Is it okay to have a cheat day once per week?

lgfrie

dragon_girl26 wrote: »

lgfrie wrote: »

Everyone is tiptoing around the fact that the OP is having 5,000+ calorie binge days every week after depriving herself on 1200-1500 calories the other six days, and is asking over and over whether continuing with this binge and restrict cycle will cause weight gain.

Yes, it will cause weight gain. It's already causing weight gain.

Binge and restrict always results in weight gain.

I'm out.

True, although we aren't even really sure how accurate the 1200-1500 calorie intake days are since OP doesn't weigh food, though..

Fair point.

imho OP is in a classic obesity behavioral profile right now. 12 pounds shy of BMI Obesity class I, doing binge and restrict every single week, and slowly gaining weight for three years ... and then asking people on the Internet to tell her it's all OK.

It isn't ok.

kshama2001

danielleg0094 wrote: »

qhob_89 wrote: »

danielleg0094 wrote: »

dragon_girl26 wrote: »

Cheat meals turned into cheat life for me (at least food wise!) and that's how I got here in the first place. Trust me..it may be 10 pounds now..but before you know it, it may become 20...then 60...
That's what happened when I was in my 20s, anyway, especially when I started dating! Lol Why not try eating at maintenance for a day instead just as practice?

My 1200-1500 a day is for maintenance already, I feel like I need one bad day because I have cravings

From what I looked up your maintenance is actually around 1900. You need to change your way of thinking or you won’t be successful at losing weight or maintaining it. You have cravings because you are restricting too much. You have a similar thread you started about gaining weight based on your habits (eating late). You never answered my question there. In your other thread you said you’re eating bread, pasta, etc around midnight 2-3 times a week. Why? I’m assuming it’s because you’re starving and binge. You can continue to ask people on this forum if x behavior is going to make you gain weight or if y behavior is going to make you obese. They can only go off of the info you give them and I don’t think you’re being honest. I’ve seen conflicting info. You say you’re sticking to 1200 calories, except “one bad day” but on your other thread you say you’re eating calorie heavy foods at midnight a few times a week. (From my experience, if I was eating bread and pasta at midnight- there’s no way I’d be hitting 1200 calories!) I believe you are in a restrict/binge cycle. If you aren’t going to be 100% honest with yourself, you’re going to gain weight. 1200 calories isn’t sustainable, as you’re finding out. I feel like you’re on the same path I was 20+ times. Adjust your calorie intake, track what you’re consuming honestly, and hold yourself accountable. You’re looking for people here (without all the info) to tell you that your behavior won’t make you gain weight so you can justify maintaining that behavior. People have tried to give you helpful advice and multiple times you just shoot back the question “but will this make me gain weight?” Look through the advice, and quit obsessing over your behavior and adjust it. These forums are a gold mine of awesome information from a lot of really helpful people who have been successful! Doing the same thing over and over again, will yield the same results over and over again. If you want to be successful take their advice and info to heart.

To answer your question about eating carbs late at night. It is around at most maybe 1500 calories on those days. yes, I eat pasta and bread. The pasta serving isnt that huge but its still big, probably a little smaller than what you would get at olive garden? Anyway, on those days, for the rest of the day I may have a smoothie or jimmy dean delight sandwich or something else on the lighter side like a salad from chipotle. To balance the pasta from midnight. Does it make sense and add up now?

The lowest calorie pasta entree from Olive Garden is 780 calories and the highest is 1570. Or did you mean just plain pasta? Are you making this yourself? 2 oz dry pasta is 200 calories, and A MUCH SMALLER SERVING than Americans normally eat. Olive Garden plain pasta servings are 340 - 440 calories.

Are you putting anything on the pasta and bread? Oil? Butter?

https://media.olivegarden.com/en_us/pdf/olive_garden_nutrition.pdf

kshama2001

lgfrie wrote: »

Everyone is tiptoing around the fact that the OP is having 5,000+ calorie binge days every week after depriving herself on 1200-1500 calories the other six days, and is asking over and over whether continuing with this binge and restrict cycle will cause weight gain.

Yes, it will cause weight gain. It's already causing weight gain.

Binge and restrict always results in weight gain.

I'm out.

Not everyone

I estimated on page 2 that if she truly had 1200 calorie days plus one 1400 calorie day, her cheat day was 8000 calories. I'm her height. If I were having an 8000 calorie day every week, I'd know it.

But give her information about her pasta days and that she is not using a food scale, it's more likely than not that she is eating way more than 1200 calories most days and her binge days ARE closer to 5,000 calories. Still too much for a sedentary 5'7" woman. That's how much The Rock eats. Sure, he eats that every day, but he is fueling that 6'5" physique.

PAV8888

danielleg0094 wrote: »

To answer your question about eating carbs late at night. It is around at most maybe 1500 calories on those days. yes, I eat pasta and bread. The pasta serving isnt that huge but its still big, probably a little smaller than what you would get at olive garden? Anyway, on those days, for the rest of the day I may have a smoothie or jimmy dean delight sandwich or something else on the lighter side like a salad from chipotle. To balance the pasta from midnight. Does it make sense and add up now?

What you're doing is called a rough tally. It might work for you sufficiently to maintain if you also manage to avoid episodes of unrestricted overeating.

Short answer is that, for you, it sounds likely that your unplanned eating episodes, and whatever underlying issues are prompting them to take place, are your main problem.

If I were in your position I would hope I would start by addressing the elephant and plan a splurge meal or two each week while trying very hard to limit my binges.

A splurge meal that is pre weighed on a scale and pre recorded and pre tallied and ends on an at maintenance or +250, or +500 day; not a +5000 day.

And it's time to do some cooking so that you can SEE and truly tally what's in your food.

Grab a crappy spaghetti bolognese frozen dinner. Put it on a plate and weight it before heating. Compare the weight to what was supposed to be in the box and up adjust the calories you thought you were buying. Nuke it and compare the size to olive garden. Cry for too tiny and too many calories and way less taste.

I won't touch smoothies and salads from restaurants that have yet to impress me with the quantity or volume of food and nutrition you get for the calories.

The supermarket sells bagged prepared salad ingredients and low cal (as low as 5 to 10 Cal per 15ml--tablespoon) dressing.

Try something with some protein from time to time too.

Anyway. Nope. It doesn't sound as if what you're doing will work.

Maybe just concentrate on eating normally within a maintenance budget that you measure way more carefully than you have been....

PAV8888

kshama2001 wrote: »

The lowest calorie pasta entree from Olive Garden is 780 calories and the highest is 1570. Or did you mean just plain pasta? Are you making this yourself? 2 oz dry pasta is 200 calories, and A MUCH SMALLER SERVING than Americans normally eat. Olive Garden plain pasta servings are 340 - 440 calories.

Are you putting anything on the pasta and bread? Oil? Butter?

https://media.olivegarden.com/en_us/pdf/olive_garden_nutrition.pdf

Do you even trust their counts given eyeballed portions plus butter, oil, cream, cheese on top? I would be surprised if, given their portion sizes and liberal use of flavor enhancing ingredients, their calories are within 25% of stated....

sijomial

Yes you are digging your grave with your teeth while doing nothing for your fitness levels.
Is that direct enough?

It's really sad that you are on this path at such an early age, please make some radical but sustainable changes now before they are forced on you later by increasing weight and declining health.

Learn to cook, move more, log your food accurately would be three steps in the right direction.