I'm gonna try this.......what do you think?

[sjfreimark]

So I have decided I am going to eat really healthy six days a week and on Saturday, take a break and have a cheat day. I have heard of people doing this but I don't know if it really works. Do you still lose weight? My problem is I LOVE food!!! I can't just allow myself a bowl of ice cream or a slice of pizza here and there. I want the whole box or like 3 pieces!!! I seem to do well with looking forward to something.....like a cheat day. Does anyone have a words of advice?

[Bridget810]

I eat healthy Monday through Friday, and "cheat" on Saturday & Sunday (but just for one meal--i.e., dinner). And I still continue to lose weight without losing my sanity! I love food too much to give up my favorite foods completely. I also exercise M-F, and rest on the weekend.

[~*Kathy*~]

Hi there!

 

I do one cheat day per week and still manage to lose weight. I think you will be fine...infact you might find that after eating so clean for six days of the week that after you "cheat" on your cheat day you might not feel so hot lol (I don't usually after) because your body isn't used to bad food anymore. My PT actually insists I have on cheat day a week because it "surprises" the body and will in turn force your metabolism to work harder to burn that food because it isn't used to having it anymore. Does this make any sense? lol It makes sense when I think about it. Good luck!

[sjfreimark]

Thank you girls so much!!! You know......I knew I wasn't crazy when I was telling my FI that a cheat day is actually a good thing for your metabolism. I am going to make him read your post para. You completely make sense and I am so happy I asked this question. Thanks so much!!!

[big3n09]

I agree it's ok to have a cheat day. I did that for 6 weeks and lost weight but after that I was back to pigging out. I'm still trying to get back maybe next week I'll start again, need to get ready for my trip to the Bahamas next month. Good Luck!

[jk1101]

I do the same thing - eat healthy all during the week and go to the gym and eat mostly what I want on the weekends. I still lose weight and I'm happy that I haven't deprived myself. It's when you deprive yourself that you'll freak out and go on a week long binge.

[KristinaM]

I definitely agree with all of the others.. a cheat day is not only good but neccessary! They say the more you deprive yourself, the more you want whatever it is you are craving.. and then it makes dieting that much harder.

 

Just dont over-do it on your cheat days and eat like enough calories for the whole week LOL

 

Kathy is right too.. sometimes when your body gets used to eating better you will realize how crappy that yummy food makes you feel afterwards! Unfortunately.. it still tastes so good that usually I'm willing to deal! lol

[NJ Hunnie]

I am going to try that and see if it works!! Sacrificing will make it so worth it on that cheat day.. LOL

[Vikki]

If a "free" day will help you stay on track during the week I think it's a great idea.

 

Losing weight is all about math. (I know...math actually matters somewhere after college??) 1 pound is worth about 3500 calories. So in order to lose weight you have to burn 3500 calories more than you eat over a period of time.

 

I would recommend you try a food log for a week or two. It can be a little tough to keep up on but record what you eat during the day and add up the number of calories at the end of the day. Portion size gets really important here. Then think about how active you were during the day. I recommend this website to help you get a rough estimate.

 

Calories Burned Calculator, Very Accurate, Quick and Easy.

 

At the end of the day subtract the amount you ate from what you burned and that's your deficit. (hopefully!) Once that deficit adds up to 3500 you can guess you've lost about a pound.

 

That will help you budget how many calories you eat on your free day.

 

I use a calorie counter I wear on my body daily so it helps me get a slightly more accurate calorie count. If I work out in the morning before work-usually medium to high intensity for 45 - 60 minutes-then work at my desk job all day and I burn between 2000 and 2200 calories. My food log for an average Monday - Friday looks like this:

 

Breakfast (including after workout shake) 440

Snack 100

Lunch 350

Snack 150

Dinner 450

Snack 200

= 1690

 

I try to average about a -500 calorie a day for 5 days then allow for a 0 calorie deficit on the weekends. At these averages I'm not actively trying to lose but just to maintain without gaining. Now that we're starting the biggest loser challenge tomorrow (YAY!) I'm shifting to a -1000 per day deficit 6 - 7 days a week, stepping up the intensity of my workouts and altering my diet down to 1400 calories a day. My goal is between 1.75 and 2lbs loss per week (or a deficit of 6000 to 7000 calories). It's not a big number but it's a healthy, sustainable weight loss amount. If I starve myself with some crazy diet for 3 weeks, kill my immune system and get sick it won't do me a bit of good.

 

So.....sorry for the long winded post-I can go on forever about all this deficit/surplus stuff, I hope I'm not just rambling and something in there is actually helpful for you.

 

[~*Kathy*~]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sjfreimark Thank you girls so much!!! You know......I knew I wasn't crazy when I was telling my FI that a cheat day is actually a good thing for your metabolism. I am going to make him read your post para. You completely make sense and I am so happy I asked this question. Thanks so much!!!

No problemo! My DH usually keeps me in line on my non-cheat days since he knows I have little self-control lol so it sounds like maybe you have sort of the same deal with your FI where you have to justify stuff haha (not that that's a bad thing, I beg DH to keep me in line haha). But yes, definitely at least once a week you should spoil yourself so you don't fall off the deep end and binge.

Kristina - Oh I hear ya! It's not so awful that I'm willing to give up cheat day haha, it's just something I'd prefer to deal with in the name of my sanity!