Cheating on weekends (sort of)

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  • LauraKB
    LauraKB Posts: 26 Member
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    I've been counting for a few weeks now and have come to a more comfortable place with my weekends. I don't count regligiously. I have similar meals as during the week unless I'm out with my family. At a restaurant, I'll make healthy choices, will splurge on a glass of wine and will pack food to take home... and always skip desert. I don't really count and won't obsess about it - but try to put into practice what I work so hard on the weekdays for.... I don't want it to be a total sabotage! :wink:

    It does slow my weight loss on those two days, but I'm ok with it because it's the long term I'm looking at. Slow and steady wins the race.... sometimes it's slow,and sometimes it's steady!
  • NoAdditives
    NoAdditives Posts: 4,251 Member
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    This is pretty much what I did in the beginning. It was especially helpful when I was trying to wean myself off junk food and soda. Knowing I'd get to indulge helped me stay strong. Now, I don't have cheat days. I do go over my calories a little, but it's nothing compared to what I did before. But, I still lost my desired 1 pound per week. It didn't harm my weight loss at all.
  • Spitfirex007
    Spitfirex007 Posts: 749 Member
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    Everything is fine in moderation. If you eat health through out the week and then come Sat eat nothing but unhealthy foods, then you are really not doing much to help yourself long terms. Sure you'll lose weight slowly! But you still fill your body with junk. And chances are you will gain that weight back sooner or later.
  • alyssa83202
    alyssa83202 Posts: 334
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    I wouldn't purposely do it. It's okay to go over on occasion, but I try to treat weekends the same way I would a week day, especially because I have a lot more temptations on the weekend than the week day. You can give it a try and see how it works out though, we're all different.
  • RaeN81
    RaeN81 Posts: 534 Member
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    You should continue to lose because you will continue to have a calorie deficit (albeit a smaller one). I've never done weight watchers, but I think there actually used to be a plan geared towards people with this same difficulty and there were extra points alloted for the weekend (or you could save up points for the weekend or something). Anyways, make it work for you!
  • jbootman
    jbootman Posts: 145 Member
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    people who cheat on weekends are called fatso,

    stop it, stop it right now,

    we are addicted to sugar, salt and fat,

    the only way out is to stop, just stop,

    take the weekend in hand, go vegetable shopping on saturday morning and plan your diet,

    plan it,plan it,

    no excuses, no days off,

    now breathe
  • TakeOne
    TakeOne Posts: 345 Member
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    Well....I agree with what most everyone has said... For me this is a life style change and needs to be something I can maintain for the rest of my life. I am not going to stop going out on weekends or having a few glasses of wine during the week. You just have to be accountable for your decisions. Don't consider it "cheating" because it really is not. If you eat out or have drinks on Sat. then maybe you work extra at the gym on Sun. or plan a salad for dinner. I think it is just about balance. Good luck to you!
  • Sara1978
    Sara1978 Posts: 213 Member
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    Once a week, my friends come over to play D&D, and like stereotypical D&D geeks we munch on pizza or another sort of takeout food and drink some soda or beer while pretending to be wizards and elves and things. My calories are always off for that day, generally over by a couple hundred calories, along with messing up my sodium level and everything else.

    Here's the thing-- I was never morbidly obese. I was actually only a couple of pounds into the "overweight" BMI category when I started using MFP last year. I never felt "addicted" to food-- I just used to make less healthy decisions more often than I do now. I've lost weight not to save my life-- I was never heavy enough to be at risk of any weight-related disease-- but to make myself happy. Hanging out with my friends one night a week and eating unhealthy food while playing make believe also makes me happy, and I would in fact be very unhappy if I had to give up that little sliver of my life. So, for me, it's a trade off. Maybe I would have lost 0.2 lbs more each week if I'd have skipped out on the teen-cuisine geekfest. Is 0.2 lbs worth it to me? Nope. I'm still losing weight, and it is happening at a rate that I find healthy both physically and mentally.

    I'm sure everyone is different in terms of if they can do this or not--- eat some bad food sometimes, only go over by a relatively small amount, and then flip back to healthy eating the next day without any concerns. If there's an addiction component present, they're in a different boat than the one that I'm in. Also, I could see where somebody who is prone to binge eating could turn a night like that into a BIG problem-- when I'm in "unhealthy" mode, I'm eating two slices of pizza and a beer, not downing a whole pizza on my own and chasing it with a bag of chips and a six pack.
  • sweetheart03622
    sweetheart03622 Posts: 928 Member
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    Once a week, my friends come over to play D&D, and like stereotypical D&D geeks we munch on pizza or another sort of takeout food and drink some soda or beer while pretending to be wizards and elves and things. My calories are always off for that day, generally over by a couple hundred calories, along with messing up my sodium level and everything else.

    Here's the thing-- I was never morbidly obese. I was actually only a couple of pounds into the "overweight" BMI category when I started using MFP last year. I never felt "addicted" to food-- I just used to make less healthy decisions more often than I do now. I've lost weight not to save my life-- I was never heavy enough to be at risk of any weight-related disease-- but to make myself happy. Hanging out with my friends one night a week and eating unhealthy food while playing make believe also makes me happy, and I would in fact be very unhappy if I had to give up that little sliver of my life. So, for me, it's a trade off. Maybe I would have lost 0.2 lbs more each week if I'd have skipped out on the teen-cuisine geekfest. Is 0.2 lbs worth it to me? Nope. I'm still losing weight, and it is happening at a rate that I find healthy both physically and mentally.

    I'm sure everyone is different in terms of if they can do this or not--- eat some bad food sometimes, only go over by a relatively small amount, and then flip back to healthy eating the next day without any concerns. If there's an addiction component present, they're in a different boat than the one that I'm in. Also, I could see where somebody who is prone to binge eating could turn a night like that into a BIG problem-- when I'm in "unhealthy" mode, I'm eating two slices of pizza and a beer, not downing a whole pizza on my own and chasing it with a bag of chips and a six pack.

    You sound EXACTLY like me. According to BMI, I'm "technically" about 15 pounds overweight, but I'm extremely strong and border on a size 8/10 (which doesn't exactly seem overweight to me, considering I have a friend that is a 14 and is considered a "healthy weight" by BMI). I'm not addicted, I can live without the junk, I just find myself saying "screw it" on the weekends. I want to enjoy my life, but still lose weight. I've kind of decided that I'm going to keep it to 1300 net during the week (I'm supposed to be at about 1400) and then on the weekends let myself up it to 2000 net. The good thing is, I work out harder on the weekends, so I should be able to eat just about anything if I'm careful about it.

    Anyways, thanks for all the help guys! I understand that it's a lifestyle change, but I don't want my life to be about only veggies and lean protein. I like to eat, I LOVE to bake, and I want to enjoy myself... just in moderation :flowerforyou:
  • dshalbert
    dshalbert Posts: 677 Member
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    if u cheat ur only cheating urself so it is all up to you

    I wouldn't really call it cheating. As long as you know (like you said) that the weight will come off more slowly and don't let that discourage you, I'd say do what you need to do. Just make sure you're still eating food that is good for you, and not a lot of junk.

    Yea, that's more what I mean. I feel like the way I'm doing it now, I weigh in on Mondays and am about 2-3 pounds over what I was on Thursday (my other weigh-in date). Then I eat really good on Monday and Tuesday to get back down to that, and then drop on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, and then gain it back on Saturday/Sunday... it's a viscious cycle that is making it REALLY slow!!

    I'm thinking I'm going to do a combo here. Try to stay a bit under each day (maybe 100 or so) and then allow myself up to 2,050 (100 under my maintenance cals), which will net me at about 1.25lbs/week (if you do the math... which I did lol). I'm hoping that this will keep me in check. I can still work out more if I want to go out to a big, greasy dinner (still can't get away, I love food too much) but I think this might work for me... stay tuned...


    Are you sure that 2050 is your maintanance? It varies so much per individual. If you have a desk job it may be much lower. If you are over 40 it may be much lower. Over 50? blechh. Life ain't fair. I thought my maintance was around 2100 but that what got me 30lbs over weight. Play it by ear. Maybe put in some extra activiets on the weekend to work some of those tasty treats off:happy: :happy:
  • sweetheart03622
    sweetheart03622 Posts: 928 Member
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    if u cheat ur only cheating urself so it is all up to you

    I wouldn't really call it cheating. As long as you know (like you said) that the weight will come off more slowly and don't let that discourage you, I'd say do what you need to do. Just make sure you're still eating food that is good for you, and not a lot of junk.

    Yea, that's more what I mean. I feel like the way I'm doing it now, I weigh in on Mondays and am about 2-3 pounds over what I was on Thursday (my other weigh-in date). Then I eat really good on Monday and Tuesday to get back down to that, and then drop on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, and then gain it back on Saturday/Sunday... it's a viscious cycle that is making it REALLY slow!!

    I'm thinking I'm going to do a combo here. Try to stay a bit under each day (maybe 100 or so) and then allow myself up to 2,050 (100 under my maintenance cals), which will net me at about 1.25lbs/week (if you do the math... which I did lol). I'm hoping that this will keep me in check. I can still work out more if I want to go out to a big, greasy dinner (still can't get away, I love food too much) but I think this might work for me... stay tuned...


    Are you sure that 2050 is your maintanance? It varies so much per individual. If you have a desk job it may be much lower. If you are over 40 it may be much lower. Over 50? blechh. Life ain't fair. I thought my maintance was around 2100 but that what got me 30lbs over weight. Play it by ear. Maybe put in some extra activiets on the weekend to work some of those tasty treats off:happy: :happy:

    I'm only 22, and while I have a desk job, it requires a half hour walk to and from the train station every day. From everything that I've researched, 2050 is about right, perhaps even as high as 2200. I also weigh about 175 right now, so I'm not quite a small person just yet =)

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