Will I still lose weight if I diet 5 days a week?

CatReed88
CatReed88 Posts: 1
in Health and Weight Loss
Basically, I don't enjoy dieting Friday nights, Saturdays or Sundays. That's my time off. In order to eat what I want over those days, how little will I need to eat Monday - Friday (evening)? I walk for maybe 40 minutes per day.

Thanks :)

Replies

  • lishie_rebooted
    lishie_rebooted Posts: 2,973 Member
    You'll more than likely erase any deficit you have on the weekends by "eating whatever you want". Which means you won't lose weight by not practicing moderation at all times
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    The 5:2 diet restricts calories to 500 on 2 days a week and eats "normally" on the other 5. Similar to what you propose.

    However a massive pigout and drinking session at the weekend may be hard to offset with a daily restriction for 5 days - if you cut 1000 a day for 5 days and have a 2000 cal blowout at the weekend you have a net deficit for the week of 3000 or under a pound.
  • tryanother
    tryanother Posts: 36 Member
    Tried and failed horribly. I did this... Ate below nett goal during the week and did not count over weekends. The end result was me losing nicely from Monday to Thursday, then Saturday and Sunday I would not weigh. Monday would come and I would be back where I started the previous Monday and again lose until Thursday and on and on same result for weeks. Everyone is different, but this method did not work for me at all. (Weekend parties = liquor = water retention. You may not be gaining fat, but the scale will not go down either).
  • JessMahoney1
    JessMahoney1 Posts: 86 Member
    Maybe up your exercising those days?

    and although you don't have to diet those days, try and pick better options, I.e if you fancy Pizza, don't have take away, make your own where you pick what goes on there? If you fancy crisps, have the baked version?

    this will proberbly help you a bit more than stopping your diet all together, plus it may help you during the week more as your body won't be craving all the foods you have just eaten that weekend

    And make sure you Log whatever you do eat! (you may not realise what your eating, this may help you pick better things that you still enjoy)

    hope this helps, and good luck! :)
  • aedreana
    aedreana Posts: 979 Member
    No, you won't lose any appreciable amount of weight. Quite possibly, you'll gain weight.
  • Hybrice
    Hybrice Posts: 117 Member
    No, no you won't.

    Weight loss isn't a daily thing, if you eat well for 5 days then pig-out on the weekend your nett calories for the week may well be above maintenance - ergo you'll put on weight. I'm not saying you can't treat yourself, have "cheat days" or eat at maintenance instead of deficit for a few days. But while you're "dieting", doing it half-assed will get you nowhere fast.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    My calorie goal is 1700 per day (or 11,900 per week), so my week usually looks something like this:

    Monday - 1550
    Tuesday - 1700
    Wednesday - 1600
    Thursday - 1500
    Friday - 2000
    Saturday - 1900
    Sunday - 1650

    just having a deficit for 4 days will make your weight loss veeeeeeeery slow if you stick to maintenance the other 3 - if you dont track the 3 days you probably wont end up with a weekly deficit.
  • cmacr
    cmacr Posts: 6 Member
    It is possible to adjust/arrange your calories in such a way that you can allow yourself more calories on a particular day and less on others.

    The problem is that it is not easy to do and you need to be extremely disciplined regarding your calorie intake & for this reason it is not recommended for most people.

    I have done this in the past and had positive results from it ( I have since went back a constant number of calories per day due to ease of keeping track).

    If you were to try it there are a few key points to remember:

    - Weight loss is as simple as calories in/calories out
    - Body composition is dependent on what makes up those calories e.g. protein/fats/carbs

    - You need to know what your total weekly net calories have to be to acheive a loss in weight
    - Once you have done this you would then breakdown your calories into individual days i.e. x calories per day mon-fri & y calories for your higher days.

    - You will find that depending when you weight yourself the weight will fluctuate dramatically. From personal experience my weight could be as much as 8lbs higher after a high calorie day. This was due to my muscle glycogen being completely depleted by the end of the week after my training (powerlifting in my case), when you eat a higher level of calories particularly carbohydrates- which make up most treats :) your muscle glycogen replenishes, glycogen attracts storage of water which results in a large increase in water weight ( for this reason, most people shouldn't do this as it does tends to make them panic when they see the scales).

    Sorry for the lengthy reply but hopefully this will help decide if this method is for you, so in summary:

    - Determine weekly calories

    - Breakdown weekly calories

    - Try to pick only a single day for your higher calories if possible ( I always did a saturday)

    - If you weigh yourself in the next couple of days after a high calorie intake expect a weight increase (water weight)

    - I'd recommend weighing myself either the day before the high calorie day or if you weigh yourself multiple times a week, you need to work out your average weight per week.
  • eric_sg61
    eric_sg61 Posts: 2,925 Member
    More than likely the weekends will offset any deficit created during the week. If your taking in a ton of calories over the weekend, what do you think will happen during the week when you drastically cut calories on Monday? What will likely happen is by Wednesday or Thursday you will be ravenous. I have seen people try your same strategy, they ended up having to have cheat days during the week to offset the intense hunger they felt. They gained weight. You can avoid this if you don't go too crazy on the weekends, and don't cut too many calories during the week. Find the balance.
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  • blueboxgeek
    blueboxgeek Posts: 574 Member
    Have a look at calorie cycling, rather than just eating whatever you want for 3 days. I could EASILY eat my way out of a deficite by eating what I wanted on 3 days and restricting calories on 4 days.

    I do tend to eat a bit more on a weekend and have more treats, so I try and do bigger workouts and make sure we do something active like taking kids to the park and walking and chasing them around. That way, an extra treat won't harm too much.
  • jackielou867
    jackielou867 Posts: 422 Member
    Depends how you define eating what you want. If you are talking burgers fries and pizza, or 3 nights on the booze, then no. If it was that easy there would no need for us all to be logging on here. If you mean you want desert and a glass of wine with dinner then go for it. I often drop an extra 100 calories a day so I can have a treat on Saturday. Track your calories for the week. If you go over for the week you will gain, if you stay under you will lose. You can't cheat the maths.
  • audrast
    audrast Posts: 74 Member
    You will ultimately fail because diet and exercise are not jobs that should be dreaded and avoided, they are a lifestyle. And until you accept that you need a change in lifestyle, any progress you make will be lost.
  • darrensurrey
    darrensurrey Posts: 3,942 Member
    In a way, it's what a lot of permadieters do already. Watch what they eat most days then go degen on the weekend and wonder why they're getting bigger.
  • louiseoxford
    louiseoxford Posts: 44 Member
    I do this and have lost over a stone since January. I am careful and under my calorie goal Monday - Thursday and then eat 'normally' over Friday and the weekend. This doesn't mean I eat a pizza and ice cream every night for those three nights, I just don't count calories and eat without stressing about my weight.

    I find that over the weekend I am socialising and busy so I don't want to go to a barbecue and have to say 'Oh no just a burger with no bun and salad with no dressing for me' or 'only half a glass of wine for me as I've reached my calorie goal today'. Life is about enjoying things!!

    I find that this works just fine for me, so try it and see how you get on, it may work for you or it may not!
  • Flyer69
    Flyer69 Posts: 100 Member
    I kind of do that, when I have friends over or see friends. Generally Saturday and Sunday we share a bottle of wine.
    However I would still exercise and am very careful during the day.
    However most weekends I gain 2 kg, which I will loses again during the week and then some ( generally 1/2 a kilo).
    I am happy to trade that of soi don't have to miss out on the fun and I just love being sociable.
    Plus I work out pretty hard with most days over 1000 calories burned.
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,267 Member
    I eat whatever I want ...lost weight...

    The difference is I stayed in goal which you can do while still eating what you want...maybe not as much of it....

    There is no reason to limit the types of foods you eat just the number of calories...
  • suremeansyes
    suremeansyes Posts: 962 Member
    I did this and maintained for years. You just have to do the math. Figure out how many calories you need weekly. Subtract how many calories you want to eat Saturday and Sunday, then figure out your M-F calories.

    I was eating 13300 calories weekly.

    Sat-3000 cal
    Sun-2000 cal
    M-F-1660 cal, if I ate less one day I ate more another

    Averaged out to about 1900 calories a day.

    ETA: When I start cutting, I am going to do this again so I have one day a week where I can get a good cheeseburger, fries and a soda without not being able to eat the rest of the day.

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