Days Off?

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  • Qarol
    Qarol Posts: 6,171 Member
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    I'm an advocate of cheat days. I much prefer a cheat day because I planned it rather than I cheated out of a moment of weakness. Plus, if you told me I could never have certain foods again, I wouldn't be able to stick to it. Cheat days are a must.
  • inskydiamonds
    inskydiamonds Posts: 2,519 Member
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    Advice: The day after you go out to dinner double up on your water intake.
  • Sweetcheeks278
    Sweetcheeks278 Posts: 356
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    A week ago I would have said, "Go for it!" But I have to tell you I have been REALLY motivated to loose weight and stuck to it(6 weeks) without any "cheats" or "days off" until this past weekend. We have relatives in from out of town so lots of goodies and dinners together. Now I am saying Dont Do It! It has been SO hard for me to get back on track. Its been almost a week and I'm still struggling. Its not worth it. Find something at the restaurant that is low calorie to eat and maybe have a small small piece of the cake.
  • gsarro
    gsarro Posts: 25 Member
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    I usually take the weekends "off" and I mean that I don't actually write down my calories, but after keeping track all week I can get a pretty good idea of what or not to eat. I don't go for huge bags of chips or cake on my weekends off, but if I go over I don't worry about it. I think you should enjoy your birthday and a small piece of cake will not harm you, just don't eat the entire thing. I also think you can make proper food choices when you are out to dinner. There are many tricks to eat half of what you ordered and still enjoy the night out. Don't double up on your desserts, if you are going to have birthday cake with the family don't have dessert when you go out.

    If you deprive yourself it will feel more like a diet and not a lifestyle change and you will want to indulge and go over.

    Good luck
  • tam120
    tam120 Posts: 444 Member
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    I don't like to think if it as cheating, eating a piece of carrot cake is not bad. Food is not bad. What's bad is giving up completely because you want to have a piece of cake. Have a piece of cake but don't quit for the entire day because it's your birthday.
    Every Saturday after he gets off work my husband delivers Chipotle for lunch, I love Saturdays, I look forward to that lunch but just because I'm eating it doesn't mean I should just chuck it all and ignore my food and exercise plan that day. I make concessions, I don't eat as much dinner, I exercise more. I may still be over in my goal calories but I still haven't eaten enough to ruin my efforts from the rest of the week. There is NO CHEATING, it's just living and making better choices and when you want to eat something like carrot cake for your birthday eat it! Just don't eat the whole thing.

    And have a very happy birthday!
  • BatCola
    BatCola Posts: 64 Member
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    if you eat too much forgive yourself... then get back on... that is the only strategy that has helped me from feeling defeated.
  • MZ_GET_IT_RIGHT
    MZ_GET_IT_RIGHT Posts: 3
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    I agree with lipt8611 we get so many caloires back just from working out. In the future when I know I am going to be in a situation similiar to yours I will just kick up my cardio so that it will all balance out. Happy Birthday

    Nikki
  • court428
    court428 Posts: 34
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    Thank you everyone for your thoughts! I am going to eat healthy today, but I will go out and enjoy my birthday dinner and have a small piece of cake. I like the suggestions of planning ahead, so I am going to look up the nutrition info for meals at some of the resturants that I am considering going to tonight. I'll try to know what I am going to order before I go in to eat! And I did get my exercise in this morning, plus I plan on doing some more biking in the evening when it cools off. Thanks again!
  • _SusieQ_
    _SusieQ_ Posts: 2,964 Member
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    I think you are making a good compromise...enjoy the cake but cut somewhere else. Add in an extra workout that day or the day after to compensate for the calories. You shouldn't have to sacrifice everything, but you also don't want to sabotage, so order what you want, eat half what you normally would and don't beat yourself up about it! Happy birthday!
  • vold94
    vold94 Posts: 256
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    If the food doesn't fit in the plan, I don't eat it. That doesn't mean I don't go out to eat, but before I order I check out the nutritional info to make sure it will work for my daily limits.

    I totally agree. I do still go out to eat places, I just make sure that I really watch what I eat the rest of the day and get a good workout too. So I would go out to eat and eat what you'd like, just watch the rest of your days caloreis. Happy birthday! It's also my sister's birthday today!
  • runningfromzombies
    runningfromzombies Posts: 386 Member
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    Everything in moderation! Go a little over, not a LOT over. My birthday was last weekend, and at my weigh-in before the celebrations began, I had hit a plateau--I gained half a pound rather than continuing the usual 1.2-1.5 lbs/week loss. And after a weekend of celebration and going over my usual limits--and returning to the gym for two days of normal exercise--I had busted out of the plateau and lost another 1.2 pounds. It's okay to indulge once in a while. Just don't go too crazy!
  • kristilovescake
    kristilovescake Posts: 669 Member
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    My birthday is coming up and I plan on taking the day off of eating healthy and I probably won't exercise. I'm going to track my calories and make sure I level it out the rest of the week (for example, if I eat 500 calories over my goal, the next few days I'll eat less calories even it out). Remember than gaining or losing weight doesn't happen in a single day. One important thing to remember is to let yourself indulge in moderation. If you give up sweets 100% then you are more likely to binge eat and completely over-do it. I think anything in moderation is good. I eat a lot of sweets for being on a “diet” (seriously, I can’t help myself), but I make sure I log every bite and incorporate it into my allowed calories and exercise more if necessary.

    If you really want a piece of cake, have it, but make sure you work out more or eat less the next couple days to compensate.

    Happy birthday :)
  • Nikstergirl
    Nikstergirl Posts: 1,549 Member
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    Personally no, but then I am not dieting. I made a lifestyle change. I don't splurge by eating out and ordering anything on the menu and having dessert, etc... I make myself stay within my calorie goals. If the food doesn't fit in the plan, I don't eat it. That doesn't mean I don't go out to eat, but before I order I check out the nutritional info to make sure it will work for my daily limits.
    For me, I know that if I went all out one day I would start making excuses for doing it over and over again. I did that for years. I figure an alcoholic in reform doesn't get a freebie day because it would be disastrous, so.....


    My thoughts exactly!!!! I will admit to a night of drinking where I didn't log everything... but that was once in four months!!! I only lost .2 that week, but this week I stayed really close to my goal (under most days) and lost 3.2!!!! Totally worth it... staying under, not the drinking!!!!
  • meribethd
    meribethd Posts: 92 Member
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    I definitely take days off sometimes. Usually it's Saturdays. But what that means is not that I'll eat everything in sight and sabotage myself. Rather, I'll allow myself a couple of indulgences that are just too calorie rich for everyday--Ben and Jerry's, homemade cookies, maybe a couple pieces of pizza and a glass of wine. Maybe I'll go to Starbucks. That sort of thing.I don't go all out for every meal (breakfast is usually the same as every day), and I often exercise, too. I'm still aware of what I'm eating. It's just a day for me where I don't have to write everything down and can be a little more free with what I eat.

    I do this for a variety of reasons. First, a day off every once in a while can keep your metabolism going. Second, this is a lifestyle thing for me--I'm not giving up pizza or brownies forever. Allowing myself these foods occasionally makes me less likely to binge on other days.

    But you have to do what works for you!
  • Chrissyvk
    Chrissyvk Posts: 7
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    I definitely take days off sometimes. Usually it's Saturdays. But what that means is not that I'll eat everything in sight and sabotage myself. Rather, I'll allow myself a couple of indulgences that are just too calorie rich for everyday--Ben and Jerry's, homemade cookies, maybe a couple pieces of pizza and a glass of wine. Maybe I'll go to Starbucks. That sort of thing.I don't go all out for every meal (breakfast is usually the same as every day), and I often exercise, too. I'm still aware of what I'm eating. It's just a day for me where I don't have to write everything down and can be a little more free with what I eat.

    I do this for a variety of reasons. First, a day off every once in a while can keep your metabolism going. Second, this is a lifestyle thing for me--I'm not giving up pizza or brownies forever. Allowing myself these foods occasionally makes me less likely to binge on other days.

    But you have to do what works for you!

    I agree with Meribeth.
  • a_stronger_steph
    a_stronger_steph Posts: 434 Member
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    Happy birthday!!! I hope you enjoy it! :)

    My birthday was a couple of weeks ago and I'll be honest... I went way over. My partner took me out to a really, really fancy restaurant and we got the tasting menu with wine and dessert. And you know what? I don't regret a bit of it. But then again, I'm a mild "foodie" and love my alcohol, so I like to be able to splurge every now and again.

    And in the end, it didn't affect my loss that much! So I say do whatever will make YOU feel best!

    Again... happy birthday!!!
  • court428
    court428 Posts: 34
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    Well...I survived my birthday, and even had nearly 400 calories left over! I ended choosing a restaurant that I knew had calories listed on their menu. So I went to Carrows and had a delicious Charleston Chicken Salad. OMG! It was delicious. And I had a bowl of melon with it. It was a delicious dinner and the salad was only 530 calories, I couldn't finish though, way too big. And I got to have a nice piece of carrot cake. I did do my biking exercise in the morning. All in all it worked out well for me and I woke up today so proud of myself and ready to take on another day!

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