Is it okay to have a cheat day once per week?
Replies
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If it were up to me, I would keep the day eating more food (no need to call it a cheat day if you plan for it!) but add in a day or more of being active. Being completely sedentary 7 days a week is horrible for you and will catch up to you in terms of health eventually.
You may not be able to eat EVERYTHING you want in one day, even with added activity, but you could raise your calories to offset the exercise and still maintain.
The thing is, you are not maintaining right now. You are gradually creeping. A cheat day can work for some people but the cheat day isn’t working for you. Think ahead five years, do you want to be 25 lbs overweight? Best to modify your lifestyle now, instead of trying to lose the weight in the future.4 -
It really doesn't matter what a bunch of strangers on an internet forum approve or disapprove of; it's all about what works best for you. If you really love your weekly cheat days and want to keep them, maybe find a way to make them serve you better... like setting a calorie or portion cap. I sometimes declare snack days where I only eat snack-y things. It satisfies my desire for chocolate, popcorn and pork rinds without overloading on calories. Bonus: the next day, I can't wait to get back to eating 'real' meals.2
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To find your weekly calorie allowance to maintain, count your calories EVERY day for a week, including your cheat day.
Aim for that much each week for a month or two and see how it goes. If you gain a pound or two, you’ll need to cut back a little.
If you’ve gained just a little since you started maintenance and would like to lose just a little slowly.
After you find your true maintenance, if you cut an extra 100 calories off your cheat day, or exercise just 100 extra calories a week worth (that isn’t much). You could lose about 1.5 pounds/year. If you do both, you could lose about 3 pounds a year.
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danielleg0094 wrote: »So I don’t work out and have a sedentary job. I aim to eat around 1200-1500 calories per day. For the past few months, I have one day out of the week where I eat everything I want. I’ve maintained my weight loss for the past 2-3 years. At most, I think I’ve probably gained back 10 lbs. I wear the same clothing size but you can tell that I am thicker. I’m in my mid twenties, if I keep this up, will I be obese my 30?danielleg0094 wrote: »
I'm around 180 & am 5'7. It's considered overweight but I hoped my height can help with how the weight is proportionedlynn_glenmont wrote: »At what weight will you be obese? How many years of adding on 3 to 5 lbs a year will it take before you're obese?danielleg0094 wrote: »If you like that one big day/meal a week, but don't want creeping gain (that will keep creeping over decades, trust me): Calorie bank. Eat a little less most days, eat a little more on one or two days. Make it balance. It works.
My daily budget is 1200, aside from my cheat day, I have one day where I go over maybe 200 cal. Is it still bad to have a cheat day?
At 180 pounds, you're within spitting distance of Obese already. Your BMI is 28. 30 is Obese.
I put your stats into the calculator and used 25 for your age.
https://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/change_goals_guided
Your maintenance calories are 2,200 per day, making your weekly calories 2,200 * 7 = 15,400.
So to be gaining weight, albeit slowly, you're eating much more than you think on your 1200 calorie days or you're eating more than 8,000 calories on your cheat day, or, more likely, some combination of more than you think during the week plus more than is good for you on your cheat day.
15,400 - ((1200 * 6) + 200) = 8,000 on your cheat day.
You can lose that 10 pounds a half pound per week by eating 1,950 calories per day, 7 days per week. Try that and see if you still feel the need for a cheat day.
However, there is probably something wrong with your logging because otherwise that means you are eating more than 8,000 calories once per week, every week, and not being aware of what a huge amount of food that is.
We can help you with that if you change your Diary Sharing settings to Public: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/diary_settings12 -
A 5'7" 180lb female in her mid-20's has a BMI of 28.2 and will be in the Obese category (BMI > 30) in 12 pounds. You're gaining 3-5 lbs per year, so yeah, you'll be there in a few years unless something changes. That's the easy math.
Now for some more complex math.
TDEEcalculator.net says that as a sedentary person with the above stats, your maintenance calories are 1907. TDEEcalculator.net is accurate for most people (e.g. my results have been well under 1 % off their estimate, over a 20 month period - they say 2,337 and the exact number pegged to my scale readings is 2,321), so let's assume that 1907 estimate is sound for the purpose of this post.
Since your weight is creeping up around 3-5 lbs per year, which at 4 lbs would be 14,000 calories, then you are eating 14,000/365 = 40 calories per day over maintenance, on average, and therefore your actual *average* daily intake is probably right around 1,950.
At 1,950 calories on average per day, if you're truly averaging 1,350 calories the other six days ("1200 to 1500"), that suggests you are eating an average of 5,500 calories on your cheat day each week.
Only you can decide what works for you, and people do make cheat days work. But in a general "applies to anyone" sense, if someone said "A person with a BMI just shy of Obese is eating a 550 calorie deficit 6 days per week and then having a big, uncounted binge, and is slowly gaining weight" most people who've tried to incorporate binging into their diets and know where it ends up would say "Not a good idea."
There's a monumental difference between a counted, controlled casual/off/cheat-day with a calorie cap based on what you managed to bank during the week, and an uncounted, uncontrolled binge-type cheat day. The former works for many people. The latter doesn't really work for anybody, at least no one I've ever known.11 -
danielleg0094 wrote: »paperpudding wrote: »danielleg0094 wrote: »AndreaTamira wrote: »Well, I think you should do whatever works for you, personally, in the long run.
If that means you need to overeat once a week, ok.
Well, for weight loss, in my opinion it is ok to eat more than what MFP has set as a goal for you whenever you want to with the caveat that you still track what you are eating and keep an eye on how many calories you are eating on average within any one week, including the calories you eat on your cheat day. - Be aware of your maintenance calories, too.
If what you eat in a week exceeds naintanance calories you cannot lose weight on it but will gain, so don't let it get there (or only around Christmas /other important holidays you follow). Otherwise, simply be aware that you will only maintain or will lose weight slower than you would have if you did not have the cheat days.
I am just looking to maintain, how can I tell what my caloric weekly budget is? My daily budget is 1200, I usually have one day out of the week, aside from my cheat day, where I go over 200 calories
Where did you get the budget 1200 calories from??
If you want to maintain your current weight, put your stats in to MFP and select maintain weight - it will tell you how many calories
One some devices you can set your amount to weekly calories - if not, just manually multiply the daily amount by 7
If you eat your weekly amount per week, then it doesnt matter if some days are over, some under - as long as average is around the mark
So if your one day is 200 calories over and the other days you have eaten 200 less over the week, then it evens out
hard to see how 200 calories over can be 'eating everything you want' though
I have seen what my maintenance daily budget is and when I tried that, I felt bloated & think I would gain weight if I did that ongoing. So eat 200 less everyday except the cheat day & eat 200 more one day?
No.
If you are eating 200 over one day, you eat 200 less across the other 6 days, not 200 less every day except the cheat day
Would work out to about 33 less each non cheat day.
Really hard to see how 200 is a cheat day myself , that's really not much of a splurge
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you can undo a weekly deficit with one day. especially if you are not weighing everything on a food scale or have a small deficit.
I don't have cheat anything. I make what I want fit. As long as I am under maintenance, being over on calories isn't a big deal.3 -
danielleg0094 wrote: »dragon_girl26 wrote: »Cheat meals turned into cheat life for me (at least food wise!) and that's how I got here in the first place. Trust me..it may be 10 pounds now..but before you know it, it may become 20...then 60...
That's what happened when I was in my 20s, anyway, especially when I started dating! Lol Why not try eating at maintenance for a day instead just as practice?
My 1200-1500 a day is for maintenance already, I feel like I need one bad day because I have cravings
From what I looked up your maintenance is actually around 1900. You need to change your way of thinking or you won’t be successful at losing weight or maintaining it. You have cravings because you are restricting too much. You have a similar thread you started about gaining weight based on your habits (eating late). You never answered my question there. In your other thread you said you’re eating bread, pasta, etc around midnight 2-3 times a week. Why? I’m assuming it’s because you’re starving and binge. You can continue to ask people on this forum if x behavior is going to make you gain weight or if y behavior is going to make you obese. They can only go off of the info you give them and I don’t think you’re being honest. I’ve seen conflicting info. You say you’re sticking to 1200 calories, except “one bad day” but on your other thread you say you’re eating calorie heavy foods at midnight a few times a week. (From my experience, if I was eating bread and pasta at midnight- there’s no way I’d be hitting 1200 calories!) I believe you are in a restrict/binge cycle. If you aren’t going to be 100% honest with yourself, you’re going to gain weight. 1200 calories isn’t sustainable, as you’re finding out. I feel like you’re on the same path I was 20+ times. Adjust your calorie intake, track what you’re consuming honestly, and hold yourself accountable. You’re looking for people here (without all the info) to tell you that your behavior won’t make you gain weight so you can justify maintaining that behavior. People have tried to give you helpful advice and multiple times you just shoot back the question “but will this make me gain weight?” Look through the advice, and quit obsessing over your behavior and adjust it. These forums are a gold mine of awesome information from a lot of really helpful people who have been successful! Doing the same thing over and over again, will yield the same results over and over again. If you want to be successful take their advice and info to heart.15 -
If you've gained 10 lbs over 2-3 years that's 200 - 300+ calories per week. It sounds like you are staying on budget for 6 days and going 200-300 calories over on your cheat days. This matches your weight gain and isn't sustainable without continued weight gain.
Having said that, there is nothing wrong with going over 1 or 2 days a week if you are under other days to compensate. I generally go over my budget 2 to 3 times per week but on other days I'm under my budget. I don't really consider those cheat days, I just consider them normal life. As long as my total weekly budget is near target, it doesn't matter how those calories are distributed throughout the week. During the week I'm generally 100 - 200 calories under each day and then on the weekends over. I personally think this is a good approach. In fact some people call this calorie cycling and use it during weight loss to mitigate plateaus.
My recommendation is go back on a weight loss plan and lose some of the weight you've regained but stay under budget a little on those 6 days and then it will be ok to go over budget on that 7th day. I'm also 5'7' but likely a different sex and a different age -- but my goal weight is around 150lbs or less.
My second recommendation is increase your activity -- assuming you are able bodied ... it isn't healthy (independent of weight) to maintain a completely sedentary lifestyle. Increasing your activity will allow you to eat more -- so it will not only improve your health but will give you margin in your budget for those over days.3 -
paperpudding wrote: »danielleg0094 wrote: »paperpudding wrote: »danielleg0094 wrote: »AndreaTamira wrote: »Well, I think you should do whatever works for you, personally, in the long run.
If that means you need to overeat once a week, ok.
Well, for weight loss, in my opinion it is ok to eat more than what MFP has set as a goal for you whenever you want to with the caveat that you still track what you are eating and keep an eye on how many calories you are eating on average within any one week, including the calories you eat on your cheat day. - Be aware of your maintenance calories, too.
If what you eat in a week exceeds naintanance calories you cannot lose weight on it but will gain, so don't let it get there (or only around Christmas /other important holidays you follow). Otherwise, simply be aware that you will only maintain or will lose weight slower than you would have if you did not have the cheat days.
I am just looking to maintain, how can I tell what my caloric weekly budget is? My daily budget is 1200, I usually have one day out of the week, aside from my cheat day, where I go over 200 calories
Where did you get the budget 1200 calories from??
If you want to maintain your current weight, put your stats in to MFP and select maintain weight - it will tell you how many calories
One some devices you can set your amount to weekly calories - if not, just manually multiply the daily amount by 7
If you eat your weekly amount per week, then it doesnt matter if some days are over, some under - as long as average is around the mark
So if your one day is 200 calories over and the other days you have eaten 200 less over the week, then it evens out
hard to see how 200 calories over can be 'eating everything you want' though
I have seen what my maintenance daily budget is and when I tried that, I felt bloated & think I would gain weight if I did that ongoing. So eat 200 less everyday except the cheat day & eat 200 more one day?
No.
If you are eating 200 over one day, you eat 200 less across the other 6 days, not 200 less every day except the cheat day
Would work out to about 33 less each non cheat day.
Really hard to see how 200 is a cheat day myself , that's really not much of a splurge
I had to re-read this numerous times, but the + 200 day is not the cheat day but IN ADDITION to the cheat day.
So she has five days way below maintenance calories, one day that + 200 calories, AND the cheat day.2 -
Not if that cheat day blows your whole weight loss achievements. You'll be stuck at the same weight forever. People tend to want a cheat day or meal because they tend to over deprive themselves and/or think that what they cheat with is taboo. It's still just calories we're talking about.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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I think you can eat all the foods you want, if you are sticking to your calorie limit everyday. That way you wont be cheating at all. Just plan your day and fit in some fun food and make sure you eat plenty of protein!1
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danielleg0094 wrote: »dragon_girl26 wrote: »Cheat meals turned into cheat life for me (at least food wise!) and that's how I got here in the first place. Trust me..it may be 10 pounds now..but before you know it, it may become 20...then 60...
That's what happened when I was in my 20s, anyway, especially when I started dating! Lol Why not try eating at maintenance for a day instead just as practice?
My 1200-1500 a day is for maintenance already, I feel like I need one bad day because I have cravings
From what I looked up your maintenance is actually around 1900. You need to change your way of thinking or you won’t be successful at losing weight or maintaining it. You have cravings because you are restricting too much. You have a similar thread you started about gaining weight based on your habits (eating late). You never answered my question there. In your other thread you said you’re eating bread, pasta, etc around midnight 2-3 times a week. Why? I’m assuming it’s because you’re starving and binge. You can continue to ask people on this forum if x behavior is going to make you gain weight or if y behavior is going to make you obese. They can only go off of the info you give them and I don’t think you’re being honest. I’ve seen conflicting info. You say you’re sticking to 1200 calories, except “one bad day” but on your other thread you say you’re eating calorie heavy foods at midnight a few times a week. (From my experience, if I was eating bread and pasta at midnight- there’s no way I’d be hitting 1200 calories!) I believe you are in a restrict/binge cycle. If you aren’t going to be 100% honest with yourself, you’re going to gain weight. 1200 calories isn’t sustainable, as you’re finding out. I feel like you’re on the same path I was 20+ times. Adjust your calorie intake, track what you’re consuming honestly, and hold yourself accountable. You’re looking for people here (without all the info) to tell you that your behavior won’t make you gain weight so you can justify maintaining that behavior. People have tried to give you helpful advice and multiple times you just shoot back the question “but will this make me gain weight?” Look through the advice, and quit obsessing over your behavior and adjust it. These forums are a gold mine of awesome information from a lot of really helpful people who have been successful! Doing the same thing over and over again, will yield the same results over and over again. If you want to be successful take their advice and info to heart.
To answer your question about eating carbs late at night. It is around at most maybe 1500 calories on those days. yes, I eat pasta and bread. The pasta serving isnt that huge but its still big, probably a little smaller than what you would get at olive garden? Anyway, on those days, for the rest of the day I may have a smoothie or jimmy dean delight sandwich or something else on the lighter side like a salad from chipotle. To balance the pasta from midnight. Does it make sense and add up now?0 -
callsitlikeiseeit wrote: »you can undo a weekly deficit with one day. especially if you are not weighing everything on a food scale or have a small deficit.
I don't have cheat anything. I make what I want fit. As long as I am under maintenance, being over on calories isn't a big deal.
So you are saying that this one day will ruin my calorie budget for the entire week?0 -
OP, in one of your other threads you mentioned you *thought* you were eating 1200-1500. I can't remember if you answered this question, but how are you actually measuring your intake? Are you using a food scale/measuring cups/just eyeballing things?
If the answer is the 2nd or 3rd option I listed, there's a very high chance you're eating a lot more than you think you are.6 -
danielleg0094 wrote: »callsitlikeiseeit wrote: »you can undo a weekly deficit with one day. especially if you are not weighing everything on a food scale or have a small deficit.
I don't have cheat anything. I make what I want fit. As long as I am under maintenance, being over on calories isn't a big deal.
So you are saying that this one day will ruin my calorie budget for the entire week?
It can do. It depends on what you eat and how much.
Log everything you eat for a month. Look at how many calories you're consuming per week. If you're gaining, even slowly, you're eating more than your Maintenance number. Only you can know what / where you can cut a little to ensure that your average puts you at the weight you want to be.5 -
kshama2001 wrote: »paperpudding wrote: »danielleg0094 wrote: »paperpudding wrote: »danielleg0094 wrote: »AndreaTamira wrote: »Well, I think you should do whatever works for you, personally, in the long run.
If that means you need to overeat once a week, ok.
Well, for weight loss, in my opinion it is ok to eat more than what MFP has set as a goal for you whenever you want to with the caveat that you still track what you are eating and keep an eye on how many calories you are eating on average within any one week, including the calories you eat on your cheat day. - Be aware of your maintenance calories, too.
If what you eat in a week exceeds naintanance calories you cannot lose weight on it but will gain, so don't let it get there (or only around Christmas /other important holidays you follow). Otherwise, simply be aware that you will only maintain or will lose weight slower than you would have if you did not have the cheat days.
I am just looking to maintain, how can I tell what my caloric weekly budget is? My daily budget is 1200, I usually have one day out of the week, aside from my cheat day, where I go over 200 calories
Where did you get the budget 1200 calories from??
If you want to maintain your current weight, put your stats in to MFP and select maintain weight - it will tell you how many calories
One some devices you can set your amount to weekly calories - if not, just manually multiply the daily amount by 7
If you eat your weekly amount per week, then it doesnt matter if some days are over, some under - as long as average is around the mark
So if your one day is 200 calories over and the other days you have eaten 200 less over the week, then it evens out
hard to see how 200 calories over can be 'eating everything you want' though
I have seen what my maintenance daily budget is and when I tried that, I felt bloated & think I would gain weight if I did that ongoing. So eat 200 less everyday except the cheat day & eat 200 more one day?
No.
If you are eating 200 over one day, you eat 200 less across the other 6 days, not 200 less every day except the cheat day
Would work out to about 33 less each non cheat day.
Really hard to see how 200 is a cheat day myself , that's really not much of a splurge
I had to re-read this numerous times, but the + 200 day is not the cheat day but IN ADDITION to the cheat day.
So she has five days way below maintenance calories, one day that + 200 calories, AND the cheat day.
Oh Ok..that is really confusing .
could you clarify if this is what you are doing OP?
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danielleg0094 wrote: »callsitlikeiseeit wrote: »you can undo a weekly deficit with one day. especially if you are not weighing everything on a food scale or have a small deficit.
I don't have cheat anything. I make what I want fit. As long as I am under maintenance, being over on calories isn't a big deal.
So you are saying that this one day will ruin my calorie budget for the entire week?
Let's do an example. If I'm set up to lose a pound a week, I have a 500 calorie daily deficit. If I stick with that 6 days a week, and have a blow-out one day a week where I eat 3000 calories over maintenance (a thing I'm 100% capable of doing, and more, with relative ease), I've reduced my average daily deficit to zero, because the 6 days of deficit at 6x500=3000 are exactly equal to the 3000 calories over maintenance on the blow-out day. Make that blow-out another 500 calories, and I'll gain weight at a rate of a pound in just under every 2 months.
So, yes, it can happen. Log your cheat day, even if you have to estimate. Then you'll have a better idea.
If your weight is creeping upward over a long-ish period of time (multi-week and beyond), you're eating above your maintenance calories on average, one way or another. It could be via logging inaccurately, it could be via cheat days, it could be by overestimating exercise calories or activity level, it could be because of being a statistical outlier who requires fewer calories that most people your age/size . . . . but one way or another, creeping weight gain over a long time period is eating above maintenance calories.8 -
Strudders67 wrote: »danielleg0094 wrote: »callsitlikeiseeit wrote: »you can undo a weekly deficit with one day. especially if you are not weighing everything on a food scale or have a small deficit.
I don't have cheat anything. I make what I want fit. As long as I am under maintenance, being over on calories isn't a big deal.
So you are saying that this one day will ruin my calorie budget for the entire week?
It can do. It depends on what you eat and how much.
Log everything you eat for a month. Look at how many calories you're consuming per week. If you're gaining, even slowly, you're eating more than your Maintenance number. Only you can know what / where you can cut a little to ensure that your average puts you at the weight you want to be.
Exactly this. It's all about the overall calorie balance OP.
For a simple example, let's say my maintenance number is 2,000 calories per day (14,000 per week). If Mon-Sat I eat 1500 (total 9,000) and Sunday I eat 3,000, I will still lose weight as overall, I consumed 12,000 calories, which is below my maintenance of 14,000.
However, if Mon-Sat I eat 1,800 (10,800, still a deficit) but on Sunday I eat 3,500, my overall weekly calories are 14,300 and I will slowly gain weight. That one day of surplus cancelled out the deficit of the other 6 days.4 -
dragon_girl26 wrote: »OP, in one of your other threads you mentioned you *thought* you were eating 1200-1500. I can't remember if you answered this question, but how are you actually measuring your intake? Are you using a food scale/measuring cups/just eyeballing things?
If the answer is the 2nd or 3rd option I listed, there's a very high chance you're eating a lot more than you think you are.
I usually eat out and the restaurants have the nutrition info. When it comes to snacks, those can be measured with cups & a lot of the frozen foods I eat have nutrition info on the back as you know0 -
paperpudding wrote: »kshama2001 wrote: »paperpudding wrote: »danielleg0094 wrote: »paperpudding wrote: »danielleg0094 wrote: »AndreaTamira wrote: »Well, I think you should do whatever works for you, personally, in the long run.
If that means you need to overeat once a week, ok.
Well, for weight loss, in my opinion it is ok to eat more than what MFP has set as a goal for you whenever you want to with the caveat that you still track what you are eating and keep an eye on how many calories you are eating on average within any one week, including the calories you eat on your cheat day. - Be aware of your maintenance calories, too.
If what you eat in a week exceeds naintanance calories you cannot lose weight on it but will gain, so don't let it get there (or only around Christmas /other important holidays you follow). Otherwise, simply be aware that you will only maintain or will lose weight slower than you would have if you did not have the cheat days.
I am just looking to maintain, how can I tell what my caloric weekly budget is? My daily budget is 1200, I usually have one day out of the week, aside from my cheat day, where I go over 200 calories
Where did you get the budget 1200 calories from??
If you want to maintain your current weight, put your stats in to MFP and select maintain weight - it will tell you how many calories
One some devices you can set your amount to weekly calories - if not, just manually multiply the daily amount by 7
If you eat your weekly amount per week, then it doesnt matter if some days are over, some under - as long as average is around the mark
So if your one day is 200 calories over and the other days you have eaten 200 less over the week, then it evens out
hard to see how 200 calories over can be 'eating everything you want' though
I have seen what my maintenance daily budget is and when I tried that, I felt bloated & think I would gain weight if I did that ongoing. So eat 200 less everyday except the cheat day & eat 200 more one day?
No.
If you are eating 200 over one day, you eat 200 less across the other 6 days, not 200 less every day except the cheat day
Would work out to about 33 less each non cheat day.
Really hard to see how 200 is a cheat day myself , that's really not much of a splurge
I had to re-read this numerous times, but the + 200 day is not the cheat day but IN ADDITION to the cheat day.
So she has five days way below maintenance calories, one day that + 200 calories, AND the cheat day.
Oh Ok..that is really confusing .
could you clarify if this is what you are doing OP?
That's correct. I count using mfp, my intake is 1200 calories 5 days out of the week, maybe 1400 another day & I have a cheat day on the other.0 -
danielleg0094 wrote: »callsitlikeiseeit wrote: »you can undo a weekly deficit with one day. especially if you are not weighing everything on a food scale or have a small deficit.
I don't have cheat anything. I make what I want fit. As long as I am under maintenance, being over on calories isn't a big deal.
So you are saying that this one day will ruin my calorie budget for the entire week?
Let's do an example. If I'm set up to lose a pound a week, I have a 500 calorie daily deficit. If I stick with that 6 days a week, and have a blow-out one day a week where I eat 3000 calories over maintenance (a thing I'm 100% capable of doing, and more, with relative ease), I've reduced my average daily deficit to zero, because the 6 days of deficit at 6x500=3000 are exactly equal to the 3000 calories over maintenance on the blow-out day. Make that blow-out another 500 calories, and I'll gain weight at a rate of a pound in just under every 2 months.
So, yes, it can happen. Log your cheat day, even if you have to estimate. Then you'll have a better idea.
If your weight is creeping upward over a long-ish period of time (multi-week and beyond), you're eating above your maintenance calories on average, one way or another. It could be via logging inaccurately, it could be via cheat days, it could be by overestimating exercise calories or activity level, it could be because of being a statistical outlier who requires fewer calories that most people your age/size . . . . but one way or another, creeping weight gain over a long time period is eating above maintenance calories.
To add to that, I have seen people lose weight & after a few years they look kinda bigger. I mean the ones that have maintained their weight for the most part. I have maintained my weight for the past 3 years pretty much, no more than 10 lbs. I know it is not ideal to gain but it's not the worst either. When people lose a lot of weight, they tend to look very thin & kind of out of place sometimes. Over time, the weight fills in and they look more average, do you get what I mean?0 -
Redordeadhead wrote: »Strudders67 wrote: »danielleg0094 wrote: »callsitlikeiseeit wrote: »you can undo a weekly deficit with one day. especially if you are not weighing everything on a food scale or have a small deficit.
I don't have cheat anything. I make what I want fit. As long as I am under maintenance, being over on calories isn't a big deal.
So you are saying that this one day will ruin my calorie budget for the entire week?
It can do. It depends on what you eat and how much.
Log everything you eat for a month. Look at how many calories you're consuming per week. If you're gaining, even slowly, you're eating more than your Maintenance number. Only you can know what / where you can cut a little to ensure that your average puts you at the weight you want to be.
Exactly this. It's all about the overall calorie balance OP.
For a simple example, let's say my maintenance number is 2,000 calories per day (14,000 per week). If Mon-Sat I eat 1500 (total 9,000) and Sunday I eat 3,000, I will still lose weight as overall, I consumed 12,000 calories, which is below my maintenance of 14,000.
However, if Mon-Sat I eat 1,800 (10,800, still a deficit) but on Sunday I eat 3,500, my overall weekly calories are 14,300 and I will slowly gain weight. That one day of surplus cancelled out the deficit of the other 6 days.
Understood0 -
danielleg0094 wrote: »danielleg0094 wrote: »callsitlikeiseeit wrote: »you can undo a weekly deficit with one day. especially if you are not weighing everything on a food scale or have a small deficit.
I don't have cheat anything. I make what I want fit. As long as I am under maintenance, being over on calories isn't a big deal.
So you are saying that this one day will ruin my calorie budget for the entire week?
Let's do an example. If I'm set up to lose a pound a week, I have a 500 calorie daily deficit. If I stick with that 6 days a week, and have a blow-out one day a week where I eat 3000 calories over maintenance (a thing I'm 100% capable of doing, and more, with relative ease), I've reduced my average daily deficit to zero, because the 6 days of deficit at 6x500=3000 are exactly equal to the 3000 calories over maintenance on the blow-out day. Make that blow-out another 500 calories, and I'll gain weight at a rate of a pound in just under every 2 months.
So, yes, it can happen. Log your cheat day, even if you have to estimate. Then you'll have a better idea.
If your weight is creeping upward over a long-ish period of time (multi-week and beyond), you're eating above your maintenance calories on average, one way or another. It could be via logging inaccurately, it could be via cheat days, it could be by overestimating exercise calories or activity level, it could be because of being a statistical outlier who requires fewer calories that most people your age/size . . . . but one way or another, creeping weight gain over a long time period is eating above maintenance calories.
To add to that, I have seen people lose weight & after a few years they look kinda bigger. I mean the ones that have maintained their weight for the most part. I have maintained my weight for the past 3 years pretty much, no more than 10 lbs. I know it is not ideal to gain but it's not the worst either. When people lose a lot of weight, they tend to look very thin & kind of out of place sometimes. Over time, the weight fills in and they look more average, do you get what I mean?
Maybe, kind of, but not exactly.
I lost weight 5 years ago, after decades previously of obesity. I've mostly been maintaining, but recently (re-)losing a few vanity pounds ultra-slowly.
If I stay in a calorie deficit for an extended period, I think there's a bit of glycogen depletion that conspires with loose skin (that hasn't had enough time to shrink yet), and I'll look a bit haggard. (I'm old, so haggard is easy to accomplish.) If I eat over maintenance calories for one day, I can get a little water retention that temporarily plumps things out a tiny bit, maybe lose the haggard look somewhat. Or, if I stop losing and eat at maintenance for a while (few weeks to few months), same effect, but maybe more from a bit of glycogen replenishment, and some subtle skin shrinkage (yes, even at my age).
Generally, there is no significant scale-weight gain that accompanies any of that, other than just the bit of extra water retention that comes from extra carbs/sodium when going to maintenance calories. That's a pound or two, maybe. It's not 10 pounds. Ten pounds over a period of time, for me, would be fat re-gain. (And I've done a bit of that, too, hence the recent re-loss of a few pounds. I know the difference.)
I don't care, one way or another, about the appearance side of this. I'm probably one of the less appearance-sensitive women I know. These are just observations of myself.2 -
danielleg0094 wrote: »dragon_girl26 wrote: »OP, in one of your other threads you mentioned you *thought* you were eating 1200-1500. I can't remember if you answered this question, but how are you actually measuring your intake? Are you using a food scale/measuring cups/just eyeballing things?
If the answer is the 2nd or 3rd option I listed, there's a very high chance you're eating a lot more than you think you are.
I usually eat out and the restaurants have the nutrition info. When it comes to snacks, those can be measured with cups & a lot of the frozen foods I eat have nutrition info on the back as you know
So, in short - you are not measuring accurately
11 -
danielleg0094 wrote: »paperpudding wrote: »kshama2001 wrote: »paperpudding wrote: »danielleg0094 wrote: »paperpudding wrote: »danielleg0094 wrote: »AndreaTamira wrote: »Well, I think you should do whatever works for you, personally, in the long run.
If that means you need to overeat once a week, ok.
Well, for weight loss, in my opinion it is ok to eat more than what MFP has set as a goal for you whenever you want to with the caveat that you still track what you are eating and keep an eye on how many calories you are eating on average within any one week, including the calories you eat on your cheat day. - Be aware of your maintenance calories, too.
If what you eat in a week exceeds naintanance calories you cannot lose weight on it but will gain, so don't let it get there (or only around Christmas /other important holidays you follow). Otherwise, simply be aware that you will only maintain or will lose weight slower than you would have if you did not have the cheat days.
I am just looking to maintain, how can I tell what my caloric weekly budget is? My daily budget is 1200, I usually have one day out of the week, aside from my cheat day, where I go over 200 calories
Where did you get the budget 1200 calories from??
If you want to maintain your current weight, put your stats in to MFP and select maintain weight - it will tell you how many calories
One some devices you can set your amount to weekly calories - if not, just manually multiply the daily amount by 7
If you eat your weekly amount per week, then it doesnt matter if some days are over, some under - as long as average is around the mark
So if your one day is 200 calories over and the other days you have eaten 200 less over the week, then it evens out
hard to see how 200 calories over can be 'eating everything you want' though
I have seen what my maintenance daily budget is and when I tried that, I felt bloated & think I would gain weight if I did that ongoing. So eat 200 less everyday except the cheat day & eat 200 more one day?
No.
If you are eating 200 over one day, you eat 200 less across the other 6 days, not 200 less every day except the cheat day
Would work out to about 33 less each non cheat day.
Really hard to see how 200 is a cheat day myself , that's really not much of a splurge
I had to re-read this numerous times, but the + 200 day is not the cheat day but IN ADDITION to the cheat day.
So she has five days way below maintenance calories, one day that + 200 calories, AND the cheat day.
Oh Ok..that is really confusing .
could you clarify if this is what you are doing OP?
That's correct. I count using mfp, my intake is 1200 calories 5 days out of the week, maybe 1400 another day & I have a cheat day on the other.
Well in that case, whether you will lose weight depends on your average daily intake.
If , on average, you are eating more than your daily allowance (and that before issues of inaccurate recording) you will not lose weight.
2 -
danielleg0094 wrote: »danielleg0094 wrote: »callsitlikeiseeit wrote: »you can undo a weekly deficit with one day. especially if you are not weighing everything on a food scale or have a small deficit.
I don't have cheat anything. I make what I want fit. As long as I am under maintenance, being over on calories isn't a big deal.
So you are saying that this one day will ruin my calorie budget for the entire week?
Let's do an example. If I'm set up to lose a pound a week, I have a 500 calorie daily deficit. If I stick with that 6 days a week, and have a blow-out one day a week where I eat 3000 calories over maintenance (a thing I'm 100% capable of doing, and more, with relative ease), I've reduced my average daily deficit to zero, because the 6 days of deficit at 6x500=3000 are exactly equal to the 3000 calories over maintenance on the blow-out day. Make that blow-out another 500 calories, and I'll gain weight at a rate of a pound in just under every 2 months.
So, yes, it can happen. Log your cheat day, even if you have to estimate. Then you'll have a better idea.
If your weight is creeping upward over a long-ish period of time (multi-week and beyond), you're eating above your maintenance calories on average, one way or another. It could be via logging inaccurately, it could be via cheat days, it could be by overestimating exercise calories or activity level, it could be because of being a statistical outlier who requires fewer calories that most people your age/size . . . . but one way or another, creeping weight gain over a long time period is eating above maintenance calories.
To add to that, I have seen people lose weight & after a few years they look kinda bigger. I mean the ones that have maintained their weight for the most part. I have maintained my weight for the past 3 years pretty much, no more than 10 lbs. I know it is not ideal to gain but it's not the worst either. When people lose a lot of weight, they tend to look very thin & kind of out of place sometimes. Over time, the weight fills in and they look more average, do you get what I mean?
Yes, but you are a woman who is 5’7” and weighs 180 lbs. You have a BMI of 28 and are overweight. You are also someone who never works out, so it’s not likely you are an outlier with huge muscles for whom BMI is inaccurate. It is not likely that you look thin and out of place, and you definitely don’t need to gain weight to become average.
Look, you wouldn’t be asking these questions if you didn’t already know the answer. If you were happy with your weight and your behavior you wouldn’t be here at all. What you seem to want is for someone to tell you that magically somehow you can keep slowly gaining weight without eventually becoming obese. You know better, you can do math.
The good news is, the difference between slowly gaining and slowly losing is only a couple of hundred calories a day. That’s like half an hour of walking, or dancing, or one snack not eaten. You can fix this pretty easily in a way which won’t require you to be miserable all the time.
Another way would be skipping a restaurant meal for a home cooked one one day out of the week. With your stats you are clearly eating far more than 1200 calories a day in order to gain weight. Restaurants lie about their calories, and you can’t control what you eat there.13 -
danielleg0094 wrote: »danielleg0094 wrote: »dragon_girl26 wrote: »Cheat meals turned into cheat life for me (at least food wise!) and that's how I got here in the first place. Trust me..it may be 10 pounds now..but before you know it, it may become 20...then 60...
That's what happened when I was in my 20s, anyway, especially when I started dating! Lol Why not try eating at maintenance for a day instead just as practice?
My 1200-1500 a day is for maintenance already, I feel like I need one bad day because I have cravings
From what I looked up your maintenance is actually around 1900. You need to change your way of thinking or you won’t be successful at losing weight or maintaining it. You have cravings because you are restricting too much. You have a similar thread you started about gaining weight based on your habits (eating late). You never answered my question there. In your other thread you said you’re eating bread, pasta, etc around midnight 2-3 times a week. Why? I’m assuming it’s because you’re starving and binge. You can continue to ask people on this forum if x behavior is going to make you gain weight or if y behavior is going to make you obese. They can only go off of the info you give them and I don’t think you’re being honest. I’ve seen conflicting info. You say you’re sticking to 1200 calories, except “one bad day” but on your other thread you say you’re eating calorie heavy foods at midnight a few times a week. (From my experience, if I was eating bread and pasta at midnight- there’s no way I’d be hitting 1200 calories!) I believe you are in a restrict/binge cycle. If you aren’t going to be 100% honest with yourself, you’re going to gain weight. 1200 calories isn’t sustainable, as you’re finding out. I feel like you’re on the same path I was 20+ times. Adjust your calorie intake, track what you’re consuming honestly, and hold yourself accountable. You’re looking for people here (without all the info) to tell you that your behavior won’t make you gain weight so you can justify maintaining that behavior. People have tried to give you helpful advice and multiple times you just shoot back the question “but will this make me gain weight?” Look through the advice, and quit obsessing over your behavior and adjust it. These forums are a gold mine of awesome information from a lot of really helpful people who have been successful! Doing the same thing over and over again, will yield the same results over and over again. If you want to be successful take their advice and info to heart.
To answer your question about eating carbs late at night. It is around at most maybe 1500 calories on those days. yes, I eat pasta and bread. The pasta serving isnt that huge but its still big, probably a little smaller than what you would get at olive garden? Anyway, on those days, for the rest of the day I may have a smoothie or jimmy dean delight sandwich or something else on the lighter side like a salad from chipotle. To balance the pasta from midnight. Does it make sense and add up now?
Dude. An Olive Garden serving is huge.9 -
Everyone is tiptoing around the fact that the OP is having 5,000+ calorie binge days every week after depriving herself on 1200-1500 calories the other six days, and is asking over and over whether continuing with this binge and restrict cycle will cause weight gain.
Yes, it will cause weight gain. It's already causing weight gain.
Binge and restrict always results in weight gain.
I'm out.
17 -
Everyone is tiptoing around the fact that the OP is having 5,000+ calorie binge days every week after depriving herself on 1200-1500 calories the other six days, and is asking over and over whether continuing with this binge and restrict cycle will cause weight gain.
Yes, it will cause weight gain. It's already causing weight gain.
Binge and restrict always results in weight gain.
I'm out.
True, although we aren't even really sure how accurate the 1200-1500 calorie intake days are since OP doesn't weigh food, though..6
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