It ok to have 1' free' day a week?

I would say one free meal is better or just do everything in moderation. If you are craving chocolate one day, right it into your day.

I do it this way and have lost weight consistently. I think the mind just needs a break from everything for a day. If you've been honest and careful the rest of the week, and aren't binging, like you said, it should be fine.

Totally agree, I always 'plan' to have a day a week with treats, sometimes I use it sometimes I don't. I think it keeps a healthy relationship with food and alcohol - I've lost weight like this now, and before also. :-) I tend to go around 200 calories under a day for this reason (let's face it, my favourite lemon drizzle cake needs this allowance! lol)

Agreed with Hroush - it's far better to plan a day where you have a higher calorie meal. Still log it in MFP as per usual, but don't be too concerned if you go a little over your calorie allowance. A full cheat day can undo all the good work that you do for the rest of the week.

The way I look at this, is that it's a lifestyle change. An occasional bad meal isn't going to be that bad, and is sometimes necessary to avoid you falling off the wagon completely, but you should be eating healthily 90% of the time, and ensuring that your bad 10% isn't eating too far into that calorie deficit you built up over the week.

I like to have one cheat meal a week... it helps keep me sane and it shakes up the metabolism!

If you see one day a week as free it's going against the idea of food as fuel rather than food as reward. I would suggest allowing yourself what you want at any time but with moderation. For example, if there is pie for dessert have a piece - just have a small piece not a great big piece and then another as a bedtime snack. I truly believe that if we deprive ourselves we will fail - at leas that has been my experience in the past. It's also been my experience that a "free day" can get out of control very easily - at least it has for me in the past.

I totally allow free days. My best friend and I follow the "zig zag" approach - eat great, follow the diet plans for a couple weeks and then allow for a day (or 2!) to eat high cal/high fat for the day. The theory is that it boosts your metabolism and I can't argue with the 27 pounds I have lost, and the 75 she has lost! I find that doing so makes the dieting seem not so bad. When I tell myself that this is my new diet plan for LIFE, I find myself cheating. However, when I know I have a free day in the future, I stay on track so when that day comes I can enjoy (and we ENJOY) without the guilt.

Bottom line is that you need to find what works for you.

I do it and I consistently lose weight. I'm pretty healthy Monday through Friday. Saturday is usually a free for all and Sunday I'm fairly healthy but not as strict as M-F.

I take 1-2 "refeed" days a week, not "cheat" days, because i have made a lifestyle change, i just up basically everything for a day or two...sometimes its not the most healthy option, but i have dropped from my goal weight of 125 to 120 since i started doing this...im a believer:)

I would suggest that it depends on what brought you here. I had (and still have some days) a very unhealthy relationship with food. I wouldn't enjoy it, I would just stuff it very quickly in my mouth and continue until I felt so sick I could not do it any longer without being sick. This was a bad cycle I needed to get out of.

I started on my journey with MFP and have been really strict on myself to keep to my calories and succeed. Gradually I have been learning to listen to my body and know when I have had enough way before I feel sick. For this reason, I could not have 1 day a week where I let go or I would not have got out of my bad habits. Ive just had a weekend off and I succeeded Saturday and failed miserably Sunday. It is a continued learning curve for me.

So, figure out what works for you. If you can have a treat day once a week and not eat to excess and make wise choices then that's fantastic - you go for it. If you're not ready for that kind of control yet, then set yourself a future date when you will start and work towards that.

I wish you lots of luck on your journey. Enjoy the ride!

I manage feelings of deprivation as much as I do calories. I grew up with no sweets allowed except for waffles or pancakes on the weekend. I never learned to regulate sweets bcause of that. That is what I am learning now. That is my issue. So yes for some it is a free day a week for others it is managing their calories and exercise to determine when they can afford a tret when they feel they really want it. It maynot always be one day a week that it makes sense to do this. For me I work it out that I can eat more for our family parties when we have them. Ot be able to go out and celebrate a bit when occaisions call for it. It is what works for you best. Yes it should be OK to have take out you enjoy once in a while if it works in your weekly calorie goals. It is more the weekly calorie deficit not the daily one to be aware of as some here have said and actually those higher calories days can have some benefits for weight loss in relation to a weekly calorie deficit. Some treats make it hard to stop and others are easier to have just one. I think you will do better if you find the best way to have things that you want in moderation while maintaining a sane weekly defict that is needed to lose weight. Best wishes on your goals.

I think you need to have a look at calorie balance over a whole week, not day by day. If you're broadly in the green, calorifically, then there's no reason not to have a treat, as long as it's not extreme. However, to be honest, I'd still calorie count it.

The other problem I guess I have with the notion of a treat day is that it sets up in your head a psychological sense that the rest of the week is the anti-treat. I'm not sure that's a good mind set to have for your healthy eating?

I'm with Meerkat on this one

I sometimes think using the word DIET synonymously as a weight-loss plan should be banned.

It gets you into the mindset of deprivation... that you have to give up things you like because they are bad. It's as important to understand how much you are eating as it is what you are eating.

I am a chocoholic... my belly is 100% sugar from biscuits, choc bars, ice creams and puddings.

But while I've given up chocolate for a while, because I made a pledge to a friend that I would do so, I know I will have to reintroduce it into my diet at some stage. We still have sweets in the sweetie basket and there's chocolate in the fridge, magnums in the freezer and biscuits in the cupboard. I think I would crave them more if they weren't there!

Amazingly, I don't crave them AT ALL :happy:

And while I tend to be good during the week, I know at the weekend I'll be down the pub with my friends and I still enjoy a few drinks :drinker: But I understand better that these are calories I don't want to live without, so I just acknowledge them and track them as I do everything else I eat and drink.