What are you thoughts on counting during the week and not at weekends

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squatsanddeadlift
squatsanddeadlift Posts: 117 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I was thinking a good tactic might be to concentrate on eating well during the week and be a bit more relaxed at weekends.. not going mad but just "free eating"?
Peoples thoughts?
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  • queenliz99
    queenliz99 Posts: 15,317 Member
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    I eat less during the week and more on the weekend. It's about the week total that is important to me.
  • RachelYun27
    RachelYun27 Posts: 89 Member
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    That will only work if you are still in a calorie deficit for the week. Even if it does work it will slow down your weight loss. The best thing is to just count calories all the time so you know for sure you're still in a deficit.
  • squatsanddeadlift
    squatsanddeadlift Posts: 117 Member
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    herrspoons wrote: »
    Honestly? Dumb. It won't work.

    In what way is it dumb? that wasn't useful

  • kristen6350
    kristen6350 Posts: 1,094 Member
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    Nope. I could be really good M-F and eat what I want Sat - Sunday and seriously put on 2lbs a week. There's a big difference between "In the Zone Kristen" and "Ah, eat whatever Kristen".

    But if you can be reasonable about it try it for a few weeks. You'll know then if it's working. If it's not, you know your answer.
  • feralkitten1010
    feralkitten1010 Posts: 219 Member
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    I wouldn't be able to do it. I need consistency in my life so I count everything, everyday. Even if I do indulge, it's a very conscious indulgence. And I enjoy every single bite of it. ;)
  • Azexas
    Azexas Posts: 4,334 Member
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    I need to see the numbers on the screen in order to stay within goal. For some people it may work, but personally, I would end up eating so much on the weekends if I wasn't logging.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    edited December 2014
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    I don't find logging particularly burdensome, so wouldn't find it helpful to take the weekend off. But if you do, and would like that, I think it depends on how you would react. Would you eat basically the same, or would your mind make it into an excuse to try to get in all the foods that you weren't eating during the week? If the idea is to practice intuitive eating, it would seem possibly better to just take a week and do it on occasion than a period (the weekend) where you might be in the habit of overeating.

    If what you are really asking about is eating less during the week and more on the weekends, I think that can work--focus on a weekly deficit--and used to do it myself, although again I wouldn't go too extreme and over-restrict during the week so you can go nuts. It depends on personality and habits. But I wouldn't not log, I'd just plan to go over my calories on the weekend because I was focusing on the week as a whole.
  • esjones12
    esjones12 Posts: 1,363 Member
    edited December 2014
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    I would eat at or above maintenance if I didn't log. Weekends are especially trying for most people who work 9-5's during the week. It is easy to set a routine for the week. Weekends become danger zones for me as friends want to go out, it's easier to just order in food, blah, blah, blah. I have shifted my heavy workouts to the weekends so I can eat more then. But I definitely log :)
  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,950 Member
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    squatsanddeadlift wrote: »
    I was thinking a good tactic might be to concentrate on eating well during the week and be a bit more relaxed at weekends.. not going mad but just "free eating"?
    Peoples thoughts?

    Try it for a quarter and report the results.
  • goddessofawesome
    goddessofawesome Posts: 563 Member
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    *shrugs* Try and see what happens. I don't always count on the weekends because I can't always remember what I had to eat. Also I'm not at my computer on the weekends as much as I am during the week. When I do log on the weekends I'll ball park it.
  • 52cardpickup
    52cardpickup Posts: 379 Member
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    I guess it COULD work in theory if your deficit was greater on the weekdays to make up for the eating you're doing on the weekends, but I know a plan like that would just end up making me, personally, feel like garbage. Not eating enough during the week, and likely overeating on weekends sounds like a bad idea to me.
  • Csauskojus
    Csauskojus Posts: 17 Member
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    It would depend if you are trying to lose or not--and what you know about yourself. I know that if I allow myself to "free eat" it easily ends in an all out calorie-fest to reward myself for how well I did during the week. I end up maintaining or gaining, but never progressing with my weight loss goals. If you are able to mentally monitor what you eat and figure out whether you are overdoing it or not then go for it! If you need a mental break from the constant monitoring to have the mental stamina to make it through logging another week, then you should do it.
  • Cyndith27
    Cyndith27 Posts: 5
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    Since weekends are non-work days for me, I could try not logging in and just triple my activities - walking, running, gym, swimming, strength training, flying a kite (no couch potato time). BUT with logging in, I can see my successes. I don't want to cheat myself out of seeing my accomplishments recorded.
  • zyxst
    zyxst Posts: 9,136 Member
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    Try it and find out. For me, I would wipe out my weekly deficit.
  • shballa
    shballa Posts: 133 Member
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    I was doing just that last summer when we were staying at our camper on the weekends with no internet access. No weight was coming off for several weeks. So I downloaded the app to my phone and started logging that way instead. I was amazed to see what I had estimated at about 2000-2500 calories for a typical weekend day was more like 3000-3500. Unless you have a good feel for how many calories you are eating, I would not recommend going weekends without logging.
  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,741 Member
    edited December 2014
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    This is the sort of thing I might experiment with now or in the future. But when I was further back in my "journey" (I HATE that term) I would NOT have done this. I'm within about 10 lb of where I want to be permanently so I have become slightly more relaxed as a means to slow loss and maintain. I had 100+ to lose in the beginning and really preferred a stricter approach of logging EVERYTHING.
  • dym123
    dym123 Posts: 1,670 Member
    edited December 2014
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    I do this. I hate to say it, but when I'm on a regular work schedule, its easier to track what I eat, but on days I don't work, I'm all over the place. Eat breakfast at 10, sometimes 11, lunch can be a protein bar, if that. Usually can't even get enough water. Dinner is normal, because I cook meals to prepare for the week. Most of the time I tend to eat less on weekends, though I've been known to splurge depending on what I'm doing. I've never had an issue getting back on schedule come Monday.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    zyxst wrote: »
    Try it and find out. For me, I would wipe out my weekly deficit.

    Yup.
  • KnM0107
    KnM0107 Posts: 355 Member
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    herrspoons wrote: »
    squatsanddeadlift wrote: »
    herrspoons wrote: »
    Honestly? Dumb. It won't work.

    In what way is it dumb? that wasn't useful

    If you don't count at the weekend how do you know if you're in deficit?

    You continue to lose weight

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