Does Anyone Else Record Their Free/Cheat/Flex Days?
nealwalk
Posts: 11 Member
Hi everyone. Been using Myfitnesspal for past 6 months (also used it for like a year back four years ago) and I regularly have a free day (cheat/Flex) every Sunday. Thing is, I still record my food intake but I find that it completely messes up my long term stats as far as macros and such. I’m all business Monday through Saturday and take in about 1870 calories those days. Sundays I like to let loose and usually end up taking in Around 4,000 - 5,000 calories and it doesn’t seem to hurt me physically in any way. I record I guess because I don’t want to lose my streaks for logging in I guess lol. Also I guess I’ve liked seeing my average macros on those free days. Do you guys think I should ditch recording my sundays? I wish there was a way to view my weekly results without the free day included or maybe I should start another account just for my free days? Lol strange I know. What do you guys think?
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Replies
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What is your purpose for logging in general?
Not sure what you mean by your day messing up your long term stats for macros?
If you don't include food on that day, your results won't be accurate (whatever that means to you) either.
Your logging streak isn't related to your food diary, it's based in whether you log in to MFP or not.7 -
It depends on how far away from my usual eating habits the cheat day takes me and if what I had during that time is feasibly countable. If it's a once in a year thing with lots of varying dishes to try out (like a festival our city was hosting earlier this week) then I won't record it, but I'll leave a note in my food notes saying why I didn't record my meal at that time.0
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Why wouldn't you log that day? It still counts - the calories are still counted by your body. If I have a so-called "cheat" day, I try to eat at maintenance, not 2-3 times my daily calories, so it really isn't a "cheat" day. If I didn't track it, I could very easily blow my weekly deficit on one or two days of "cheating".7
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I think your body doesn't care about your "cheat" day. I personally don't do a cheat day or cheat meals. I eat what I want, when I want for the most part, knowing there will be days I go over, but as long as I meet my goals over time, I don't care. If you're that worried about your macros, you have 2 options. Revise your goals, or revise your Sunday eating habits. Anything else is just mental gymnastics. Good luck!1
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I don’t do cheat days, but I do believe you should log them. If your weight loss stops, you’ll have this information to help you figure out what’s going wrong. Lack of information is a red flag for people who like to check diaries to help find these issues.3
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In my mind, eating higher than maintenance on some days is just life, and not cheating.
However, not logging something I eat would kind of be cheating. It's not your logging of your calorie high days that mucks up your macros, it's your eating. If you are logging to have an accurate record of what you have eaten, what your weekly average calories are etc, then you should also log the days when you eat above maintenance.
Your high calorie days sound rather extreme, I have to say. Is your goal to maintain or lose? Are you succeeding in doing that while eating 4-5k calories? I'm kind of jealous, I'm in maintenance and I need to save calories for a week just to have a regular dinner out to bring my daily total to about 2,500.
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Yes, log them. I just started doing cheat days again, once a week. I stopped for about 2 months but better off with one. I can just eat what I want even if it is beyond my calorie goal. Usually it's just 500 calories more. I'm still in deficit that day or at most maintenance if figures are a little off.0
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I don’t do cheat days, but I do believe you should log them. If your weight loss stops, you’ll have this information to help you figure out what’s going wrong. Lack of information is a red flag for people who like to check diaries to help find these issues.
I never did cheat days while I was losing either, because the only person I'd be cheating was myself. I did sometimes save up calories for the weekend or eat at maintenance for a few days. But if you are going far over your calorie goals even one day a week, you can easily destroy an entire week's deficit in one day. That's especially true when you get close to your goal weight and your deficit is very small.
The problem is that if you don't log what you eat, you won't know whether or not you're hindering your weight loss in this way. Most of us are here because we want to understand what we're putting into our bodies, and use that knowledge to change our bodies to reach some personal goal. If you're not logging, then you won't have complete information.1 -
That food still contributes to you micros, macros and intake averages though? I log everything. I didn't hit my weekly protein goal until tomorrow (have prelogged the weekend as I had a couple higher days during the week). Food all counts regardless when you eat it it or what you call it.0
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I log everything. If you want an idea of your macros without the free day, then you can look at your weekly average prior to logging anything for your free day. Then again after you log your free day. Your body is logging everything whether you choose to enter it in MFP or not. It’s your choice if you want your food log to match what’s going into your body.2
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But the free day is affecting your stats, whether you want to see it or not. It's not like if you don't log it, it didn't happen. Those calories made up of those macros got into your body just like the calories and macros from Mon - Sat.
What are your goals? How big a deficit are you at during the week?1 -
Of course you should log your flex meal /day. Those calories count and should be logged. It'll also help you keep track of those meals so they don't get way out of hand (although 5000 IMHO is ALOT)1
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Does logging or not loggin fit your goals?
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Yes, I log them and always have. I've been working on losing weight for several years now and have changed things around to have variations of cheat days. My current strategy includes a day each week where I eat a lot of certain types of starchy carbs in order to replenish glycogen. Today happened to be that day and I weighed and logged everything I ate; mostly rice and corn.1
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I log every day. Mainly for medical reasons. I’m at a good weight and not trying to lose now, but I am watching my sodium and what I eat that could contribute to cholesterol.
So every once in a while there is a crazy day, and it’s logged.1 -
I normally go over on the weekends but not by more than 200ish calories. I also make sure it works within my weekly goals. It seems that your cheat meal would be eating into your weekly deficit. Allow yourself some small "cheats" during the week that work within your calories and then you might not feel the need to go so overboard on Sundays.0
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Over time, I have found that I have to log everything. (the good, bad and less than awesome) That way the data is there from weeks ago and it can help me pinpoint what I need to adjust, change, etc. to meet my goals. I was finding that I was losing slowly and I went back to try and determine what was going wrong. When I started looking at a month, there were a few days with no data. So then it became a guessing game of, well I was at that party that day, I know I had pizza and cake, etc. etc. etc.
So, for me it was harder to keep my information straight and watch the natural ebbs and flows of life when I didn't log everything. I have just found it is easier to make adjustments, plan and make new goals when I can review all the data with no holes.1 -
It is also keeps you more accountable and less likely to binge if you log it. I mean really, do you want to see 4000 extra calories and that red line if you log in that cheat day? Plus, the "if everyday were like this you would weigh 300 lbs...by....?" So most likely you will keep it under control and not go too overboard.2
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Why are your cheat days so massive? They're more than double your M-Sat. Are you at maintenance or trying to lose weight?0
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I log everything, including the days when I eat more than my goal (I don't really do "cheat days," but I do have days where I sometimes go over). It keeps me accountable and helps me spot trends. It also lets me know how I'm doing on meeting my nutritional needs -- I track those in addition to just paying attention to calories.0
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I’ve really appreciated so much feedback everyone thank you! A common question many of you posed was what are my goals? I’m actually trying to lose fat and gain lean muscle. I want to drop my bodyfat percentage down to 10% or less ultimately. Right now I am at about 22.3% bodyfat and 185 pounds.
I began my journey on May 8, 2017 weighing 213.2 pounds and I didn’t calculate my bodyfat at that point, but I’m going to assume I was AT LEAST 35% bodyfat. Since then, I’ve had myfitnesspal settings set to lose 1 pound a week. I exercise intensely 6 days a week with 4 days using weights and 2 days of HIIT cardio workouts. Additionally, I do 30 minutes of cardio on a life cycle after each workout.
After reading what everyone has said and studying my own results over the past 6 months, I think I will try lowering my free day caloric intake by quite a bit. It seems that many of your responses would encourage that and again I appreciate the feedback. I’ve had excellent results so far, but lately things have slowed and I am positive it’s the free days that are the obvious culprit.
The reason for the free days is based on a program I have done off and on over the last 15 years called Body For Life by Bill Phillips. It has always given me excellent results and I’ve never had any problems with the program at all. The program basically has you workout 6 days a week eating a healthy diet of 6 smaller meals. On day 7, you rest and have a free day eating as much or as little of whatever you want. I’ve always been able to still lose bodyfat while incorporating the free day no matter how crazy the calorie count got on those days.
HOWEVER, lol...I AM 43 years old now. That inevitably means my metabolism has slowed down from when I was 29, 33, even 38 years old when the free day never seemed to affect my fat loss efforts. I think nowadays, that may not work in the same way unfortunately. But seeing how I’m 43 now I suppose it just comes with the territory and that’s ok, I’ll just need to adjust accordingly. So I think what I’ll do is try incorporating only 2 free days a month instead of 4 and instead of 5000 calories on those days, perhaps keep it to 2500-3000.
At the end of the day, like many of you said, it’s about creating a caloric deficit and I won’t get to my goal if I keep shooting myself in the foot with those massive caloric Free days. I’m very appreciative of everyone’s posts thank you so much for the good ideas!0 -
I try not to have cheat days, because that will only set my progress back rather than forward with seeing the scale go down.
What I've been doing is at the end of the Fitbit week (Saturday-Saturday) on Sunday or Monday I'll look at my burnt calories & if I have a lot leftover then I'll treat myself with a pint of Talenti or Ben & Jerry's ice cream.
Occasionally, if I have more than I intended during the regular week, I'll move around some of the calories to other days, but still allow myself enough calories to eat so I don't get overly hungry.0 -
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As long as I remember what I ate (cheat days are often related to buffets) I write everything down. Well, as good as possible, due to guessing and trying to find similar things, when I had something prepared in a restaurant.
And while the number is gigantic (2-3 times my regular allowance) it not only keeps me in the "flow" of logging but it also keeps me realistic. The 3 pounds + on the next day? That's not fat, but only sodium/carb related water, waste mass, or whatever. I might have had 3 times my allowance, but I didn't even have enough to re-gain one real pound of fat. (3500 calories). So yes, I'm hard on myself and log everything.
Currently, I've more and more days with too many calories. (more or less maintenance) I'm near the end of my weight loss and my TDEE is so damn low (1500) that I have a hard time to create a deficit and that frustrates me and I eat even more... The obvious solution here is more sports, but the weather is not very inviting anymore to commute by bike.1 -
@JerSchmare If I remember correctly, in his original book Bill outlined the program where you could eat whatever you want and as much as you want on the free day only. During the rest of the week of course it has you stick to portion control with protein the size of one’s palm and carbs the size of one’s clinched fist. I take it a step further and weigh everything.
I hear everyone loud and clear though and agree that I need to scale back on my calories plain and simple. I’ve been able to get my muscular frame back every time I’ve stuck with this program and this time it’s a little different. Only thing I can think of is my metabolism slowing down a bit with age but it is still working regardless. Just not as fast as it used to lol. I guess Bill is writing another Body For Life book so it will be interesting to see what he changes lol. Thanks for the reply!0 -
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I always log. Like others said, those calories count, even if it is your cheat day!! As someone who is newer to this i find it helpful to log cheat meals because I see how many calories I am taking in (even if I'm not worrying them that day). I've even found that some cheat foods really aren't as bad as I thought, and can then work them in to my "good" days.2
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You could make your week start on Monday then check your weekly averages (Monday - Saturday) before the cheat day starts. ... I do the opposite. I start my week on Friday so I can make sure I do enough healthy eating the following week to make up for my cheat day.0
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