day offs-good or bad?

Does anybody have a 'day off?' I'm contemplating on having saturdays where I can eat whatever iwant when I want as a reward forsticking to the diet all week. I was just wondering weather this was a goos thing or not as I don't want to blow the hard work I've done during the week but doing a non stop diet with out that little treat I honestly think I would throw in the towel. Do you think a whole day or just a nice meal would be best...advice would be great.
Thanks

No. If anything have a meal. If you're tying to reduce bodyfat, this is the worst thing you can do. You want a reward? How about patting yourself on the back for sticking to your nutrition and training plans.

Oh and there is no such thing as an off day.

I see you have joined fairly recently - welcome! My personal opinion is that you must allow times for excess occasionally in order to fit food into the social side of your life. However, I wouldn't recommend an entire day and I wouldn't recommend it "just for the sake of it" or even necessarily on a regular basis (e.g. each Saturday). For example, choosing to blow your calories on a tub of ice cream in front of the TV in a rather sad and lonely fashion is a million miles away to blowing it on a few drinks meeting up with your mates in the pub or a romantic meal with a loved one. Treating yourself with food alone is an unfulfilling path - if you're going to blow it - make sure it is for a positive reason rather than purely for the comfort of the food itself. Just my opinion. However, I also think you will find your own rhythm. After a while, logging ALL your foods and activities and SEEING great results, you might just decide yourself that a whole day's blow-out just isn't all it's cracked up to be - you re-evaluate the pleasure vs. the consequences. Good luck!

I would not take a set day off but there are odd days when I don't stick to cals, birthday/holiday/special meal out/etc and I don't worry about it as there will always be times when you eat more even if really thin! As long as it is not too often and is for a particular reason it should not set a diet back by much.

Not sure I day off every week would help though as you will continue to see food as a reward for good behaviour that way! And 1 day a week would be far too much anyway. if you really feel the need for this why not plan an extra active day, e.g. Saturdays when you go swimming/long walk/ extra long in the gym etc and then you are able to eat more and stay close to cals! (Ps going a couple of hundred over one day a week, maybe because you have a meal out/glass of wine etc, will not undo everything but going way over every week will)

If you think you really need a time where you can eat what you want, try just having a "cheat meal" instead of a whole day. A whole day means you have the possibility of over-indulging and ruining the new, good habits you're trying to make. With one meal, say, once a month or something, you're letting yourself enjoy a food or foods you otherwise wouldn't have due to calories, sodium, whatever you're watching, it slakes your hunger for it and you can keep the rest of the day in a good place.

There are also people who, if they want, say, pizza they find out the calories for however much they want to eat and then work their entire day as far as other food/meals and exercise to accommodate them having it without going into the negative.

DAYS OFF ARE A BAD IDEA. The reward will be on the scale and the fitting of your clothes. We all are going to have a day where we eat badly anyway so having a day on top of the days we already dont plan on would just lead to more excess. Reward yourself by taking yourself out for a massage or getting a slim fitting outfit but dont reward with food. We can do this!!!

I absolutely have a cheat day. Usually Saturday or Sunday. I eat what I want, when I want. The trick is to get right back to plan the next day. For me it has helped me be successful and happy. We are all different so you have to choose what is right for youM but for me having a cheat day has made me more successful than I was when I was more strict on myself.


Edit to add: I don't believe in dieting so my situation might be alittle different than most. My approach has been moderation and common sense.

I think it's a bad thing. If you take one day off, then you'll take another and soon you'll be back where you started from! I can't say it enough, but I think it's all about moderation. I don't tell myself that I'm on a diet and I absolutely can't eat or drink certain things, because I would give up immediately. I also can't bring myself to have a day where I eat whatever I want because I just wouldn't want to add up all the calories on here. But if I want an Oreo, I'm going to eat one. I'm just not going to eat half the pack in one sitting. Maybe someone who is really hardcore about their diet would say I have little willpower, but this is working for me!

I have found it more useful to find healthy foods I love, or alternate, healthier recipes for foods I already loved, than to deprive myself and need to "cheat" to feel satisfied. If you live feeling deprived then the lifestyle change is going to be hard to keep up, especially after you lose weight. The temptation to ease up because you have crossed the "finish line" is why so many people gain back the weight they lose.

I used to take the weekends off (didn't track anything on Saturday or Sunday), and it was okay for a while, but it was frustrating sometimes on weigh-in days when I'd think that I totally worked my but off -- stayed in my calorie range all week and worked out 5 days that week -- how on earth did I gain weight or stay neutral.

Now I force myself to track over the weekends. I'll still allow myself some guilty pleasures over the weekend and usually end up going over my calorie range on Saturdays, but I feel like I have a pretty good grasp on it now. So if I go over on Saturday, I can take a look at my weekly average and see if I'm still on track or over for the whole week. If I'm over for the whole week, I'll work out Sunday morning.

It's pretty neat... I feel like MFP has definitely made it into a science.

OH... one other thing that my husband and I do... We cut "bad" carbs out of our diet in general, but we set little goals for ourselves like, "if I can get down to XXX weight and stay there or under it for two weeks straight, let's got out for a hamburger or pizza!" It's fun.