Skip A Weekend Day or Two-Without Logging Food Diary

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heroyalslimness
heroyalslimness Posts: 591 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Thinking about doing this! Especially on Saturday brunch :drinker: or Sunday Brunch days:bigsmile:
Anybody do this without repercussions --such as a sudden spike on the next weigh-in?
Does it feel freeing? Or is it more stable to log in every thing --everyday?

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  • Graelwyn75
    Graelwyn75 Posts: 4,404 Member
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    I log everyday usually (tho I don't need to since never been overweight, just an ocd thing), and I find personally that there is usually a slight spike in weight for the following few days after being more relaxed about my eating over the weekend, but it goes away again. For me, it is because I don't touch bready stuff during the weekdays, and do at the weekend.
  • Mendelianparakeets
    Mendelianparakeets Posts: 45 Member
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    Well, I kind of did that last night. My roomate ordered pizza and cheesy bread from Domino's, and I ate more than I would have liked to, and ended up not recording it. Weighed myself this morning and my weight was fine. I know that's like the EPITOME of bad habits, but I just wanted to help her eat it. haha
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
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    I do. I started with one weekend day a week when I realized that even with all the debauchery and indulgence at a bachelorette party, it didn't affect my weekly progress (I did log that night), so a normal weekend day wasn't going to hurt, either. I was pretty close to my goal when I started that, though.

    When I reached my initial goal weight, I started taking both weekend days off (and holidays, vacation, etc.), and I'm still doing that a year and almost four months later.

    For me, it's not a matter of "Weeeee!!!!!! I'm not logging my food! I can eat EVERYTHING!!!!!!!!!" Because I typically eat about 2000 calories a day anyway, so I'm not terribly limited in my choices. It's just a break from thinking about food so much. It's the ability to go out to eat without checking the nutritional information online first, to grab a handful of pretzels and munch on them instead of carefully counting out an exact portion, to just eat and snack normally.
  • healthyformeanMona
    healthyformeanMona Posts: 143 Member
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    I think it depends on where you are in your head. I am not there yet. The daily logging has helped me--where I would have felt like I overdid it, or some guilt creeping in, I logged the food, and it was okay. I am having to be more creative in what I choose to eat. And I have had to check myself before reaching for the bedtime snack that I have out of habit, not hunger. I anticipate a day or weekend where I won't track, like taking off the training wheels, but for now, I am not there. (I have only been on MFP for a week though. )
  • danasings
    danasings Posts: 8,218 Member
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    I'm not there yet. Once I reach my goal weight, it's my intention to only log Monday-Friday. This is my opinion, though...if you are still in the "learning phase" - portion size, control, etc. - I think weighing everything you can and logging all of your food is critical to seeing consistent results.
  • kimberliiw
    kimberliiw Posts: 242 Member
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    As soon as I saw this post I thought of LorinaLynn so I'm glad she posted. I find her posts full of common sense and obviously she's doing something right.

    I'm on my 4th week doing MFP and am still tracking the weekends. But I'm seriously considering at least giving myself one day free of tracking.
  • Phaedra2014
    Phaedra2014 Posts: 1,254 Member
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    Thinking about doing this! Especially on Saturday brunch :drinker: or Sunday Brunch days:bigsmile:
    Anybody do this without repercussions --such as a sudden spike on the next weigh-in?
    Does it feel freeing? Or is it more stable to log in every thing --everyday?

    I log everything every day. I have forgotten to close it up for the day so it never shows how many days I've really been on MFP but I do write everything down. I find it freeing to write what I eat every day.
  • heroyalslimness
    heroyalslimness Posts: 591 Member
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    It's just a break from thinking about food so much. It's the ability to go out to eat without checking the nutritional information online

    I'm kind of thinking --more like that. I'm pretty diligent--that will not change.
    It's not like I'm going to suddenly dive into a carton of German Chocolate Cake covered with a keg of Mac and cheese.
    I follow IF and that's not changing--and I eat pretty clean--but it would be nice to have a brunch day--with a little freedom
    and have a not-log in day.
  • tabfjo
    tabfjo Posts: 78 Member
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    My birthday is this weekend and I would love to just enjoy the time with my friends and family and not worry about tracking and counting but I'm terrified I'll gain back the 4 lbs I've lost since joining 4 weeks ago :sad:
  • HealthyJohn
    HealthyJohn Posts: 6
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    I work out twice a day in the morning and at night. I give myself a break from logging once a week, which is also the day that I eat whatever I feel like, although most of it is always health. I also go to Mexico a few times a year and don't worry about loggin my food when on vacation. I have held my goal weight for over two years.
  • heroyalslimness
    heroyalslimness Posts: 591 Member
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    I'm not there yet. Once I reach my goal weight, it's my intention to only log Monday-Friday. This is my opinion, though...if you are still in the "learning phase" - portion size, control, etc. - I think weighing everything you can and logging all of your food is critical to seeing consistent results.

    Yeeah-- I am so still 40 pounds away from goal--and still new..still learning exercise routine etc etc
    That makes complete sense
  • tdlsaint
    tdlsaint Posts: 51 Member
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    On days we decided to go that route ( extremely few, like, 4 days in the past 6 months ) we've just manually entered the max calories for the day and called it good for the day. We knew we were probably exceeding, but that's what those extremely rare days are for. The problem will start when those rare days become semi-rare, then every now and then, and then every other day. Never forget what caused the need to join and use this awesome tool / site , and you'll do great. We never saw a change in our progress fwiw.
  • 2ndstar2therite
    2ndstar2therite Posts: 15 Member
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    I give myself one cheat day a week, but I still log it. Unless I get really nuts with it, I don't think it really affects my progress too much, but it makes a BIG difference in my ability to avoid eating anything I shouldn't be the rest of the week. I find it pretty easy to stay away from whatever junk I'm craving, knowing that if I still want it at the end of the week, I can have it then. When cheat day rolls around I sometimes add the food before I eat it, so that I have to face up to the calories and feel sure that it's worth it. So in the end I end I don't feel like I cheated myself either way.
  • heroyalslimness
    heroyalslimness Posts: 591 Member
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    On days we decided to go that route ( extremely few, like, 4 days in the past 6 months ) we've just manually entered the max calories for the day and called it good for the day. We knew we were probably exceeding, but that's what those extremely rare days are for. The problem will start when those rare days become semi-rare, then every now and then, and then every other day. Never forget what caused the need to join and use this awesome tool / site , and you'll do great. We never saw a change in our progress fwiw.


    This is a great suggestion.
    Never forget what caused the need to join and use this awesome tool / site , and you'll do great. We never saw a change in our progress fwiw.

    Thanks for this ,too.
  • heroyalslimness
    heroyalslimness Posts: 591 Member
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    I give myself one cheat day a week, but I still log it. Unless I get really nuts with it, I don't think it really affects my progress too much, but it makes a BIG difference in my ability to avoid eating anything I shouldn't be the rest of the week. I find it pretty easy to stay away from whatever junk I'm craving, knowing that if I still want it at the end of the week, I can have it then. When cheat day rolls around I sometimes add the food before I eat it, so that I have to face up to the calories and feel sure that it's worth it. So in the end I end I don't feel like I cheated myself either way.

    This too---is a really good idea.
  • heroyalslimness
    heroyalslimness Posts: 591 Member
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    So I did it today---no logging in---had a brunch and a forbidden thing-later--and not logging it
    Not by decision really, more like by default
    was too tired to deal with the guilt--

    Once in a six week period--was enough. Don't think I will do this again for another 6 weeks:wink:
    Once I am at goal--perhaps a different story.
  • lilpoindexter
    lilpoindexter Posts: 1,122 Member
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    I've done it when I'm out of the house or something...I'm one of those people without a smart phone, so I have to log in on my computer. I make an effort to log my food consumption even on cheat days, or even on days when I couldnt resist pigging out. MFP has been a good tool for me, probably in large part because I am so strict about logging everything.
  • Awkward30
    Awkward30 Posts: 1,927 Member
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    I have OCD tendencies, so I log everything, but I see my goal as a +/- kind of thing. I try to be a normal person in social situations and just not be gluttonous with unhealthy foods.

    Not wanting to log things sometimes keeps me from eating them, because I will log it if I eat it.
  • wolfchild59
    wolfchild59 Posts: 2,608 Member
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    Even on days that I have a cheat meal or a cheat day I still log everything I eat. No point in ignoring what you're eating just because it's outside of my calories and macros.

    I usually do see a spike in my weight the next day that typically takes about a week to get back to what it was prior to the cheat. And since I track my weight daily in a spreadsheet with my calories burned and calories eaten, it doesn't make sense to eliminate one of those factors in my tracking.
  • mygrl4meee
    mygrl4meee Posts: 943 Member
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    Once in a while, I do just take a day off logging. It might be on a day that I go out and don't know the calorie count or just get so tired of logging that I need to take a break or risk giving it up all together. It's worked for me.

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