Treats and Weight Loss

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MaddieUnicornRainbow
MaddieUnicornRainbow Posts: 28 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hey everyone, I was wondering how people feel about incorporating treats every now and then that go beyond your set calorie limit that you have normally. Do you think it hinders weight loss or do you find it doesn't have much of an effect? I have a plan where I eat no more than 500 calories over my goal for the entire week or weekend. (So I eat my normal calorie limit and then have no more than 500 calories total for extra treats on the weekend. So Saturday's and Sunday's allowance added together can equal no more than 500 calories). I make this allowance usually on the weekends, but sometimes I do it during the weekday and not the weekend. Let me know your thoughts! (I do incorporate treats that fit in my calorie limit, but it's nice to be able to indulge without going overboard). I have continued to lose weight following this plan.
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Replies

  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
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    If there are days where I go over, I just compensate by subtracting the calories off days from the rest of the week
  • MaddieUnicornRainbow
    MaddieUnicornRainbow Posts: 28 Member
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    @malibu927 So no "cheat days" for you then?
  • MommaGem2017
    MommaGem2017 Posts: 405 Member
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    I think many people on the forum use the same method. They "bank" extra calories for the weekend, so it evens out over the course of the week.
  • wenrob
    wenrob Posts: 125 Member
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    I bank calories during the week usually in the form of exercise. Not that it never happens but doing this keeps me from going over my weekly allowance and keeps me on track. In the past I've found that regularly going over is a slippery slope that eventually catches up to me especially in maintenance.
  • estherdragonbat
    estherdragonbat Posts: 5,283 Member
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    A treat is not a cheat. I make room for indulgences within my calories.
  • MaddieUnicornRainbow
    MaddieUnicornRainbow Posts: 28 Member
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    @estherdragonbat As I said, I do make room for indulgences within my calorie limit. What I also do is allow myself to go outside of it, so I feel like I can have some fun with food and keep it in check.
  • MaddieUnicornRainbow
    MaddieUnicornRainbow Posts: 28 Member
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    @malibu927 Good for you! I personally couldn't just stick to my calorie limit or else subtract however many calories I went over the previous day for the next day. But kudos to you if you've been able to sustain it! Different strokes for different folks.
  • wenrob
    wenrob Posts: 125 Member
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    MaddieUnicornRainbow wrote: »
    @malibu927 Good for you! I personally couldn't just stick to my calorie limit or else subtract however many calories I went over the previous day for the next day. But kudos to you if you've been able to sustain it! Different strokes for different folks.
    Eventually that 500 calorie gap is going to close though. Right now you're losing so you have a little more leeway but eventually it will slow things down. If you continue this in maintenance you will gain about 7.5lbs a year. You might consider just subtracting 100 a day during the week to give yourself that 500 for the weekend because sooner or later they're going to start to count.
  • kokonani
    kokonani Posts: 507 Member
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    I eat "treats" everyday, it can be a donut, slice of cake, ice cream, whatever. I make it fit into my daily Calories. So if I want to indulge in a high calorie dessert, I make sure to either have a low cal meal, or go lower cal the next day. Just balance it out.
  • MaddieUnicornRainbow
    MaddieUnicornRainbow Posts: 28 Member
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    wenrob wrote: »
    MaddieUnicornRainbow wrote: »
    @malibu927 Good for you! I personally couldn't just stick to my calorie limit or else subtract however many calories I went over the previous day for the next day. But kudos to you if you've been able to sustain it! Different strokes for different folks.
    Eventually that 500 calorie gap is going to close though. Right now you're losing so you have a little more leeway but eventually it will slow things down. If you continue this in maintenance you will gain about 7.5lbs a year. You might consider just subtracting 100 a day during the week to give yourself that 500 for the weekend because sooner or later they're going to start to count.

    @wenrob I think I'm still in a deficit overall though, and I'm regularly presenting my body with the chance to have a bit more than my calorie limit, which I think another MFP user said was a good thing. Almost like calorie cycling.
  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 17,959 Member
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    MaddieUnicornRainbow wrote: »
    wenrob wrote: »
    MaddieUnicornRainbow wrote: »
    @malibu927 Good for you! I personally couldn't just stick to my calorie limit or else subtract however many calories I went over the previous day for the next day. But kudos to you if you've been able to sustain it! Different strokes for different folks.
    Eventually that 500 calorie gap is going to close though. Right now you're losing so you have a little more leeway but eventually it will slow things down. If you continue this in maintenance you will gain about 7.5lbs a year. You might consider just subtracting 100 a day during the week to give yourself that 500 for the weekend because sooner or later they're going to start to count.

    @wenrob I think I'm still in a deficit overall though, and I'm regularly presenting my body with the chance to have a bit more than my calorie limit, which I think another MFP user said was a good thing. Almost like calorie cycling.

    All you're really doing is reducing your deficit, but if you're happy with that and your rate of loss, no harm done.

  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,182 Member
    edited August 2017
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    What sort of thing are you thinking is a treat? A discussion here today reminded me that I spent 45 days last Christmas season eating 100 calorie bits of fruitcake every day. It wasn't a treat all those days.
  • MaddieUnicornRainbow
    MaddieUnicornRainbow Posts: 28 Member
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    @JeromeBarry1 So a treat is 250 calories over my limit on Saturday and 250 calories over my limit for Sunday, or 500 calories on Saturday or Sunday.
  • Mezzie1024
    Mezzie1024 Posts: 380 Member
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    I've been banking calories this week so I can eat just about everything at my niece's birthday party tomorrow. Pizza, cupcakes, ice cream... who knows what there will be, but I'm hoping to enjoy a lot of it and still fit into my work clothes on Monday. :smile:
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    i save 1-200 cals monday to thursday to eat over the weekend. i only run a tiny deficit as i only have a couple of pounds to lose, so if i just ate more on a Saturday and Sunday i would not lose weight.
  • MegaMooseEsq
    MegaMooseEsq Posts: 3,118 Member
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    I also do the average by week thing and don't have any issue with it. I do understand that as I lose, the margin will close, but that's why it's important to me to bake the "treats" into my goals/expectations. Plus, I've found that I've become more disciplined as time goes on. When I first started reducing calories I was going out more and losing slower, but as time passes I've gradually pushed myself to go out less, eat less, and exercise more, and my rate of loss has actually increased even though my available deficit has gone down. This month has been a big bump in terms of exercise, and I actually feel really good about it because I'm ready. I think if I'd tried this six months ago it wouldn't have stuck, but now it feels comfortable. I really do believe that this process is working for me because I'm taking it easy - it turns out weight loss doesn't have to be torture!
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,576 Member
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    I never tried to eat the same number of calories every day. I would eat low during the week so I could eat and drink a lot more on the weekends.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    When I was losing weight, I typically ate maintenance calories on the weekend...I still lost weight...it may have been a bit slower than otherwise, but where the big picture was concerned, I really didn't care...I was never in a big rush.

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