Does a "free day" help you out or sabotage your diet?
I'm taking the Alli pill and I'm keeping my diet at 15-20 grams of fat per day and 500-700 calories, plus exersize. It hasn't been too bad. Hard temptations come but I keep telling myself that I need to be skinnier and it will be worth it, so it's ok. I want to know if a free day will sabotage my whole diet or keep me sane, and if I did have a free day, what would I be allowed to eat?
I don't allow myself "free days" because I KNOW that I cannot control myself and that it will be difficult for me to start up on my diet again. I do allow myself "free meals" though. Once a week I can have anything I want as a meal. Whether it be a bowl of lucky charms for breakfast, or a cheese burger for dinner. Anything for that 1 meal, and then I stay on track the rest of the time.
First of all, 500-700 cals a day is FAR too low! I don't use Alli, so I don't know what that supplement's literature says, but normally 1200 cals a day average is considered the lower limit for healthy weight loss. If you go lower, you are not getting sufficient nutrients for basic needs.
Second of all, I don't know what you mean by a "free day." If you mean, eat whatever you want (and skip the Alli) and not record what you eat, I just never do that. I may have days where I choose to eat more than usual, but I always record everything. Everything! Because believe me, your body is recording everything, whether your mind is calling it a free day or not.
I've learned that a free day will never work for me. I will binge the whole day like a crazy person. What I am allowing with this new start I just began last week is that I'm going to allow myself one free meal a week. I will know in advance the day of this meal, and will adjust my calories that day so I don't go way overboard. For me knowing I can have some pizza, pasta, or a burger from Logan's once a week will hopefully work for me rather than thinking I can never have these foods again.
I don't think 500 to 700 calories a day sounds like a very good plan for life. I tried a appetite suppressant a few months ago. It worked for awhile and then I became immune to it.
A free day or even a free meal would be bad news for me. Once I allow myself one cheat more will come close behind and next thing I know I will be back into bad habits.
And like Jayell said 500-700 cals per day is to low . And if I remember what I read over on Alli and their boards they recommend 1600-1800 cals per day. I don't know if you wanna go that high but you really should be getting at least 1200 a day.
I don't do *free days* anymore. All the calories are going into your body regardless of if you go to sleep and wake up to a new day. A free day isn't free. Also I think it is a bad habit --that is smart to try to get out of. Sure I have things that I want from time to time but I try to cut back on other food to keep me at least close to the calorie range.
I find losing weight like a snowball rolling down a hill. Free days just put a stop you the snowball picking up speed.
I thought I read the 500-700 cals a day thing wrong -- that's your total calorie intake each day? Not only is it impossible to sustain, but it's dangerous. I strongly urge you to increase that to at LEAST 1200 (though I would go higher so you have some room to lower your calories as you lose weight).
I don't know much about Alli, so I can't really comment on that, but as for free days, I think they are a good way of keeping you sane. I don't schedule them, but when something comes up like a birthday or anniversary, I make a decision on whether it will be a free day or a free meal. I've had a few free days along the way, and they may have caused me to show a 1-pound loss instead of a 2-pound loss on the scale that week, but in the grand scheme of things it hasn't hurt me. Please understand, though, that I'm not doing one of those "diets" where I restrict or eliminate anything. So I don't have to worry about having one taste of sugar or bread or something and going all crazy because I haven't had it in months. I have sugar every day, and will the rest of my life. When I have a free day or free meal, I don't usually record it. It's quite rare, though.
I think it makes a HUGE difference whether you're being very strict about what you can have or whether you're more into just restricting portions. For me, a free day doesn't mess with my body chemistry that much probably because I'm not cutting any particular kinds of food out already. On a free day, I'm just eating MORE. I hope that makes sense.
I dont have regular free days, but I also allow myself to bend on special occasions
BUT 1) 500-700 is way way too low and 2) from what i know of alli it takes 2-3 days to clear your system, so a free day of high fat could leave you in serious distress
I just can't bear the thought of undoing a week's hard work with a day of unplanned eating, or even a meal. It's too easy to eat back an entire week's calorie deficit in one cheat meal. I put too much sweat and effort into weight control to throw it all away for even 15 minutes of off-plan eating (and I can do a lot of damage in 15 minutes!)
Like Ennay, I "bend" (love that word!) on special occasions -- about once every two months or so -- but still keep the brakes on. Like the others said, I know that my body is counting calories even if I'm not and I'll have to pay the price eventually.
So I've never been one for regularly scheduled cheat meals. But that's just me.
Alli recommends at least 1200 calories per day. If you'll increase your calories, you probably won't want that "cheat day" because you'll feel more satisfied throughout the week.
If you get a chance, try our Featherweights forum for advice and support from people that don't have a lot of weight to lose. Your weight doesn't seem to fit in with the alli guidelines, and another alternative might help you more.
When I first started I planned in a free meal and possible a dessert once a week. It was when my Mom was up here having surgery and every Sunday I would go to her house and eat whatever she made. I would practice portion control but and write down the calories but it wouldn't matter that day if I went over my normal limit. I honestly believe that is what keep me on plan. It made me feel like my life was normal espically in the begining. Now don't have free meals nearly as often. Maybe once a month I will have Chinese or something like that where it is higher in calories.
I don't know much about Alli but if I remember from what I read you would just not take it on your free day.
Although I aim for about 1500 to 1600 calories a day, it never works out exactly that way. I tend to look at my average day over the course of a week and if that average is in the right place, I'm happy.
I don't plan anything that could be considered a "cheat" simply because to me, that seems to say I've done something "wrong". I'm trying to teach myself how to eat more healthy foods in more healthy amounts every day.
For this trip to better health and fitness to really work out, IMHO, we have to realize the eating patterns we are developing while losing the weight are the ones we need to stick with for the rest of our lives.
I also do not have "free days", but do allow myself some flexibility so that I don't feel like I'm denying myself something that I really want. I track my calories, and my weekends regularly include eating out in a nice restaurant (so many here in Chicago, who could resist!). I still order what I want, but I always log what I've had, so I know what the impact is. As long as my average calories for the week are still where I want them to be, no big deal. (and I always try to estimate up since I don't know specifically how the dish is prepared).
And to echo everone else - your daily calorie intake sounds way too low to me too. Eat more, and you won't feel deprived. We all need to find a way of eating that's sustainable for the long haul.
Definitely up your daily caloric intake...you are putting your body into starvation mode...that is no good. You can still lose weight when you consume more calories. Lowering them that far doesn't make it go any faster. As far as a "cheat day" goes...that is up to you. If you have enough self control to limit your cheating, by all means, indulge a little. I try very hard not to go over my daily calories. So if I do "cheat" one day, and I use up a lot of those, then I kinda screw the rest of the day over. So typically, I don't do much of it anymore. But I'm not so great at limiting myself, so I tend to overdo it. Which is why fruit is my best friend, lol. I can "over do it" with melon, and barely scrape the 200 calorie mark with it.
Does a "free day" help you out or sabotage your diet?
I don't use Alli, so I don't know what that supplement's literature says, but normally 1200 cals a day average is considered the lower limit for healthy weight loss. If you go lower, you are not getting sufficient nutrients for basic needs.
