate blondies for afternoon, had a meat/pasta/cheese dish for dinner with coffee (usually a no-no to have caffeine with dinner because of my anaemia). At the end of the day I felt bad and decided to be honest and log it. Was surprised to see I still had a hundred or so calories left over!

I can't even binge succesfully it seems hehe.

victoria_1024

Every so often I have an entire weekend Iike that. I did the same thing while losing. I honestly don't think my mental health could stand just logging everything and staying within my calorie range every day. I figure it's only a problem if I can't get back on track afterwards or do it so often that I start gaining back weight. I do usually gain a few lbs but it comes off quickly.

ThatUserNameIsAllReadyTaken

I have been doing this for about a month. I have not gained. I wanted to see what would happen if I just did not try to meet a certain goal. I was mostly using logging to retrain myself to eat like a normal human being and not like a starving beast. I still weigh my serving sizes some of the time, but not all the time. Mostly fruits and vegetables or something I think I may be about to eat way too much of.