Free days. Stay under calories or not?
asia1967
Posts: 707 Member
I give myself a "free day" every Saturday. Last Saturday I stayed under my calories while allowing myself to eat the less healthier choices of food. Now this helps me out considerably mentally to stay focused the rest of the week. My question is, on my free day should I enjoy what I want while staying under calorie limit or just eat what I want period.
Thanks for your input in advance.
Thanks for your input in advance.
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Replies
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I'm not trying to be difficult, but if you give yourself a free day, what's it matter? The question of whether or not to stick to plan or not is always yours. Everyday. Whether it's free or not.0
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I hate to be a buzzkill here... but... to me, if you are dieting like a normal person, "free" days can fit into your plan. Once you have WLS, I just feel that you don't necessarily have the same options as a "normal" person would. This is my opinion for a couple of reasons - I feel we shouldn't test our bodies with foods and calorie limits that might not fit into the plan and lifestyle that our surgeons and their teams lay out for us. They know what we need to do to be successful. Eating what I wanted didn't serve me well in the past. I am assuming that if it worked for you before, you would not have opted to have surgery. Also, I think things like free days are a slippery slope which can lead us back into the old habits that got us to where we were pre-surgery. Lifestyle change post-surgery is critical to success. Those that are more successful long term are those that do what they are supposed to do without deviation. This is all just my opinion and perspective.0
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I have a 34 yr track record of being unable to control my trigger foods. If I eat them I crave them like an alcoholic craves a drink. A free day for me would turn into a week, a month, a year. I don't want to go back to food prison. If I don't eat them I am normal and don't obsess over food.0
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I don't go stark raving crazy, always get my protein in and stay within my calorie goal usually (sometimes a little over). I do this by watching what I'm eating and the breakdown for my meals the rest of the day. My weakness is chocolate and so my sugar may be a little higher than usual, but I have found that there are low fat/low carb/no or less sugar on most of the snack items I like. They are all name brands and most of them (other than those frozen) come in 100 calorie snack packs. Even ice-cream and frozen products have fat free/low carb items and those are the ones I have switched to. I never thought I'd be looking at labels so closely or have such an easy time going to these type of foods, but I have gotten used to them and like them.
We all know it's about small meals 4 - 6 times a day, protein first, lots of water and staying within goals. However, we are all human and it's been my own experience along with comments by other WLS patients that most, if not all of us have "fallen off the wagon" at times. It happens. The BIG difference for me now is personal accountability/logging, MFP friends (their input, experiences and comments) and my commitment to be one of the "success stories".
Because I do this on occasion I no longer have unsatisfied cravings and go into a food binge. I'm highly motivated at the moment and I have no doubt that I will be one of the "Success Stories".0 -
Thanks everyone for you advise:
I think I was just looking for another way to eat my emotions and not realizing it. I took a nap, gave my head a shake and I feel better now. Your right we did weight lose surgery for a reason. If I did go over a FEW calories I am not going to beat myself up over it. However I will try not to think in those terms for future.
Again thanks for your input, it was greatly appreciated.0 -
Asia - I would suggest working on eliminiating "free day" from your vocabulary. That thinking is a relic from pre-WLS days when we reacted to "diet" standards. We no longer "diet", we just eat what we need and thanks to the reduced capacity we have a tool to help us stop.
From day one I focused on protein, tracked every calorie in MFP and ate EVERYTHING I wanted. In the beginning I only wanted (or could tolorate) 2 oz of liquid, but gradually that changed and I enjoyed more and varied foods. I did not deny myself anything which prevented my mind from fighting back by craving everything. I do, however, strive to stay under or at my MFP calorie level every day. This has been my one driving "OCD". I use MFP and FitBit to track intake and burn every day and with few exceptions I stay under uvery day.
Each of us is different and has different triggers. Some avoid (for good reason) personal poison foods. Others, like me, had different problems that were more easily solved with the capcity reduction and removal of the Grelin gland. I honestly do not believe I am on a diet so I never think of a "free day" or being "good" or "bad". If I want a canoli, I have one. In years past that would have been 6 canoli but today I simply cannot eat that many so I don't.0 -
All my days are free since I changed my mindset that I am not on a diet. I'm free to eat what I like in small quantities, (I have no choice in the matter of quantity anymore and am grateful for that)! I exercise regularly 5 days per week with a heart rate monitor so I understand the actual burn I get with my exercise, (typically between 500-600 calories). This gives me the flexibility in WHAT I choose consume. 90% of the time, it's a healthy, high protein choice. I just feel better when I eat well. I don't really "crave" certain foods, much, unless you count my occasional craving for a traditional spinach salad, (weird, I know), but I try to listen to that voice now. I think sometimes my body is trying to tell me what it needs and I try to listen for that. I may put it off for a day, but if its been 24 hours and I'm still thinking about whatever it is, whether chocolate or spinach salad, I tend to have it.
When I grabbed my dish of almonds for my snack this morning, I threw in a few dark chocolate covered ones. Not the ones with chocolate dust, the real thing. Almonds are heavy for me so I know I won't get very many down, but I look forward to the treat and will not have one bit of guilt for it. I'll work it into my daily plan and most likely stay under my 1200 calories for the day. I had a couple of "skinny" margaritas over the weekend. Was I over my 1200 calories those days, yep, and I don't exercise on the weekends. This is intentional. Personally, I do better when I vary my intake\output every few days. Ruts, for me = stallage and I'm almost at goal.
I have friends who choose to avoid certain foods altogether. That works for them. This is what works for me. I think all of us need to find what works best for us and do that!0 -
There's a lot of foods I didn't go back to eating after the surg- coffee, pasta, rice, bread, potatoe, soda....and I avoid those intentionaly b/c I don't want to go back to craving them all the time. The first 21 days with out them was tough. However, if I"m at a BBQ or something- I may take a bite of a spinache dip, or a slice of pizza, and sometimes I have lofat froyo for dessert. I make the majority of my diet low cal high protien, but there's days where I am tired of thinking about it all the time. I think the key thing for me- on those days where I taste things - I still log it. A few bites of spinach dip and chips? I estimate the amount and track it so at the end of the day I can see if I met my goal for a deficit.0
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