Free Days or Free Meals?

az1cowgirl

How many people allow themselves a free day once a week or a free meal once a week?

WomanofWorth

How many people allow themselves a free day once a week or a free meal once a week?

I do a free meal once a week. I find a free day is too much and usually makes me gain but a planned meal, combined with exercise keeps me from binging.

soccermom004

I never plan to go over, even though I do occassionally. I do plan to indulge once in a while and I will try to exercise more and plan my meals out to allow it. Feel free to look at my food diary to see what I mean.

HelenTheKitchen

I allow myself free days or even weekends now and then (my birthday, christmas, thanksgiving, vacations etc.), but not every week. Probably about 6-12 times a year, maybe? I don't think there is anything wrong with weekly free days or free meals, I just think they will be more of maintenance thing for me. I also think they test your will power, big time. I'd rather just work the occasional treat into my healthy diet.

kjtrimmer

I have a "Free Meal" day, but I still exercise that day and I plan it sensibly. Luckily, my "vices" are things that can lean towards sensible.

kjtrimmer

I have a "Free Meal" day, but I still exercise that day and I plan it sensibly. Luckily, my "vices" are things that can lean towards sensible. If I say away from wine, that is.

aippolito1

I do a free meal every now and then. It's usually within my calories or a little over... but it's usually something not as healthy for me and will keep me from getting the protein I need, but it keeps me in my calories and tastes delicious so that I don't jump off the wagon & end up eating it everyday! A couple days ago it was a personal size cheese pizza from Pizza Hut.

fuhrmeister

I don't do free meals/day weekly. Just for special ocasions. Like Hubby's birthday today. But I try to log everythign to keep myself accountable. I Think it's very important to log reguardless. I do tend to go over on weekends thouhg about 100 -200 cal but i stay under my bodys at rest burn if at all possible.

Lizzy_Sunflower

I find I go over board if I give my self a free "day". So I lean more towards a cheat meal. That way I can balance it with lighter meals and some exercise

steffilily

If I know that I will be eating out at places like an italian or mexican restaurant, I will budget my calories and do extra workouts so that whatever I chose to eat is still within my calorie budget. That way I feel like I deserved that meal and it feels better that way :-)

nancymmorris

I have a free day every week. I find that each week I splurg less because after you have been eating so good for so long when you eat crap you feel like crap. But some foods are just worth it for 1 day.

MaysMom

Definitely free meals for me, not a day. I would never be able to come back over the edge from a day of over doing, even if it's just a litlle. I just know my pattern. That whole self-defeating thing. As for free meals... I really don't allow those either. Well, sort of. Those are just the days I couldn't control a craving, messed up a little, then got back in the saddle. Exercised more, drank more water to help "reverse" some of the damage I've done. So rather than some folks who are able to give themselves one meal a week to eat whatever, I have to just hold on as long as I can until "mess up." I don't have that kind of control, yet.

MelissaG36

I dont have a "Free day" weekly but for holidays I do not count calories, how can you? With all the hustle & bustle its kinda hard to. But considering we just had St Pattys Day, attended a playdate, & had company over I made it my free day but really didnt go to overboard. My next one will be March 26th, my daughters "Suprise Birthday Slumber Party". Zoe gets to pick out dinner & as much as Ill pay for a cake by gosh Im going to have a piece, LOL! No one is perfect, exspecially me so I will allow myself a Freebie at times :O) Besides my journey is not a sprint, its a marathon.

bbygrl5

I give myself a free day as a complete break, physically and mentally, but I don't always do it every week. I try to wait until I actually really need the break.

This week I will have had two cheat days, but I'm certainly not expecting the scale to reflect a loss come Monday morning.

karilynn27

I feel that when I give myself a free day I binge and it can take up to a week to get over that binge. So it is completely counter-productive for me.
If I work out really hard one day, I will allow myself a piece of candy or have a cheat meal like pizza, ect. But I try and stay away from having a day where I just eat anything I want.

tross0924

There's no such thing as a free day or meal. You pay for it, either by not losing for the week, gaining for the week, or with good planning, by saving a little each day to pay for it.

Personally I recommend the last one; I have days under and days over my goal every week. As long as they all balance out for a weekly average, I'm good with it, and so is my weight loss.

AngelsKisses75

How many people allow themselves a free day once a week or a free meal once a week?

I do not plan to go over, but I have gone over trust you me. When this happens I do try to get in enough exercise to make up for it. If I don't balance out I remind myself it is not the end of the world, and push on to the next day. I am not perfect and realize I will fall down. The trick is to get back up and keep moving forward. :flowerforyou:

robertboyd

I am only on my second week of dieting and fitness. I have two days off the gym and one day off the diet.

My day off was last Thursday and I treated myself to full sugar Irn Bru, a pizza and some pakora. I'd been looking forward to it all week and it helped me keep focus however when I weighed myself on the Friday my weight was the same as the week before.

I'm worried that my day off undid my good work so now I'm not sure if I can affored to have a day off AND I'm not sure I can stick to the diet without the promise of one.

callipygianchronicle

I recognize that I will never have a body type that allows me to eat whatever I want without exercising. So, in my world, eating more means moving more, and I make this pretty non-negotiable.

My life is highly sedentary. I must have the metabolism boost from exercise in order to maintain my weight. To lose, I need even more. There are some days that I know I will eat high calorie (because of a birthday party or some other event), but I usually front load that day with exercise.

I also willingly go over calories on some days, if I have had other days during the week where I have been too far under my calorie goal. But as a practice, I try to stay within my calories every day; but I do not judge myself if I am imperfect in that practice.

SheilaSisco

Definitely not a free day... and no free meals for me once a week... I will on occasion 'cheat' a little on a meal, but I don't really consider it cheating since I eat light for my other meals and make sure I work out so that I still come in under calories. And I don't eat 'badly' (pizza, fast food, etc) very often, although it does happen on occasion. My take on it is basically if you have to give up EVERYTHING you love forever, you're less likely to stick with it. If you give yourself leeway to indulge once in a while (for special occasions or as a reward or something) then it'll be easier to stick with it for a lifetime. That has been my mistake in 'dieting' in the past... it was never realistic in the long term... and I think it's a mistake a LOT of people make... lol

wanda1956

Yep...a free meal helps me stay on track.

happy_vegan

i'm on vacation so it's been so hard especially with friends and going out drinking to not go over. (i have been)
so right now i'm trying not to freak out about it
BUT
it's killing me!!! i love how i feel when i've worked out and eaten right... i feel like a bloated whale right now. i can't wait to get back home! yesterday i walked 10 miles around the city (just did the maps on google) so i burned JUST ENOUGH calories to stay at 1200...yikes. it's hard.

i don't like free days - and i feel like i'm not alone in this. they're not worth it!!

happy_vegan

There's no such thing as a free day or meal. You pay for it, either by not losing for the week, gaining for the week, or with good planning, by saving a little each day to pay for it.

Personally I recommend the last one; I have days under and days over my goal every week. As long as they all balance out for a weekly average, I'm good with it, and so is my weight loss.

love this

lajuice24

There's no such thing as a free day or meal. You pay for it, either by not losing for the week, gaining for the week, or with good planning, by saving a little each day to pay for it.

Personally I recommend the last one; I have days under and days over my goal every week. As long as they all balance out for a weekly average, I'm good with it, and so is my weight loss.

I agree with this. I try to plan those days where I may indulge more and make sure it is balanced and I make sure i have gotten my work out in that day

willnorton

we are addicted to food..just like the alcoholics and the crack heads...

ok.....a guy is trying to quit smoking crack, should he allow himself to smoke crack just once a week???

an alcoholic is trying to get sober so he wont keep killing his wife and small children...should he be able to go to the bar and have a free day of drinking once a week.....

a guy is addicted to child abuse...I wont even go there..

we are food addicts...should we just draw the line and eat healthy and get plenty of exercise....not a diet....not a free day from our diet....we should never be on "a diet" because diets FAIL.....about 95 % of all diets fail...

change your life and dont call it a diet anymore....just a new lifestyle of living...if you dont, when you get to the end of your diet, you will start gaining back the weight you lost on your "diet"..

i do believe we are just as bad as the alcoholics and the crack addicts just to name a few....what is addiction????
we are addicted!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

accept that and change your lifestyle, stop dieting.....eat whats good for you and know eating crap will get you and keep you exactly where you started from...

I dont mean to be harsh but i have had a terrible problem and have accepted that im a foodaholic.....
I try to eat right and exercise.....

I started at 500 pounds...I never want to go back there ever again..

i have high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes because of my life style..

i have been on every diet known to man....lost and gained and lost and gained.....

you are very special to your family and probably many other people......

get yourself well and try to cure or control your addiction...and when you get healthy and in the right place, I believe like other normal people I know, you can have a treat every now and then...
but know just like I have been told many times, once you have been diagnosed as a diabetic, you will ALWAYS be a diabetic but you hopefully will get to the point you are controlling yourself with the proper lifestyle...

good luck to you and I surely didnt mean to be harsh or rude...take my comments like we all take comments.....digest them and take what you want to take from them....

good luck whatever you do....your family will appreciate it...

army_cobra

It is good for you to have a cheat day and when i say a cheat day i dont mean go out and pig out at fast food places all day long. Go to a good restaurant to eat out at. Stay away from fast food places those things are the devil

kkellam1

Never. I don't cheat or do free meals because I think I would risk losing my motivation. I changed my way of eating in order to make changes. I don't feel like I am denying myself things, I feel like I am making way better choices than before. If I cheat, that tells me that there is something to cheat from. To me that's not an acceptable mindset. Then i would start making deals with myself and compromising/justifying. I made myself a plan that I can live with, I really enjoy the things that I eat and I never, ever approach the calorie limit for the day.

I can't say that this is how others should be, but it's the only mindset that works for me personally. In past weight loss attempts I have felt denied and that's what has made them diificult and ultimately fail. This time I really like my lifestyle and my food plan and I haven't had any touble sticking to it.

I will admit that my diet is kind of boring and, as a person who LOVES to cook, I miss the adventure of food. However I have managed to change my relationship with food and look at it as fuel for my body, not entertainment or a social activity. Maybe one day when I am maintenance mode I can relearn how to eat for fun and still be healthy.

believe22

I don't do free meals or days.
I'm making a lifestyle change and I dont plan on having free days for the rest of my life. If I do go out to a resteraunt or whatever, I choose the healthiest option I can.

LJCannon

I have a free day every week. I find that each week I splurg less because after you have been eating so good for so long when you eat crap you feel like crap. But some foods are just worth it for 1 day.

It is so true that 'When you eat crap, you feel like crap' and the longer I am on this Journey the more true it gets. Some things that I used to think were 'worth it' really are not any more.

taso42_DELETED

You hit on a controversial topic! Personally I have a free day (which has really morphed into "2 free meals per week"). I believe in it and advocate it. Some of the benefits are
psychology: it's easier to go on with the healthy lifestyle if you know you can splurge now and then.
metabolism: after weeks of calorie deficit your metabolism will want to slow down and adjust to the lower intake. having a day each week of higher calories will amp up the metabolism just a bit and give your body a signal that it should burn fat, not store it.

fattybumchum22

again i have a cheat day every two weeks! i think its nice to just not have to worry about calories and the like. i normally still in put to mfp but even this week with my cheat day this week im still under my NET calorie per week!

I think you have to figure out what works for you and go from there!

Wendy