Does any one give their self a free meal? When I dieted before I allowed myself to have one meal and not count calories . Jest wondering if any one else does this.

Some do but I am not one. I am the type of person that if I allow myself to do that then I go way overboard and so I just refuse to set myself up for a failure but this is just me, I am not speaking for everyone.

I think I structure my eating plan a lot differently than most here, as I have not counted any calories because I *hate* doing so. I do read labels, check nutrition info ahead of time for restaurants, etc., so I am aware of what I put in my mouth. I'd say I do stay with my OP foods 90% of the time, and whenever I treat myself to something I'd call "free" (which would basically be any food not on my normal plan), I just make sure I eat a moderate amount. Seems to work for me ok, and allows me to have pizza, cookies, cake, etc. without feeling any guilt.

Maybe my plan will sound out of whack to some here and I know it wouldn't work for everybody, but no matter what your plan is, I think there should be some way to occasionally treat yourself without going overboard. And as long as you handle it in such a way that you don't set yourself up for failure, I say go for it.

Not I, I always account for every bite I take.

Nope nope nope and nope. I find it REALLY hard to get back on plan after I've allowed myself a free for all... I only did it once for two days at Christmas and it took 10 days after to get all of the water weight off and get back on track. Not worth it for me!

I find it an unrealistic expectation of myself to log my calories EVERY DAY so I just have a goal to log my calories MOST days of the week. Even on the days that I don't log calories, I don't go overboard. Now that I know how much food I NEED everyday versus what I USED TO I have a little bit of a free meal but not a free-for-all.

I lose control if I don't stay on plan.

I do not and haven't during my journey. I want to be concious of my choices. I am a calorie counter and if I want something badly enough I will plan for it and work it in. I would only be cheating myself if I chose to go off plan. No thanks! I am tired of being fat.

I knew a guy in college who was on a 6 day diet. He followed his diet during the week then on Saturday he could eat whatever he wanted. He said that knowing he had a cheat day made it easier to stick to a diet... and then when Saturday came around, he craved healthier options, didn't want out of control portions, and would always think about how hard he had worked during the week. At the most, he'd go overboard on alcohol (hey, it was college!) He lost a lot of weight. It worked for him.

At the most, I allow myself a chocolaty treat during my TOM.

I do! It's very nice to have ONE meal per week for times when you need to go out to eat, for example, due to a family commitment or something. BUT, you need to be very careful of portion sizes when you do. So.. I call it my "free meal within reason" It is helping me to see what size of portions are "normal".. I really consider it a practice maintenance meal at this point. I also log the calories in every bite for that day. It gives me a good reality check. However, if I was the type of eater that was a binge eater? NO WAY would I do it. My problem is and always has been portion sizes.

OH .. one other thing. I never do it a whole day - only one meal. It's part of my plan, so I do not consider it a failure (key for me because I tend to be a perfectionist and at the first sign of trouble, beat myself up).

for the most part...no.

However...when I reach a milestone I will reward myself with something that I've been craving...that way it's out of the way until the next milestone. lol

For instance...when I lose 25lbs, I am treating myself to a Chipotle Burrito! No calories counted!!!! lol.

I'm also in the camp of "If I allow myself a free meal, I have a hard time regining myself in". Frankly, for me, to many 'free' meals is what got me fat. I don't want to see food as a reward or treat, but something I simply need to survive. Like air. Yes, it should be pleasurable and enjoyable. At the same time, I'd rather give myself a non-food treat as a reward. Having said that, if I want something, I budget it into my calories, afterwards, I realise it was a big waste of calorie dollars as I spend a good portion of my day filling up on water, since I don't have spare calories to use for snacks. No thanks.

We're not talking about forbidding certain foods... we're talking about having a free "no calories counted" meal.

I eat pizza. I just count it. I eat a hamburger or ice cream... I plan for it and count it. I don't have to have a "free" meal to eat the foods that I want. I just have to plan and account for it.

Exactly. Nothing for me is forbidden or not allowed, I simply choose to fill up on quality food, which frankly, I get more quantity, as opposed to smaller portions of food thats of lower quality. If I can have anything I want, then I never really crave anything, because I know it's available. One thing I learned, is portion control, sure, have that piece of chocolate cake Ang, it's fine, but watch the portion, because those calories WILL show up later in the week. If I budget for them, I can have a piece of cake as large as I want, I just no longer want to have a free binge day. I think thats the biggest part of changing a lifestyle, in my opinion, its no longer a diet, not for me, it's a daily choice I make on how I want to continue to live my life. I no longer want food to control me, so that at the end of the week I'm salivating over all the stuff I denied myself throughout the week and get into a vicious cycle of being 'good' all week just to have a free meal/day/whatever, and spend the rest of the week making up for it.