Not calorie counting every day?

MandyCMN
MandyCMN Posts: 17 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Does anyone calorie count on certain days if the weeks and give their selves freedom the other days? I know this might not be for everyone but I only want to hear from people that do this and still manage to lose weight. I understand that there is still a calorie deficit but it would be great to hear from anyone that eats higher in certain days and cuts back on others.

Replies

  • Duck_Puddle
    Duck_Puddle Posts: 3,237 Member
    I eat higher on certain days and cut back on others. I eat much higher one day a week. I still lose.

    I don’t meet your full criteria though because I cannot maintain a deficit unless I also track on my higher day. It is sometimes very very high and my appetite knows no bounds. I would (and do) out-eat my deficit without tracking. That doesn’t mean you will.

    You can always try it and see? Or you can keep track of what you’re eating (pictures or something) then see what it ads up to later. And if you’re consistently still at or under your weekly goal-then go for it.

  • dragon_girl26
    dragon_girl26 Posts: 2,187 Member
    edited October 2020
    Duck_Puddle wrote: »
    I eat higher on certain days and cut back on others. I eat much higher one day a week. I still lose.

    I don’t meet your full criteria though because I cannot maintain a deficit unless I also track on my higher day. It is sometimes very very high and my appetite knows no bounds. I would (and do) out-eat my deficit without tracking. That doesn’t mean you will.

    You can always try it and see? Or you can keep track of what you’re eating (pictures or something) then see what it ads up to later. And if you’re consistently still at or under your weekly goal-then go for it.

    Same with me. I tend to eat higher one day of the week and still lose weight as expected. However, I think I've done this for so long that I'm sort of...wired to track. I guess I just still have to know how far over I went and it feels weird to track it everyday except one.
    ETA: when I say "higher" I'm talking about maintenance (2500ish) or closer to 3000. I'm not meaning like possibly 4,000 calories or something. Not sure how much "freedom" you're looking for in people's answers.
  • Dogmom1978
    Dogmom1978 Posts: 1,580 Member
    Yeah, I have days where I eat whatever I want. I still track though or else how would I know if I’m even still at a deficit for the week???

    Obviously, sometimes when I eat whatever I want I can’t track perfectly. Like if a restaurant doesn’t have nutritional info, then I’m just guessing. I try to guess on the high side rather than the low side though.

    The whole point of mfp is to track what you eat, so I don’t know if you’ll get much feedback from people who don’t track though.
  • Fflpnari
    Fflpnari Posts: 975 Member
    nope. If I over eat one day every week I would probably maintain my weight and not lose
  • sardelsa
    sardelsa Posts: 9,812 Member
    I've done this in the past when I was weaning from logging completely. I would calorie cycle and log only my low days to make sure I was staying under. Then eat higher on the other days. Or other times I would log only half the day. Or I would log only main protein sources. Eventually I stopped altogether which is the best fit for me.
  • Naija82
    Naija82 Posts: 345 Member
    I generally don't log as I find it a chore to be honest, I sometimes do on days where I think I may have eaten way too much to confirm actually amount. I'm losing weight but I know what I should be eating and how much of it, also I have a small plate I use for portion control. This won't work for everyone, we need to find what works best for us and fits in with our lifestyle.
  • Courtscan2
    Courtscan2 Posts: 499 Member
    No. I used to track diligently all week long and leave the weekend as a bit of a free for all. I would still try to be sensible, definitely allowed myself a couple glasses of wine, a handful of chips, the odd burger etc, but most meals still pretty healthy. And it drove me CRAZY that I never lost any weight, I couldn't understand why, when I was SO GOOD 5 days a week, those 2 days were enough to undo me. Especially when I wasn't going particularly overboard. Until I started tracking my weekends, and yeah - those handfuls of chips and "meh, I'll just have a cheeseburger" dinners were enough to wipe out my entire deficit. What a waste of time/energy tracking the rest of the week was. I should add here - I have never been hugely overweight, I'm pretty small, and have never had more than 10-15 lbs to lose, so my margins are tight. It may be different if you have loads more to lose. But for me, it's frustratingly impossible unless I weigh and track (and plan, ultimately) every single thing that goes in my mouth. Including the wine on the weekend, which I still have, but now track/plan around.
  • LadyFartFace
    LadyFartFace Posts: 2 Member
    I don't log everything and I still lose the majority of weeks. Sometimes I log after the fact as best as I can. Other times I just estimate. Having counted calories for years im usually pretty close. I also follow some successful people on Instagrams who don't track on Sundays. It's really whatever works for you and what your end goal is. If your hoping to be able to eat largely without tracking, then accurate tracking is a way to really get used to seeing how many calories are in the meals you eat. Over time you don't have to track everything. Keep in mind, people who are looking to be at the low end of a healthy BMI might only have a -250 cal deficit every day, sometimes less. And that would be very very easy to mess up when you don't track. If you have a lot to lose or your in maintenance you have more wiggle room.
  • sal10851
    sal10851 Posts: 171 Member
    I try to log and be as accurate as possible. Once I develop solid habits where I feel confident enough I can ease off a bit. In my last weight loss attempt I made every mistake in the book and inconsistent logging was a major one. Hidden calories were my downfall since I didn't track calories in sauces, dressings, certain toppings so that led me to a plateu and eventually gave up when I didn't see results. My approach is more informed this time around and I'm setting up the tools and habits that will lead me to maintain a healthy weight for life. I don't want to be dieting for the rest of my life so changes in behaviors are my main focus right now.
  • Jacq_qui
    Jacq_qui Posts: 443 Member
    Not me. I've had to get tighter on logging as times gone on to try and lose weight. It's much harder (for me at least) the closer I get to my end goal.
  • AndreaTamira
    AndreaTamira Posts: 272 Member
    I count every say.

    But, I do eat crazy from time to time (every few weeks). I say it is a "free day" (generally because everything else is too much those days or there is a celebration), but I still log it.

    To me it is about accountability to myself.
  • Noreenmarie1234
    Noreenmarie1234 Posts: 7,492 Member
    I still count but am not as strict (I don't weigh everything anymore) unless I see my weight start to trend down or up. It has worked for me and I've been maintaining 10+ years.
  • domeofstars
    domeofstars Posts: 480 Member
    I think it's a bad idea

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