Can I lose weight even if I cheat once a week?

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kristinhull1
kristinhull1 Posts: 294 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi guys. My names Kristin and I started my weightloss journey again one month ago. I am eating 1000-1200 calories a day except one time a week where I eat whatever I want and I dont count the calories. I workout 5 times a week for 30 minutes a day. So whats different this time. Im on my psych meds which I wasnt on the first 2 times I tried to diet. My Dr thinks I was binge eating due to PTSD and some other mental illnesses. I am so exited to say that in 1 month I have lost 11lbs. The question I have is if I hoard calories. Like eat 1000 instead of 1200. Or even 900 instead of 1200 and once a week I cheat and eat around 2500 calories for one day will I lose weight? I know the first month was probably mostly water weight. So im just wondering if I cheat once a week will it still be good for my weight loss? Thank you.
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Replies

  • mom23mangos
    mom23mangos Posts: 3,070 Member
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    That's how I lost weight. 1200 or so 6 days a week and one day of unrestrictive eating. In maintenance I do the same. I hoard calories. 1300 during the week and unrestrictive eating on the weekend. I'm keeping steady so far. Whatever works for you.
  • baciodolce18
    baciodolce18 Posts: 113 Member
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    You CAN divide your deficit over 1-7 days. Meaning you need 3500 cal deficit in a week's time to lose a pound. You can either do 500 daily deficit or do a larger deficit on some days and eat closer to maintence on the others. A lot of people like to "bank" a deficit for the weekend. Which is really how most people eat, right? We eat light some days and splurge on others and it all comes out even in the end.

    I would look into intermittent fasting though so you're not spending so many days under 1200 calories. There are so many different ways to set up an intermittent fasting schedule so you can probably find one that suits you and your lifestyle best.

    To answer your question more directly, based on your weight loss it sounds like your cheat day isn't eating into your deficit. In fact 11 pounds in 1 month is fairly sizable (and yes likely a few pounds of water weight).
  • Mini_Medic
    Mini_Medic Posts: 343 Member
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    Like baciodolce said, yes you can bank calories for the weekend. Just try to moderate your unrestricted day so it's enjoyable but not insane and doesn't completely blows your deficit. If you under eat by a 100-200 each day more than your already set to do for a deficit that's only an extra 500-1000 extra for the weekend. So enjoy your free day/meal but don't let yourself go so overboard that you undo your weeks work!
  • melissa6771
    melissa6771 Posts: 894 Member
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    I think you have got it figured out pretty well. You had a great month! Keep going with it as long as it's working for you. When I do body for life I have a free day once a week and consistently lose 1.5 pounds a week.
  • crawfishgirl333
    crawfishgirl333 Posts: 69 Member
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    I'm losing slowly. I've lost 7.8 lbs in 40 days or so at night I eat cereal snack after dinner lol and I'm still losing but slow. I control good during the day but it's hard to really tell when we cook a meal how much calories. So I kind of guess Like tonight we had frogs in tomato gravy which we call sauce p can. French Cajun dish. Frogs have 50 G protein!
  • mom23mangos
    mom23mangos Posts: 3,070 Member
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    crawfishgirl333 wrote: »
    I'm losing slowly. I've lost 7.8 lbs in 40 days or so at night I eat cereal snack after dinner lol and I'm still losing but slow. I control good during the day but it's hard to really tell when we cook a meal how much calories. So I kind of guess Like tonight we had frogs in tomato gravy which we call sauce p can. French Cajun dish. Frogs have 50 G protein!

    Yumm. Love frog. And 8lbs in 40 days is not slow!!
  • kristinhull1
    kristinhull1 Posts: 294 Member
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    If come to realize myself that I will always want to go hog wild once in a while. Thats why I hoard the calories and eat what I want when I want once a week. Usually its one day of the weekend. I am oin this weight loss group on fb and it helps me stay motivated and helps me keep going on with this lifestyle change. Before I was binge eating to help with the pain of losing my Dad. I always felt empty. Im now on medication and I dont always have that empty hungry feeling. But when I behave al week and the weekend comes I think to myself you deserve to eat what you want today. 11.4lbs in one month is awesome. But I know most of its water weight. This week I dont want to do what ive been doing and not lose any weight at all. Thats why I asked if anyone else has these cheat days like I do and still lose weight.
  • bendis2007
    bendis2007 Posts: 82 Member
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    Mini_Medic wrote: »
    Like baciodolce said, yes you can bank calories for the weekend. Just try to moderate your unrestricted day so it's enjoyable but not insane and doesn't completely blows your deficit. If you under eat by a 100-200 each day more than your already set to do for a deficit that's only an extra 500-1000 extra for the weekend. So enjoy your free day/meal but don't let yourself go so overboard that you undo your weeks work!

    Mini_Medic that is the coolest selfie with a cat I've ever seen.
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
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    While I also bank calories during the week for more indulgent weekends, I do a couple of things differently.

    First, I think it is important to still track your calories on the weekend, it is very easy to undo a weekly deficit with a day of total free for all especially if you have a small deficit to begin with. I bank 100-200 cals a day during the week but that would only be an extra 500-1000 cals which isn't that much when you are talking a huge blowout day. Tracking the cals on your free day lets you see if you've kept the weekly deficit intact.

    Second, I don't consider it cheating. I don't restrict myself from eating the foods I love all week long in order to reward myself on the weekend. I drink wine and eat chocolate pretty much every day, I just work it into my calories. If I want something else, I find a way to work that in too.

    Lastly, it's important to get enough nutrition/cals in, so if you are set at a lower calorie target to begin with (1200) it may be harder to get in adequate nutrition in only 1000 cals. I lost my weight eating b/w 1600-1900 cals and am maintaining eating 2000-2200 or so, which makes the idea of banking calories a little easier since I have more cals to begin with.

  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
    edited July 2016
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    kristinhull1 wrote: »
    If come to realize myself that I will always want to go hog wild once in a while. Thats why I hoard the calories and eat what I want when I want once a week. Usually its one day of the weekend. I am oin this weight loss group on fb and it helps me stay motivated and helps me keep going on with this lifestyle change. Before I was binge eating to help with the pain of losing my Dad. I always felt empty. Im now on medication and I dont always have that empty hungry feeling. But when I behave al week and the weekend comes I think to myself you deserve to eat what you want today. 11.4lbs in one month is awesome. But I know most of its water weight. This week I dont want to do what ive been doing and not lose any weight at all. Thats why I asked if anyone else has these cheat days like I do and still lose weight.
    Sorry about my earlier post, was super tired and didn't finish my thought process or explain what I was thinking very well.

    I would say just log it and see how much you are really eating that day.
    There is nothing wrong with balancing calories by week, but I wouldn't recommend frequently cutting 300 or more calories from a day (that could lead to binge/restrict cycles). Maybe 100-150. That will give you 600-900 extra calories for that one day where you want to eat over while still maintaining your deficit. So a week could look something like this (if not working out):

    Sun - 1100
    Mon - 1050
    Tues - 1100
    Wed - 1100
    Thurs - 1150
    Fri - 1050
    Sat - 1850

    or if you workout you could balance it more like this:

    Sun - eat 1200
    Mon - eat 1200 / burn 200
    Tues - eat 1200 / burn 100
    Wed - eat 1200 / burn 200
    Thurs - eat 1200 / burn 100
    Fri - eat 1200 / burn 200
    Sat - eat 2000 (basically saving your extra calories earned from workouts till the weekend)

    But if your working out and then eating only 900-1100 a day for 6 days a week, that could lead to more of a binge type session on day 7 where you completely undo any deficit you had for the week. Which might lead to more restriction the next week (dropping a hundred calories or so) and well you get where I'm going with this. Not saying that is how you will respond, but just bringing it up as a precaution. Also if your more active then Sedentary (less than 5k steps a day) it could cause problems as well. It's actually what happens to me if I restrict too much (1200 is too low for me, but may be fine for you). I still balance by week, but my avg calories are higher than 1200. If your using the app, there is a graph in the Nutrition section that will let you see your avg calories for the week.
  • Samuraiko
    Samuraiko Posts: 180 Member
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    shadow2soul wrote: »
    or if you workout you could balance it more like this:

    Sun - eat 1200
    Mon - eat 1200 / burn 200
    Tues - eat 1200 / burn 100
    Wed - eat 1200 / burn 200
    Thurs - eat 1200 / burn 100
    Fri - eat 1200 / burn 200
    Sat - eat 2000 (basically saving your extra calories earned from workouts till the weekend)

    I really like that. At the moment, I don't really allow myself a 'cheat' day (if I go over, I do my best to limit how much I go over, and life goes on, and I try not to beat myself up over it). But I could get behind something like this. Thank you. :smile:
  • Annahbananas
    Annahbananas Posts: 284 Member
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    Every time I did a once a week cheat thing, I always failed. For me, I have to do it right the entire time. I don't have the willpower and the body to cheat 4 times a month
  • kristinhull1
    kristinhull1 Posts: 294 Member
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    I thought in order to gain 1lb you have to eat 3500 calories over your BMR everyday of the week. I write down my calories in a notebook. I dont understand how to do the math to understand if I ate too much or too little or how to see how many calories I am able to have after I hoard my calories all week
  • Annahbananas
    Annahbananas Posts: 284 Member
    edited July 2016
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    kristinhull1 wrote: »
    I thought in order to gain 1lb you have to eat 3500 calories over your BMR everyday of the week. I write down my calories in a notebook. I dont understand how to do the math to understand if I ate too much or too little or how to see how many calories I am able to have after I hoard my calories all week

    No....just 3500 over your bmi once is one pound..not everyday of the week.

    Over 3500 calories over your bmi everyday of the week is seven pounds

    I knew a woman who gained 35 pounds in one month from overeating...well, she binged like a mad woman after she did so well. I was actually impressed...asked her how she did it...she pretty much ate Pizza Hut and papa johns four times a week.

    Now that's 3500 calories everyday for a month (with water and sodium retention thrown into the mix) lol
  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
    edited July 2016
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    kristinhull1 wrote: »
    I thought in order to gain 1lb you have to eat 3500 calories over your BMR everyday of the week. I write down my calories in a notebook. I dont understand how to do the math to understand if I ate too much or too little or how to see how many calories I am able to have after I hoard my calories all week

    It's 3500 over what it would take for you to maintain your weight (which is higher than your BMR) and it doesn't have to be all in one day either.

    Log your calories on MFP. Log exercise in MFP.
    There is an section of the app that will give you a bar graph and show you how many calories you are averaging per day. It will do all the math for you. Example

    hrrxbznetpb8.png
  • SassyMommasaurus
    SassyMommasaurus Posts: 380 Member
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    I don't cheat, I eat. Making it so you can never have the things you really want just seems to be the easiest way to fail. Eat what you want, just don't binge.
  • kristinhull1
    kristinhull1 Posts: 294 Member
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    My iphone 4 wont allow me to download the myfitness pal app because it says i need ios8.
  • not_a_runner
    not_a_runner Posts: 1,343 Member
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    I have used flexible calories/banking which allowed me to eat a lot more once or twice a week, but I strictly tracked all of it and did not just eat to my heart's content... Had I done that, I know it would not have worked for me.
    I set up my calorie deficit, which at the time was 2000 calories a day to lose 1 lb a week. That's 2000x7 days a week=14,000 calories. The last day of the week I would add up where I was at, and eat my remaining calories that day.
    Here's what my week might have looked like:
    Mon- 1800
    Tues- 1800
    Wed-1900
    Thurs-1700
    Fri-2000
    Sat-1800
    Sun-3000
    Total - 14,000
    I "banked" 1000 calories during this week, so I would add that to my set budget of 2000 on Sunday.
    Another way I could do this is to eat the same amount every day, say 1800, and automatically bank the extra 200 for a set day. I have done both ways and it worked well for me, but the main thing was to log and stay within my budget on my high cal days.
    I would tread carefully when approaching "free/cheat days" as someone with binge eating tendencies. I have struggled with binge eating myself, and the "cheat meal" mentality was disastrous for me. Using flex cals moderately however worked really well for me and I lost 30 lbs with this method and found it very maintainable.

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