One free day a week?

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WestCoastMom
WestCoastMom Posts: 34 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Does taking one day off a week to eat freely (ie. not count calories and treat myself) sabotage my fitness efforts? Does anyone have any thoughts? I know the Body For Life program did this and it helped me with my cravings. I knew that I could eat that chocolate when Sunday rolled around!
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  • shellsies93
    shellsies93 Posts: 88
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    There was a study done saying that people lost more weight when they set a cheat date; so go for it; I would just suggest not going tooooo overboard if it's every week; like thousands of calories over, overboard.

    Mines once a month and I know it keeps me on track!
  • JeffGDDG
    JeffGDDG Posts: 252 Member
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    Body For Life is like that and I had some success but ended up overdoing it. An idea is maybe two cheat meals a week. Or two cheat one hour periods. Better than bombing the whole day.
  • trackmyday1973
    trackmyday1973 Posts: 393 Member
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    Does taking one day off a week to eat freely (ie. not count calories and treat myself) sabotage my fitness efforts? Does anyone have any thoughts? I know the Body For Life program did this and it helped me with my cravings. I knew that I could eat that chocolate when Sunday rolled around!

    Can't you treat yourself by fitting it into your daily calories?
  • janel867
    janel867 Posts: 53
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    This doesn't work for me...I'm an all or nothing kind of girl so if I give myself an inch I'll go a mile (in the wrong direction)!!! Kudos to anyone who has tried this and has the self control to keep themselves in check
    :drinker:
  • MsMimidoll
    MsMimidoll Posts: 249 Member
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    Does taking one day off a week to eat freely (ie. not count calories and treat myself) sabotage my fitness efforts? Does anyone have any thoughts? I know the Body For Life program did this and it helped me with my cravings. I knew that I could eat that chocolate when Sunday rolled around!

    Can't you treat yourself by fitting it into your daily calories?
    My thoughts exactly, as long as you don't go over, you can have a lil something special every other day or so
  • lharri0209
    lharri0209 Posts: 128 Member
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    To keep myself on track, I take one day out of the WK of my choosing to treat myself to something that I would usually avoid such as Chinese food. However, instead of eating like that for a whole day, I take one meal out of that day to eat some good eats. I still track what I have eaten and I also workout the same day. That keeps me from that dreaded guilt feeling.
  • JesterMFP
    JesterMFP Posts: 3,596 Member
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    Whether it sabotages your weight loss or not depends on how many extra calories you consume on that day. Could you sabotage it? Definitely. Why not give it a try and see if it works for you. Cheat/treat/free days work for some people and help them stick to long term calorie restriction. Other people find them unhelpful. The only way you're going to know for sure is if you try it.

    Another approach would be to fit the foods you like into your normal daily diet. I never found the need for a special day to eat chocolate, because I eat chocolate nearly every day, and did all the time I was losing. I don't restrict any particular foods or types of foods, I just keep the quantities under control. Occasionally I have days where I go over my calorie allowance, cause you know, life happens... birthdays, Christmas etc, but day to day, I just eat the foods I like, in portion sizes that fit into my goals. That way, I don't feel like I'm "on a diet", and there aren't any "dreaded guilt feelings". Not about eating anyway. :smile:
  • leadiax3
    leadiax3 Posts: 534 Member
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    I prefer to treat myself moderately when i am at a special occassion like a birthday party.... Or if im having a major craving i try to satisfy it in moderation. Its really hard to pick 1 day to be "off" cuz i would end up binging until i was in pain .... As a lady recovering from ed, moderate treats r challenging for me, but the alternative is awful. Remember deprivation is mentally unhealthy and can lead to serious disorders! So, just 1 pig out day would never work for me. We have to be kind to our bodies and accept ourselves as human beings who deserve to eat normally and not be on "diets".
  • BrentJulius
    BrentJulius Posts: 89 Member
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    ... although I would still be in the habit of logging it anyway as it helps to educate yourself on what your diet looks like off of the plan.. I think cheat meals are better than cheat days because then you can compensate for the rest of your day teh best that you can. I try and only have a cheat meal 1 out of every 10
  • Jakeyyy_
    Jakeyyy_ Posts: 8
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    The whole 'cheat day' experience never really worked for me. I decided to make healthy eating and exercise a life style change. So for example I'll come back from the gym and I'll be craving chocolate so I'll have a chocolate digestive or something and a glass of water. Usually this stops me binging or going crazy.

    If I want a treat(and it's reasonable/I think I've deserved it) then I'll have it. However everyone is different!
  • Babygi6003
    Babygi6003 Posts: 356 Member
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    I don't have cheat DAYS, I do have one or two cheat meals/snacks a week though
  • Adrianachiarato
    Adrianachiarato Posts: 362 Member
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    It depends on how crazy you go. If you spend 1500 cal/day, eat 1200 6 days per week in order to lose weight, your deficit in 6 days is 1800 calories. So if you eat 3300 calories on your cheat day, your effort for that week is lost.
  • beccadaniixox
    beccadaniixox Posts: 542 Member
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    Cheat meals!!! I love themm. Normally it just means going out for a Waffle cone though. :)
    Dessert is my sin <3
  • Rogus1
    Rogus1 Posts: 60 Member
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    Everyday should be a eat all you want day, because you should want to eat the right amount to accomplish whatever you want to accomplish...lose fat, get in better shape, be fitter, maintain.
  • ElsaVonMarmalade
    ElsaVonMarmalade Posts: 154 Member
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    Everyday should be a eat all you want day, because you should want to eat the right amount to accomplish whatever you want to accomplish...lose fat, get in better shape, be fitter, maintain.

    "I want you to WANT to do the dishes."
  • sbrownallison
    sbrownallison Posts: 314 Member
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    I think this is dependent on personality type. I'm in the camp that says No, because my cravings can be triggered fairly easily; I do better without certain foods in my life. For the most part, I restrict complex carbs (no breads or sugary desserts), but manage to fit chocolate in every day, i.e., unsweetened cocoa powder added to sugar-free non-fat yogurt. In the past, when I've allowed "cheat" days, pretty soon I'm cutting more corners in my plan and sabotaging all my hard-won good habits. To each his own, right?
  • _EndGame_
    _EndGame_ Posts: 770 Member
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    I don't believe in "cheat days"

    I might eat above my allowance occasionally, but that is only when I hit a plateau, and I need to kick start my metabolism.

    As for eating foods you would contribute towards your "cheat day" you can fit them into your daily allowance. That way you get to eat the foods you want, without going over your calorie allowance.
  • KaceeGetsFit
    KaceeGetsFit Posts: 11 Member
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    Same here! I will squeeze stuff into my daily calorie intake but if I have a free day, I feel like I undo everything.
  • parallax1978
    parallax1978 Posts: 13 Member
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    1 day a week is too much IMO. Especially if it is a true day off and you eat the standard American diet. Think about it, one order from Zaxby's (or whatever) and a big desert can be around 3k calories all by itself... which undoes a sensible diet the rest of the week. I do once a month, gives you something to look forward to and can easily be overcome in the following days/weeks.
  • TitaniaEcks
    TitaniaEcks Posts: 351 Member
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    OP, I highly recommend a cheat day. Don't think of it as a "cheat day", just an "eat day". People who don't incorporate one are much less likely to stick to a diet - fantasizing about all the food you can't have only makes you obsess more about food and grow frustrated and give up. It's happened to me every time. Also, a regular-calorie day tricks your metabolism into staying high instead of adjusting to your lower-calorie diet.

    As long as you eat right around your daily calorie expenditure on Eat Day and don't totally binge, it'll work wonders.

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