Exceptions to your diet? What about week-ends?

Kamalka

Hi,

I am new on MFP even though I used many apps previously before getting too sedentary for a while. I usually eat about 2000 calories every day, which is equal to my BMR. I can not eat more than 2200 if I stick to my kind of food. The only exception is on Friday when I get a special beer (I discover one Belgian ber every week) with a full pack of peanusts (sick)...which increase my calorie of 1500 in one shot:blushing:

Reading some nutritionists advices, I try to eat 4-6 times a day (only healthy food of course), getting proteins and carbs to keep on sports (-2500 cal/ working day). They adviced to allow ourselves one "previous" meal per week (3 serving or french fries, whatever we like). For me, this is left for big family diners (my wife hates having soup, dinner and dessert in a raw) and I cannot stop myself in front of pistaches, cashews and peanuts.

As an example, I reached 3500 last friday because of peanuts and 4000 thousand on sunday because of huge dinner with mom and sister. I did some sports on Saturday and gained approxiamety 1,5-2 kg between Friday and Monday. I lost everything by Tuesday and I succeeded in meeting my initial goal (even a bit beter). I therefore do not know if it would be suitable to lose weight slowly and allow this kind of behaviors on week-ends or increase weight loss speed by not changing my habits on the week-end (but maybe lose motivation after a while?).

Big dinners are left to Chrismas and New Year for tis month, with some sport planned on the following day. For the peanuts...let's consider it as my little weakness! It is also more diffult for me to make sport on week-ends.

Do you guys stick to your plan on week-ends as well?

chocciechip

I stick to my plans at the weekend, otherwise you end up bingeing or undoing all the work you've done throughout the week - it's not healthy to do so that way.

If you feel like you want a treat then space it out through the week but storing things up to the weekend or to a specific day means your splurge'll be huge when it could be paced steadily if you want those treats through the week.

I guess different people work different ways for them, but for me I know I don't lose if I work like that good luck!!

ImNotStarving

I splurge every now and again.. definitely not on a weekly basis, but I do occasionally have a day when I just don't worry about it. It has not affected my overall rate of loss. I also try not to do it impulsively. If I know I have something coming up (like Thanksgiving), then I plan to not watch what I eat on that day. I do gain a couple pounds, sure, but it's easy enough to take it back off and keep going with my loss. I like knowing that I'm not forbidden to ever eat goodies again... it helps me LOL.

Kamalka

Thank you for your answers.

Instead of having the bad news when entering food at the end of the day (though I changed my bread and had a nasty surprise), I planned it in advance so that I would not fall into this "impulsive" way to eat like last week end. My planing includes my peanuts with a beer at the end of the week as long as I am happy with my shape.
So I hope my next week end will look like this one: Saturday was like a week day considering sports and input of 1400 calories (my wife food was really too healthy, so no way to get more ^^) instead of 4000 on Sunday...

I try to focus on not getting impulsive, like planning my "misbehavior" so that I do not lose all my efforts. I plan to get a beer and peanuts like every week if I lose 2 lb by Friday.

BobbyClerici

It's hard.
Weekends have always been hard for me, but now, it's just another day.

I incorporated a "free day" into my program a la Body For Life" -- Google that!
Anyway, on "free day" I can eat whatever I want, and at first I'd binge morning till bedtime and still lost weight.

My total weight loss is over 60 lbs, and I love that free day!
Now, I just allow myself certain foods that are kind of off limits during the week: pizza, burgers ect...
NO MORE BINGES!

This free day has physiological and psychological benefits in that a good weekly feeding helps negate our body's tendency to interpret our diets as famines which stifle metabolism. And I love eating bad foods, because they're so tasty.

Good Luck and WELCOME!

engineman312

i log everything, even if i'm being "bad." i don't have a cheat day, because it kind of implies that i disregard all the rules and just eat junk. i may have a calorie spike day, where i go over my calories by like, 800. that is usually my rest day, and the next day i have a monster work out.

MaddameKat

I have a one day a week relaxed rules day. Normally means i have run out of space in the freezer so have to eat something i wouldn't normally ( like a meat pie not an ice cream).
Otherwise i stick to plan. This week my relaxed day is the work xmas lunch. I have budgeted some cals from each day towards it and then the rest will be my treat.

fteale

I have to stick to my calories every day. If I allowed myself to go over by 1500 one day I would put on 1/2 a lb that would take me another month to lose. If I did that one day a week, I would be gaining.

SpaceMarkus

Usually I go for one meal a week. Sometimes one night, just depends. For example, we finally got some cooler weather this weekend so I went out for dinner, had some Starbucks, then picked up some frozen yogurt and watched some Christmas movies. You're not going to add fat in just a day of poor eating, especially if the rest of your week is spent burning it. Go out and enjoy yourself, just don't let yourself slip into a bad habit.

fiberartist219

I rarely count calories these days. I just eat until I'm satisfied and stop before I'm stuffed. (I also am thankful for a balanced hormone system for my abilities to eat less, so I don't know that this would work for everyone.)

I do the exact same on the weekends that I do on the weekdays. I do eat out more on the weekends, but I eat the same amount of food. I do count calories from time to time when I eat something new or super greasy, but as of late, I've been eating 1400-1500 calories a day when I decide to tally it up. It's not too hard for me. It has been super hard in the past when I had some other health problems going on, but now I feel so good, it's a lot easier.

LorinaLynn

I stopped logging on weekends and holiday back in June, and continued to lose until I switched to maintenance calories. Maybe I underestimate my activity level (lightly active) or my BMR is higher than MFP calculates and that's why it works for me. I wouldn't say I cheat or binge on weekends, but I don't measure exact serving sizes if I have a snack, and I won't turn down any desserts or drinks that might be offered.

You just have to find what works best for you. If a weekly good beer and peanuts makes you happy and stay on track the rest of the week, I'd personally rather a slower progress and enjoy myself living a normal life, than lose weight faster but feel limited or deprived.

tangal88

I do a free day once a week, as noted in the Body For Life diet.

Have lost 60 lbs that way.

Husband also did that plan and lost weight a few years back.

The plan involves very good eating 6 days a week, and working out hard 6 days a week, including heavy strength training and cardio. One day a week is a rest day. One day a week is a free food choice day. (no more then one)

I don't consider it a bad or cheat day. I consider it just a "relaxed" eating day. I track my cals and micros as any other day. And some days it looks really bad, LOL But I make sure I still meet my protein levels, for me thats a key I need to still loss weight.

It all balances out for the whole week of good eating, and I am back on board, 100%, the following day. Though weekends may be hard, you do need to learn to make healthy choices, which I do. But I also know I have a free day coming, which I can use if I want.

I consider my eating a lifestyle change, not a diet. So this is my life forever. And for me, part of that - is having one relaxed eating day a week, where I can eat what I may crave, or go out to dinner or the movies and have the hugh theater popcorn with butter and large soda and candy bar. Or some cake and ice cream and donuts for breakfast.

It keeps me fresh mentally and physically, keeps me from feeling like I am deprived or on a diet - or missing the things that I may enjoy - but don't need everyday.

Will not work for everyone, but for me it is a working option, that I have had success with.

kerrymh

If you are going to have the nuts, try to have them unsalted..the salt is usually what is addictive and causes the wt gain because of water retention. So if you go with unsalted nuts you probably will eat less, and retain less water, thus not having to work so hard every week just to loss the water weight from the weekend.

JoolieW68

I refuse to beat myself up if I go over my calories one day, and I totally expect to go over one day a week. Life is too short to be living it by so many numbers.

The important numbers (blood pressure, pulse, cholesterol, etc) are all excellent, so the rest will take care of themselves as long as I'm doing the right things with my diet and exercise the majority of the time.

Treat yourself once in a while, or else you WILL fall off the wagon big time.

dad106

Nope.. I don't stick to my plans on weekends and I've been losing just fine. Heck, last night I went to a holiday party with friends, and polished off 3 glasses of wine.. and I def. haven't done that in a long while.

I feel that by being super strict with everything, that I'm setting myself up for failure. I know that I like chocolate.. so having it in moderation won't hurt me. I also like burgers and chicken tenders.. again, moderation never hurt anyone. It's when it becomes an everyday thing, that you start having problems.

FitForLife81

I have been taking the weekends off lately and just doing all my workouts/clean eating during the week. It hasnt changed anything for me at all. I look forward to the weekends so I can eat what I want

DoubleE615312

From what I have learned, if I stay super strict for so many days, without a day of "relaxation", I start feeling ill and that effects my workouts. I have one-two days were I am a little over on my calories, but I usually stay in the 1200-1500 range depending on days I workout. I do however log my "relaxation" days just to go back and look to see how it affected my week. Usually it doesn't. The only time I don't log is when I am on vacation.

JeSuisPrest

For starters, I'm not on a diet. I've changed my eating habits and eat and drink in moderation now. And for the most part yes, I've gone over a bit a few times at parties but usually stay the course!

reaolliemama

I never PLAN to cheat, I always log everything, even if I do. I do go over occasionally, but it's not weekly or anything like that. It really hard this time of year, but I find that I feel better about myself if I exercise discipline. If I do go over one day, like yesterday, I step it up with extra workout time the next day, like today!!! That said, a lot of people do just fine taking one day a week off, it just isn't good for me!

Sidesteal

When I was trying to lose weight and lean out I eventually added one day per week where I didn't keep track. To clarify, this wasn't a binge day and I didn't treat it as such, but I would eat pretty close to maintenance/small surplus (500ish).

I think there's benefit to this provided you can do so and resume your plan the following day, and provided you don't have surpluses in the thousands on your cheat day.

wellbert

Even if i can stick to my calories on the weekend, I make awful choices for the sake of convenience... willpower !me

HMonsterX

I'm really starting to think I'm not "normal" tbh.

People say water fills you up. To me it makes me more hungry.

I can't stand peanut butter.

And to me it's far easier to keep to my eating routine on weekends. Being at work would be far harder as i eat when i get bored, which at work would be all the time! When I'm at home there's plenty to do to stop myself being bored!

REBEE17

Usually I am a bit more lax on weekends than I am during the week. I still log everything I eat, even if it's over calories.
This weekend was an example. I had a few beers Friday night at a party with some pastas and breads and last night had pizza.

I'd go crazy if I didn't allow these things every so often.

runlaugheatpie

why not just plan for the beer and the nuts? You know maybe shave off some cals from the other days and do some extra exercise to compensate?

Kamalka

why not just plan for the beer and the nuts? You know maybe shave off some cals from the other days and do some extra exercise to compensate?

This is what I do...as long as it works. As somebody said, this is a hard time of the year. I will feel more in control in January.
There was a misunderstanding about "cheating": I log everything all the time, even a bit too much than a bit less (for example if my wife takes 15g of the peanuts pack, I consider I eat it all).

As doing sport, I am not really concerned about calories for the time being : I should eat 1980/day to lose 1lb/week and I am about 1700-1800 every day...but I spend 2000 in trainings 6 days a week. I find it quite frightening so I even try to add calories. Still I fear fat, I only want the fat available in fish but my wife forces me to eat cheese (I hardly see what else I could put on my bread anyway). I also use 1l of organic full fat milk/week as she does not like low fat milk.

I am about 25% fat (or 20, how do you measure that with precision without spending money?) and I will review my calories as soon as my fat is gone (in quite some months).

Reading all messages, I conclude that, in my case, I also need a less strict day in the week not to jump from this train...the beer and peanuts are actually my "keep on living" thing.

As many here, I am not on diet, I changed very little of my life style things: more sports, much less chocolate and no more 500g fruit yogurts between meals. I leave pistaches and cashews for receptions and that is it. All my changes are there. I tend to eat much more fruits and drink more water, that is what my body wants before or after the workouts. Not being used to eat fat for 7 years (since I met my wife), I can say that I do not digest it anymore.

Regarding my profile, does anyone know how much fat and proteins (I want my muscle to run for 2 hours, not to be too havy or look like a body builder) I should take. Would it be wise to go for a 0-5% fat, high proteins for 2 weeks? I mean does my body requires new fat intake or can he just use the stored one?

BobbyClerici

I incorporate a weekly "free day" which allows me some give in my diet. It keeps me sane, and there is some science to validate the notion that a good feeding each week shocks your body, preventing metabolic slow down due to food intake restrictions.

And I get burgers, pizza and egg rolls...lol