free days..any one do this

dose anyone here do free days and do they work for you? i have heard about them but i am not sure how that works. do you still lose wieght at the same rate or does it put you back a bit?

thank you for your time

rosalie

I do it once a month. Its hasn't effected my losing yet

I give my self a Free night every week.  That allows me to have cocktails or go out to dinner or to a party if I wish.  My free night is saturday night usually and if I still try to stick with healthy food choices it just gives me the opportunity to have something that I would not normally have during the rest of the week.   I started counting calories on 1/9/06 - and I have lost 25 lbs as of today.

I've heard of having a free day and have been soooo tempted to do it but I am afraid it will weaken my resolve and I don't want to take the chance. I am sure some people can do it and still go right back to the same schedule and diet but I doubt that I am one who would be able to.

i normaly take a free day once a week. i normaly only eat the amount i should be eatting. like 2200- 2000 calories instead of my normal 1600-1400(that is my rough range cause some days i cant make my 1600 mark so..) is that ok for a free day? i dont eat things i shouldnt like a whole lot of cake and junk. i would eat like a peice of bbq chicken(minues skin) i did have two slices of pizza one day but i ate really good the rest of the day. on most of my free days i would eat two meals that are in the 300 or so range and eat one that would be more. so it that ok? and is eatting 2200-2000 calories on those days ok?

i dont' have the nerve to try a free/cheat day.. i have dieted before in the past where i did that.. i decided one day a month i can eat what i want.. i lasted one month.. after my free day i just never went back to it.. sooo.. here i am 1200-1400 each and every day.. no exceptions.. maybe when i'm feeling more confident i will try a maintenance day.. but that won't be for quite some time.. 

I do free weekend. I don;t go crazy but I do eat what I want. I start on sat lunch and stop after sunday lunch. Then I have a very light dinner or a snack on Sundays. It does slow the weight loss down but I have lost 25 pounds since jan 2.

I still log even on free days and I was suprised that some days where still ok. It is mental for me when I tell myself don't eat that then I get more hungry but if I just eat what I want I don't "feel" hungry all day.

Good Luck

After I have a cheat day (usually once a week) I feel so full the next day I barely make it to 1000 cals. Most days I get 1200-1300. I think it is good for the system, but dont be like me and go crazy for your first one. My tummy hurt! I had one yesterday and probably barely went over 2000, I think that is reasonable. And I ate (a small piece) pie for breakfast. hehe

I have lost 16 pounds since 3/3/05. For me - I feel bad when I splurge and it makes me more disciplined for the rest of the week.

i am the same way most of the time....its like a good day and a bad day all in one...lol. i feel bad cause i eat more then i should have and good cause i did....wired huh...lol.

i waited 3 months before i started to give myself 1 free day. I am more in controll now

I do free weekends too-I allow myself up to my maintenance calorie allotment, and stay at around 1300 calories during the week.

I have only reached my maintenance calories once on a free day-most times I just end up with an extra treat.

I've lost 25lbs since February, so I guess it hasn't hurt me any. :)

I have a free day 1 day/wk.  I eat 1300-1500 cal/day.  My free day I eat what I want and at the end i=of the day I tally up and it is usually 1800-1900  The body is very smart and usually your wt loss will taper off as your body realizes and goes" AKK she is on another D### diet again, guess I'll have to conserve the food she gives me!"

I have lost 25 lbs since 1/16/06  It also makes it easier for me to hang in there with my piddly 1300 cal.  I never buy chips or sweets and bring them in the house.  If I want a cookie, I go out and buy ONE cookie on my free day.  that way I am not tempted to eat the whole blasted box of cookies.

I guess each person has to do what works for them.  I was scared to try at first to have a free day. 

Love to all of you ... see you at the finish line

Love, Karen

I have decided to do one free day a month. And what a perfect day to have today because it is my birthday I am 35. Me and my husband went to the local hole in the wall mexican restaraunt. So any way I have to wait quite a few weeks for my next free day. I just started my diet so one free day a month till I get better then I may have one every 2 weeks

Ive been giving myself a "free day" once a week, but I'm finding that I simply cannot fit as much food in my stomach anymore. I get really sick to the stomach. I will cave in and have chinese food though.... I absolutely LOVE chinese food. I usually make Sunday my free day, because thats when I work with my bestfriend/assitant manager.... and we always order lunch (on the business account of course!)

I have fre days and it is due to the fact I have children every other week come home for a week and I find Saturdays are the hardest for me to stay PUT! So I allow the freedon with a bit of common sense..most of the time...but NOT ALWAYS!! I think when youg ot out to eat at freinds houses it becomes a bit difficult so I have to adjust my eating and drinking..ususally follows one another!

So I find , after those days, guns up and ready to get back in action!!! Sometimes it becomes a fight and sometimes it doesn't...but I MAKE SURE I TRY TO WIN THE FIGHT EACH TIME! It doesn't always happen...but I keep on plugging along!

Sue

I try to stay around 1350 every day give or take 100 calories. I don't schedule in a maintenance day but if I'm having a really bad day, or feeling unwell or just extra hungry because I'm moving more than normal than I may go ahead and eat up to my maintenance calories, but never more than that. That way I know that I won't gain and even though weight loss would be slower if I kept on with maintenance calories it's still enough for me to lose at my current weight. This has worked for me as it allows some extra salty, chocolately snacks here and there when I need them. I don't do this every day mind you but it seems like it's about one or maybe two days out of the week.

So far it's kept me on my diet and prevented me from binging. And not binging is a huge accomplishment for me. :)

A cheat day--heck ya!!! I think its a must, it reassures our bodies that we havent given up on that stuff FOREVER! I have yet to run across a raw/vegan who hasn't!

Definately! I used to give myself one every week (....and....you know....sometimes....twice a week...) But now I'm doing it once every other week.

And no, I don't hold back at all. I eat whatever the heck I want, it is sooo good, and the next day I feel so bad I am happy to get back on the diet.

I hate to admit it but I love the feeling of stuffing my face.

:: grins :: man, my very first week of limiting my intake, we had my boss' boss over for dinner, and there was /no way in hell/ I could sit there and not eat it, (I have the horrible affliction of being a rather good cook, and I don't....erm...cook light!) 'cause it was sooooo good...but I overate so bad that i haven't really gone totally free at all since then.

Mostly what I've been coming across with myself is I'll /plan/ a treat, (anything from a honey wheat bagel with honey walnut cream cheese, to a thing of nice chocolate at four hund. cals total,) and budget my cals accordingly, using, like, carrots and lots of water to make myself feel a little more full during the day, and then have my treat!

the /other/ thing I've done is choose a certain candy, or chocolate, something that's individually wrapped, and start my day off with a peice at forty cals, and then try to think back to it every time I get a craving, and then grab a carrot, or a rice cake, (I luck out, because I /adore/ rice cakes and puffed rice and bran cereal,) or an orange, or something that's low cal, filling, and tastes /sooooo/ good.  I guess I'm slowly tricking myself into associating that feeling I get from things like chocolate and such with things that are so much better for me.

But yeah, the planning thing, where I /plan/ to go over my calorie limit seems to work the best, because I always go over what I wanted to allot to myself, but I don't have that much guilt over it, 'cause it was sort of planned, yanno?

oh, and yeah!  the day after the big dinner, I couldn't eat /anything/, really, 'cause my stomach /still/ hurt!  It was great, I got such a kick out of it, 'cause it was about 400 cals /less/ than what I was used to eating every day before I started limiting myself, so I felt so proud of myself for having changed my eating habits well enough to affect my stomach!

But it's still nice to go for something I haven't had in a while as a treat, (although I now reward myself with something /other/ than food!)