Losing weight while "eating what you want"?
LUHAN27
Posts: 211 Member
So I've seen many "cheat day" threads, and I find it interesting that some people do cheat days while others don't. Instead of cheat days, they fit the meal in their calorie goal(which is fine btw). My question is:
1. Have you seen steady weight loss progress by doing this?(eating what you want as long as in calorie goal)
2. When you say "eat what you want", does that meal homemade food or/and fast food/junk food?
Thanks.
1. Have you seen steady weight loss progress by doing this?(eating what you want as long as in calorie goal)
2. When you say "eat what you want", does that meal homemade food or/and fast food/junk food?
Thanks.
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Replies
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So I've seen many "cheat day" threads, and I find it interesting that some people do cheat days while others don't. Instead of cheat days, they fit the meal in their calorie goal(which is fine btw). My question is:
1. Have you seen steady weight loss progress by doing this?(eating what you want as long as in calorie goal)
2. When you say "eat what you want", does that meal homemade food or/and fast food/junk food?
Thanks.
Yes. And yes.0 -
Well, I'm not trying to lose but maintaining fine and can loss weight when I want and eat what I want is basically everything in moderation.1
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Lost 41kg eating mostly hot dogs, frozen pizzas and protein shakes. Started bulking once I reached my goal, and have gained about 10kg since then eating the same stuff in larger amounts.3
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This is a very good question. I want to have some bread in my diet, some starch, some fruit, some vegetables, and some meat. I'm sure the volume and ratio of those things are different now than they were before January, and I have changed a lot because I prepare almost all my meals now. Still, I eat what I want, even as I may have learned to want some different stuff than I had before.0
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I can't say that I "eat what I want" completely - because that would include a bit much food that doesn't offer me much nutrition and portion sizes that are larger than I need
But I know for sure that, for me, cutting out whole food groups and setting restrictive rules aren't necessary.
I can lose weight steadily (slowly, because that's how I choose to do it) eating a variety of foods and including things like chocolate, cakes, beer, wine, eating out etc. Not a lot of what you might call "junk food"... mostly because I like to cook and prefer to make what I like, but I do eat out regularly for breakfast, and less regularly at lunch/dinner. And I get takeaway or pre-prepared food when I'm feeling lazy, but I try not to do that too often - I'd rather save my money for other things, and it's much cheaper to cook at home.
I just have to pay attention to portion sizes and ensure that most of my calories come from food that gives me a good balance of nutrition with some cals for food/drinks that are more for fun. And I know that exercising regularly makes me feel better physically and mentally, but it's not always easy for me to get out and do it (thank goodness winter is over and spring is here, I am so ready to enjoy getting outside in the mornings again), but I do my best to keep moving anyway.
Some people seem to thrive on strict rules and plans, and want to lose weight FAST or not at all... that's not me, I'm just aiming to make choices every day (or as often as I can) that make me healthy and happy in the long term.1 -
I lost 30+ lbs and never cut out anything besides excess calories. Rather than restricting, I focused on adding things - more protein, more vegetables, more whole grains, more cooking at home, more exercise, more sleep. I found that by focusing on the things I wanted to add to my healthy lifestyle, I was able to fill the majority of my diet with nutrient dense foods but still leave room for things like pizza, ice cream and wine.
In answer to your second question I did find that what I wanted changed somewhat. I wanted more of those healthy things and I became a bit choosier about my indulgences. I wanted really good pizza or gelato, not just any old pizza and ice cream I could find. I wanted to get my exercise in every day, wanted to fuel my exercise with lean protein, carbs, and healthy fats.
So yea you can be successful eating the foods you want in moderation. Many of us have been...5 -
Yes. But now that I'm relatively lean if I eat what I want I don't look as good. But I can maintain, lose, or gain eating whatever I want. It's just a lot easier to adhere to if I make smart choices and only use 20% or less of my calories for discretionary eating.0
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Yes. I eat a reasonably balanced diet and strive to hit my protein and fat macros each day, but I haven't cut anything entirely out of my diet. I still eat pizza, mexican food, burgers, candy bars, ice cream, drink beer, etc., but in more moderation than I did previously. I'm down 52 pounds as of this morning's weigh-in.1. Have you seen steady weight loss progress by doing this?(eating what you want as long as in calorie goal)
Yes to both. Fast food/"junk" food is a part of my diet, but I don't subsist entirely (or even mostly) upon it. As arditarose said, I try to stick to an 80/20'ish distribution.2. When you say "eat what you want", does that meal homemade food or/and fast food/junk food?0 -
So I've seen many "cheat day" threads, and I find it interesting that some people do cheat days while others don't. Instead of cheat days, they fit the meal in their calorie goal(which is fine btw). My question is:
1. Have you seen steady weight loss progress by doing this?(eating what you want as long as in calorie goal)
2. When you say "eat what you want", does that meal homemade food or/and fast food/junk food?
Thanks.
1. Yes. I lost 25 kg (55 lbs) by eating what I wanted as long as I stayed within my calorie goal.
2. When I say "eat what I want", it means I eat what I want. I made a decision when I signed up with MFP that I would not waste my calories on foods I didn't like.2 -
1. Yes. 103.2 lbs as of Friday (two days ago) since last July.
2. Yes and yes.0 -
Yes I lost as intended eating what I want ( but not always in the quantities I want) and have maintained for 2 years doing likewise.
Yes that included home made and fast food/ junk food.1 -
I eat small quantities of junk each day. That is usually a small chocolate /candy bar or biscuit/ cookie.
Ill fit the odd junk meal in such as a homemade burger ir a hot dog. I count bread, cereal, wrap etc. As junk. Ill have the occassional glass of wine or beer too.
I dont eat out and i dont eat fast food as i dont like it - a part from takeaway pizza which i might have twice a year.
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The idea of "cheating on your diet" repulses me
- I have seen steady and reliable weight loss while eating what I want in appropriate amounts. I am maintaining doing the same thing. In fact, I know from experience (and even common sense, when applied) that maintaining weight and not eating what I want/like, is impossible. I can lose that way, but I can't stick to "diet food" for long. I will cave and eat whatever I want, or think I want, and not what I need.
- What I want has to be explained, yes. I want to eat for pleasure and health. Those are not opposite goals. I eat anything I want, but not everything at once, and not all the time. I eat food I like that I can eat to satiety. That means avoiding trigger foods. That means mainly cooking/assembling meals from single food items. It means occasional fast food/junk food, but as I'm already eating what I like, I'm not that interested, and I love to cook when I can make food I like.
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i eat what i want, and have lost 80+ pounds.
i eat at home, i eat out, i drink alcohol,i eat sweets and pizza or whatever it is im wanting....
but i stay within my calorie goals and plan for those things -whether its by working out a little more, using a weekly deficit type plan, or eating at maintenance that day.1 -
I'm with kommodoveran. I don't get enough calories to waste them on stuff I don't want!0
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I'm losing at a steady rate of two pounds a week, I'm over 200 pounds so this is OK, eating what I want, including chocolate and ice cream.0
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ok I have never heard of this "cheat day" sounds good...... my only concern for me is...... The people that have these "cheat days" are they already an acceptable weight i.e. 165lbs (In my opinion) or like me are they 260lbs with a goal of 190..... I'm good at keeping to a 1200 - 1500 cal a day diet and so far am down 14lbs in 2 weeks....... i'm confused on what to do.... should I keep going the way I am and avoid avoid avoid........... or would there be any benifit in me having a "cheat day"0
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You have to understand that it's 'what we want'. Not 'how much we want' or 'when we want'. Big difference.
I've lost 80 pounds eating what I want... BUT it often comes down to small portions (for cookies, ice cream, chocolate etc) and the stuff I really want (pastries, for example) are a once a month thing.
But I have a sweet tooth and fitting what I want in is impossible if I don't want to be hungry all day. Savory stuff though? I can fit pretty much anything, as at least it will fill me up. I do look up lower calorie recipes all the time though, and it's satisfying enough for me.
In my experience though, it's actually been harder after losing the weight - I'm way hungrier, so I have to make better choices overall.2 -
So I've seen many "cheat day" threads, and I find it interesting that some people do cheat days while others don't. Instead of cheat days, they fit the meal in their calorie goal(which is fine btw). My question is:
1. Have you seen steady weight loss progress by doing this?(eating what you want as long as in calorie goal)
2. When you say "eat what you want", does that meal homemade food or/and fast food/junk food?
Thanks.
1. My loss has been very steady throughout. Was losing quicker at the beginning so I deliberately slowed it down as I wasn't comfortable losing so quickly. And I never deprived myself of things I wanted. I don't " cheat". I make it fit because cheating implies I am doing something wrong and thats the wrong mindset to have through this.
2. Don't really crave fast food, though occasionally I will get a craving for a mozza burger from A&W. But I usually don't give in since my partner has reactions to most fast food and it would be cruel to have one when he can't. As for " junk" food, I still eat chips, ice cream, cookies and chocolate often, sometimes daily. Same with pizza. I make pizza from scratch, just tastes better and with my partner's crohn's, it's better to make it myself so I don't have to worry about him having a reaction to it.
I never had problems with unhealthy food. I gained weight because I was lazy and ate out of boredom. My diet hasn't changed all that much, a little more veggies, a little smaller portions. And I don't sit on the couch eating a full size bag of chips while watching TV anymore lol.1 -
Also a huge part of me is all for a healthier me and part of this is to avoid all junk foods as I can live on them which has also led to medications I take daily that really someone of my age shouldn't have to do....... i'm confused!0
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So I've seen many "cheat day" threads, and I find it interesting that some people do cheat days while others don't. Instead of cheat days, they fit the meal in their calorie goal(which is fine btw). My question is:
1. Have you seen steady weight loss progress by doing this?(eating what you want as long as in calorie goal)
2. When you say "eat what you want", does that meal homemade food or/and fast food/junk food?
Thanks.
1)yes
2)both. i don't eat a lot of junk food. occassionaly i will steal a couple of fries from my boyfriend's plate, or i will have a mini bag of chips,or buy a slice of pizza from the bakery.it's not an everyday thing, mostly because i don't have enough calories to waste on these foods. i also prefer to eat them after i had my weekly weigh in.i weigh myself on mondays.if i want pasta, i will eat them at the latest on a friday,otherwise the scale won't be in my favour on monday.0 -
1. Yes.
2. Both. Sometimes I make something nice at home, sometimes I go to B-bubs. Buttery popcorn almost every night.
3. Cheat days make spikes, no cheat days make a smoother line (for me). But the trend is unaffected.
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As of this morning I have lost 94 pounds since January by eating what I want. The reason I think I have had so much success this time is because I ate what I liked instead of what diets have restricted me to. My diet has evolved over the last 8 months. I began with eating the foods I was use to eating but appropriate serving size. The first three months I had no cheat days what so ever and lost 49 pounds.
Then I found the wonderful world of If it fits your Macros. For a long time I was resistant to trying that way of eating. These woman in a group I was in was crazy to eat all that food. There was no way they were losing weight eating pop tarts and chips. To be honest a lot of them in the group were the super skinny people that could eat what they wanted. Then I seen people my size or bigger totally transforming their bodies. At first I just watched and learned.
I started switching my diet to add more protien around 4 months in. At first it was really hard for me to get all the protien in because all that meat was hard for me to get use to. In July I bought the protien powders and started trying harder. I still fall short a lot on my macros but It's so freeing to know if I want a slice of Pizza and a ice cream I can have it I just have to plan out my day the night before.
90 percent of the foods I eat is prepared by me. That is how I know the exact calorie count. I am getting horrible about even going to friends houses to eat. I hate not knowing what was used in the cooking process and the weights.
When I go out to eat I try to stick to restaurants that have nutrition info available. I order off the kids menu as much as possible at sit down places and at fast food chains if I want a burger I stick to the small one and pair it with a salad instead of fries.0 -
So I've seen many "cheat day" threads, and I find it interesting that some people do cheat days while others don't. Instead of cheat days, they fit the meal in their calorie goal(which is fine btw). My question is:
1. Have you seen steady weight loss progress by doing this?(eating what you want as long as in calorie goal)
2. When you say "eat what you want", does that meal homemade food or/and fast food/junk food?
Thanks.
Yes, and either depending what I feel like.
Lunch today was a big, homemade double cheese burger for example. 800 calories and over 60 grams protein, fit easily into my day.1 -
Nah I don't believe in this eating what you want. Sure you can eat what you want, but only if you stay within your calories. That's not eating what you want for me!! I'd be eating 5000 calories worth of chocolate and wine
Sugar is my biggest trigger food. In theory I could fit it in my daily calories, however in practice I find it hard to stop at one. Or two. So my solution is to cut out sugar-added food altogether. And you know what? It's fine. I don't feel deprived, I feel fit, I feel healthy and best of all, my clothes fit.0 -
As long as you stay within your goals you will lose, no matter what you eat. But not eating a balanced, healthy diet will raise a whole host of different problems for you.1
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"Cheat day" is a strange use of language to me and my impression is that it indicates there is something wrong and unsustainable in the rest of your week if someone needs to "cheat" - that's a very negative label to hang on something.
I had/have higher calorie days or even weeks for enjoyment reasons but don't feel I'm cheating anyone including myself. I also have some meals/foods/drinks purely for enjoyment (which doesn't stop me getting nutrition from them!).
1. Yes I lost my excess weight on schedule only eating foods I enjoyed. I changed the portion sizes and proportions of what I ate to help with adherence. My diet (noun) didn't really need fixing, I just had to eat a bit less for a period of time. Food is a big source of pleasure to me both for taste and the social side.
2. I eat a variety of food but predominately home or self-cooked / prepared. Sure some people's definition of junk food would include some of the foods I choose! I eat what I would term "treats" daily, purely for enjoyment and taste rather than nutrition (predominately savoury snacks). I don't eat much fast food.
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pancuronium wrote: »ok I have never heard of this "cheat day" sounds good...... my only concern for me is...... The people that have these "cheat days" are they already an acceptable weight i.e. 165lbs (In my opinion) or like me are they 260lbs with a goal of 190..... I'm good at keeping to a 1200 - 1500 cal a day diet and so far am down 14lbs in 2 weeks....... i'm confused on what to do.... should I keep going the way I am and avoid avoid avoid........... or would there be any benifit in me having a "cheat day"
People mean different things by "cheat day" and a lot of us (including me) have done something like it but avoid the term. What I did when first starting out when I was way overweight (was around 200+, am 125 now) for mental reasons was to have one day a week when it was okay to go over calories/not track as precisely, although I still logged and intended to stay under maintenance (and I usually was close to goal calories when exercise was added in -- on those days I'd count 100% of exercise calories, though!). I prepared for these by being quite strict the rest of the week on hitting my calories and having a little extra room by not eating back some of my exercise calories (even those I thought were reliable). Normally my "treat" or "indulgence" for that day was going out to a restaurant and not going crazy but somewhat more lenient (I would watch portion size). Trying new restaurants and eating out at old favorites (good local places which have no calories online) is part of my social life and just having a day to eat more at maintenance if I wanted made it easier for me to see all this as a sustainable lifestyle, since I will be going out normally, but it doesn't work for me to be doing it every day. Eating a few more calories on the weekend also works for me -- I know I could fit in pizza or some such any day, but I don't want to, and it's easier for me to think of more indulgent eating as a once in a while or weekly thing. I don't have a treat day now (I have more calories, I work out a lot more), but I still tend to save some calories for the weekend and eat more (because of going out and such) on the weekends, without it being over the top.pancuronium wrote: »Also a huge part of me is all for a healthier me and part of this is to avoid all junk foods as I can live on them which has also led to medications I take daily that really someone of my age shouldn't have to do....... i'm confused!
If they are trigger foods (you don't feel like you have control), it might be better to avoid for now, until you have a new way of eating that you enjoy established, so you don't feel like you'd drop everything and fall back into old habits if you had whatever it is you are talking about. But when you have a structure, it might be possible to reintroduce in moderation. For example, I can go out to dinner without that making me not want to cook the rest of the week, and I can order foods that aren't that different from how I normally like to eat when going out (or occasionally not) ;-). I find that I can have some ice cream after dinner and keep it to a serving/within my remaining calories and not have a problem. But I have to think of it as something that I'm not eating/not eating (black and white thinking), but something which must fit into my calories after other goals are met. I also, personally, don't have it every night, as I don't want to think I need it. Sometimes I don't have dessert, sometimes I have fruit, sometimes cheese, etc. I also find that timing and situation matters -- if there's something sweet sitting out at work and I start grazing, I don't have good control, so I've learned I shouldn't do that normally. So you have to know yourself.
Obviously medical requirements are important to take into consideration too, and I don't know what yours are.1 -
I really like this thread. I eat what I want and one scheduled meal a week I eat how much I want. Even more than one, some weeks.
I follow the 80/20 rule. Because I eat what I want I don't really crave or feel like eating massive junk meals now. I can maintain weight like this as I do not feel deprived and crucially I can do this the rest of my life.1 -
Yes, I eat what I want but if the food is calorie dense I have to be especially careful of portion sizes and I have to bulk up the rest of my day with lower calorie items in order to feel satisfied. If I want lasagna, a reasonable portion doesn't usually fill me up, so there's a lot of broccoli in my life that day.
I don't really like fast food any more - it tastes too salty to me and I'd rather eat something I enjoy if I have to spend the calories on it. But I guess if I liked it, I'd find a way to make it fit.0
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