About to go over my calorie budget for the first time!

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prettysoul1908
prettysoul1908 Posts: 200 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hey guys. I'm really new. I've been on a tracking calorie deficit diet (loosely... Haven't gotten to weighing my food yet) for the past week.

Since tracking... Today is the first day i'm being totally "bad". I haven't gone over yet... But I will soon. I mean alcohol. Fried foods. All that. Yum. lol.

How did you guys handle your first cheat day?? Did it take you off of the bandwagon? Or is this something you can enjoy occasionally?

I'm determined for this to be just one night of fun. Lol. Wish me luck. But would love to hear your viewpoints.

Replies

  • MarcyKirkton
    MarcyKirkton Posts: 507 Member
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    It's really odd to me to call it "cheating." You don't escape consequences. Eat more, gain. Eat less, lose. Can't really cheat on this deal.
  • 6502programmer
    6502programmer Posts: 515 Member
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    We've all gone over. I've never been reckless about it--I find that fried food just doesn't taste good to me anymore. Alcohol though, yeah, that's my jam.

    Whatever you do, log everything.
  • Bshmerlie
    Bshmerlie Posts: 1,026 Member
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    Log everything so that you can see what effect it has on your week. When you start to see the consequences of your "cheat days" you'll have less of them.
  • prettysoul1908
    prettysoul1908 Posts: 200 Member
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    Thanks guys! Yeah... I don't want to live a totally restrictive lifestyle. But one day I saw... You can have too much of s good thing. lol. I guess that's why I referred to it as "cheat". One day i realized all the little things that I liked... And because I am an adult.. Could do them... I began enjoying too many sweets... Snacking without abandon. That daily glass or two
    Of wine... Not considering my portion size...

    All that added up. And as I get older... I don't want to be overweight. Im looking for balance tho. Nothing like a lazy night in with fattening foods. I reason it with my overall weekly deficit. And I'll be back on track... Definitely by Monday. Lol.

  • random5483
    random5483 Posts: 63 Member
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    I log my cheat days. They are harder to log since eating out at restaurants is hard to determine calories sometimes. But I try to log them to the best of my ability since I do eat out a fair bit. I usually go under my goal calories most days, so I save up some for a day where I can go 1k or more over my allocation each week. I only tend to use these extra calories every 2 weeks or so, and I don't go 2k over, so I don't feel like I am cheating when I do it.

    People who are too restrictive will probably quit before they reach their goals. Maybe a few with iron wills won't, but most of us lack it. If we had iron wills, we would not be in our current predicament in the first place. So, for me, I know I need a couple of days each month where I can go out with friends without worrying about every calorie. I still log them though.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
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    I don't consider it "cheating". I work the foods I like into my goals and if I have a day where I go over (usually if I go out to eat or on a special occasion)? Then so be it. I just try to keep them apart.
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,151 Member
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    Cheating implies doing something wrong, I'm not. If you happens to go over, you log it and move on. Without weighing your food, you probably have and not realized it.
  • Tblackdogs
    Tblackdogs Posts: 324 Member
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    I certainly go over my calorie goals sometimes. But…a night with a few drinks and fried food could add 1500 calories to my day easily. Probably more. So as others have said, do your best to figure out how many calories your "cheat" day really will be and you might be less likely to do it. Don't think of it as a restrictive choice. Think of it as making better choices in your life. A few times a year to go totally wild is o.k. But doing it once a week will definitely keep you from losing weight.
  • prettysoul1908
    prettysoul1908 Posts: 200 Member
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    Liftng4Lis wrote: »
    Cheating implies doing something wrong, I'm not. If you happens to go over, you log it and move on. Without weighing your food, you probably have and not realized it.

    From reading these boards... Seeing the lack of accuracy in measuring... I tend to over estimate. And I've been seeing some losses in weight. I've been eating "more responsibly" for the past
    4 weeks and have seen A 5 pound weight loss totally. I decided to start logging in the last week to hold myself accountable to no snacking (so far so good)

    My goal is now 18 more pounds. I don't have an event that in preparing for so there's no urgency. But I do want this weight loss to be permanent.

    Thanks for the responses guys. It helps keep me going!
  • VykkDraygoVPR
    VykkDraygoVPR Posts: 465 Member
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    I don't do cheat days. But, I do go over some days (several this week). Almost did today. Razoo's for lunch, pizza for dinner, a few ounces of Auchentoshan. Rode for an hour, and I'm finishing the day with a gin rickey. I'm under by 5. It's been a good day! Lol
  • lc355
    lc355 Posts: 91 Member
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    I find even when I'm out and know I'm going to go over just knowing I'm going to log it all prevents too much 'over'. It has become normal now to ask myself 'Do I want that enough to be bothered to try and find it, or something similar, in the database and then try too guess how much I had?'. Having said that, I haven't got really drunk in ages, I expect if I was drunk I'd stop caring.

    I also keep a spreadsheet of my calories which works out my monthly average daily calories, this really helps me because even if I have a really high calorie week I only need to be a little under everyday for the rest of the month to stay within range of my daily average. Then I note my weight at the end of the month and can see that x number of daily calories = x number of lbs lost and adjust for the next month as necessary.
  • PinkPixiexox
    PinkPixiexox Posts: 4,142 Member
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    Just eat it - drink it - whatever and enjoy :)
    Log it if possible, otherwise get back on track tomorrow and embrace that fresh set of calories!
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
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    mhaskins08 wrote: »
    Hey guys. I'm really new. I've been on a tracking calorie deficit diet (loosely... Haven't gotten to weighing my food yet) for the past week.

    Since tracking... Today is the first day i'm being totally "bad". I haven't gone over yet... But I will soon. I mean alcohol. Fried foods. All that. Yum. lol.

    How did you guys handle your first cheat day?? Did it take you off of the bandwagon? Or is this something you can enjoy occasionally?

    I'm determined for this to be just one night of fun. Lol. Wish me luck. But would love to hear your viewpoints.

    If you're not weighing you don't know how many calories you're eating to be honest

    I don't do cheat days ...I work it within my weekly calories

    So if I go over one day it's because I have banked those calorie..it is easy to save up 500 to 1000 calories for a night out by being accurate, careful and moving more ..

    If you feel the need to cheat I don't think you've got the point yet
  • pierceygirl
    pierceygirl Posts: 7 Member
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    I'm having some success with sticking to my calorie commitment. No flour, no sugar, portion control. I still find that I may "cheat" but I make adjustment somewhere else. In the past my cheats totally derailed me and stalled my progress. I yo-yo dieted for years. Now my cheat might be a spoonful or nibble NOT a bowlful or worse, a whole day!
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
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    Why no flour or sugar? <interested>
  • ncfitbit
    ncfitbit Posts: 1,058 Member
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    mhaskins08 wrote: »
    I reason it with my overall weekly deficit. And I'll be back on track... Definitely by Monday. Lol.

    I think this is all that matters. You don't have to be perfect to lose weight, but you have to limit the bad days or they will undermine your hard work the rest of the week. A few hundred extra calories one day won't usually do much damage if you've got wiggle room in your weekly allowance and you keep it to one day, but you can't go over day after day and expect to lose weight. You will just be frustrated if wonder where you are going wrong. I know this from experience, although I no longer fool myself. When I'm not losing weight, I usually know the reason.
  • prettysoul1908
    prettysoul1908 Posts: 200 Member
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    Hey guys. Thanks for the responses. I got through my "cheat day" and feel fine. I cringed when I saw what my 5 week weight would be (heavier than I currently am) but put that behind me when I saw my fresh bank of calories.

    I've always considered myself a healthy lifestyle. I Eat relatively healthful and have been working out since a teen. I've Had weight fluctuations during my life but always stayed within a range of clothing size.

    Now that I'm getting older and live a sedentary lifestyle (I'm a mover but I have a desk job now) I have to be mindful because I don't want a weight problem in the future.

    I'm interested in starting weighing food but so far the eyeballing thing has worked and I'm losing and feeling muuuch better. But the thought
    Of weighing is a little nerve racking because I can have a bit of an obsessive personality

  • prettysoul1908
    prettysoul1908 Posts: 200 Member
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    rabbitjb wrote: »

    If you're not weighing you don't know how many calories you're eating to be honest

    I don't do cheat days ...I work it within my weekly calories

    So if I go over one day it's because I have banked those calorie..it is easy to save up 500 to 1000 calories for a night out by being accurate, careful and moving more ..

    If you feel the need to cheat I don't think you've got the point yet


    The reason I call it a cheat day is because there are certain foods I need to relegate to occasional. Ex. Alcohol, sugar, processed and fried foods. The reasoning is these foods are filled with empty calories (IMO) and consuming these things will up my Calorie and sugar count without providing me the nutritional content I look for in food. And those empty calories usually leave me hungry in about an hour

    So I leave that stuff for occasional. I have a pretty satisfying bank of foods that meet my requirements but who doesn't want a splurge every now and again? My splurge foods may be "regular" foods for others... But it keeps me on track. And whatever works, right?

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