taking a day to eat whatever you want and not count calories

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  • fiddletime
    fiddletime Posts: 1,862 Member
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    I've also derailed twice before by thinking I could eat whatever I wanted. First it was one day every month or so, then once every week or two, then a glass of wine with dinner, and before I knew it I was back up 25 pounds.

    I am working on stopping eating when I'm no longer hungry. I recently went away for a weekend with 3 served meals a day and no internet. I didn't eat breads and for the rest, I ate slowly and stopped when I was satisfied. Even with wine, I lost half a pound that weekend. That was a real eye opener.

    As a 5'2" older person who maintains on 1350 cal I could happily eat more any day of the week.
  • alondrakayy
    alondrakayy Posts: 304 Member
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    I had a day like that yesterday and I knew it was coming. I wasn't going to be home all day. I had to eat at my moms, then it was date night with my husband. I enjoyed myself and kept a mental note of everything I ate and made sure to input it into MFP late at night. I went about 800 cals over, but it was worth it.
  • healthypelican
    healthypelican Posts: 215 Member
    edited March 2017
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    Update: Yesterday I went onto my food diary and updated it with what I thought I might have eaten. They were guessimates. I was about 1200 calories over my goal.

    Anyway, this morning I weighed myself, and I have lost 400g since my last recorded weigh in, or 1kg since yesterday! (my weight had gone up due to sodium). I was shocked and delighted. So the most important thing is, write down what you eat, you may not have done as badly as you thought.

    I thought the chocolate icing was going to be over 1000 calories, but I measured out the icing sugar and the butter and it wasn't even 300 calories. I sure felt silly after that!
  • triciab79
    triciab79 Posts: 1,713 Member
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    In all things balance. If you over eat one day you have to either accept that you will gain weight or use a combination of diet and exercise to compensate for that decision. No one says you have to feel guilt but you will have to pay whether you like it or not. Not knowing how much the bill is doesn't mean you don't owe it. Its like walking into a store and grabbing a bunch of stuff and putting it on a credit card without looking at the tags or totals. Sure you can do that and it feels great but the bill will still come at some point.
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,182 Member
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    I lost weight all last year accidentally blowing through my calorie target once a month. Then when I decided that once a month was ok I quit doing that. I tried doing that yesterday and failed.
  • shandy82165
    shandy82165 Posts: 184 Member
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    I haven't had one of those days yet, but i have had a couple of days where i've gone over by maybe 100 cals.

    But what's helped me is I try to save room for a treat/dessert every night. Just 100-200 cals for some popcorn, ice cream, chocolate, cookie, whatever strikes me. I also try to remind myself that on those days I do go over by maybe 50-100 calories, it's still not enough to gain since i'm already eating at a deficit. At most it would be close to eating my maintenance cals for the week. (my setting is for .5/week loss)
  • BeChill73
    BeChill73 Posts: 75 Member
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    I did yesterday. Have only been logging for 2 weeks but struggling with some other health issues and woke up depressed yesterday, skipped breakfast and lunch, scoffed some white chocolate blondies for afternoon, had a meat/pasta/cheese dish for dinner with coffee (usually a no-no to have caffeine with dinner because of my anaemia). At the end of the day I felt bad and decided to be honest and log it. Was surprised to see I still had a hundred or so calories left over!

    I can't even binge succesfully it seems hehe.
  • victoria_1024
    victoria_1024 Posts: 915 Member
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    Every so often I have an entire weekend Iike that. I did the same thing while losing. I honestly don't think my mental health could stand just logging everything and staying within my calorie range every day. I figure it's only a problem if I can't get back on track afterwards or do it so often that I start gaining back weight. I do usually gain a few lbs but it comes off quickly.
  • ThatUserNameIsAllReadyTaken
    ThatUserNameIsAllReadyTaken Posts: 1,530 Member
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    I have been doing this for about a month. I have not gained. I wanted to see what would happen if I just did not try to meet a certain goal. I was mostly using logging to retrain myself to eat like a normal human being and not like a starving beast. I still weigh my serving sizes some of the time, but not all the time. Mostly fruits and vegetables or something I think I may be about to eat way too much of.
  • Theo166
    Theo166 Posts: 2,564 Member
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    sarahbums wrote: »
    I do, but I still count and log everything, even if I'm way over.

    Same here, I enjoy it and log the calories. Logging the calories just keeps it in perspective, and dampens the urge to make the food an recurring habit.
  • TimothyFish
    TimothyFish Posts: 4,925 Member
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    I'm not counting calories right now. I have a rough idea of how many calories I'm consuming and a get a readout from my exercise. I figure that that long as I am weighing myself regularly that I'll catch myself if I get too far from my goal range.
  • richardgavel
    richardgavel Posts: 1,001 Member
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    Personally I would feel if I didn't at least estimate those "eat anything" days that I was trying to avoid the consequences of my actions by only logging those days when I was "good". Logging calories and weight keeps me on track and I've accepted that one bad weight day or calorie day is not the end of the world.
  • geri1geraldinesuzanne
    geri1geraldinesuzanne Posts: 125 Member
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    i do it every friday, although right back on satuday. works fine for me......
  • brenn24179
    brenn24179 Posts: 2,144 Member
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    thanks for all the comments. I sometimes get carried away and eat too much, temptation, emotional or whatever but as long as it is temporary and get back on track I think that is the key. No need to beat myself up like ya said, just log and weigh and I will know where I am at. Yes I need the taste of indulgent foods sometimes!
  • dancerlady399
    dancerlady399 Posts: 7 Member
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    In all things, moderation...including moderation.
  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,464 Member
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    Eating whatever you want for a day means different things to different people. Does it mean having one cookie you normally wouldn't have or eating a whole batch of cookies?! Just realize you can easily wipe out your weekly deficit doing this. If that's OK with you, have at it! Don't be surprised that weight loss slows down.
  • itsanewday
    itsanewday Posts: 9 Member
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    I have personally found that when I give myself a day off I can do too much damage. So instead I give myself a free meal rather than a whole day. This has worked very well for me and keeps me motivated to keep going, rather than feel like I have overdone a whole day of bad decisions and then may want to throw in the towel.
  • Squish815
    Squish815 Posts: 150 Member
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    Yep! I'll still try and log everything but I do have days where I eat/drink what I want and don't pay attention to how many calories I'm going over. I make sure I get back on it though.

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