Free Day- Please give me your opinion!

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marisol_cd
marisol_cd Posts: 25
in Health and Weight Loss
So I've decided to give myself Saturdays as a free day, meaning I don't go to the gym and I don't log in my food. I make an effort to do a little extra walking during the day and sometimes I play volleyball with friends. My meals are still in moderate portions and I mostly eat my mom's homemade food. I feel like by doing this I will stick to my diet longer and reach my goal. Also by exercising 6 days a week and taking one day off from the gym, I give my soar muscles time to rest and recover. I've been doing this for about 4 weeks and I've lost 8 lbs. I just feel I'll stick to it longer if I give myself a break, but I'm not an expert. Can anyone give me some feedback/advise? Thanks

Replies

  • Athena413
    Athena413 Posts: 1,709 Member
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    As long as you don't go totally overboard, I think allowing yourself a day to be "normal" is just fine. Our bodies need to know that we're not bat-*kitten* crazy and that we're not starving it, so I say go for it, just be mindful of your portions.
  • harriet_tubman
    harriet_tubman Posts: 52
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    i have been doing this every week for almost 3 months now and it honestly the best thing i ever did. it makes it much easier for me to eat healthy the other six days knowing i can have whatever i want on the seventh (sunday, for me). i do strength training on that day only bc i purposely eat way over my limit so there's no point in me doing any cardio

    and i definitely go overboard. cookies. cake. pizza. chinese. pancakes. etc. whatever i want and how ever much of it want. i'm too embarrassed to tell you my average "free" day calories lol i also don't really even eat anything healthy that day (like the cardio, i just don't see the point of eating healthy after i've already eaten so much crap)
  • INKSFITNESS
    INKSFITNESS Posts: 7
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    I totally agree with that! I have also done it for years. Helps me keep on track and maintain my weight loss.
  • mandycasey
    mandycasey Posts: 274 Member
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    Yes i also agree, i have saturdays as a treat day, something nice to eat and no exercise : )
  • harleygirlT
    harleygirlT Posts: 223 Member
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    I do it every week. I think it's the only way you can make this lifestyle change work. You need a day off of excercise and dieting. I don't go over board on the food but it's nice to have a choice to have dessert or a drink or something. Enjoy your day off!!
  • Sidesteal
    Sidesteal Posts: 5,510 Member
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    IMO, of course:

    If you don't go too crazy on caloric intake on your "free-day" I think the psychological effects far outweigh the one extra day of additional calories.

    I have decided to add a free-day in that I still eat within proximity of my macros, but i don't track it. I hesitate to label it a "cheat" day since I'm not binge eating, but it's a free-day in that I'm not being anal about every gram or calorie. I think being over-dilligent can lead to eating disorders for certain people, so I decided to incorporate this as a matter of course.

    As a secondary effect, downregulation of thyroid hormones will be not likely be as present if you incorporate higher intake days throughout prolonged deficit.
  • Raf702
    Raf702 Posts: 196 Member
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    So I've decided to give myself Saturdays as a free day, meaning I don't go to the gym and I don't log in my food. I make an effort to do a little extra walking during the day and sometimes I play volleyball with friends. My meals are still in moderate portions and I mostly eat my mom's homemade food. I feel like by doing this I will stick to my diet longer and reach my goal. Also by exercising 6 days a week and taking one day off from the gym, I give my soar muscles time to rest and recover. I've been doing this for about 4 weeks and I've lost 8 lbs. I just feel I'll stick to it longer if I give myself a break, but I'm not an expert. Can anyone give me some feedback/advise? Thanks

    That's the beauty of how our human bodies functions. The ability to adjust to drastic changes from consuming an excess amount of calories to eating at a calorie deficit. I follow that principle as well, I give myself one cheat meal once a week. I don't count the calories in it, I simply just engorge, lol. Reason why, is your body has been in a calorie deficit for the past 6 days while on your diet. So your metabolism is performing at a rate just enough to metabolize the small amount of food your consuming. When you consume an excess amount or a cheat meal. Your simply just kick starting your metabolism to perform at optimal level once again. So rather than keeping your metabolism functioning at a steady level, you want to jump start it every now and then so that your metabolism can handle both the large consumption of calories and low consumption of calories.

    Not to mention, it's a mental game as well. By consuming a cheat meal or a meal without recorded calories. You prevent yourself from binge eating on a random day. Or over eating, or even having specific cravings. Your basically increasing your will power to maintain a steady diet when your on it.

    As long as your on point with your diet 6 days week. That 1 day out of that week when you have your cheat meal, no counting calories and no exercise. It definitely won't hinder your progress of weight loss. Since weight loss is a long term, life long continuous achievement. If you were doing female competitions, then that would be a different story. But for the majority, it's not something you should lose sleep over. One day out of a week guilt free of eating ANYTHING, is nothing compared to maintaining a lesser weight for the next 20+ years.
  • fiberartist219
    fiberartist219 Posts: 1,865 Member
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    If it is working for you, you should keep doing it.
  • icemaiden17_uk
    icemaiden17_uk Posts: 463 Member
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    On the second Sunday of every month my local Idian have half price Take Away so That is going to be my bad food day aslong as I do something in the day. Like go for a family walk for example or go visiting somewhere nice like a castle or country home! Lots of walking and good times followed by a reward!! But I have to be as good as I can the rest of the time! Not sure if it is going to work as only been logging for 2 weeks but fingers crossed!! It seems to be working for you though if you have lost that weight while doing it!
  • marisol_cd
    marisol_cd Posts: 25
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    Thanks everyone!!! During the week I've been doing really good, I eat frequent small portions of fresh fruits and veggies between meals. I don't find it difficult to eat like this since my family and I are vegetarian anyway, but I thought maybe in the long run I would benefit from a cheat day. I don't binge eat on my cheat days, I just simply eat normally and forget about counting calories. I feel like my meals during the week speed up my metabolism so on my cheat day my body can easily breakdown those extra calories. Since most of you agree with my little trick, I'm going to keep it up :)

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