"Free day"

Nope. I count everything. There are days when I indulge but everything, always gets counted.

I had one when I did so well a few years ago. But it was more like a treat day. I could have that cheesy pasta dish I'd been wanting or a chocolate croissant at Panera's, for example. Or I'd use it for going out to eat at a nice place with good food, instead of getting a salad when enjoying a dinner with friends. I'm not a binger, so that probably makes an enormous difference. I really enjoyed having a big pastry once a week! It tasted better than usual, too, lol.

Many weeks I didn't even use it and I'd go almost 2 because I didn't feel like eating the treat yet.

I don't even know how long it took me to lose my weight then, though. I wasn't concerned about the time, just doing a 'lifestyle change'. It worked great! I just let discipline go to the dogs since, and apparently I can't do that.

Depends how much you cheat on a free day, eating junk food all day is not ok, but eating a few extra calories is ok, I tend to use Saturdays as my "free day", but I still count everything that goes in my mouth.

I can't do free days, I tried them once and it turned into a binge...

We do days we call "Kaboom" days where we eat whatever we want. Birthdays, day trips traveling and shopping, holidays, just because we want to days, etc. We still log all the calories. Most of the time with exercise we can still get our week neutral even when we have a day or two where we eat an extra 1000cal or even double our normal intake.

Bottom line we always count everything we eat, we just don't beat ourselves up for taking Kabooms.

I am thinking about having a free day once a week where I am able to eat what I would like without counting each calorie. I would like to know if you have a free day or meal and if it affect your weight loss. Thanks for responses.

Free day in the sense of "eat what you want" is good. Free day in the sense "don't log it" is bad.

Here's the reasoning, if for some reason your free day calorie intake could get high enough to derail your weight loss for the week do you want to know exactly why you didn't lose or do you want to be wondering? Right. So... log it. If you like a free day, take one, but seriously, log everything. Check out my diary for 09-21-- http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/diary/shadus?date=2013-09-21 that was my monthly free day. I still logged everything.

I would suggest changing your mindset. Even a cheat meal indicates you are on a diet.

Are you on a diet or are you working to change your life?

You can have anything to eat anytime you want and still lose your weight as long as you plan your favorite meal or snack into your calorie allowance.

The only thing required to lose weight is a calorie deficit.

There isn't a single mindset and function that works for everyone.

Do you really think there will never be a day in your life where you eat far more than your planned calories for the rest of your life?

Four years ago I lost 100 pounds doing exactly that. On Sundays I ate absolutely whatever I wanted and simply did not count the calories. worked for me. Obviously YMMV.

Thanks for all your comments. I think i won't have a whole cheat day. Only maybe a cheat meal or snack once a week

It's a good idea. But don';t call it a cheat. You can eat what you want, when you want provided it fits in your macronutrients.

I have a free day on the day I weigh 'IF' I have lost. If I don't lose then I am back to the calories counting.

In 18 months of using mfp I have only twice not had a free day, and that was not due to the free day, that was due to losing the plot for a few days due to stressful situations.

As long as you don't go mad and eat majorly off plan, it shouldn't do any harm. The only way to find out if it suits you is to give it a go and see what happens.

Good luck.

I am thinking about having a free day once a week where I am able to eat what I would like without counting each calorie. I would like to know if you have a free day or meal and if it affect your weight loss. Thanks for responses.

I don't quite get the whole " cheat/free meal/day " idea, because it means to me that people are jumping back and forth between two lifestyles. But maybe this is easy to say for me, because I have no desire to eat chain restaurant or fast food burgers, pizza, Tex-Mex or whatever. I do treat myself every once in a while ( like with cheese sauce on my veggies, or the occasional small bag of Doritos ), but that is part of my new lifestyle and therefore I do not have to consider it " free " or " cheating ". I have so far never gone over my calories and don't plan to, because #1 I don't feel deprived and #2 I am not going to undo a couple of days of hard work with a calorie blow-out. Others of course can do as they see fit.....:o).
And yes, I think that each time we eat more than the suggested calories it affects weight loss, either as maintenance , a smaller loss or none at all and I understand that for quite a few people it is more important to eat whatever they want instead of losing in a certain week. There are many more who stay within their calories while enjoying a treat and maybe that is an option for you also.

I am thinking about having a free day once a week where I am able to eat what I would like without counting each calorie. I would like to know if you have a free day or meal and if it affect your weight loss. Thanks for responses.

Personally, I go with a free meal, but I still log everything, no matter how bad the end total looks

Thanks for all your comments. I think i won't have a whole cheat day. Only maybe a cheat meal or snack once a week

I did this while cutting, and it was very successful, i.e. 1 meal a week where I didn't count the calories.

One thing i'd advise though, it's about eating what you like, not how much you like. Eat slowly and stop eating when you've had enough. Don't eat past that point. If you do this and get the urge to totally stuff your face, then it's probably due to eating too few calories the rest of the time. If you can eat what you like, don't count, stop eating when you're full and go back to tracking your calories the next day, then I think that's a really good strategy.