5 days on 2 days off

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  • HoneyBadger302
    HoneyBadger302 Posts: 2,085 Member
    Do what works for you.

    That being said, I just include things I like into my calories. There may be the odd day where I'll eat at maintenance instead of a deficit (my deficit is fairly slight to begin with) but no foods are off limits. Granted, I LIKE vegetables, but I also love pizza and hamburgers. I find getting well balanced nutrition for my needs also helps keep cravings at bay and can change my mind about that quick fast food meal.
  • KWlosingit
    KWlosingit Posts: 122 Member
    bcradio1 wrote: »
    KWlosingit wrote: »
    bcradio1 wrote: »
    Define eating 'clean'? As in washing your food? Definitely do that.

    You can eat whatever you want as long as it fits your calories and that you are getting a minimum of 0.4g fat and 0.6g of protien per pound of bodyweight each day. Enjoy your food 7 days a week.

    This is off topic but I could not just pass it by.

    Why in the would a person need to eat .4g of fat per pound of body weight. That would be a HUGE amount of fat calories for me. Combine that with the protein requirement (which I do know is important) and that for me would mean basically no carbs for me (like 50 grams) which would not allow me to get in my veg.

    Not only 0.4g fat total, but as a minimum. Your body requires dietary fat for a huge number of reasons. I will say that if someone has a high bodyfat % (i.e. 30% or more), you could cut that back some.

    I think you are incorrect. The American Heart Association suggests that healthy adults limit dietary fat to no more than 20 to 35 percent of total daily calories. So I am eating calories 1,500 per day that would be 33-58 grams. Way less than you are recommending.
  • Karen_can_do_this
    Karen_can_do_this Posts: 1,150 Member
    @redlips_bighips are you thinking of the 5:2 diet? Where you eat at maintenance 5 days and fast for the other 2? I had a lot of success with that.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    redlips_bighips wrote: »
    I get the calorie counting thing that you call all 7 days - days off. But eating what I want everyday would consist of mostly pizza and chocolate within my calories, nothing else! So yeah

    If this is really true, trying to expand what you want and finding meals that are balanced and healthy that you actually enjoy (which pizza can be too sometimes, especially if you get lots of veg on it, make it at home, or have a smaller amount of pizza with some veg or salad on the side) seems like a better idea than feeling like you are very deprived or can't eat what you want for 5 days and then "cheating" on the others.

    Plus, if you aren't counting it would be easy to have no deficit.

    I tend to have dessert only a few days a week so I don't feel like I need it every day, but many prefer to have a smaller dessert type food daily (you can get small portions of chocolate or maybe have some chocolate on fruit) and it can work.

    I think that usually if you don't think of food as off limits and something you can't have or that are bad it becomes easier to control them and not go overboard when you do eat them (it's my cheat day, I have to cram everything in!).

    Obviously, experiment to see what works for you, though.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    MegaMooseEsq wrote: »
    potatowhoruns wrote: »
    Although I agree with some of the above points about allocating treats as part of your every day calories to encourage a lifestyle change, rather than a short term diet, my understanding is that you can consider your calories as a weekly allowance, rather than a daily one. So as long as you are still logging on all 7 days, and maintaining the deficit overall, then you should be okay. I am trying to do something similar because of how my week day and weekend schedules differ, but I am only 2 weeks in, so can't give any guarantees.

    I average by week, although I do not do a strict 5/2 split. I've lost 41 pounds over the last year, so it's been working fine. So long as your higher days don't wipe out your lower days, and you're patient with possibly having a little extra water fluctuation, it's a perfectly good way to go.

    Yeah, agree with this. I tend to have a day or two where I do a long workout (long run or, in when it's not winter, a long bike ride), and a day or two where I eat more calories so I can fit in a restaurant meal without worrying or whatever. I make both fit into my week as a whole. Did this when I was losing too, and it worked well.
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