Do you take a "day off"?

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  • thnin2010
    thnin2010 Posts: 1 Member
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    No real day off per se but if I have a special day like my birthday or some sort of personal "food function" Wedding Anniversary etc then I will be kind of loose in what I eat. Like everyone else I never give myself permission to "pig out" but just eat a bit different than normal as far as sugar, fat etc.
  • kbbradley
    kbbradley Posts: 19 Member
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    The Skinny Rules by Bob Harper (Biggest Loser Guy) suggest one splurge meal a week maybe not the whole day. To me if I had my weight at a "normal" number for my height I could afford to take a break more often.
  • bailuna
    bailuna Posts: 56
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    My husband and I have a cheat day ... well, it's not even really a cheat day, it's a cheat meal. Once a week, on Wednesdays, we go out with our friends after work and have dinner. It's usual pub food, and the one time a week we'll allow ourselves to have it. And it's the one time a week that I'll drink a diet soda.

    Even on our cheat day, we do our best to have proper breakfast, lunch and snacks and do some extra exercise so that we'll fit that meal into our calorie limit.
  • shelbynicole32
    shelbynicole32 Posts: 179 Member
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    I am today solely for the reason that it is my birthday and I want a cheat day.

    ETA That means that I will be working out extra HARD tomorrow.

    HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

    Hey thanks... It has been a VERRY happy birthday... Chocolate peanut clusters, chocolate covered oreo, and chocolate covered strawberries... WOOHOO!
  • sgall123
    sgall123 Posts: 133 Member
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    I always take the weekends off. Infact if you look at my diary I don't even log my calories those days. And when I go on vacation I take the week off. I have done this since starting and do not think it has hindered my weight loss. I think eating is like exercise in the fact that if you do the same thing over and over the body conforms to it and adjusts your metabolism accordingly. That is why there are days I will eat all my exercise calories and days when I don't.
    good attitude... I agree that when you have a couple if days eating things you woukdnt it does keep your metabolism guessing & thus losing weight keeps happening.. I also do this as & when I need to.. For example I have a weekend of family birthday gatherings this weekend & both days will revolve around food & drink but then from Monday I'll have a full 7 days of staying within my calories to even it out & it keeps my metabolism guessing..
  • Snail313
    Snail313 Posts: 214 Member
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    I really try and stay within or near my calorie goal each day, but If I really want some candy or to go out to eat one day a week I am going to do it. I may go over my calories but I still log it and enjoy every bit of whatever it was that I ate. I then go back to being good for the most part, lol.
  • rcthale
    rcthale Posts: 141
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    If I eat out with friends, I shoot for moderation without turning into one of those people with a ten-minute order. So I end up with a heavy meal, but it's worth enjoying a night out.
  • Laura8603
    Laura8603 Posts: 590 Member
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    I do take days off and even took a week off when I was on vacation. I don't go crazy, but am not fanatic about my eating when I'm taking an off day. I know this does not work for some people, but it works for me.
  • rumpusparable
    rumpusparable Posts: 160
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    I really don't agree to days off. Varying your calorie intake is good, but I don't think allowing a regular day to eat treats is a good idea. The idea is to break yourself of eating any of non-nutritious stuff.

    I say keep unhealthy or high calorie days to major holidays if you need to have them. I just had a "day off" for my 15th wedding anniversary. For my and my husband's birthdays and such I stayed on track.
  • mscrumbyy
    mscrumbyy Posts: 116
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    I eat mostly vegetarian with my mum so I've been struggling to keep up with my calories anyway. I find if I want a treat I can usually fit it in easily enough without having rest days.
  • shercoup
    shercoup Posts: 64 Member
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    When I lost 100 lbs and kept it off for 10 years , I gave myself one night to eat whatever I wanted for dinner. Unfortunately due to a number of reasons I gained back 70 over the last 5 years. I just started the journey again a 3 weeks ago and I have lost 10 lbs and still am doing the cheat night thing. It works great for me.
  • wftiger
    wftiger Posts: 1,283 Member
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    No, this is a way of life not a diet and I am not a dog so I do not need food as a reward. It has worked well for me and I see no reason to change and I most certainly am never going back to where I was 8 months ago.
  • sweetpotatofry
    sweetpotatofry Posts: 209 Member
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    My body naturally wants more food after a couple of lower-calorie days, so in the end it all evens out for me :) That said, my weight loss has been extreeemely slow, probably because I am eating just below or close to maintenance (not on purpose. I just can't lower my cals by too much).
  • Diamond_angel14
    Diamond_angel14 Posts: 53
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    of course i take a "cheat day" and i had it like 2 days ago ... i ate macaroni with parmesan and tomatoe sauce and ate fried mozzerella... its just one day off to keep me going :)
  • MyOwnSunshine
    MyOwnSunshine Posts: 1,312 Member
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    I do this, but I just allow one "cheat meal" and one "treat" every weekend. I still track everything, and I don't binge, but I do allow myself reasonable amounts of foods that I don't have during the week.

    It is more of a psychological break than a metabolic booster, I think. If I'm craving something during the week or feeling deprived, I just make a mental note of it so I can have it on the weekend. Mexican food, a brownie, pasta, Cold Stone Creamery, etc... It's much easier for me to resist high calorie foods dring the week if I know that I will be able to choose something on the weekend.

    I think the key is not bingeing, deliberately gorging or stuffing yourself with junk... moderation is good all the time, but treats are nice once in a while, too.
  • Bobby_Clerici
    Bobby_Clerici Posts: 1,828 Member
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    I have always had a "Free Day":drinker:

    At first it was a huge food orgy - 24 hours, but as time went on, I steadily cut back to a few cheat meals on that day.
    And no, I do not count calories. LOST 70 lbs doing this.
    The challenge sometimes was turning it off at day's end. Sometimes I did not, and my results suffered.
    The arguments for a free day/cheat day are both psychological and physiological.
    It may be that a cheat day shocks your body and resets metabolism. Maybe, who knows?
    I think it does...
    And it's a mental boost knowing I never need to go more than a week before I binge on junk if I want.
    And sometimes I want which is why I do it.
    And my results speak for itself. The fruit of anybody's philosophy is their success or lack of :wink:
    Anyway, good luck to YOU!
  • Pacileo4Evers
    Pacileo4Evers Posts: 129 Member
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    I haven't really seen a reason to do this because my whole purpose here has been for me to learn how to eat in moderation as opposed to depriving myself of things that I love. I have had some high calorie days here and there but usually it's not from over eating, it's from eating a lot of high calorie foods in one day. I personlly don't think it is necessary, but I know that there is some research that backs it up as being a good thing.
    I'm right there with you
  • BrienJD
    BrienJD Posts: 541 Member
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    Not really. There are some days though when I go over BECAUSE I ate a bit like I used to, but it's not a planned for thing.
  • Hezzietiger1
    Hezzietiger1 Posts: 1,256 Member
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    no. But if I want to have something that I normally wouldn't eat, I work it into my calories. For example, last friday I had a slice of pizza and 2 mic ultra's. My typical diet is water only, light dairy and no processed carbs. I still stayed in my calories.. but I really wanted some pizza and a night out with the girls.
  • NoAdditives
    NoAdditives Posts: 4,251 Member
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    I had 1-2 days off each week and lost 35 pounds in 6 months, while eating 1500-1600 net calories the rest of the week.

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