Taking a Day Off?

Someone recently told me that if approximately every 10 days I take a day off from my diet and increase calories for that day, I will lose more weight because doing this keeps you metabolism up.

Has anyone else heard this? And if you have is it true?

I have mixed feelings on it.

Any feedback would be great.  Thanks!

I think a lot of people on here do that on a weekly basis, I do it on roughly a monthly basis (whenever there is a holiday/celebration or other event).  I really think it helps - a few times I have been not losing weight, then took a day or two off and the next week lost like crazy.  It's helpful as long as you don't abuse it :)

well i think yess!!! it is true. Koz this way your body will get confused and burn more calories. But wot i know is that take 3 days off after every two weeks. Good luck

Yes, there is merit in it.   I'd say every 15 days average rather than 10, but that's just splitting hairs.  I did it myself when I lost over 50lbs a few years ago and, as a result, didn't hit a plateau until I was about 7 months into the exercise.  Which isn't bad going.   Main thing to remember is that it's 'increased calories' and not 'stuff yourself until your eyes pop calories'...   If you need 2000 to maintain, for example, and you're getting 1500 to lose weight then have a day at 2000 or 2200 ... not 4000!

I used to find that if something was coming up like a special occasion it was good to coincide it with one of these days.   Then I could enjoy the special occasion without spoiling it fretting about silly calories and reassure myself that it was part of the grand plan... not a 'slip-up'

I think there is some truth to it.... but I usually end up doing it on accident once a week through slip ups so I don't really ever plan it out.  It just helps me feel better if I eat too much one day a week, haha.

Yes.  I know that when I went off my diet after my grandfather passed away (just didn't feel like dieting anymore) and started almost stuffing my face I suddenly lost 3 pounds in one week.  And kept it off eating like that for a week.  Of course, I kept doing it for a month and ballooned back up to my starting weight which is why I'm starting all over again.  But in the short term, its not a bad idea.

My days off are always Sundays.  We go up to my boyfriend's parents' house, and his mother is a fantastic cook.  So I just make sure to make that dinner my meal of the day (if I'm hungry in the morning I'll have an apple or something small).  Besides, I'm never going to say no to things like crab legs and butter, homemade popcorn, and baked potatoes with butter and sour cream!

I talk one day off a week from working out and am a firm believer in that. Recovery time is important. In weight lifting you need a day off in between each session. Cardio is not quite the same and some people do it 7 days a week. I use to but found one day of rest did more for me in muscle growth and allowing myself to heal. I have a cheat meal once or twice a week. I don't blow the whole day and just eat junk. I eat a normal breakfast and lunch but may splurge a little at dinner.

I do this when I hit a plateau. It tricks my body into metabolizing more quickly, and I'll drop 3-4 lb.s in a week. It definitely DOES help to do this every so often. Like littleshelly, my day off is usually a friday or saturday, because my husband will want to go out to eat, or I'll want to stop at Mickey D's for breakfast and indulge a little bit. I try to be good for the rest of the day, and still eat rather healthfully, but more calories. When I was doing Weight Watchers, people in their forum would talk about the Wendie plan, which they would use to supplement their WW when they hit a plateau, and it worked like a charm. ;) Hope this helps.

Well Pamm,

I read some of the responses to your question about eating more for one day and it's ability to increase your metabolism setting.  I think you should disregard what all those people are saying.  It's not just that they are wrong, but that they are basing their opinion on nothing that comes even close to evidence.

The only increase in your metabolism when you eat more, is the energy it takes to digest more food.  This is not a huge amount.  The next day when you go back to your normal diet, your metabolism is unchanged. 

The only benefit that I can see of taking a day off once in a while is that it could potentially be a psychological benefit.  Most of us humans need a break every once in a while.  The danger of eating more on one day, is it does remind your brain of what it feels like to be really full, and that is a very good feeling for most of us. 

Do your diet either way, but don't be fooled into believing your big day of eating is doing anything to offset those extra calories.  It definitely isn't.

(My credentials) I studied pre-med biology at one point and am currently a high school physiology teacher.  It sounds like the rest of your advice givers got their information from the Nat. Enquirer or TV news or talk shows.

Good Luck with your diet.  I'm just starting mine, for the first time.  As a teacher I've been gaining about 3 lbs a year and recently it's been increasing even faster.  I was 180 ten years ago and am now 212.  It's a lot tougher to take it off than it was to put it on!!!!!  I reallllly love to eat!!!

haha, ok elenbaastr but would you take advice from someone that is clearly overweight or someone who has dieted and maintained weight loss successfully?  

http://www.calorie-shifting.net/

Are you suggesting that a person who is overweight is less likely to understand how the human body works?!?  You are sounding less and less intelligent by the minute.

It's not that complicated.  It just takes a hell of a lot of will power. 

Eat less. exercise more. use up the energy.  tada, you lose weight. 

It doesn't take voodoo theories to make it work, and I don't think you are helping anyone when you support nonsense.

elenbaastr- you've really got some guts making statements like you did about taking a day off.  (not what I would call it, but not the point).  If I were one of the previous posters, I would be highly insulted that you made reference to getting their information  from the Nat. Enquirer, etc.  You can be the Surgeon General for all I care.  If it works for me, I'll do it.  It might not work for anyone else, but it works for me.  Pfft!  There's probably a couple of decades of collected experience that spoke to the OP.  And I'm adding in my 30+ years to that total.

OP-I don't think you have to count 10 days exactly.  Today I chose to have a "day off", or "cheat day" or "maintenance day".  Whatever you call it I believe it's fine.  I do this every once in a while.  Nothing scheduled, unless it's a Holiday when I know the inevitable is going to happen.  But I do plan for it in that case.  Today was a different story.  My food started off great, but by this morning it sort of went down hill.  I had forgotten my prepacked lunch, so I made do by stopping at Subway and getting their turkey sub, no chips.  But even if I did get the chips, I felt good that I know I can eat what ever I want without this humongous guilt hanging over my head.  Today was an exception.  I did good!  No, I did great!  When I got home and logged my calories, I only had to skip a slice of bread that I had planned to have with my dinner tonight.  I do advise that you don't decide on Monday that Friday you will definitely cheat.  Especially if on Friday you don't really feel that you need to.  One day at a time baby!   You are strong, and getting stronger everyday with this healthier eating aren't you.  I am a rock!  Okay, I'm a clump of clay just forming into something as strong as a rock.  Eventually.  But, for today at least, I Rock!

Taking a "cheat day" every so often is good for your metabolism because if you consistently eat at a deficit, your body eventually adapts to that by slowing your metabolism down so that you can live off the calories you're eating (within reason).  So, the point isn't really to speed up your metabolism - it's to prevent it from slowing excessively.  This is why gi-jane mentioned that it's an "eat maintenance" day - not a binge day.

(My credentials): Started my B.Sc. in Biochemistry, switching over to Organic Chemistry with a lot of electives in Cell Biology, Microbiology, etc. (enough to get me a minor in Bio at most schools).  Followed that up with a PhD and continued reading of the scientific literature.  I don't read the Nat. Enquirer or take most TV talk show seriously.

If its so easy why can't you do it? :)

Zing! All sniping at other posters aside, my completely anecdotal evidence supports taking a day (or meal, or whatever) off once in a while. While I am not an expert on the effect it has on the metabolism, I do believe it is great for mental health: my days off have allowed me to continue to enjoy food-based social events and eating out while still losing weight, keeping me happy and more likely to stick to my diet plan long term.

Ditto to theholla. 

I have a cheat meal every other Sunday.  I don't take the whole day off.

I totally agree that taking a day off can be a great psychological break as I said in my first post.

But, there is no reason whatsoever to suggest that a cheat day is going to help in changing your metabolism in any noticable way.  Whether you say it's keeping you from going into a starvation metabolism or anything else.  Your advice on a day off is misleading at best.  The following point will be a little hard for most of you to follow, but using your own logic, if you take one day off to raise your metabolism a little, then why not take two or three days off to raise it even more.  Heck, just take a whole month off and really raise that metabolism, (or keep it from lowering (Potato ,potaato)). 

The idea is completely flawed.  It has neither logic or scientific foundation, and the only reason it works is because the day off gives a psychological boost. 

All these posts give overwhelming support for an idea that has no foundation whatsoever.  I'll bet you people believe man is causing global warming too, even though a little research shows that the earth's temperature fluctuations are a direct response to variations in the sun's yearly heat output and not due to carbon dioxide levels as Al Gore (the defunct politician) tells you.

Think whatever you want, and feel good about it (That's how most people operate nowadays.)  I don't care that much, I just wanted pamm to hear the truth.  The rest of you are hopeless.

And I know this won't change your mind, because people like you NEVER actually consider the options.  You think with your emotions.  Good luck with that and enjoy being part of the ignorant and uneducated masses that we call the good ole USA. 

I think there is actually a diet plan based on this concept, I've heard it reffered to as Calorie shifting.  But it concentrates on uping and lowering cals on a specific schedual http://ifitandhealthy.com/calorie-shifting-di et/. ; I don't know if it works yet but it actually makes sense to me.  Your body adapts to everything else superfast why wouldn't it develop a resistance to depleating fat supplies? But what do I know I'm just a Biochem major and not a high school anaotmy teacher!

Also I talked to an actual doctor (one of my instructors) about this and he said that he had never heard of it but that it was safe as long as the calories don't go below 1200, and you use a correct BMR (not the one that CC provides!) and activity rate. Because it doesn't eliminate any food groups and the drops are only for a day at a time.  Good place to calculate your actual BMR http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/ . ; you should do this regardless, because the CC Bmr is alway wrong.  They say that mine is like 1400 and it really like 1675.  anyway good luck!

Ellis,

The CC BMR is not always way wrong.  It is an estimate.  They can't determine your BMR exactly based upon a half dozen questions about your activity and body type.

I'm not surprised that your doctor had never heard of the calorie shifting diet, because there are thousands of diets out there and most of them prey on the  optimism of others.  

You mention that you talked with a doctor about the diets safety, but we were having a discussion about it's physiological benefits.    There's no question about the safety of shifting a few calories around throughout the week for an average healthy person.

The problem with diets of this specific type is that they ignore the fundamental principle that is causing the weight gain.  Your body wants to store as much fat away as possible.  Throughout history it's been an adaptive advantage to gain weight so that famines could be survived.  The problem is we've never had a famine in the US.  We have bodies that will use as little as they need and store the rest.  We have all inhereted varying degrees of metabolic activity and hunger drives. 

You can't trick your body when it comes to calories.  It will burn the calories that are necessary to run your daily activities.  It will store the rest. 

You can't adjust your metabolism much at all through diet, because it takes a certain amount of energy to keep your body processes going.  Exercise increases the energy draw from your muscles.  Thinking increases the energy draw  from your neurons in your brain.  Eating increases the energy draw from your stomach and intestines. Etc., Etc.

You cannot magically reset your base metabolism to any appreciable degree by shifting calories and that's why your doctor had never heard of this diet miss ellis.  Keep up your studies and do more reading on the subject.  When you get to the end of your biochem class you'll be studying the Kreb's Cycle, also known as the Citric Acid Cycle.  This is the outline of the process by which our cells metabolize glucose in the mitochondria of our cells to produce a usable form of energy.  There are many other energy yielding processes that occur and your class probably won't cover all of them, but this will be a good start for you in understanding this topic.

I'll get off my soap box now and leave it rest.  I have about ten pounds to lose by summer and ten more to lose by the end of the summer.  Sitting here typing isn't going to help. 

It's hard to sit idly by and watch as the blind lead the blind.  But, I probably should have left it alone as it is nearly impossible to teach someone something that they think they already know.  The unlearning is harder than the learning. 

I heard that if you eat your mantanace calories every 10-15 days It will aid in weight lost.  I don't know how true it is I haven't tried it