Free Days

englangrover said:
It's not very easy to eat smart at my mom's. All I could do is just portion control, which has been working for me so far.
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Right, that's what I meant by eating smart.

I won't gorge myself simply b/c I'm eating 'off plan.' In addition, I won't make stupid choices simply b/c I'm eating 'off plan.' Ya know, I won't double up on desert instead of veggies. Or I'll have half of a serving of desert just for a taste... I'm already full so don't need a big helping. Things like that. I just make rational decisions keeping my primary goals in mind.

I feel like if I don't count my calories, I'll go overboard. I don't really know any other way to eat healthy. It is very stressful at times.
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I get that. Caloric control is obviously critical. I've just gotten to the point where I don't want or need to worry about counting every morsel of food that enters my mouth. I've been at this a long, long time. Others should count every morsel if they aren't having success doing anything else. At least until they have things under wraps.

Personally.... based on my current goals I will set a caloric target for each day. Then, I will make a SAMPLE diet plan using excel. On the spreadsheet will be every food I plan on eating (including drinks) and corresponding to each will be it's caloric, protein, carb, fat and fiber contents.

I make sure that this list nets out to my caloric and macronutrient goals.

Once that's set, I can change things on the fly for the most part. If I want 4 ounces of pork tenderloin opposed to chicken, I'll do it.

This way, I don't have to calculate calories again until I change my caloric goal. I just work off of this foundation (spreadsheet), if that makes any sense.
 
Aleeluh said:

I do something like this too, I have a few treats everyday- just add it into my total.
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iLikeMyUserName said:
I think since you have alleady lost 18lb its working for you so you should continue with it.

I don't have a treat day but I have a treat (something small) everyday. to be honest though, I really enjoy the diet im doing and really like snacking on fruit so im just lucky I guess.
My opinion on dieting is that if its working for you then go for it - im sure many people on here would try the diet im on and be totally unhappy with it, but I love it and have lost over 60lb so far so it works for me and thats all the encouragement I need!
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austin_88 said:
No I don't really have 'free days'.

Basically 80% of what I eat is healthy and nutritious, whilst the other 20% is high sugar treats. I don't like fatty food, what I usually go for is sweets or ice cream. They are my only vice.

Although, on days I know I am going to go out for dinner and eat a larger portioned meal, I just eat a little less for breakfast and lunch and skip the snacks.

I think you can have a treat every day, that's why I don't agree with 'free days'. Also, free days can completly screw up your progress. You could rack up 5,000 calories on a 'free day' and completly ruin your defecit for the week
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Steve said:
Right, that's what I meant by eating smart.

I won't gorge myself simply b/c I'm eating 'off plan.' In addition, I won't make stupid choices simply b/c I'm eating 'off plan.' Ya know, I won't double up on desert instead of veggies. Or I'll have half of a serving of desert just for a taste... I'm already full so don't need a big helping. Things like that. I just make rational decisions keeping my primary goals in mind.



I get that. Caloric control is obviously critical. I've just gotten to the point where I don't want or need to worry about counting every morsel of food that enters my mouth. I've been at this a long, long time. Others should count every morsel if they aren't having success doing anything else. At least until they have things under wraps.

Personally.... based on my current goals I will set a caloric target for each day. Then, I will make a SAMPLE diet plan using excel. On the spreadsheet will be every food I plan on eating (including drinks) and corresponding to each will be it's caloric, protein, carb, fat and fiber contents.

I make sure that this list nets out to my caloric and macronutrient goals.

Once that's set, I can change things on the fly for the most part. If I want 4 ounces of pork tenderloin opposed to chicken, I'll do it.

This way, I don't have to calculate calories again until I change my caloric goal. I just work off of this foundation (spreadsheet), if that makes any sense.
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Thanks to everyone for their comments.
 
Steve said:
Personally.... based on my current goals I will set a caloric target for each day. Then, I will make a SAMPLE diet plan using excel. On the spreadsheet will be every food I plan on eating (including drinks) and corresponding to each will be it's caloric, protein, carb, fat and fiber contents.

I make sure that this list nets out to my caloric and macronutrient goals.

Once that's set, I can change things on the fly for the most part. If I want 4 ounces of pork tenderloin opposed to chicken, I'll do it.

This way, I don't have to calculate calories again until I change my caloric goal. I just work off of this foundation (spreadsheet), if that makes any sense.
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Thats sounds pretty cool Steve. My excel skills suck. Would that be a template you may could share? Or is it something you just do manually?
 
I usually give myself a free meal once a week but not a complete day. Its usually a saturday and allow myself to eat some medium french fries which I still love. After that I continue with my normal diet. It might be a fail to some people but I will not deprieve myself of my weekly treat.
 
onefishtwofish said:
I usually give myself a free meal once a week but not a complete day. Its usually a saturday and allow myself to eat some medium french fries which I still love. After that I continue with my normal diet. It might be a fail to some people but I will not deprieve myself of my weekly treat.
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That's alot better than a whole day of eating badly. One meal is a good idea. Thanks for your comment.
 
Diet breaks I believe in, which I suppose is related. I actually think they're required. In addition, for some people, I think refeeds are needed.
 
Yea, and there's some nice physiological as well as psychological reasons for adding them.
 
Steve said:
Yea, and there's some nice physiological as well as psychological reasons for adding them.
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Would some of those reasons be to keep you on the right path as opposed to yo-yo dieting? Like me, some people feel like they need those types of foods. If you have them every now and then and still get results, as opposed to not having them, feeling miserable and ending up back to the yo-yo dieting. You feel like you are accomplishing something and stay on the right path if you add them. Does that make any sense? If that's not what you meant, please elaborate if you don't mind :).
 
englangrover said:
Would some of those reasons be to keep you on the right path as opposed to yo-yo dieting? Like me, some people feel like they need those types of foods. If you have them every now and then and still get results, as opposed to not having them, feeling miserable and ending up back to the yo-yo dieting. You feel like you are accomplishing something and stay on the right path if you add them. Does that make any sense? If that's not what you meant, please elaborate if you don't mind :).
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That's certainly one of the things. Diet breaks act as a buffer, psychologically speaking. Regardless of whether or not your depriving yourself of the foods you enjoy or not... anyone who is in a caloric deficit for a long period of time would benefit psychologically by breaking the diet every now and again. By diet break, I mean eating at maintenance caloric intake. And if you're eating low carb, bringing the carbs up to a moderate level.

Beyond that you have a host of physiological reasons as well. One of them being the fact that letting your body know that it's 'fed' does good stuff in terms of metabolism and hormonal profiles.

Refeeds are just an extension of this idea. They're a tool used by leaner folks sometimes as frequently as every few days and can last from 5 hours to a few days. They're typically more rigid than a 'diet break' in that they have particular guidelines that should be followed to get the best bang for your buck in terms of metabolic adaptation.
 
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