Who Allows Themselves a "FREE DAY"?

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  • tetecia
    tetecia Posts: 75 Member
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    I sometimes allow myself a 'Free Day', but that's a once in a while thing when i know we are going to be out and about and i'm not cooking the food myself ect. However, i've found over the past 6 1/2 months or so cheat days aren't as important to me as they used to be. Initially i was looking at this as a diet. But, once i've got accustomed to eating better, if i have a 'cheat meal' every now and then i don't beat myself up. Although, i've found if i don't eat good, like i usually do i will feel like garbage. So, i don't generally have them any more. If i want something sweet (ive given up soda and candy) i usually find something else to snack on, like fruit ect. But, that's just me. it's taken time.
  • mgobluetx12
    mgobluetx12 Posts: 1,326 Member
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    I watch people i work with who are also dieting eat anyting they want on their free day and i think itsa terrible idea. Even in one day you could eat back your entire progress for the week. These are the people who are on diets forever and never lose weight. I think rather than a free day eat one thing you really love each day and balance your other food to accomadate. Three terrible meals in one day can really kill progress.

    Yes, this.
  • JustJennie13
    JustJennie13 Posts: 218
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    I don't agree that a free day will limit your progress. In truth it can help you from hitting a plateau because of the increased calorie intake on one day a week (not a professional). I have always allowed myself a cheat day and lost 30 pounds on my first go at calorie counting. I did find that after about 3 months I didn't enjoy the cheat day as much the food wasn't appealing anymore so I would just eat one "cheat" thing whether it was a dessert or going to a restaurant and getting an appetizer. I still had my day it just wasn't as crazy as it was earlier in my diet.
  • buffykaz
    buffykaz Posts: 50 Member
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    Sort of - I save up a few extra calories over 3 or 4 days e.g. 200 per day and then have 1 day a week where I will use them up on top of my normal daily calorie amount e.g. have 2000 calories that day instead of 1400. This is especially handy if you know you are going out for tea on a Saturday night or have a party coming up. It's called calorie cycling or zig zagging.
  • iqnas
    iqnas Posts: 445 Member
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    I allow myself a free day ONCE A MONTH.

    If I had a day a week, I would probably just eat back all the calories I lost in the other 6 days..
  • BarackMeLikeAHurricane
    BarackMeLikeAHurricane Posts: 3,400 Member
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    Nope, I just incorporate treats into my calorie goals
  • ChangingAmanda
    ChangingAmanda Posts: 486 Member
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    Yep, it was called Thanksgiving. Next one is Christmas.

    In all seriousness, I eat what I want as long as I stay within my calorie budget.
  • adavis59
    adavis59 Posts: 285 Member
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    Perhaps there is a misunderstanding in what a FREE DAY means. It does not mean eat until your eyes gorge out of your head and your stomach hangs to the floor. A free day for me means that I will eat something I normally would not eat, but in a healthy sized portion, not piling it on until you can't see the other person sitting across the table from you. I eat just enough along with healthy sides such as a salad and fresh veggies. After my splurge day, I don't feel guilty or sick to my stomach. Remember, everything in moderation!!
  • Healthydiner65
    Healthydiner65 Posts: 1,579 Member
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    My cheat day is Sunday and I always lose that day.I usually eat 1200-1300 per day but on Sunday I eat 1500. So I might start cheating every day!
  • kms1320
    kms1320 Posts: 599 Member
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    You either want results, or you just kinda want results. I don't have cheat days. I want results.
  • Ssstj4
    Ssstj4 Posts: 1
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    I don't have a cheat day, I have a cheat moment. If I'm doing really well on calories for the week & have been craving something more than 48 hours, I'll allow myself a taste, like a mini hershy or 3 hershey kisses, but never a whole regular candybar. Never a full soda any longer. I feel the hardest part is cutting out the soda. But I'm actually doing it!!

    I agree about the smell of fast food. I don't even really like the smell of bacon anymore, which was heaven before. lol, but french fries, chicken, all that fried food smell does make me nauseous & I've only been doing this actively consistently for 3 weeks. it's awesome that I see everyday & consciously think about the fuel I'm putting into my body. I never realized how close to a biggest loser audition contestant I was starting to seem like before I started this I never paid attention, it's crazy how distorted my sense of "food portion" was.
  • wibutterflymagic
    wibutterflymagic Posts: 788 Member
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    I've only been doing this for 10 or 11 days so I'm still finding what works but I haven't had any full cheat days yet...well except Thanksgiving. I've really adjusted nicely(surprisingly) to eating better but I still have had by sweets here and there but just not a ton like I used to. I can't stomach the idea of going all week long depriving myself of things I enjoy. If this is going to be a lifestyle change then I have to incorporate the sweets and some of the other things that I like into that instead of just one day. That seems counter productive to me. I just don't beat myself up if I decide I want a treat. I eat a little instead of a lot and continue on. A little won't hurt the long run and that's what this is.....a long run, not a sprint.
  • NZhellkat
    NZhellkat Posts: 355 Member
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    I'm not on a diet. I started a major lifestyle change back in January of this year that would continue for a long time. Then it will be habit. There are no good and bad foods. Just better choices. Experience has shown me time and again that it is better to feed a small craving then to hold it back until it becomes a binge. But that's just me. :smile:
  • paxbfl
    paxbfl Posts: 391 Member
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    Thanks for the comments. I would like to cut back on the free days... either have them less frequently or scale them down significantly from what I'm doing now as some of you suggested. But I'll take it as it goes for now. Right now it's working so I'm not in a hurry to fix it!
  • paxbfl
    paxbfl Posts: 391 Member
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    I don't agree that a free day will limit your progress. In truth it can help you from hitting a plateau because of the increased calorie intake on one day a week (not a professional).

    I've heard this before also. I wonder how true it is. My body must be saying "WHAT THE HECK?" after my free day. Going from serious calorie deficit to serious calorie surplus in 24 hours. lol.
  • JustJennie13
    JustJennie13 Posts: 218
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    I don't agree that a free day will limit your progress. In truth it can help you from hitting a plateau because of the increased calorie intake on one day a week (not a professional).

    I've heard this before also. I wonder how true it is. My body must be saying "WHAT THE HECK?" after my free day. Going from serious calorie deficit to serious calorie surplus in 24 hours. lol.

    I learned this in a fitness class I attended with the military. You can force a plateau because your body gets X amount of calories every day it will learn to operate and hold on to X. You throw it off just one day a week (in moderation) and it keeps your body guessing....
  • notenoughspeed
    notenoughspeed Posts: 290 Member
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    What s the point of a free day? I'm trying to get somewhere. My body only needs x amount of calories a day to achieve a goal. Deciding not to worry or log seems so silly to me. I have changed my eating habits forever. I have had higher calorie days, but I balance it out with exercise or lower calorie days. A free day seems like trying to hold on to those horrible old eating habits. They did my body no good. It would be like I'm not caring about my body. Not caring is what got me here in this predicament in the first place.
  • beautifulandrogyny
    beautifulandrogyny Posts: 2 Member
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    I don't have a free day or a "cheat" day (where I eat anything) because quite frankly my body just won't fall for the cheating even if my mind will.

    That said, I also don't eat perfectly at my calorie goal each day, either. Some days I am a few hundred calories over my target, some days I am dead on, some days I am a few hundred under, and other days I'm eating just to meet 1100. For me it naturally averages out to almost exactly my calorie goal weekly. I tend to eat healthy mostly but I don't mark anything as off limits. It keeps me from needing an eat anything day. Some days I eat perfectly healthy and other days it'll be like, super healthy lmeal, super healthy meal, TWO SLICES OF PIZZA AND ICE CREAM FOR DESSERT. And it all adds up okay and I get my nutritional values met.

    I'm afraid I'd binge (and not even enjoy it) if I consolidated it all to one day. I think it might make me feel kind of ill as well if it wasn't spaced out as much. Furthermore, I'd rather half a scoop of ice cream when I wanted it, enjoy it and feel like I was indulging myself, and think nothing further of it than to fantasize about it all week, feel like I was denying myself, and end up eating the whole darn pint.
  • Sweetpea1103
    Sweetpea1103 Posts: 1
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    I allow my self to have a kind of cheat day but I dont go all out and eat anything or everything. Its can be so easy to get you off track. I believe in rewarding yourself for all the hardwork you have done.
  • jhanso86
    jhanso86 Posts: 35
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    I give myself a free day whenever I feel like I really need one or want one. Not once a week, just every now and then. And usually it's just one meal that I actually splurge calories on. I always feel nauseated and miserably full afterward. I still get the urge to do it now and then though. BTW I have only been doing this about a month and have yet to weigh myself...so I don't know if it is detrimental to my weight loss or not. I just feel like it helps keep me going somehow though.

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